Lilahpops

Flickr just got a whole lot better with a new in-browser photo editing option

What a welcome addition this is! I never thought Flickr was really lacking anything until this new option was introduced. All of a sudden it has become an integral part of the Flickr upload process.

The in-browser editing option is powered by Picnik, Flickr’s new partner, and has a friendly, intuitive interface. If you are already familiar with photo editing software you will find this one a breeze. A huge array of options makes it a very powerful tool.

Edit your images on the fly

Do you ever feel that you could have tweaked your image slightly better after you had already loaded it to Flickr. A bigger crop, or a color enhancement, but you don’t bother because it would mean re-opening that photo editing program, making the changes and then re-loading the image back into Flickr. Now you can do it all within your Flickr account.

Picnik is quick and easy

I changed a relative plain image into a brighter and more interesting photo in just a few minutes.

Using the Picnik software, I cropped the version above to remove the buildings in the background and tighten the focus more on the statue. I slightly saturated the colour and also used the advanced Exposure settings to bump up the highlights and shadows. Then I chose to save over the original version.

The ‘Edit Photo’ option is available on the Flickr toolbar. The bonus is that Picnik is free. You can also purchase a Picnik account for more post-processing options.

This wonderful addition has not only made Flickr more fun - if that’s possible - it’s now more time-absorbing than ever. Thanks Flickr, I think …

» For more information check out the Flickr blog

Related posts:

• Flickr is the key to my social photography
• Have any of your Flickr photos been Schmapped?
• My Flickr collection is now organised
• Give your photos a retro feel with the GIMP

Find your creative streak and turn your photos into comic strips!

I recently read a very detailed, comprehensive tutorial about enhancing your photos with a retro comic book effect. The tutorial is an excellent example of one of the many and varied post-production techniques you can apply to your own photos. I was inspired to try out this comic book effect on some of my own photos.

Again, one of my cats has the starring role.

The original images

As a proud cat owner, you would be right in assuming that I have amassed gazillions of photos of my cats. I took these shots a while ago, and although they were sadly overexposed, I thought they were quite expressive and decided to hold onto them until I found a use for them. And then I found this tutorial.

Adding the comic book effect

The tutorial over at the Photoshop Roadmap is easy to follow. There is also cartoon-type fonts for you to download. It’s fun and you’ll be pleased with the results. I’d love to know how you go in the comments.

I only took one deviation from the steps which was to use iPhoto to make the initial adjustments to the levels, saturation and color. Click the images below for the higher resolution versions.

So there you have it - my first comic strip!

• See other related PhotoShop posts
• Make a cartoon effect using iPhoto

A couple of years ago I came across a website which has an excellent article called How to make a Life Poster using Photoshop. The post includes comprehensive step-by-step instructions on how to turn your photographic collection into a wall-hanging masterpiece. Inspired by the results, I decided to create a poster for my mother for her 60th birthday.

I gathered together (with a 95% contribution from one sister) the 98 photos necessary to carry out this project. The photos included my mother at various ages, her wedding, my father, her kids, flowers, bushland, workmates, all sorts of things that were related to or sentimental to her … after all, who has 98 photos of their own mother? Then I set to making my Life Poster.

Living in Australia, I couldn’t follow Step 7 (order a print of your poster online), so I simply burned the file to disk and took it to my local camera store. It was the first Life Poster the shop had printed up and I think we were all a bit nervous about the outcome! The result was beautiful, colorful and detailed. A huge 20×30 inch poster (I also got it framed) that she pored over with a grin here and a surprised gasp there. It now lives on a wall in her office.

Making a Life Poster was my first serious foray into the wonderful world of post-production software and techniques. It was a fun, creative photographic project and I look forward to making the next one.

Someone once told me to always take two photos of a subject. It was good advice. You can’t always be sure you have captured ‘the moment’ taking just one photo. You may not have lined up the shot as you would have liked; your hands may have been shaking; or your subject may have been blinking. The differences between the two photos can be quite noticeable.

Digital cameras give you immediate results, but it’s wise to remember that the back-screen view on a camera is rather small compared to the actual image size and it can be difficult to determine if a photo is a winner until it has been downloaded to a computer (sometimes the photos that appear unsuccessful on a camera screen turn out to be the great ones ones, so don’t go deleting until you have downloaded!)

You can still follow the ‘two shot rule’ with your digital camera, but did you know you can go one step further and take more than two shots with just one click of the button?

Multiple photos with one click of a button?

Yep, that’s right. There is a setting on your camera which will take multiple photos. My camera calls it Continuous Shooting Mode and will shoot photos for as long as I hold down the shutter release button or until it uses up all the space on the memory card.

I’m always curious to see the results of the continuous shooting mode, especially if the subject was moving during the shoot. Do you remember drawing (or seeing) pictures on every page of a notepad and then flicking through to get a little moving cartoon? Well, it’s just the same when you take these multiple shots. And if you’re putting together a digital slide-show of your photos then the results of the CSM can really enhance the presentation with an impressive movie-type effect.

How does it work?

Find the setting on your camera - you might need to check your manual. The setting on my camera is near the timer settings. You’ll know it’s selected because your screen will display a small rectangle with with double/triple lines on a couple of sides so it looks like a rectangle on top of a rectangle etc. All you have to do now is pick a subject and simply point and shoot. You may feel a small delay between shots. It doesn’t matter if some of the photos are blurry as it will give you the impression of motion (Note: you will probably not be able to set your flash in this mode).

If you are after the perfect shot then this multiple technique may give you better odds than the ‘two shot rule’. And it doesn’t cost you anything, you can always delete the ones you don’t want, after downloading of course.

Example of the continuous shooting mode

One of my cats generously agreed to model for this CSM example. This is a fairly quick Photoshop mock-up of the result. I numbered the individual images 1-6 so you can imagine the effect of viewing them in quick succession (I hope to add in the movie-effect at some stage). The image link takes you to Flickr.

Give it a try yourself, I’d love to see the end product.