resizing pictures for your blog

Jen asked about this on my last post (hi, Jen!) and since I've written it out in email a few times before, I decided it would be a good idea to write it out here. If you already know how, skip this. Or better yet, if you know any different ways (or shortcuts! I love shortcuts!), leave them in the comments.

making pictures large isn't hard, but it is a bit of a process. I'm going to assume photoshop, photobucket and blogger for this, because that's what I use, so that's what I know how to use.

step one: resizing your photo.

• go to image>image size.


• enter the exact size you want your photo to appear. save.


• my verticals are usually 400 pixels wide, my horizontals 700.


• I created resizing actions to make this step even quicker.

step two: photohosting.

• if you have not already, sign up for a photohosting sight. (I use photobucket-it's free and very user-friendly.)


• upload your sized photo.


• underneath the thumbnail of you newly uploaded picture, click on and copy the 'direct link' code.

step three: blogger

• click on the same 'load pictures' icon you normally would.


• there are two empy boxes. Paste the code in 'add image from web', on the right.


• behold! large pictures.

possible step four:

• depending on your blog template, large horizontals might not fit inside the main column. in order to fix this, switch to 'edit html' mode while composing in blogger.


• locate the main column. if you are unfamiliar with html (like me) an easy way to do this is to add text and then look for it.


• adjust pixel width to accomodate.
  

the end. I hope that helps!

(I was serious about the short cuts though; for reals, share.)

haunted

Today was not a picture taking kind of day, so I thought instead I'd answer a question. A few people have asked me about this picture in the past:

i believe this is called ghosting.

(although, i could be wrong.)

it's very simple: a long exposure during which whatever you want to be ghostly is only present part of the time. For example, the above shot was taken at night in a very dark room with minimal stairway lighting and a long exposure. I set the shutter speed to bulb, which means I clicked the shutter open AND I clicked it closed. For this picture the shutter was open for close to a minute and I was sitting on the stair for twenty or thirty seconds of it. This is straight of out camera.

I also liked this version, where I was walked down the stairs veeeerrrry sloooooowly:

yesterday is a good example, too. It was a much shorter exposure, but the same principle.

so, yes. ghosting. cool looking, but not hard. I love it.