Playing with (Free!) Photo Programs

I've had a few emails from people wanting to know what kind of camera I have, editing programs, etc. First, I want to THANK each of you who have taken the time to leave comments or to write me about anything. It's a real compliment each time I hear from one of you. Okay, about the camera - it's just a simple little Kodak EasyShare CX7430. I've had it for (?) three years - I think. Maybe longer. It's a 4.0 mega pixels camera that I'd love to replace with a newer one for no better reason than the fact I'd just like a newer one. Kodak provides a great editing program and all you have to do to download your pictures from the camera to the computer is basically plug a little cord from the computer into the camera. I like - no, make that LOVE - simple things that I don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out! Now, as far as a good freebie program, check into http://picasa.google.com/index-new3.html . I'm loving all the effects you can get from it! As far as the pictures that I post of my gardens, I really don't use special effects other than cropping. But if you want really good pictures from your digi, my best advice would be to use the highest setting on your camera. It may mean more wear on your batteries, but I always use rechargeable ones and recommend that anyone taking a lot of pictures do the same. I always have a set in my camera and another set on charge. A couple of you asked for my best quick tips when taking flower pics. This isn't my tip, per se, as I picked it up somewhere on the net. But it's easy! If you're trying to get good detail, try holding a sheet of colored paper behind the flower. For example, this white iris is growing against my white house. Trying to get a good photo of it against the house would be pretty impossible or at least in my case, improbable. So, I grabbed a folder that holds scrapbook paper and here's what I got: First, I tried pink: Then, I wondered what a darker contrasting background would look like, so I held the folder in back of it: Keep in mind that these were taken outside this morning, around 10:00 or so. No artificial light was used - just the paper background and my camera and the iris is still in tact and growing against the house. Easy, huh? ;-) Then I decided I wanted a closeup of just the bloom. If you look in the upper lefthand corner, you'll see where I didn't have the folder positioned well enough to hide the house in the background. Okay, now here's the same photo using special effects from Picasa: This last picture is another version of the one at the first of this post. All I did was add the softening effect. I hope this helps those of you who asked and some of you who didn't! Right now, I need to work on putting a giftaway package together for this month! All you need to do to qualify is leave a comment - you'll see the contents of Hammertime's package in a couple of days (as soon as I know she's received it!). Oh - and let me know how you like Picasa!