PE4_iLife '09 Suite Part 1

Looking for more inspiration to my otherwise musically challenged mind, I thought I would explore some of the other applications in the iLife '09 Suite. Now that I have been using iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb by "diving" right in, I thought that since I had a little bit of time, I would see if I was doing everything the correct way.

While I do have to say that the software is pretty intuitive after a few attempts, I did find the iLife '09 New Features videos from Lynda.com quickly showed me that the software was capable or much more than what I had throne at it.  As I watched the tutorials in awe, I kept saying to myself, "this is why people buy the Mac."  I am just amazed that this software is FREE with the purchase of a Mac.

Want a great coffee table book?

I started off with iPhoto during this session of videos.  My knowledge of iPhoto was pretty basic and I actually did not like it because it seemed like that was the only way to get still photos into iMovie.  I have since found that not to be the case but after watching the videos, I have a whole new respect for the software.  The Faces feature and Places feature are absolutely amazing and so accurate.  After watching the videos, I tried some of these features on my own photos and was blown away even on 'grainy' and some blurry photos.

The Slideshow feature was a pretty quick and easy way of creating a slideshow but the biggest draw of all for me was the Keepsakes feature (especially the photo book options).  I love pictures.  I loved looking through photo albums growing up and I love having photos on my wall.  We seem to have lost the art of putting photo albums together to show friends and family.  All of our picture for the past 10 years are in digital format residing on a hard drive that does not get accessed much.  Friends and family don't get the chance to see our lives and we don't get to reminisce about the the 'good ol days'.  The Photobook feature is definitely something I am going to take advantage of this Christmas!

As I watched more about iPhoto, I am now wanting to buy an iMac for the family computer so we can organize all of our photos!