Be A Fun Mum: BeFunky. It has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Welcome to my Photographing Kids Series. I was going to call it “Capturing Kids” but visions of the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang, Bang came to mind, so Photographing Kids it is.
To mark this occasion I’m doing a review and giveaway with BeFunky: a photo editing program for everyday people. {hands up for everyday people}
Photgraphing Kids Part 1
When I originally thought of “Capturing Kids” I meant encapsulating a child’s essence: their innocence, imagination and beauty.
Tip 1: Try watching a child through your camera without any “say cheese” prompts. Children are so interesting to watch and I often capture my best photos when I just watch what they are doing.
BeFunky
You’ve taken some great photos and you want to do something fun and funky with them? BeFunky is a one touch photo editing program for everyday people. In addition to many standard photo editing features like brightness control, hue, cropping and contrast, Be Funky also provides a HUGE range of special effects you can apply to photos. The highly customisable options mean you can go for something far out like PopArt or conservative like black and white; do something fun like cartooning or striking like oil painting. It’s up to you. I’ve done a quick snap shot below of some effects.
Left to Right:Original, Black and White, Old Photo, Sketching, Underpainting, Stencil, Border and Text, Text Only
Be Funky Video Tutorial
To demonstrate how easily I achieved the above effects, I’ve created this 3 minute video tutorial.
It’s Easy
And I mean, really easy. The BeFunky motto “for everyday people” (that’s me!), means the program is designed to be a no-previous-experience-required one. You can upload pictures from Facebook, Picasa, flickr, your computer and more. Your original photo is never ruined because BeFunky uses an uploaded copy of your photo. So go wild and have fun with your photos.
Win
The great thing about BeFunky is anyone can use it FREE! However, for special access, and the entire range of features a premiumaccount is required. BeFunky is offering two Be A Fun Mum readers an annual premium Be Funky account valued at US$24.95 each.
To Enter
* Visit the BeFunky Features Page (click this link), and leave a comment here about your favourite feature.
* The competition is open internationally.
* Valid from Tuesday 7 September to Monday 13 September 2010.
* I will draw the winners by random number at 7pm on the closing date.
* The winners will be notified via email and a post update link on the Be A Fun Mum Facebook Page.
Go on…
13/9/10 Congratulations: Natalie and Kelly
External Links
Other Be A Fun Mum Links
Photographing Kids Tip 1: Capturing a Child’s Essence
Photographing Kids Tip 2: Rule of Thirds
Photographing Kids Tip 3: The Background
Photographing Kids Tip 4: Setting Up a Shoot
35 Comments
Nicole Grant
September 7, 2010 at 7:30 amGorgeous photos Kelly! And some great information here. Thanks 🙂
Nicole Grant
September 7, 2010 at 7:33 am@Nicole Grant, Forgot to leave my comment to be entered! I love the different effects you can use. The line artopia and impressionist effects look great!
Dame
September 7, 2010 at 7:37 amI love all the features, that would go well with the fun family pictures & wedding photography i do… I love how you can see work in progress.
kristie
September 7, 2010 at 8:16 amI am completely and utterly in love with those borders!
Wendy Fleming
September 7, 2010 at 8:22 amWOW! I love them all, but my favourites are Cartooniser and Watercolors……. I can image the family fun with this…… 🙂
Karen Salmon
September 7, 2010 at 8:23 amBoy oh boy – I would love love love to win this, with two very active children I can already see so many great photo opportunities just waiting to BeFunky which then makes me think of all the scrapbooking opportunities (my one piece of indulgent “me time”) that would be at my fingertips with such a versatile and easy to use (the big attraction for me) program :o)
Amanda
September 7, 2010 at 8:29 amI think the smart photo enhancement with a single click is a fantastic idea, I never have much time to edit photos and this would make it quick and easy!
Sally
September 7, 2010 at 9:00 amThanks for this article. I follow you on Facebook and LOVE your articles. Photography of children is a passion of mine although I am definitely only a passionate amateur. I strongly agree with your capturing kids idea. I too have some beautiful shots of the kids doing what they do naturally.
I have to say that I love the easy of use of Be Funky. It seems to be a user friendly program unlike a lot of photo editing software out there. I have tried quite a lot of different programs but I love the fun angle of this one. It has all the basic features that most people need and features that people will actually want to use. I also really appreciate that the website has so much information on it to assist you in taking better photos and how to use the effects to get the most out of your photos. It really is just so user friendly.
I have to say that I am torn between the vintagecolours and sunburst effects. They are both gorgeous and I have a lot of photos that I could apply them to immediately. What blew me away were the borders. They were just fantastic and unlike any that I have seen in other editing programs.
I was really impressed. Thanks for bring this program to our attention.
BookChook
September 7, 2010 at 9:50 amI’m loving your tips on software etc so this will be great! BeFunky sounds fun, although I do think you have a headstart with such photogenic kids.
I thought ScreenCaster had closed up. Good to see it’s still alive.
Kelly Guy
September 7, 2010 at 11:05 amThanks again for such a great article! I have only just ordered a new DSLR (I seriously take about 50 pics a week of my kiddies) and this program looks fantastic!
I particularly like the borders and funky writing styles. I love sharing my pics on Facebook, and enjoy making them interesting to look at with added styles.
Kay / Suburp
September 7, 2010 at 11:12 amhey, thanks so much I did not know this one yet !!
i am meaning to integrate some tips on free photo editing software on my blog in the future. so much fun!! thanks again. 😀
Kay / Suburp
September 7, 2010 at 11:39 amafter exploring it a little, it reminds me of picnik, very easy use and interconnectivity with your online photos (flickr, facebook etc) but it seems to be even richer in function and has some great playful effects and doodles, sadly locked into premium use… i’d LOVE to be free to explore them all – and be free of the watermark too. spontanously, i would say the colorpinhole effect because it just put a whole new twist on an old photo of my boys, very nice!
good find and please make me a number on your winning list 🙂
Katherine
September 7, 2010 at 8:13 pmLovely tips 🙂 I do love the idea about ‘watching them through your lens’ — that’s an awesome tip!!
Oh and the more i look at Pippi – the more i think she looks like my sis, Emily 🙂
So sweet,
Happy Tuesday!!
K xx
Alissa
September 7, 2010 at 9:27 pmWhat a great post! Just love the tip on watching through the camera… I usually watch then miss the photo by the time I line up the Camera! Am just getting a new Digital SLR with really good lenses, so hopefully will capture more and miss less!
BeFunky looks awesome and easy to use. I like that it has so many options for “one click” editing… and even options within the options! That’s my kind of editing! Oh, and user friendly is definitely a big plus!
Angylene
September 7, 2010 at 10:55 pmI would love to be able to use these effects – especially the different borders!! thanks for your article 🙂
Ash
September 8, 2010 at 6:38 amThose effects are fabulous, but I have to say those borders are my favourite! The practical side of me likes the Light Fixer! Love your tips Kelly!
Sharron Peacock
September 8, 2010 at 8:02 amI love the one with the scrolly bits and the childs name…..so effective!
Natalie Cocks
September 8, 2010 at 5:57 pmI love all the ways you can edit the photos – especially enhancing certain colours and detail! Would be so much fun to have this and be able to edit family pictures to display at home and to give other family members!
Kathryn Rodda
September 10, 2010 at 7:11 amOh, what a wonderful program/website! I would use this so much! I don’t think I could choose a favourite thing, but I did like the cartooniser and the vintage – they were both pretty cool. I would not only use it for the kid’s photos, but also for editing my photos of the baby & kids clothing I make, and am planning to have modeled on kids 🙂
MuffinMonsterBB
September 10, 2010 at 8:11 pmHow cool’s that program, I’d spend hours on there! I liked the ‘old photos’ feature. There’s just something about old photos, they have that special feel to them 🙂
Louise Pickett
September 13, 2010 at 8:06 amHi, I will be checking these ones out for sure -I have been looking for something like this for the laptop so I can clean up and beautify some of or photos 🙂
I think I love the simple things like one click fix, borders etc the most but after having a look at their features I think the speech bubbles etc for my daughter (who is going mad with the camera she just got for her 4th birthday) might get a real work out and the POP ART would look fantastic with some of her pics too 🙂
love it all hahahaha
isabeau
September 13, 2010 at 10:15 amSoo many options and I have to choose just one?! Well I tried and tested them all! and my absolute favourite would have to be……I love the stencilling set 🙂 especially stencil 1
Mon
September 13, 2010 at 5:11 pmI’ve just been playing around on the BeFunky website! What a great site!!! I absolutely the adore the Vintage Effects. I was able to edit a gorgeous photo of my girl in a vintage style and I even added a fancy border! It’s absolutely spectacular!
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