Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy: The Online Diary of a Central Oregon Grandmother

Welcome to the online diary of a Central Oregon Grandmother (me) who is busy celebrating the positive portions of her everyday life ... along with her best friend husband (Cary). It is quite an eclectic diary and I try to do my best to incorporate a little bit of history into many of my posts. Your visit to our piece of American Pie is greatly appreciated. This chatty Kathy posts frequently, so coming back to visit often is highly encouraged.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday #159: Soft Shadows and Using "Picnick"

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

The picture of Casey above is right out of the camera. I didn't do anything to it. He is inside the house at dusk, looking out the window at me. I'm pretty pleased with this one, even though it looks a bit creepy. (I think that Casey looks sweet, it is just that I can barely make out the bunches of rhododendrons in the space above his head, and they look like the faint outline of a head or something. My eyes always do that to me!)

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

These are some of the pretty things I found in

my daughters' home (Kari and Kristin).

Do you enjoy using the fun features on your photo editing programs? Sometimes I do. I use Picasa 3 (it's free!). I created the collage above in that program. Under the basic options of Picasa 3, there is "Picnick". It offers many free features too. For the following two pictures, I chose "Sketch", "Museum Boarder" and the "Text" options:

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

To see the post that I made earlier this week all about "The Drain Castle", please CLICK HERE.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

To see the post that I did this week on The Hasard House in Drain, Oregon, please CLICK HERE.

I think that these would make cool greeting cards. What do you think? Have a wonderful weekend, everybody, and thank you so much for stopping by to visit and comment.

~ Kathy M.

This is a Shadow Shot Sunday post. Please visit Tracy at "Hey Harriet" and see beautiful shadow shots from around the world by CLICKING HERE TO GO TO "HEY HARRIET".


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14 comments:

Sylvia K said...: These are terrific, Kathy! I really enjoy using Picnik and Picasa as you know! I love what you've done with these and they would make perfect holiday cards!! Hope you're having sun today like we are! It's gorgeous! Have a great weekend!!

Sylvia; June 4, 2011 at 10:05 AM
Ms. Burrito said...: So beautiful!!

Can I invite you to join the meme I just launched? It is called Color Connection, you can just post anything with color of your choice. Hope you can join the fun. Thank you!; June 4, 2011 at 11:37 AM
forgetmenot said...: I love Picasa and Picnik--they are both such fun. Love the castle--so ornate and pretty--I'll check out the post on it. Have a nice weekend-those 2 days sure come and go quickly. Mickie; June 4, 2011 at 11:40 AM
Ralph said...: The light on the top photo bends around the draperies (or trim?), and it is quite imaginative - it seems to me a bolt of lightning, or the blade of a saw. And so artistic!

The large old houses are beautiful by themselves. Your edits of both are wonderful, sketched in pencil or perhaps charcoal. Lovely finds!; June 4, 2011 at 1:04 PM
Kay L. Davies said...: Oh, you're having so much fun here, Kathy! Still, I like the first photo best, right out of the camera.
Funny you should mention greeting cards. I just entered a photo of our dog Lindy in a hallmark.ca funny animal greeting cards contest.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel; June 4, 2011 at 1:06 PM
Arkansas Patti said...: If Casey had managed a sinister leer, that would have been creepy.
I don't use either, maybe I should.; June 4, 2011 at 2:10 PM
Gloria (The Little Red House with the White Porch) said...: Good for you for trying out new programs and things, Kathy! And I love the photos of the houses!
Best,
Gloria
P.S. My name is showing up below, so I think this comment will actually post! ;); June 4, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Ms. Becky said...: wow, what a smorgasbord of photos to look at. I love the colorful houses. and I love the photo of Casey too; I don't find it creepy, but moody and introspective and artistic. It could be a painting by a Dutch Master. very cool. I like to play around in Picnik even though I have Elements 9, because it's faster and easier! happy SSS, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend Kathy.; June 4, 2011 at 3:25 PM
Hey Harriet said...: Great shadow shots and I love what you've done with the editing of those other photos! Wow! It is fun playing around with the editing programs and we're so lucky to have such a great variety of free ones available online. I hope you're having a lovely weekend so far :); June 4, 2011 at 7:58 PM
TICKLEBEAR said...: interesting architecture in your area.
:)~
HUGZ; June 4, 2011 at 9:24 PM
Joan said...: What a pretty house!
I use Picasa and Picnik too. It's fun to put a different spin on the photos.; June 5, 2011 at 8:52 AM
chubskulit said...: Really nice shadow patterns and that castle is gorgeous!

Shadow shots, have a great week ahead.; June 5, 2011 at 9:22 PM
tony said...: What A Stunning & Beautiful Building!; June 9, 2011 at 3:13 AM
Antonella said...: These are great! I love the sketch option... I haven't given picasa a try but these are absolutely beautiful - it helps that the pictures you started with have so much detail! I am glad that I followed your link from Shadow Shot Sunday, I too am linking up if you'd like to visit.
Hugs, antonella
My post: http://quilling.blogspot.com/2011/06/simply-sunday_11.html; June 12, 2011 at 3:37 AM