I’ve been a big fan of for several years—I think I installed it back in college!
Always innovating, Google recently came out with a new AutoBackup feature through Picasa, in that it will save EVERY photo you have in the program for free (at a great yet reduced size), or you can pay to store everything at original size.
I opted for the former and one thing I didn’t expect was Google’s AutoAwesome feature, which magically scans your photos and enhances them: might be with snowflakes or sparkles (if it detects snow or say, a Christmas tree), as well as creating the best shot from a series (is everyone smiling?), and much more—including GIFs!
Yes, Google automatically combines a number of similar shots into a short animated movie. Some are pretty hilarious.
It’s kinda crazy (and maybe a bit scary) how quickly and accurately this is done. But I digress… here are my favorite GIFs from Google’s AutoAwesome…
November 2009: Los Angeles, CA. OK, not from my nomadic days, but still a favorite. From .
December 2010: Honolulu, HI. I stumbled by the filming of an episode of Hawaii 5-0 (by the silver car on left is Scott Caan in the blue shirt and Daniel Dae Kim in the gray shirt). Realizing that I could keep exploring the island while everyone else had to stay there made me realize that I wasn’t “missing” acting.
April 2011: Chicago, IL at the Nature Museum, where I first learned Tai Chi (still practicing some of the same moves)—free classes still offered for museum members
June 2011: Portland, OR. A group of 40 of us in town for the inaugural World Domination Summit went 2 hours south on the first day of the conference and jumped out of planes.
August 2011: Mystic Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY. During my 2-week solo road trip around the PacNW (part 1, part 2), I did lots of hiking and taking of selfies. Here’s one of ’em. :)
August 2011: Tamanawas Falls, Mt Hood National Forest, OR. More hiking/selfies from the road trip.
May 2012: New Orleans, LA. Enjoying some live music (what else?) on the steps of the Art Museum on a Friday afternoon in City Park.
May 2012: Somewhere in Texas. Enjoying my first class compartment on Amtrak in full caveman/work mode!
July 2012: Crater Lake, OR. Capturing my fellow WDS’er (year 2) Cody making the plunge into the frigid and beautiful water below
August 2012: Los Angeles, CA. While housesitting, I decide to take full advantage of the ginormous kitchen! Some of these shots would later come in handy when I wrote my cookbook.
December 2012: Maui, HI. While on the road to Hana, my family and I stopped for a quick swim. Because of the completeness of the scene, I really like this pic.
February 2013: San Diego, CA. Yes, I’m here! I tried a number of shots to get this right, and I started laughing when I saw that Google had combined them all. :)
March 2013: Sayulita, Mexico. My friend Caleb displaying his skills at the beach.
June 2013: Vallejo, CA. The hilarious rolling cat and the very tired dog. Another favorite from a housesitting gig. I miss these two.
August 2013: Envigado, Colombia. Danny distracting Laura during her yoga headstand.
March 2014: New York, NY. After meeting up with my friend Eric and his wife Aubrey, they asked if I could help out with a short video. :)
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Have any favorite GIFs from your own life? Share ’em in the comments below!
From the road,
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