I already had a premium account with Picnik, because I love all that you can do there...my font I use on my website and blog banner is from there. Really, to me it is easier than any other online photo editing site I have tried. I have to admit, though, that until now I have always been a little bit chicken to really push the boundaries of basic crop, resize, exposure, sharpen!
First, I experimented with rounded edges which I really like, but then I found "vignette" effect which puts that darker hazy border around the edge (you can totally change the color as well). My photos of the gorgeous bead soup I got from Summers Studio incorporates these effects. Today, when trying to get some shots posted of my Webelo and his pinewood derby, I decided to go a bit further.
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| using "gritty" and "vignette" with rounded edges |
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| using "cinemascope" and "vignette" with rounded edges |
These photos were pretty bad straight out of the camera - blurry, not composed very well The lighting was terrible in the church rec room, and B was all over the place, so getting good shots was just not happening. His car that we all worked on so hard together didn't do very great, sadly. He was trying to maintain some sense of sportsmanship (not totally successfully on that front) and not melt down with disappointment :( Life lessons learned that day!
I think using these different treatments on them sort of saved them...they aren't perfect, but that's a okay. They sort of have an air of the surreal, which can be almost comforting. Okay, I'm just making things up now. He really did not feel like smiling in this shot...poor guy.
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| "infrared", "vignette", and "soften" with rounded edges (again) |
