Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

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Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby pub » Mar 15, 2010 6:38 pm

Branched from Re: light painting

Cody JW » 15 Mar 2010 23:01 wrote:I am no expert on photos in caves but the program for my Olympus digital camera allows you do all kinds of touch ups to your photos,I was playing with it the other day and was amazed at what you can do.I do not know if that kind of thing relates to this situation or if other camera programs do this, I am assuming they do.I was able to change background or foreground color ect.

Good question Cody and instead for sending you on a websearch for photo editing tutorials, I’ll give a recent example. I’m not an expert either but I can share what I know.

Personally I think the software supplied by camera manufacturers are either too limited or resource hogs. There are several freeware available, some were listed a couple years ago in the "Photo Editing Software" thread, for editing photos and some even provide an album system to help you organize your photos in your computer or online. I’ll be using Goggle Picasa for this example.

First download and install Goggle Picasa. Then select a photo and go into the edit mode. In the first tab you are given many edit options of which I use a few in this example.

Image
Original photo - EXIF data shows this photo was taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ18 at ISO: 100, for 1/160s with f/4.2 and zoomed at the 35mm equivent of 803mm. The histogram shows the photo is on the dark side.

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Crop your photo to get rid of distracting objects (like your caving buddy who was cutoff by the framing) and to get the composition you want.

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Adjust levels with the one-click “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. Now the histogram is spread throughout its range and towards the lighter side. If you want more control of the levels you can go to the Tuning tab.

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Sharpen lightly, don’t overdo it. It’s like using salt, use just enough but don’t go overboard.

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And just for fun I tried the Redeye option but undid it because it ruins the effect I wanted.

Try all the options, you can always undo them. Try going to the Effects tab for other creative options. I'll stress again, edit lightly, just a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper; an overly edited photo can have a negative effect on the viewer.

Finally save your work as a copy. Don’t replace the original photo because you may want to edit it differently in the future.

The final photo in this example was posted on OnlineCaver.com as “redeye reduction turned off.”

Edit lightly and click on!
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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Re: Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby batrotter » Mar 16, 2010 5:40 am

Nice photo!
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Re: Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby pub » Mar 16, 2010 11:36 am

tnx, batrotter! i saw him/her in previous trips (about 10 meters high in the twilight zone of Cacupangan Cave.) but couldn't get a good photo... this time i was lucky!
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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pub
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Name: jerry rendon
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Re: Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby JR-Orion » Mar 16, 2010 12:26 pm

How is Picasa for storing / sharing your photos online? I need a place to put some cave pics.

I have a photobucket account, and like it just fine, but it's nearly full with other stuff.
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones / there is water underground.
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Re: Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby pub » Mar 16, 2010 3:48 pm


I think this video was uploaded August 21, 2008 when Picasa 3.0 was first introduced; it is now in version 3.6 with much more options.

You can also see About Picasa 3.6 & Picasa Web Albums or click Picasa's Help menu (F1).

One of the features I like is the album visibility:

Picasa Web Albums makes it easy to share your photos with the world -- or you can choose to keep your photos as private as you'd like. Use album visibility options to control the privacy of your albums. You can set your album visibility options during the upload process and change them at any time in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums.

Public

Set your album visibility to "Public" to make them viewable to anyone who knows the URL of your public gallery. Your public albums may also appear in public search. Learn more about public search.

Unlisted

Set your album to "Unlisted" to limit who can see your album. All unlisted albums have an authorization key in the web address; the key is a combination of letters and numbers which make the web address very difficult to guess. Anyone that has the exact web address will be able to see your unlisted album.

Sign-in required to view

Select the "Sign-in required to view" option to set the highest level of privacy for your album -- you specify who has permission to view it, and those viewers must sign in to their Google Account to verify their identity. Users without a Google Account will be prompted to create one. Anyone not included on the album's "Shared with" access list will be unable to view the album.


The screen captures for this thread are posted at: CaveChat Examples
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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pub
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Name: jerry rendon
NSS #: 61437
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Balincaguin Conservancy Grotto [Primary] + SoCal Grotto
  

Re: Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby NZcaver » Mar 20, 2010 2:48 pm

Great post, pub! :goodjob:

I've been using Picasa for basic photo editing and online sharing for a couple of years. It works great for me.
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Re: Basic photo edits w/ Google Picasa

Postby pub » Mar 20, 2010 4:28 pm

Thanks NZcaver, I appreciate your comments! :woohoo:
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
User avatar
pub
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 296
Joined: Jun 5, 2009 10:31 pm
Location: Mabini, Pangasinan, Philippines
Name: jerry rendon
NSS #: 61437
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Balincaguin Conservancy Grotto [Primary] + SoCal Grotto
  


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