Mr. Bill Goat

Today it is all about the picture. I took this picture of a goat in Spanish Fork Utah. Rural areas offer a rich number of subjects to photograph from farm animals to various domestic and wild plants. Don't make a trip out of the city without your trusty camera.

By Joshua Kirton
Turkey Picture and Family Focus

Interested in contributing to Picture our World?

Taking Pictures of Animals: The King Vulture

Photography of animals is easily done. You can find animals in your back yards, parks, zoos, and in the wild around you. Don't be afraid of letting the shutter close time and time again. Not every shot is gold, but by taking pictures you will get valuable experience in shot selection. Another reason to just keep taking pictures is that animals are rarely cooperative. To be sure you are going to end up with a good picture that is focused well, and is not blurry take a couple extra pictures.

It is good to be king. Long live the king. This guy is a king vulture found in Central and South America. I took this picture not only to capture the striking coloration of this bird but to capture the the majesty of this giant bird. He is truly a king among mere mortals.

This beautiful creature the king vulture, lives for up to thirty years in the lowland forests ranging from Mexico to Argentina. They occasionally make kills, but generally eat carrion feeding on the carcasses of anything they can find.

King vultures are not endangered, but are a rare find in the wild. Deforestation in South America has contributed to the rarity of seeing this majestic site.

By Joshua Kirton
Other animal photography: Meerkats, Snowy Egret, Eastern Great Egret, and Iguana

Interested in contributing to Picture our World?

How to Add a Signature to a Photo.

Putting a signature bloc on your photography is a must if you are going to put it on the internet. If you want any kind of credit for your work you to keep honest those who do not want to pay or acknowledge others. You will find your work all over the internet, without and credit if you leave this step out. You can use this as a good way to advertise as well, as your photos proliferate. Just remember to put it in a place that will ruin the photo if it is edited or cropped out. The are many programs that will facilitate putting a watermark, or signature of some kind on a photograph. Here are a few ways to insert a signature without purchasing an expensive program.

The first and easiest method is using paint. You can simply open the photograph in paint which is available with most PCs and use the text box tool to insert text. Depending on the resolution of the photograph you will want to change the size of the font. Using this method you can also choose the color and style of the font used. Here is an example using paint.

This photo is a modernized still life of college nutritional habits.

The next method will require you to have an account with Picasaweb. If you have a Google account just sign into Picasa with your info, and you will automatically have access to this tool, if not sign up for a free account. Picasa is both a downloadable and online software for editing photos produced by Google. You can set an option to automatically place a signature when uploading to your online album.

Another option is Picknik the online photo editing software by Google. This tool has many more options than the downloadable version, and can work in-sync with picasa. You do not need an account to use this tool. You upload your picture, double click on it to enlarge it. Click the action button, In Picnik you can add text in many more fonts than in paint. Just choose the font you like, the size, and color. If you use a white text you can simulate a water mark available in some of the more expensive software programs.

Have fun exploring what you can do to your photos with these free tools.

By Joshua Kirton

Other Great Posts: Focus and I Saw the Sign

Interested in contributing to Picture Our World?