Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Forget twitter, I have a different obsession

It's Monday Tuesday morning and what else is there to do but upload pics I took on the weekend and play with my new obsession. A cool program called Piknik. It's got so much fun stuff you can do with your pictures. And the best of all is you can do most of it for free. But I'm so thinking I'm going to get the upgraded program because this is too much fun!

So this weekend, hubby and I, decided to shake up our bike riding a bit and chose to walk a path down in the coulees that we've never been on before. It's only been around a couple of years yet we've never ventured down it. And by "down", I mean down. To the river valley. So Saturday was the day.


HDRish feature

We grabbed the dog, who was ultra excited to come along and see the bikes left in the garage, and set off. At first we were by ourselves on the path but soon we could see a lady coming way at the top of the path with her dog. But as you can see I took the camera. So I was stopping constantly to take pictures. I found all sorts of cool coulee vegetation that I'd not seen before. Like this flower:



basic auto fix feature (fixes exposure automatically)

focal B&W feature

collage feature


This first flower in the collage was gorgeous. I've never seen that either with it's rich pinks and purples. Please say you like it because I went off the path through the dry grass and prickly stuff to get the shot of it. The funny little cone flower I've seen before but haven't a clue what's it's called. It's not dying or distressed, that is how it grows. And following up last is our own provincial flower which is the Wild Rose.


original

1960's feature

I braved a buzzing bee to get the shot of that little orange beetle on the purple thistle. And if you know me at all, you'd know my great aversion to flying, buzzing, striped black and yellow insect varieties. What I won't do for my blogging buddies.

So remember that lady who was behind us? Hubby said at the rate I was taking pictures she would soon be passing us. And I laughed and called him crazy. Well, ahem.


focal soften feature

Uhm, yeah, she's that tiny yellow dot at the bottom of the path that you can see right before the path curved. Yup she hoofed it right passed me. Hmph. But we did make it down to the bottom, took a breather and then we turned ourselves around. Now we were uphill all the way, baby! Joy. I tell ya my lungs and glutes and hamstrings were lecturing me about the point 3/4 of the way back.
focal zoom feature



Okay enough playing. I need to go dust or scrub a tub or something.

12 comments:

Sandra said...

That looks like a fun program, I love all the different effects.

Robin Lambright said...

Cool, I'll be checking it out. A friend has used it i think!!!!

Blessings
Robin

Donnetta said...

What fun effects! I've been playing around with my camera lately. Now if I could just find a bit of extra time to try out this new link... :-)

Barbie @ Mamaology said...

You've become quite the photographer!!!!:) I have to go check out that program you linked.

What a fun way to stay active, be with your hubby, and enjoy God's creation!:)

Have a wonderful week.

Tina Leigh said...

I love the pictures! Looks like yall had a great ride.

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

OK, I am so going to try this.

Barbara H. said...

One of my sons likes to play with special effects on photos. I'll have to tell him about this.

Laura said...

Wow if I didn't know better, I'd think you lived in the desert!

nikkipolani said...

Fun options, Susanne! It's clear you've got a lot of material to work with and lots of permutations to try out :-) Try this free program, too: tiltshiftmaker.com It makes your citiscapes look like photo of a miniature.

gail@more than a song said...

Your pictures are so pretty! I so need a new camera.
My new obsession is facebook!
I saw in your post below that you mentioned Canada day....so my son is in Alaska again and I haven't seen him since April but he did finally friend me on facebook so I could see his pictures. I think he must spend a lot of time in the Yukon on tours as well; his status one day was all about celebrating Canada day!

FlipFlop Mom said...

Your pictures are FABULOUS!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!

Can you pretty pretty please with sugar on top tell me how to put your name across a picture...???? I NEED to do that.. long story.. but it's a must!!

Andrea said...

Hi, first time to find your blog. Your middle picture in the set is the Mexican Hat. Down here in Central Texas they are the last to bloom of our spring flowers and come out in late April, early May. Some varieties also have a dark brown close to the center. They are VERY heat resistant. I was surprised to see one in your picture. Neat site and pictures!