correctmyphotos

USA 15 Star Flag Flying over Floyd’s Monument, Sioux City, IA.

15 Star Flag at Floyd Monument, Sioux City, IA

This past weekend my wife and I took a little road trip from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls, SD by way of Sioux City, IA (Nebraska and SD).  Why? Well, when our trip to a friend’s cabin in Spearfish Canyon, SD was cancelled we decided to take a couple of days and see the eastern part of South Dakota. And, another friend suggested we go to Sioux City where South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska join.  So we did and that is where we learned about Sergeant Charles Floyd. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know who he is. No one I ask, even those who grew up in SD and IA, know who he is either.

Sergeant Floyd’s Claim to Fame—He Died!
That’s right. Sergeant Floyd’s claim to fame is that he was the only person to die on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Quite remarkable that only one person died on that famous trip across the US. Here is a link if you are interested in learning more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Floyd_(explorer)

The 15 Star Flag—The Digital Photo Lesson
The flag flying over Floyd’s Monument has 15 stars representing the 15 states comprising the US when Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  Trying to capture the flag to show all of the stars turned out to be a challenge, however. But, as I have said before, one of the benefits of a digital camera is that you can take lots of shots to get a usable one. This is the best of about 10 shots I took.  Even with the multiple shots I still needed to edit the photo with CorrectPhoto. Here is a before and after comparison.

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Sometimes you just have to see better color to know.
The other day our Rotary Club  cooked 250 hot dogs for the Burnsville Kids of Summer program’s final day, a project we have done for about 20years. Heather and I took a few photos of the event. When I got back to the office I edited a few with CorrectPhoto and sent them to Heather for our clubs website. She went back to her office and uploaded a few of my photos with a few of hers. (Heather is the editor of our club’s website.) Now Heather does have CorrectPhoto and loves it, however, she has it on her home computer and not on her office computer so she bypassed the photo editing step and uploaded uncorrected photos. (Sound familiar?) When I saw the photo gallery of the event I mentioned to my friend Bill and mentioned the fact that Heather hadn’t had time to color correct her photos. His comment was, “Only you would know that?” That is really not true, but it did get me to thinking about how does one really know the color is not right? I guess the reality is that most people just accept the color they get from their digital camera and don’t realize that the color could be better. So, do you think the color is right or okay in the following photo?

Is the Color Right? Look at the mustard bottle and the girls shirt.

Now compare it with this photo. Now, doesn’t the original photo look dull and lifeless compared with the color corrected one?

Look at the mustard bottle and the girl's shirt to see the difference in color

Do you need to see the photos side by side to tell the difference? (continue reading…)

I updated the theme of my Blog today. I got tired of the pink text in the old theme. As I said when I started the correctmyphotos blog, blogging is a new adventure for me so I continue to learn and try new things. The latest version of WordPress has made it easier to find and install new themes so I might change themes a few times over the next few months.  Let me know what you think of the new them.

Wayne http://www.correctphoto.com

Or, What to do when you retire.

My friend Bob is a fascinating guy. After a career teaching math at both the Junior High and High School in Burnsville, MN he started a second career as a financial advisor.  Now, in “semi-retirement” living in the Villages in Florida for six months out of the year he decided to become an artist.  After a few lessons he quickly surpassed the instructor and has become quite good. His subject matter so far has been interesting landscapes painted from photos. When Bob and his wife were back in Minnesota for the Christmas Holidays I told him about The Burnsville Rotary Club’s upcoming Concert For Caring Fund Raiser and he volunteered to paint a picture of a Burnsville scene and donate it to the silent auction. The catch was that I had to select the “Burnsville Scene” for him to paint and provide the photo. I gave him two to choose from, a winter shot of our Centennial Park garden and a fall scene of Gemstone Park.  Bob chose the more colorful photo (not a surprise-who wants to paint snow when you are in Florida) and here is a photo of the painting. Bob is even donating the frame. Below Bob’s painting I included the photo Bob used. You can see that Bob added his own creative touches. It seems he prefers blue skies and blue water. Maybe he is spending too much time in Florida.

Gemstone Park, Artist: Bob Karp 2009Gemstone Park Photo

I took this photo on my way to the office last fall. It was a beautiful fall morning with bright sun and no wind. As I drove past I couldn’t resist taking the photo even though I had to go back home to pick up my camera.  Since one never knows when something worth photographing is going to pop up it is a good idea to keep you camera charged up and in the car. And, who would have thought that this photo would turn into wonderful painting by a new artist.

Gemstone Park Photo

Bob started painting pictures about the time he turned 70. So, we are never to old to learn something new. At his point I plan to continue taking the pictures and let Bob do the painting. But, one never knows. Something to think about.

Wayne http://www.correctphoto.com

BTW, I did use CorrectPhoto with OneClick Color to make the color right before I made the print to give to Bob.

Gemstone Park-Original Photo before CorrectPhoto OneClick Color

Ritz Camera and Proex Photo Stores Closing–Try Phopar or Sam’s Club

Yesterday morning in the business section of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune there was an article announcing the closing of 19 out of 24 Ritz Camera and Proex (owned by Ritz) in the Twin City area. That is too bad since Ritz was one of the online/retail photo printers we recommended on the CorrectPhoto Website.  I like to fix my photos and then upload them to either Ritz or Wal-Mart Sam’s Club  and pick them up. Recently, I have been using Sam’s club more frequently because of the cost and Sam’s Club was a bit more convenient.  Maybe that is why Ritz is closing stores. So, I guess I will continue to use Sam’s Club when I want prints in a few hours or a day or so.

Don’t Wait in Line at Sam’s Photo Kiosks (or any other for that matter).
Another observation of mine that was reinforced as my wife and I entered Sam’s Club yesterday is that one should never waste time using or waiting for a Photo Kiosk to order prints. There must have been a half dozen people waiting “patiently” while the people at the kiosks selected, tried to edit, and order prints. If you have ever used one you will know what I mean so I won’t get into the details.  My suggestion is that you edit your photos on your own computer and then upload them to your favorite photo service and either have them mailed to you or pick them up.  You can find a number of posts in this blog on editing your photos so I won’t get into the editing options. Suffice it to say that you will save a lot of time and end up with better prints if you follow this advice.

Which Online Photo Service Should You Use?
There are, of course, many to choose from. If you want to pick up your prints in a couple of hours or the next day then I would suggest Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart because they are generally conveniently located in both large and small communities and they certainly aren’t going to go out of business. And, more importantly, the quality of the prints made with the Fuji printers is very good. Better yet, you can’t beat the price. But, remember that it will cost more if you want your prints in an hour or two.

Now, if you can be a little patient and wait for the mail you can use Shutterfly or one of my favorite labs located in Appleton, Wisconsin, Phopar.  Phopar is owned and operated by Ozzie Rapp, a friend of ours for many years. While you might pay a little more it is worth it for the extra care and attention Ozzie and his staff will give you. And, besides that Ozzie is a really nice guy with a bunch of grandchildren that adore him.

After reading the Ritz announcement and visiting Sam’s Club I just had to share my opinion on photo kiosks. Obviously, not everyone will agree with my opinion, particularly the stores that provide them and the manufacturers that produce them. So, try both approaches to ordering prints and make up your own mind.

Wayne     http://www.correctphoto.com