Inserting a Picasa Web Slideshow into a blog post

Here are instructions on how to insert a Picasa Web album into a blog post.

Go to Picasa Web
Click on the 'My Photos' tab

Choose the desired album, making sure that permissions are public.
You can change this where it says 'edit'.

Next click on 'Link to this album'

Next click on 'Embed Slideshow'

A pop up window will open.  On this window you choose the size of slideshow you want.  'Large' is easier to see and fits nicely in most blog templates.  Once you've chosen your settings you click on the box with the code in it.  Copy this code.

Then go back to your blog post.  Click on the 'HTML' button.  This will take you into the coding section - don't fear, it's not that scary in there - :D
Simply paste the code that you just copied right in this section.  Make sure it's after whatever you may have been typing in your blog.  After you've pasted it, click back on the 'Compose' button.

Save / preview / publish your post and you should see your slideshow.

Good luck and have fun trying something new!

Here is my sample slideshow.

Cannon EOS 1100D

Our school has a new digital SLR and so I figured I better learn how to use it.   Today I went with Julie to a photography day at her church.  The leader was very resourceful and helped me figure some things out with our new camera so I don't feel like the digital SLR newbie that I am.

The first thing he told us was to turn off the auto white balance (AWB) and to manage that setting of our photos ourselves.  The second thing he told me was to turn off my auto and use the manual setting. Through experimenting with the different features I learnt a few new tricks.

Here are a few of my learnings:
By staying in one place for awhile you observe the lighting change as clouds and sun, shadows and light move.

Using a tripod allows you to step back and see your picture differently.  It also helps with getting a beautiful clear shot.

Turn off the auto features and take control of the camera.  I love how this photo looks completely different depending on which adjustments I made.

Still so much to learn, but at least it's a fun learning journey!

Adding photos to your Google Site using Picasa Web

On your Google Site where you have a photo gallery or photo album tab,  this is how you add a photo album that will look like these on my google site.  Some people do have trouble viewing these on an iPad or iPhone.  If anyone knows the fix for this please let me know.  They are viewable on computers and android devices.

Go to www.picasaweb.google.com .  If you are logged in with your google account, Picasa will open into your account.  You now need to make an album.  Choose 'upload photos' and create an album.  It is important to have the album set to share/view publicly.

Always look for a pencil to open the editing screen.






Select 'public' to make sure your students and parents can view the pictures.

Once the album is created, go back to your Google Site Photo Album page.  Click on the pencil to edit the page.  When you are in the typeable work area, give your photo album a title and then click 'insert' and go through the menu options to Google+ > Photo Album.  (this is where the magic begins!)

Your picasa web albums will show up and you just have to select which one you want and it will drop into your google site page.

Once your album is on your page you can edit the size and layout by looking for this toolbar below the album.  You must still be in the edit mode on your page.  Once you've clicked 'save' the album shows up.  To edit it you have to go back to the edit mode of the page by clicking the pencil.

Here are your options for your photo album size and layout. I have my new albums at extra-extra large and then change my old album to medium.

Good luck!  Have fun!  Shout out if you have any troubles or ask a buddy!

Adding photos to your blog

Here are two ways to add photos to your blog.

1.  Go to your blog on a computer.  Write a new post.  While you are in the compose mode, click on the 'insert image' icon in the tool bar.  From here you can choose your photos from your desk top, iphoto, or wherever you save your photos.

Once your photo is inserted into your post you can change the size and location by clicking once on the photo.  

  

This brings up a tool bar that allows you to make the choices for your photo.  Play around and see what looks best.  You can preview your post by choosing the 'preview' button in the top right of the screen.

2.  Use your phone, ipad or ipod.  You will need to have the blogger app which is available free.  You can use photos on your mobile device to post to your blog.  When you first open up the blog app you will be prompted to enter your email address that is linked to your blog.  Your blog is now connected to your blog app and you won't need to set it up again.  If you have more than once blog on your account, there will be a drop down box available when you open the app for you to choose which blog to post to.  

Follow the simple steps on your app - they are all laid out a bit differently but are pretty straightforward to use.

Once you've written your post you can save and publish it or just save it to view, edit and publish later from a computer.