Wasp in Space

I was playing with the cloning feature on Picnik and my 6 year old Eric said, "put the moon on that apple". Thus, "wasp in space" was born.

I started with a photo of half-eaten apple on the tree (wasp included). I then found a photo I'd taken of the full moon.

 

Using Picnik:

1. Open photo of apple.
2. Create a "before/after frame". that gives me apple in 2 different frames.
3. Using the 'photo basket', drag the photo of the moon up on top of the right-side frame and resize it to be the right size for the apple.
4. Flatten the photo using "combine all items".
5. Use the clone tool to "paint" the moon onto the left-side frame. Use the brush feature to get it just right.
6. When finished, crop the image to leave only the left-side frame.
7. To get the black background, I used the doodle tool to colour in the background .
8. Finally, a frame and some text.

Eric had a good idea, didn't he?

A change in the air

more photos from curiouskiwi

So, anyone who knows me knows that I’m always on the lookout for new things to try. Several of my Flickr friends are leaving Flickr and have moved to 23. So, I’ve opened an account there (well, to tell the truth, it seems I opened the account back in Apr 2006, so I’ve “reopened” it) and am posting a few photos. I’m not leaving Flickr, but I don’t want to miss out on my friends’ photos either.

Using iPhoto ‘09 to backup your Flickr photos

I’ve just come across an interesting “feature” of the iPhoto ‘09 Flickr integration.

As background, when you upload photos from iPhoto ‘09 to Flickr, the photos are put into a new set on Flickr, and that set is then set to sync with iPhoto. Any changes to the photos in that set are reflected in your iPhoto library.

I wondered what would happen if I removed a photo from the set on Flickr (but not on iPhoto), hoping that it wouldn’t delete the photo from iPhoto (as that is what happens if you change your mind and delete the photo on Flickr… the photo is deleted in iPhoto as well).

It seems that if the photo is removed from the set on Flickr, all ties to the ‘flickr album’ on iPhoto are broken, and any title/desc/tag changes on Flickr do not get synced back to iPhoto. The photo is removed from the Flickr album but is not deleted from the Library.

However, if you then add the photo back into the Flickr set, a brand new original-sized copy is downloaded and imported into your iPhoto library (so now you’ll have 2 copies of the same photo). I thought, ooh, I don’t know if I like that… but, it dawned on me that this could be a good feature if you are trying to backup a lot of your flickr photos and their metadata.

showing "pending" backups into Library from Flickr set

Simply upload one photo from iphoto to flickr to create a new ’synced’ set. Then, using the Organizr, add the photos you want to backup into that set. Go back to iPhoto and sync that Flickr album and it will go out and grab the largest file on Flickr, including all tags/titles/descriptions, and import them into iPhoto.

The filenames will be the same as the photo original on flickr, eg., 176709303_026f53b3c0_o.jpg.

If you leave the photos in that synced set, any further changes on Flickr (ie, new tags etc) will be synced to the copy in iPhoto. Or you can simply copy those new files to another drive or backup disk, remove them from the set on Flickr, and delete them from your iPhoto library.

Voila! A quick backup of your photos, including their titles/tags/descriptions from Flickr.

Disclaimer. This worked for me but you might want to test it yourself.

spur-winged plovers – cloned

spur-winged plovers

Originally uploaded by Brenda Anderson.

Picnik has released a new Clone Tool (found in the Advanced tab). The fun thing is it lets you both clone & erase, so for this one, I was able to place the birds and clone only the bird itself, so that it blended into the background. Can you guess which 2 birds are in the original photo?

Delivering the Mail, Commons Style

Flickr Commons is a new group on Flickr that I’m really excited about. It is dedicated to spreading the word and enjoyment of the archival goodness that is The Commons on Flickr.

One of the fun bits is what we call “mini-curation”… going through photos from Commons institutions and creating a thread showcasing a particular theme.

I did one on Delivering the Mail, Commons style, including the one shown here from the Smithsonian Institution. Fun!

If you enjoy The Commons as much as I do, I encourage you to join the Flickr group and start participating.

Online life…fractured

Been thinking a lot lately about my “online” life. I know I’m not the only one who has multiple blogs, sites, accounts, etc. spread out all over the web. One need only google “curiouskiwi” to see all the places I live online. (Note. not all of those are me, but the vast majority are!)

So, what to do? Ignore the issue? That’s what I’ve been doing all these years. Is there any advantage to having multiple sites? Would I better to consolidate in one (or two..) places so as not to fracture my life any further? What have you done? Do you find yourself with lots of blogs but not a lot of updates? Would your time be better spent nurturing one site?

Utata Projects

We’ve been doing projects over at Utata for almost 3 years now, and I always find inspiration in my photography through them.

I thought it would be fun to show all the different topics we’ve tackled, so I created this wordle.

I love how a graphic can convey so much information.

A Chorus of Millions

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

I’ve set up a personal fundraising goal of $1000… I’m asking all my friends who want to contribute to do so today!

Yes We Can

An independent tribute for Barack Obama’s campaign:

Another Kennedy for Obama

Watch Ted Kennedy’s endorsement.