Digital Photo Alteration Contest

Have you ever had that almost perfect picture and wished there was some way to remove just one little bit from it? How about loving the way someone looks in a picture, just wishing they were in a different setting? Or have you ever seen your daughter as a magical fairy princess and just not been able to create that magic look in a photo? Here is your chance to win a photo alteration of your own.

Here is a little bit of background info:
I do not use Photoshop. I know, shocker right? I used it a very long time ago, but found a full version program on a disk my mother had for her scanner called Ulead PhotoImpact and began using that. (I just followed the link and saw that they are offering this program for download for only $19.99! Great price!) I used it for years, verion 4. I now own verion X3 which is much more advanced with a lot more editing options. I am self taught with this program, picking up hints from different sites here and there and of course the Help option in the program itself.

How to Enter:
First, I would like for you to visit my Flickr account and take a look at some of the photo alterations I have done in the past. Then post a comment telling me which image you liked the best. There are quite a few on there and I will understand if you don't look through them all. This will be mandatory for entry.

Additional Entries (please enter seperate comments for each of these):
Post a blog of your own telling about this contest.
Add me on Facebook. (Link available to the left)
Add me on Twitter. (Link available to the left)
Become a Follower of my blog.

Contest Details:
I will run the contest for a week. All comments must be posted by midnight Sunday, December 13th to be eligible for the drawing. I am making this a short one in case someone is looking to use their winning image for a Christmas gift. Once I announce the winner (be sure I have your e-mail address so I can notify you) you will have 2 days to e-mail me the image you want altered with a brief desciption of what you would like done with it. I will then take the photo and alter it to your specifications to the best of my ability. I will also create a couple of extra altered images and e-mail them back to you for approval. You may then choose the one you like best and I will email you the full size image of the alteration you chose. At that point, the image is yours to do with as you see fit. I will post the altered image in a later post on my blog and would love for you to do the same. With any luck this will all be accomplished before the 20th, plenty of time for you to have a print or multiple prints made. Personally I have used Wal-Mart's online photo printing with great success. You can upload your photo, choose your sizes, and send them to the 1 hour photo printing to be processed. Of course larger prints and actual gift items may take longer, see their website for details.

What I can't do:
I can't sharpen an image that is really blurry. To some extent I can enhance the edges, but it does not always come out like a crisp focused image.
I can't brighten a super dark photo. I can add brightness, but any details that were lost by the darkness of the original image will still be lost.
I can't do photo costmetic 'surgery'. I have seen some YouTube videos of people who are able to change people's looks completely, make them thinner, longer hair, add makeup, etc. I have not really tried to do that so please don't ask it of me.

What I can do:
I can remove an unwanted item from the background.
I can totally replace a background.
I can remove minor blemishes and the appearance of wrinkles.
I can change the color of items in the image without losing detail.
I can turn a photo into a work of art.

If you have something you want done that I have not listed in the cans and can'ts then just ask me. I don't have room here to list everything that I can and can not do. I guess that about sums it up then, let the comments begin!!!

Facebook, Twitter, & SITS

So, being new to the whole blogging scene I have recently learned the value of having a Facebook and Twitter account. I first was introduced to MySpace and I have used it regularly. I set up a Facebook a while back, but never did much with it, and I'd heard of Twitter, but never had the inclination to sign up for yet another social website that I most likely would ignore as I did Facebook. Anyway, I'm trying to get this blog up and going and I think I'm doing 'ok' so far. I haven't had it that long and I am up to a whopping 11 followers (really, I'm not being sarcastic!!). The growth (near doubling) of my followers is all thanks to SITS, or The Secret is in the Sauce group that was recommended to me by a friend and fellow blogger. If you are not already a member and looking to get your blog going, you should check them out http://www.thesitsgirls.com/
They are very friendly and extremely helpful.

So there it is. I am now a new (again) member of Facebook and a new (for the first time) member of Twitter. I will be sure to add links to add me, follow me, or whatever the correct term is for that, at a later date. Have a good night and I'll be posting the contest entry tomorrow!! Yes, I will be going through with the contest! Thanks to the SITS girls (and Lynette who sent me there) I believe I have enough people interested in this to go ahead with it. I will work out all the specifics and post a blog about it tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has began following me and for your interest in my contest!

Contest? Of sorts...

Ok, I keep seeing and hearing about all these giveaways and contests on other people's blogs. So I'm thinking to myself, I love contests (having them, not being in them cause I never win anything usually). How am I going to have a contest when I have only just started this blog, and I don't have the followers and the resources to get the 'free items' to give away. So I had this idea, I can't afford to buy anything to give away so what if I made something. Actually, it would be more like altering something. Some of my few readers are good friends of mine and are familiar with my love of altering photos. I can change a photo a little or a lot depending on how I feel it needs to be changed. for instance, something as simple as making a B&W photo out of a color photo and re-entering one accent color for punch.

Or do a lot of color saturation and other techniques to turn a regular fairy into a bright and intense fairy.

Or how about introducing the main subject onto a different background.

and another example...

I have also had some success in the past with making old photos that had turned red, if not totally original color, at least less red and with some color replaced. I can also remove simple unwanted objects from the original background, like the window blinds from this one.

Sorry, I did not keep the original image on this one.

So here's the deal... I need to know if anyone would be interested in something like this as a giveaway contest. Basically I would have you post a comment to enter, telling me what photo you want 'altered' and how. After a length of time I will pick a winner and alter thier photo how they wish (or to the best of my ability). Catches...of course there is a catch. The image needs to be digital to start with, as large as possible. And I will return the altered image to you as a digital file. You will have the opportunity to print as many as you want, the cost will be your responsibility. To make sure there is enough interest, I would like to see at least 10 different people comment that they are interested. So those of you who read my blog already, if you like the idea, post a link about this on your blog.

Thanks for reading!!