Gimp Image Editing Software

So, I went out to lunch with my good friend Rick the other day, and I was telling him about my new hobby. I also happened to mention that I was using Picasa for my image editing software because I was too cheap to buy Photoshop. Rick suggested that I try Gimp. Gimp is image editing software that can be downloaded for free and is basically a poor man's Photoshop. It has many of the same features as Photoshop such as curves, cloning, layers, etc. I realize that those fortunate individuals out there who actually own Photoshop probably consider it blasphemy to even mention Gimp in the same post as Photoshop, and I'll admit that Gimp isn't perfect, but it gives you a lot of options at an unbeatable price. I actually read somewhere that Gimp is sort of a ghetto version of Photoshop Elements. I've never used Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, so I can't really give a fair comparison. All I can say is that of the free image editing software out there, Gimp is by far the best thing I have come across so far.

Before you go out and download Gimp, let me warn you -- it is not very user friendly. There are, however, lots of tutorials and help you can find online, but be forewarned it will take quite a bit of trial and error before you get the hang of how Gimp works and where everything is.

So, my first experiment with Gimp was to try and "save" a photo of a buffalo that I took when I went out to Antelope Island. The buffalo is great, but I must have been metering off of the dark buffalo fur because the snow all came out electric white. Here is the original photo that I took.

See what I mean by electric white snow in the foreground. So, I decided to try and use Gimp to get rid of that white and make it look more natural. I will spare you a full history of the trial and error it took cloning, copying, blurring, etc to try and turn the nuclear-fallout-looking snow into something else. I also realize that those who are proficient with Photoshop and other image editing software will make wicked and justified fun of my sophomoric attempt to rework this image, but below is the result of my first attempt at reclaiming a disappointing photo. At the end of the day, the lesson for me is, take a good photo initially. Trying to fix things takes a long time, generally doesn't turn out great, and isn't nearly as fun as stalking a half-ton horned beast with a camera.