~Bona Vita~

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.