Monday, April 2, 2012

Monkey See, Monkey Do

There's a new kid in town, being developed by some of the folks who did Picnik. Moody, isn't it?

Here's the original.

Here is the Gypsy we know and love...

And here is Gypsy after Picmonkey.

PicMonkey has a ton of features that will delight the tortured soul (and aren't we all) who want to play with their photos but don't have Photoshop.

Now, I confess, I never did play much with Picnik -- I didn't have the time. But when our IT person sent this link for us to practice with for work purposes -- well, I had to get informed! It would just be wrong not to!

Here are a few more examples. The original...

After Monkeying around!

This is my friend Jerry's courtyard in Paris before...

...and after!

And here is the gate to the cemetery where Monet is buried...

...and here's my Monkey version.

I share the photos below and their story with some hesitation, but I think it speaks to the power of photo techniques to alter a mood. This photo is of Kevin, who will graduate from college this June, taken when he was about 10. It was a glorious day at the lake as we rowed across in a rowboat way too big for him to handle, but there he was, gamely rowing away.

This photo is after alteration. I shared it with Rick, rather proud of myself with what I had done. His reaction was quite different, an extremely physical and emotional one, as he saw his youngest son, pushing forward into the future, while Kevin's brother and Rick were fading in the background.

What was a summer memory shot had become an emotionally charged imaged wrapped in memories. A different photo and experience altogether.

Now, I haven't refined this at all -- in fact, in the spirit of overkill, all of these were done using nearly all of the features (on the same photo). But I'm loving to play around with it. Give it a shot!

NOW AT CHOPSTICKS AND STRING: A look at Paula Byrne's "Mad World," a biography of Evelyn Waugh and the events and people that inspired "Brideshead Revisited."

24 comments:

beth said...

REALLY great editing, jeanie !!!

i have only played once on pic monkey and found it to be okay....
at least picnik lovers have something to fall back on, but pic monkey still has a long ways to go before they are truly like picnik with all the choices and extras.

and i know lots of people who would pay double what they paid for picnik if it could be duplicated.

and the emotions from rick....so sweet !!
xoxo

Joanne Huffman said...

You can never overestimate the emotional power of some photos. You know how I love playing with photos; it's all good.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Jeanie, I love what you did with all the graphics here. The bicycle is amazing. I use Picnik and will most certainly miss it. I also use Fotoflexer, but not as good. Will have to check this one out.
Thank you for the birthday wishes for my april fool. ;)
Much love!

Janet said...

I like what you were able to do with this program! And the timing couldn't be more perfect for me. Now I'm off to see what I can do with it. Thanks, Jeanie!!

joyce said...

Thank you Jeanie, I use Picnic a lot and have been looking for a replacement, judging from some of the comments above, this is not as good but I'll have to give it a whirl. Picnic was great!

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

Fascinating! I hadn't heard of this yet. Thanks so much, Jeanie! And especially loved the picture of the Gypsy! Especially the original. He's so beautiful!

Barb said...

Thanks for the tip, Jeanie - I use Picnik and will miss it. I'll "Monkey" around a bit.

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

Wow, that is awesome! I have never played around with photo editing. This looks really, really cool! Love all those pics!

Linda Jo said...

OH,I'm off to check it out. I have Photoshop Elements, but this looks EASY!!! Thank you!!! Hugs!

Friko said...

Interesting results. I can see why this should be a fascinating thing to do.

Ruth said...

Yes! Your gorgeously artistic eye has done beautifully, both in the original shot, and in the post processing.

Thank you, thank you for the news of this new site! I was heartbroken at the loss of picnik, as you know. I've already used picmonkey, and it has the same wonderful features as picnik. Yay!

shoreacres said...

Over at Weather Underground, we'd been in deep grief and went through them all. I went so far as to drag out my PS Elements and reinstall it. Sigh. Likewise, with Corel. I'd been through Photoscape, iPiccy and FotoFlexer - not to mention that Japanese-language-only site that has the mirrored frame - when PicMonkey showed up.

Great rejoicing was heard in the land! Also, if you follow them on twitter, you can communicate your requests - we're presently lobbying for mirrored frames and textures. ;)

The other site that's really quite marvelous is PhotoFiltre. (Yes, the spelling's right) It's been around for years, and I often use it in conjunction with PicMonkey because of the way you can "build" a frame. It also has textures, and the new version supports layers and transparencies. It's a free program - I downloaded it from Snapfiles, which has some reviews, too.

Tracy said...

VERY fun, and really wonderful editing you've done, Jeanie! I've been using the pro digital art program Corel Painter for years now and love it...come to think of it, I've not used anything else. But been hearing/seeing good things about the PicMonkey. Thanks for sharing your play time. :o) Happy Day, my friend ((HUGS))

Bella Rum said...

Wow on that last photo. Wow!
This looks like fun. Thanks for the link.

Vagabonde said...

I have not heard about this program – I’ll check it out. I rarely use Picnic as I do not edit my pictures very much. I have Photoshop Element but never used it. I like what you did to your pictures – but you are creative in so many way – I like your postcards too. I do it the easy way – I collect vintage cards and show them as is, you create cards – that’s a lot more difficult.

BECKY said...

Oh my goodness! I haven't heard of this yet. And thank goodness! LOL It would be another fun thing that I'd allow to take too much of my time! Acckkk! How do we manage to get anything done anymore?? Great photos, Jeanie!

The Artful Diva said...

I want that pink bike!

Arti said...

real cool! Good that you have your own IT specialist to update you with state of the art recommendations. I use iPhoto that comes with my Mac laptop, and it can change a photo into sepia, or b/w, or what not, but don't think I can do stuff like you did here.

Privet and Holly said...

I've bookmarked this
site but have yet to
use it, so thank you
for the introduction!!
I think I might fall down
the rabbit hole if I spend
too much time over there : )
Happy Easter, Jeanie!

xx Suzanne

Mia Folkmann said...

I have always loved taking pictures and it is amazing what you can do today... :-)

Your story about the orange cat reminds me of my cat Puskis. I don't have her anymore - she lived to be an old lady - but she moved into my house and my heart just like your Gypsy.

The Old Parsonage said...

Soo cool - love the effects.I'll have to check it out.

Happy Easter!
Leann

Jennifer Richardson said...

awesome, jeanie
pure awesomeness!!!
-Jennifer

Rosa said...

I love them! I'm going to have to give it a try!!! Thanks!!!!

~*~Patty S said...

fun seeing your "monkeying" around Jeanie and ooh la laa on your Paris pics!
oxo

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