GIMP

The GNU Image Manipulation Program is a great Open Source photo editing application. We use it for our photos, mostly for file resizing, but tonight Jen asked about how to make the photo black and white to give it that artsy feel. I didn't have a lot of experience using this application so some of the lexicon within the program wasn't immediately intuitive to me. Looking for a quick answer, I found the tutorials page hosted on the site and found a tutorial for "Selective Colorization", which makes the photo look like something you'd see on a Hallmark card. I applied the technique to one of my favorite photos from Olivia's Birthday party and I think it came out great.

This came from our digital camera and although the effect is great it definitely makes me want a dSLR. Someday....

Expect a few more pics like this as I play with other tutorials.