Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Sometimes, less is more. You know, when the racks or shelves are too full, you eliminate the clutter.

Well, it’s s good thing to do the same with your photos. Whether you’re posting on your site, your blog, Facebook or Twitpix (more about THAT later…let’s just say right now there are better alternatives that are just as easy) you want people to focus on the good parts of your picture. Cropping does this after the fact.

One of the easiest ways to crop your picture (and adjust how dark or light it is, add some wording and so much more) is an online program called Picnik. You can use the free version at their site or pony up for the paid version ($25 a year) which gets you much more…that’s what I do.

Let’s take a look at what I mean.

A bit more info than we need, which is distracting

Less distraction, more focus on the dress.

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Even with a posed, live model, it’s easy to overlook what’s going on at the edges of a photo until it’s done. Cropping to the rescue again:

Good choice of backdrop, just a bit too wide...

Now, it looks like a professional shot!

And here’s a picture that needed several things done to it:

Using Picnik, we got rid of the red eye, adjusted the exposure sharpened the focus a bit, and cropped so the young couple was the subject of the shot. All in less than 5 minutes.

Suitable for framing!

Now, a lot of folks are hesitant to spend the $25 to upgrade. But take it from me…the wrinkle eraser (and the “take 10 pounds off me”) is worth it!

One more “cut it out” tip for photos? Only show your best shot if you’ve got 3 or 4 of the same thing. And fer Pete’s sake, delete those out-of-focus shots.