Create a Memory by Cropping and Color Correcting using CorrectPhoto

Last weekend at Kathryn’s 16th birthday party I took the photo on the left. While I captured Kathryn’s beautiful smiling face, Justine’s bemused look and someone’s (maybe mine) big toes detracted from her joyful moment. I wanted to post a photo on my Facebook page for Kathryn’s birthday and this shot was the best shot of her in the batch of photos I took. So, I created the memory of her birthday with a little cropping and color correction using CorrectPhoto.

Making a Portrait Memory-Crop the photo 

Crop photo with 3x4 cropping format

I used the 3×4 Portrait cropping format to frame Kathryn and eliminate the rest of the picture. Since I was going to upload the photo to Facebook I used the 3×4 format which is the best format for Facebook and is the same aspect ratio as the camera chip. If you were going to make a print for framing I would have used the 4×6 or 5×7 cropping format. And, with the OneClick color correction feature in CorrectPhoto I was able to make Kathryn come alive by a single click.

Resize before you upload to Facebook
I always resize (or scale) my photos to 640 X 480, the ideal Facebook size, before I upload the photos. It is a simple step in CorrectPhoto and the resizing algorithm is much better that Facebook’s.

Resize to 640 x 480 before uploading to Facebook

Add a title with ImageTitler
As an added touch I added a title to the photo before posting it. I used a simple program called ImageTitler to do this.

Add titles to photos with ImageTitler

Here is the final photo memory of Kathryn on her 16th birthday as posted on Facebook.

Facebook Photo-Edited with CorrectPhoto and titled with ImageTitler

It only took a few minutes with the right tools to create this memorable photo of Kathryn out of a mediocre photo. Actually, I think I will also make a print and frame it.

When the world (at least your Facebook Friends) are going to see the photos you post why not take a few minutes to turn them into photos you can be proud to share. It is really easy and fast and anyone can do it.

Wayne  www.correctphoto.com, www.imagetitler.com

Virginia on her 90th Birthday--Passed Away 1/31/10 at 92

This past week my wife and I traveled to St. Louis for my mother-in-law’s funeral. She passed away last Sunday at the age of 92 (she would have been 93 this month). The night before the funeral we were visiting with my wife’s four siblings and family when someone asked, “Should we have some photos of mom at the luncheon?”  Since most had traveled from other cities and nobody thought to bring photos the room was quiet. I finally volunteered that I had my laptop with photos from Mom’s 90th birthday party three years ago and from and Dad’s 70th wedding anniversary two years ago. I offered to select a few photos and put a little slide show together and make my laptop available at the luncheon.  While there were certainly a few people who took the time to view the photos, watching my father-in-law (he is also 92) in his wheelchair and relive those memories was a real joy.

Create Memories from a Snapshot
It doesn’t require a lot of work to turn and average snapshot into a memory.  And, you might be glad you did. I took this photo of Virginia at her 90th birthday party. I was standing in the back of the room when she received a phone call from one of her grandson’s who was away at school and couldn’t attend.  It was only after editing the photo that the joy the phone call gave to her became apparent.

Turn a Snapshot into a Memory with CorrectPhoto Editor

You can find out how I created this memory by going to:  http://www.correctphoto.com/CreateMemory.htm

Share the Memories.
There are, of course, many ways to share memories. However, in this particular case I had to use my laptop to quickly assemble and display a slide show.  Fortunately, I had my external drive with my photo files with me so I quickly went through the folders of the three events and selected photos I thought would be of interest. I copied the files to a new folder on my desktop (or you could create a new folder in the Pictures folder). (To learn more about organizing photos go to http://www.correctmyphotos.com/2009/12/07/a-simple-way-to-organize-your-photos/.)

Start the Slideshow
When it came time to start the slide show I right-clicked on the folder I had created and selected Preview.

Right Click on photo and select Preview

In Windows 7 the following preview window opens. There is a similar function in Windows 7 and Vista. If you are using XP and the folder containing the photos is in My Pictures you can select “View Slide Show” under the Picture Task window.

Click the Slide Show Button in the Center to launch the show

Then click on the Slide Show button in the middle and the show will begin and automatically cycle through the photos in the folder.

Lessons to Learn
There are a few lessons to learn from this brief discussion on creating and sharing memories. The first is to take a lot of photos at events you share with family and friends so you can share the memories in the future. Second, take the time to turn those snapshots into memories. It really is quite easy and fun to do. And, for those of you who didn’t know how to create a slide show on your computer you now know how to do it. You don’t need any special software. All you need is in the Windows operating system.

Here is one more photo memory of Virginia and her five children on her 90th birthday.

Create and Share a Memory-Virginia and her children on her 90th Birthday

Wayne,  wayne@correctphoto.com, www.correctphoto.com