Novice Advice for the Novice Photographer - To Picnik or Not to Picnik?
Picnik or Not
Redding, California real estate professional and ActiveRain blogger Jeanean Gendron is also an artist and photographer. In this post, she provides some practical advice for photographers to use Picnik. I must follow her advice and give it a try.
Blooming for you!
Brookside Gardens Dahlia Show. Photograph by Roy Kelley.
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
Let me qualify that title....I can't imagine anyone not using Picnik some of the time if not all of the time. Who would not realize benefits from this value-oriented program?
I remember when I first started with AR and began to learn about blogging. I owe a great deal to the generous members of AR who on a constant basis help others to learn the basics of blogging. You have to have a rather adventuresome nature to fully take advantage of all that is here within the RAIN. You have to travel around to learn.
Sometimes we are guided to just those things we need to know when we need to know them. When it comes to photographs in those early days, I remember a post by Teresa Boardman on Picnik and how easy it was to use when processing your photos. Teresa inspires me on many levels. She is sweet, kind and gracious in all she does. You can see it shine through in her work as a photographer. You can read a similar post here that she wrote for The Real Estate Tomato. A touch up or enhancement, size adjustments and so on are the basic elements of this browser based application. Picnik became a tool for me in my stable of programs used for blogging and Social Media.
It remains a beautiful product that I used daily and would not want to contemplate trying to do without. I do pay the yearly fee, but most of the features are available for free. I love free stuff....don't you? So much value and it is free. I think the best thing about Picnik is that it is very user friendly and easy to use. You don't have to invest huge amounts of time in learning to use it.
I use it to touch up my photos when I'm rushed for time and also for size adjustments. My husband does all our property photos in HDR and so my work is usually related to blogging and localism photos. Picnik is my friend and I highly recommend it. Who would not like Picnik?
There are occasions, however when I want to do more than Picnik can handle. Layers are a concept that move
beyond Picnik although there are ways to even work in that direction within Picnik. When I have the time, I like to play around in GIMP. You can download it here. It is an open source application that is also free. I think we established that we like free! I have been using GIMP for several years now and while it is not Photoshop it does help me move in that direction. Using layers allows us to blend or come up with a collage effect.
I've have long been a lover of Art and majored in Art History in college. I am an oil painter but have moved on to photography as a medium to explore and learn about (that could be a life's endeavor) creating Photo Art with a focus on collage art. It is currently in a stage of "test piloting" with more crashes than successful test runs....but that's how one learns and I am having fun with it.
So, if you are using Picnik, you might want to download GIMP and just start opening the application and playing around with all the features and effects. It takes a bit to learn in this application because if is more complex and offers more features. Don't hurry with it....play and close to open another day and play. I was frustrated at first and David kept encouraging me and showing me a bit here and there and slowly I am beginning to see progress.
If you are not using anything currently to process your photos, you will completely love Picnik and may never need anything else. I can so see why that would be the end of a need. It is browser based and you can sign up here. Learning comes in stages based upon need and for me....I'm in a phase where I have a need to celebrate my spirit and the goodness of life. I have a need to express beauty as I see it and to share it with my friends. GIMP is helping me go somewhere new and I like that.
Examples of Localism posts:
GIMP Photo Art
Have a beautiful day and enjoy your world, it belongs to you!
Jeanean Gendron - Specializing in Marketing and Selling Unique Properties--We love where we live and work and we love our listings. This is why we specialize in marketing and selling unqiue properties that have been developed to the highest and best use of the land.
It is a priviledge to market a well developed property that promotes a lifestyle Buyers are looking for. It's not really about a price range but about the lifestyle and the Buyer who will find that it has value. MARK IT SOLD!
Jeanean Gendron
Specializing in Marketing and Selling Unique Properties
866 441-0078
Learn more about how we market and sell our listings:
Marketing the Land - Marketing the View - Marketing Luxury - Marketing Lifestyle
SELLERS: FREE MARKET VALUATION--If you are looking to sell your home in Shasta County, CA or in the Redding CA area, we specialize in marketing and selling unique properties. We SELL our listings. With a pervasive web presence (15+ websites/blogsites) we are able to target specific Buyers interested in your property. With the right price point, beautiful marketing and by knowing who our Buyer is, we are able to sell all our llistings. We provide the Buyer with the tools, information and knowledge they need to identify and buy the right property here in the North State. We have Buyers contacting us to relocate to the North State daily.
We target the local, regional, national and international markets.
MARK IT SOLD!
BUYERS: If you are looking to relocate to the North State download our free RELOCATION GUIDE. It has local demographics and photos of the beauty of the surounding areas. We love living and working here in Shasta County, California. We are photographers and so we share the beauty with you. We also provide you with a FREE MLS ACCOUNT for ALL ACTIVE LISTINGS IN SHASTA COUNTY, CA. You are able to save searches and receive email notice for new listings. Real time data that helps you understand the market values in Shasta County, CA.
We call it Living The Shasta Lifestyle!
Featured Listings - Redding and Shasta County Real Estate Resource - How Much Is My Home Worth ~ Search all Homes in Shasta County - Dream Home Finder - Search for Schools in Redding and Shasta County
Visit our main real estate website that provides you with the ability to Search the MLS and to set up A FREE MLS ACCOUNT so that you can save searches and select favorite properties. See all Shasta County MLS Listings in real time. I also have many saved searches for unique properties (ranch, views, river, acreage).
There are saved City Searches and Community Searches for all of Shasta County.
The Shasta Lifestyle is our blog site where we showcase our photography and the beauty of the North State and why you want to live here.
Here are my websites/blog sites:
REDDING COMMUNITIES
LUXURY HOMES
RESALE OCHOA & SHEHAN HOMES
BelAir Estates, Crown Meadows, Summerfield Meadows
All Rights Reserved © 2014 Jeanean Gendron
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