Picasa Post Editing Software (Free)

For most of my post editing software I still use Photoshop, 92% of the time. As I have mentioned positive results about the free program GIMP, I still find myself using the more familiar. And besides, I already have a full working version of Photoshop so I return to what I know best.

I do have several other programs that I seldom use but recently downloaded a free edition of Picasa. What I like about this new software is how fast it is for the basics in post editing and a little more.

I typically spend much more time on an image in my electronic darkroom but this image of Harrah's RIO taken out in Vegas was completed in less than a couple of minutes. Compare that to the sometimes "hours" I have spent using Photoshop and you can see why this could be just the right tool when your time is limited.

Without going through all the options Picasa has available, I will say the "straighten" function under the basic fixes and the "graduated tint" including sliders for both feathering and shade under special effects are my favorites. They are fast and effective.

I also like the histogram and camera information box at the bottom of the left corner that includes camera type, focal length and apertures used when looking through your archives.

So if you're looking for a free good post-editing program with an easy and intuitive interface, check out Picasa. It won't replace my Photoshop but I will use this program again in certain situations.

As always, if you have any questions please let me know and I will try to answer them, but I think you will see from the beginning this is an easy and fun program to use as soon as you open your first image!

Disclaimer! I do not receive any compensation from Google or Picasa for this recommendation, but maybe I should be..... :)

Tags, labels and image descriptions

Recently after logging into my Flickr account I discovered an option I found interesting under the stats tab. I've long been aware of the importance "meta tags" have been in bringing traffic to your website, although in the early years these simple and not so commonly known inserts were abused by redirecting irrelevant content responses through search engines.

Flickr's stats page shows the domains from where traffic has come from and the keywords used, including other useful data as well. You can review your current and previous day's worth of activity but are limited to only the prior 28 days of statistics. To find this information you can type in the desired date in your location bar. It would be nice if Flickr would archive a longer time frame. :)

Listed below are some of the more commonly used search phrases to find my images via Google. Many of these were obvious, however some of the keywords used to find their way to stats were befuddling to say the least.

Random order: Harley Davidson, Harly Bikers, Bikers, Trucking in the USA, Trucking, Ronnie Van Zant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, RVZ, 50's Rock, Black and White Highways, Trick my Truck, Highway Horizon, Little Cowgirls, Wyoming, Nascar, Vegas in Black and White, Rocky Mountains, I-80, Trucking Logo and Truck Stops round off the top 20.

Today the use of tags, titles and image descriptions are all important in the indexing for search engines so it seems as much as ever. The downside I suppose to some photographers, would be your images can be viewed and downloaded in larger formats than you may want to be available.

Intense Attention

Intense attention and an everyday obsession with photography is what drove the late Richard Avedon in capturing some of the most interesting and provocative personalities in his portraiture works.



In this video, photographer Richard Avedon speaks in several different interviews with Charlie Rose dating from 1993 through 1999. He talks about how a visual sense and a total concentration of his subjects were so critical to his success. It is soon apparent how articulate and attentive Avedon was in these segments and how special he really was, not only as a photographer but as an intellect as well.

I found many new and interesting ideas in this video and have always enjoyed the television interviewer, "Charlie Rose" to be informative and thought provoking. Here you have the best in the business and the tops of their professions in a fine tribute to one of America's greatest photographers!
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If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.

A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.

I don't really remember the day when I stood behind my camera with Henry Kissinger on the other side. I am sure he doesn't remember it either. But this photograph is here now to prove that no amount of kindness on my part could make this photograph mean exactly what he.. or even I.. wanted it to mean. It's a reminder of the wonder and terror that is a photograph.

A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he's being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he's wearing or how he looks. He's implicated in what's happening, and he has a certain real power over the result.

A portrait photographer depends upon another person to complete his picture. The subject imagined, which in a sense is me, must be discovered in someone else willing to take part in a fiction he cannot possibly know about.

Photography has always reminded me of the second child.. trying to prove itself. The fact that it wasn’t really considered an art.. that it was considered a craft.. has trapped almost every serious photographer.

I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.

~Richard Avedon 1923 - 2004
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A special thanks to Aline at Lenscratch for her recent post!