Turning An Imperfect Photo Into A Perfect Personalized Picture Gift
August 31, 2009
Have you ever taken the perfect picture of your child, captured their best smile and twinkling eyes only to discover later that there is something hideous in the background. When I have it I will put in the time with photo editing software to make it usable for display or as a personalized picture gift. Silly me, I should have checked online to see if someone does that for you, because they do.
You can upload a picture and they will redesign it to perfection, pulling the people out of the photo and placing them on the background of your choice. Currently the service is free with the standard photo products to choose from like cards, puzzles and mugs. If you have something else you want to use the perfected photo for there is a nominal fee for the download.
As a mother to an unbelievably active one year old I am constantly weighing what will fit into the budget against what will save me time. This service is like steam in the bag vegetables, a few pennies more but the microwave is doing all the work instead of me; you can’t turn that down. They even take all the guesswork out of how your picture will look when it is on a product with a cute little video illustrating the step-by-step.
I borrowed a photo of my little nephew that I rarely see to make a holiday gift for his parents. He is absolutely adorable in the picture, but the pack and play and all his toys in the background were very distracting. Luckily, I found this dazzling website before I sat down and did the edit myself and they did a fantastic job.
There are so many photostyles to choose from that you can make your pictures into any expression of yourself that you want. It’s like always shooting in a photo studio with your choice of interchangeable backgrounds. They eliminate all of my clutter without cleaning, if I could get them to do the same to my house before my mother-in-law visits life would be perfect.
These days there is a service website for everything, you just have to think to look for it. When it comes to pictures of your children, each one deserves to be perfect, even if you don’t have the time or skill to make it so. Hurry and check it out while it is still free.
Introduction To Child Photography Podcast
August 29, 2009
Listen as Betty Muscott, Child Photographer, discusses child photography with internet entrepreneur James Martell. This lively conversation starts with why you would want to photograph your children, and ends with a discussion about the kind of equipment you need to get great pictures of your kids.
You will hear the passion in Ms. Muscott’s voice as she talks freely and openly about her experiences, and how she wants to help young parents record the lives of their children as the grow and mature. Instead of taking your children to a photographers studio where they may be uncomfortable, learn how to capture those looks that only you, the parent, are given by your child.
Then use those wonderful images to create interesting gifts for family and friends, and discover how to use them to decorate your home.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
A Baby Picture Frame Is Never The Same
August 28, 2009
A baby picture frame can make a beautiful gift for any future mother or father. It is never an easy task to decide upon a suitable present for a newborn. However, giving a frame that can be used to house a picture of a baby can be an incredible choice.
This Type of Frame Has Many Uses
One of the best uses for a picture frame of this type is to hold an ultrasound baby photo. This is a breathtaking image to keep in a picture frame because it is the first look that you have had at your precious baby. Today’s ultrasound images are very vivid, and can even show a baby’s feet, mouth, toes, and various other body parts. Putting the ultrasound picture in a lovely frame will put your baby on display for all who happen to walk into your living room or anywhere else that the frame is kept.
Another great use for this kind of frame is to hold a picture of the first day that your baby was born. Since babies are all beautiful, it is wise to capture all of their innocence, peacefulness, and awe on the day that they arrived in our world. Taking a photo of your child on the first day of their existence can be a priceless picture. Once a mother returns to her job after maternity leave, she can proudly display her new child on her desk at her job. This way everyone who walks by can view the new addition to her family. There is no better way to announce to the entire staff at your place of employment that you are a mother now.
The third type of photo that you can place in the frame of your newborn can be when it arrives home for the very first time. Take a photo of your husband or wife placing the baby in its crib for the very first time in its life. The picture should capture the pure expression on the child’s face. Babies do not lie and that is part of what makes them so beautiful. You can look back at their first day at home with laughter many years later. Remember to get all of the family members in the photo so that it can be a shot the entire family will cherish.
This type of baby picture frame can be an amazing present that all parents will love because it has so many uses. Whether you place an ultrasound photo, first day at home picture or other type of picture in the frame, it is still your beautiful child.
Choosing A New Décor – Have Your Pictures Printed On To Canvas
August 27, 2009
Some people love interior decorating and others find it stressful. Thinking up a fresh, new color scheme for your living room isn’t always easy. Shall we go for those same old neutrals again, or do we dare add a splash of color? If you’re looking for ideas why not turn to your photo files for inspiration. Pick out some of your favorite photos from the last year: choose arty photos of flowers, that gorgeous landscape you took on vacation, or a series of fun portraits of your kids. When you get your best pictures printed on to canvas, you will give yourself a great starting point for your new décor.
Top quality gicles or canvas prints make a perfect focal point for a room. Hang one large landscape on the wall behind the couch, or a series of square portraits. You can even go crazy and get a split canvas print, where one photo is blown up large and then printed onto three or four separate canvases, which you hang close together to re-create the whole picture.
Choosing wall colors to compliment your canvas prints is much easier if you get yourself a color wheel. Look online or pick one up at an art store. A color wheel shows a circle of colors. Complimentary colors are the ones opposite each other on the wheel. So if you want to make a canvas print of a shot of brilliant purple flowers, find purple on the color wheel and look for its opposing color. You’ll find that it is yellow. A yellow background will make the colors of your purple canvas print stand out and almost glow with intensity. So now your decision is made for you; you can paint your wall a shade of yellow to make it the perfect backdrop for your canvas printed photo.
Of course if you want to create a very tranquil setting with your canvas prints, say for a bedroom, you can choose a color scheme based on the two colors adjacent to your main photo color on the color wheel. These colors won’t intensify the colors of your picture but will harmonize with it, giving a softer ambience.
Or maybe you have already decided on your color scheme and now need to find artwork to go with it? Again the color wheel can come in handy as you choose a photo to have printed on to canvas. Sift through your favorite photos with the color wheel to hand and see which ones will work best on your newly painted walls. If you can’t find what you want you can takes some photos to order. Dress your kids up in the color that works best with your décor, according to the color wheel, and have an impromptu photo shoot. Keep taking photographs of your kids until you’ve got a whole series to choose from, then get the best shots printed onto square canvases to create a fun, family gallery that perfectly compliments your new décor.
Leather Photo Albums Are Beautiful To View
August 26, 2009
Pretty As a Leather Picture
A leather photo album is one of the prettiest types of items that a picture taker can purchase. You can use these beautiful looking picture books to hold your own pictures, or even give one of them away as a lovely gift to a friend or family member. You no longer have to suffer the loss of your precious photos because you have no place to store them. An excellent place to search for a picture album made of leather can be online. Since there are so many places that you can purchase an item like this, you should be aware of a number of factors before you actually buy one.One of your chief considerations should be the quality of the organization that you are searching. Make sure that you do not just buy from the online stores that have the cheapest prices. Find out if that particular online merchant has been the recipient of any complaints in relation to their photo supplies. You can accomplish this task by typing in the name of the company in your web browser. Once your research has shown that the company that is selling the album is in good standing, then you should feel much better about your buying decision. Also, be careful of any internet seller that does not have a good guarantee in place. The online store owner should allow you to receive your money back, if you are not totally satisfied with your album. Having a guarantee such as this will protect you in the unlikely event that your product is defective in any fashion.
In addition to buying from a fine online picture album establishment, you will also want to factor in other criteria such as size. The size of a photo album is an important element to consider because you want to make sure that it is large enough to hold all of your pictures. The best way to handle this challenge is to count the number of pictures that you have. Knowing this information will ensure that each picture will fit into the picture album itself.
Choosing a pretty album can be an enjoyable, and fun task to complete. Simply remember to research the online stores that you hope to buy from, make sure you buy the correct size album, and stick to your budget. You will be able to buy a fantastic album that can be passed down for generations to come.
Share Your Pictures and Create Photo Albums Online
August 25, 2009
Taking photos of your kids is great fun and with digital cameras you can snap away to your heart’s delight, without worrying about the cost. But then comes the realization that all these photos are sitting unseen on your computer and suddenly there is the pressure on you to do something with them. You want to share them with your family and create photo albums with them, so that everyone can see them online.
Sometimes though the sheer number of pictures you’ve taken can overwhelm you. There are far too many to e-mail individually to all your family and you want to tell the stories that go with them. Today you can kill two birds with one stone: online photo sharing services allow you to build a photo album with the photos you’ve uploaded to their site, adding captions and laying out your photos into a beautiful printable photo book. You can then email the photo book to your family, so they can flip through the pages online. If they want to they can order a physical copy of your photo album for themselves.
When I was a teenager I used to spend hours making up my photo albums, carefully sticking in the latest prints and captioning them. As a mother of three children though, I found I never had the time to put together albums. My eldest son has a baby album, but the two girls just have a scattering of prints of them as babies, a few enlargements that we framed. The rest are sitting on my computer or on CDs, waiting to be printed out. If only this online photo album service had been around when they were babies! It’s far easier to work with photos on your computer, than to have scissors, double-sided tape and a mass of glossy prints spread out over a table-top when there are toddlers on the loose!
This photo sharing service also means that you can put together photo albums with creative input from your family. This is perfect if you want to create a photo book to commemorate an important family occasion. You can put together a first draft with your photos and send it to the rest of your family for feedback. They can edit it and send it back to you. Or each member of the family can customize it and have their album printed the way they want it.
So use an online photo sharing service for more than just a back up, or a place to share your images. Use it as a platform to create gorgeous photo albums, with very little effort and keep them up-to-date, so that your younger kids won’t ask you one day, “Mom, where is my baby album?”
I think I’d better get to work right now!
There Is No Age Gap Between The Unborn And Baby Photo Contest Genre, Enter As Soon As You See The Second Blue Line.
August 24, 2009
My baby boy, Aiden, turns one year old tomorrow. I can’t believe how time flies. One year ago this very minute I was begging a doctor to admit me and start my epidural. Twenty hours later I finally got to hold my beautiful baby boy. While I was collecting pictures to display at his party I came across many of my pregnant belly that filled the gap in my memory about the unborn baby photo contest I entered.
I think pregnancy is a beautiful, magical time. It thrills me that they hold pregnant belly contests; it’s a real moral booster. I watched my previously twenty-five inch waist expand to a whopping forty-eight, if it weren’t for the sweet adoration that most people give that growing bump I would have cried even more as I outgrew the maternity clothes meant to house it.
My husband took pictures all through nine month waiting period, but around month six I found a very amusing contest that encouraged entrants to compare their bump with their spouses. I had already asked my mother for a photo shoot of us so we could show our son how we happily awaited him. After dozens of photos I convinced my husband to bare his belly against mine, resulting in our very favorite photo from that time.
Bumping bumps.
In fact, my aunts displayed a very large copy at my baby shower and just about everyone begged for their own copy. I even entered it into the contest, but the winner’s had a photo where their bellies matched inch for inch. There are other great traditions for pregnant belly as well, decorating it or making a cast, they are all just fascinating.
How many contests can you enter with a popped out belly button and pants that won’t zip? Not many. If you run across one, whether you are barely showing or about to burst, enter and show off the little one that is on its way.
Just like with the baby, every day provides new and wonderful opportunities to capture memories. You may not think right now that you will want to remember the days when you didn’t fit behind the steering wheel, but trust me someday you will. Even if it’s not until your own little one is having a baby, you still have to take the picture today before the moment is gone.
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