before and after

Many of my vintage teammies have sung the praises of picnik.com for many months.  I reluctantly checked out the site a couple of days ago.  I always figured my rather obsolete iPhoto program was sufficient for the exposure and cropping that I needed, though I was frustrated by the minimal retouching capabilities.  And I have resisted learning PhotoShop.

I'm a convert!  Super user friendly program!
For free, I experimented with some controlled focus and airbrushing tools.  The site displays the premium tools to entice and for about 19 dollars I upgraded to a six month membership to be able to use them and the storage capabilities.  Here are a few before and afters.

This vintage Orrefors crystal in now in the shop.  The image has been recropped, brightened.  I used the soft focus tool to bring the center of the shot more into focus.  The blemish remover kissed those two little pinholes in the wall good-bye.  The folds in the napkin were softened with the airbrush tool.

 I loved how this wonderful cedar wood tree sculpture was mimicked by the glass containers behind it.  But the hard, west light was playing peek-a-boo through the pattern in the window shades in the upper left corner.  I experimented with the clone tool to minimize it.

I brightened the shot overall.

Lots of fun here.  I shot these sweet little onyx animal carvings as a group on my surface.
 Often a reference is needed for size so I also shot them in my hand.  

I used the soft focus again and a few wrinkle reducers.  The bad stuff in the lower corners were cloned out (still workin' this one)  

Then I tried the 1960's color filter for a warmer look and a subtle zoom effect.  Lastly I used the holga border effect and saved it in picnik's before and after.  

I took a break from the computer, took a nice walk.  Richard came in from working outside, placed his hat and tools on the counter.  The little donkey went flying, its two feet severed when it hit the ceramic tile.  I was tempted to throw the shrimp pasta after it.  I may try to repair him, but the exercise in retouching has been of more value than the object.  

The Orrefors is safely put away.