This is a guest post by my eldest daughter, Emily. My disclaimer: Take everything with a grain of salt . . .
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My mother’s skills abound. She is an extraordinary cook, a charming hostess, and a tasteful decorator. However, I think the time has come for truth to prevail. Contrary to common misconception, domestic catastrophe is never far away.
For every Lucious Lemon Cake, there is a discarded disaster. To top this off, Mom holds tightly to an aggravating habit of remaining in sweats up until 30 minutes before guests are scheduled to arrive. I’ve tried to break this terrifying habit, but it’s hopeless.
Her taste is generally impeccable, but there was that time that she painted tiger stripes on the living room bookshelf. It was awful. Fortunately, my brother’s brutal honesty saved our reputation and decor.
Lately, she has, to the consternation of her already-intimidated friends and family, also discovered her love and talent for photography. However, the pictures which effortlessly grace the pages of Bona Vita, frankly, hide a dark secret.
Several dozen shots have been discarded for every lovely photo published. Mom, having never mastered the over-achiever within, is an obsessive editor. I have padded sleepily into the kitchen on many a dark and snowy morning to find Mom holding out a camera. “Emily, can you upload these really quickly?” Three hours later, we’re still tweaking.
Fortunately, what works for my mom is Paint.net. Paint.net was designed by some brilliant undergraduate students. These students will have my (and my mother’s) eternal gratitude. This program makes editing, tweaking, and enhancing photos enjoyable and simple. (For others, the process might even be faster). It has several attractive aspects:
- It’s cheap. The suggested donation is $12.00
- It’s easy to use.
- It’s a simplistic copy-cat of Photoshop.
How, exactly, does Photo.net enhance Mom’s photography? The following is an example. Here is an unmodified picture, hot off the press:
And here is a modified version:
Here’s another example:
Here is the “Photo-netified” version:
You see? The originals are really quite . . . . normal. The magic lies in the editing.
For more tips, tricks, and secrets revealed, visit Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” – William Shakespeare
Emily Adams is the oldest daughter of Kathy Adams and a 2007 graduate of Belhaven College. She is a freelance writer and offers classes for homeschooled students through Alethea Academy when not uploading pictures for Bona Vita.
Tags: photography
Wow. I’ll have to check that out. And make you an Mom some coffee lol.
Blessings.
Kim
Photoshop is really overkill for me, so I’m going to give this a try. Thanks for the tip =D
Your daughter is charming! Neat program – actually, I think we have it because I think MY daughter has used it. I’ll have to pick her brain on it … Merry Christmas!
Susan
http://girlsinwhitedresses.wordpress.com
Emily you are brilliant! Thanks for all those wonderful tips & mainly for telling how you incredibly talented mother really is
lol. an enjoyable post for sure.
Hee hee….I really enjoyed your post Emily. Thank you for the wonderful tips.
Have a wonderful day.
Glad to know about this “cheaper than Photoshop” option! Thanks for passing it along.
Hello!
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting! I am enjoying your blog as well! I’m going to add you to my fav’s-I’d like to invite you to join my yakkers and follow my blog as well! Your photos are terrific! And the article from your daughter -fun point of view of her mom. Hope you have a nice Wednesday!
~Smiles~Tam!
What a great post, Emily! Your mom is definitely multi- talented!
Hey Emily,
What a great post. We have a mac and it does the things you mentioned. I wonder if the site will work for macs.
I had a guess your mom was a perfectionist about: everything! I love the story about the tiger striped shelf. Oh, and I’ll take ALL of her discarded photos. How does she stomach my awful pictures?? Oh well, she’s a sweetie. My Joanna is my photographer, and she sounds a lot like you. I think I would curl up in a ball and die if my kids gave the raw truth about me.
Blessings!
So THAT’S how you do it! I’m definitely going to check that out! Emily, I really enjoyed hearing from you… I hope you’ll post more often!
Thank you for the bloggy visit and the Paint.net tip…I am still struggling to get my way around Photoshop, so I will be trying our paint.net.
Wow, not only is your daughter’s post well-written, witty and funny, I am glad to get the tip about this new photo editing too! Thanks for both!
Carrie
And so the secrets are revealed! Many of us have been waiting to learn how she does it. However I find it hard to believe that your mother has ever had a cooking catastrophe!
I’m definitely going to head over to Paint.net. Thank you for sharing the information. Perhaps you should consider some watermarking software as well. Unfortunately people steal photos and watermarking might serve as a deterrent. You want to protect those gorgeous snaphshots.
I, too, enjoyed your post and hope to “see” you again!
Em this was such a treat! You are a great writer and I must say quite the comedian.
Miss you!