I love photography. I sold my first photo to a newspaper way back in 1958. You would expect that I am kind of an old style photographer. Well, I am but I have also embraced the new age of the digital camera with a passion. I am a strong believer in the old axe that the picture should be created in the camera and not in the darkroom (oops-on the computer). When you take a photo, you should be aware of lighting, composition, depth of field, etc. As a result, I have always believed that you create the art in the camera and not in post-processing.
However, I have a full version of the famous professional PhotoShop. Sometimes, it is absolutely necessary to do some post processing and PhotoShop is the very best. It does however, have some drawbacks. First it has an extremely steep learning curve. You are not going to learn everything that is has to offer in a get started quick guide. You will spend weeks or even months learning all of the advanced techniques of this system. Even then, you are probably not using all that it has to offer.
Secondly, it ain't cheap baby. Unless you are a full-time professional photographer or a really rabid advanced amateur, it is simply not worth the expense. I am not sure what the latest version currently costs but, I remember that when I bought in, I spent about eight hundred dollars. You know, the worst part of it is that I almost never use it. It just sits on my computer hard-drive and collects digital.
At the time that I purchased PhotoShop, there were really no reasonable alternatives. I had a shoot that needed PhotoShop so I spent the big bucks. What a waste.
What really hurts, is that now there is a free photo-editing site on the web that does nearly everything that Photoshop does and you can use it for free and for most options, you don't even have to register. There are a few options that require you to register to use these options but, registration is completely free.
I am not saying that it totally replaces PhotoShop but, it does all the photo-editing that I ever need to do and as an added benefit, it has a really simple user interface that does not require a steep learning curve. You can literally upload your photo to the site, make all of the alterations that you want, download the final product and be done with it in just a few minutes.
As a professional or an advanced amateur, you may want or need the advanced options that PhotoShop offers but, for the rest of us go online and try Picnik. I think that you will be thrilled.
To start using Picnik, just fire up your computer and go to to their homepage at Picnik.com
I hope that you find this tip helpful. I know that it has certainly helped me. Now stop reading and get out there and create some photographic magic. Digital Photography is the art form of the 21st century.
Stan Pontiere has been an avid photographer since childhood. Having worked for the likes of the Associated Press and The New York Times and an instructor of photography at a college back east, I have enjoyed the transition from film to digital photography.
For more information on digital photography, please visit: http://digitalphoto.net46.net
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