We have an incredible team of graphic designers here at Hammock, Inc., and I take advantage of their creative tendencies every chance I get.

But sometimes, I receive a photo from a client that just needs to be cropped or resized before I can use it, and I don't want to bother the design folks or use up their time on such a simple task. So I'm learning to do some of that on my own.

And right now, those lessons are coming from picnik.com. This web-based software did not require anything to be downloaded to my computer. There was no box to buy and I can use it from any location where I'm connected to the web.

It's simple:

• Upload a picture from your computer, camera or storage device.
• Make your edits.
• Resave.

In a click, I can crop the photo, change the size and even auto-fix the lighting and color. If I wanna get really creative, picnik also allows me to give a cat some googly eyes, turn a tree neon green or pretend my photo was taken with a Polaroid camera.

I first noticed the editing power of picnik.com through flickr.com, but you don't have to be a member of flickr to use it. There is a free version and a premium version (only about two bucks a month if you go that route).

Is there a photo-editing software -- web-based or otherwise -- that you love? Let me know. I'd love to keeping learning.

Many thanks to my lovely model, Augie, for her time. She insisted on only green treats and bottled spring water in her dressing room, but other than that, she was a joy to work with.