Colorful Boxes Make A Great Photo Storage Solution

November 17, 2009

Our digital cameras free us up to take more photos than we ever did on film. Our children grow so fast that we photograph them at every opportunity to preserve memories of them for ever. But the problem is, will those photos last forever? Digital photos are even more vulnerable than film used to be. A computer can crash losing all your files, and even if you have backed up all your pictures on to CD, those CDs can be corroded over time if not kept in optimum conditions. This is why it is so important to find a good long term photo storage solution, to protect all those precious memories that you’ve been collecting.

Backing up your photos on to archive quality CDs and DVDs is only the first step. Those CDs need to be protected from dust, humidity and great temperature fluctuations. Just sealing them in a plastic storage box isn’t the answer. Plastic can give off corrosive vapors that will gradually deteriorate the surface of the CD, affecting the pictures stored on them. CDs and DVDs need an acid free environment and then they can last for as much as 100 years with picture quality intact.
An ideal storage solution is to keep your CDs in a box storage system made from acid free paper, in corrosion proof sleeves.

Exposures have a great range of acid free boxes in perfect sizes for CDs and prints and you can choose from several color ranges, to match your home décor. In fact the boxes will look so good stacked on open shelves that you might be tempted to get more boxes to store other things in too. I can’t decide if I like the Brights collection or the Autumn Spice warm colors best, and then there is the Beautiful Baby Collection in pastels for all your baby photos.

The great thing about having safe storage boxes for your prints is that if, like me, you haven’t got around to making the definitive family album yet, you can keep collecting prints and know that they will be kept safely until the day you eventually do get around to putting them in your album. And if that day never comes you still have your photos neatly organized to look through and enjoy the memories just the same.

A selection of these boxes would make a great gift for an enthusiastic photographer too.  Print off a few special pictures to go in the box as part of the gift and you will be giving them the gift of memories lasting a lifetime.

Why Should I Buy a Digital Camera?

November 16, 2009

Just what is so special about a starter digital camera? Well, first of all, there is no film to take to Wal-Mart or a photo shop to be developed. As soon as you take a picture, you can open it up and look at it on your computer if you have installed the software that comes with the camera. Your camera should also have instructions for transferring the photos to your computer. However, it’s simpler to use a viewer, which you can get at a computer store or online. Viewers interface via USB. All the money you regularly spend on having film developed will be saved as well as the nuisance of taking film and leaving it and going back to pick up the pictures, many of which will not be what you had hoped for.

Secondly, you can see what you are going to shoot on a small screen built into the camera. You can also look at it again after you shoot. If the shot isn’t what you want, you can shoot again immediately. Both of these features make it possible to get photos that satisfy your wants and desires. Most people take many more pictures after they discard their non-digital cameras in favor of a digital one.

Take the time to organize your computer files so you can find the photo you want when you want it. It’s a good idea to label a photo with what is in it, so you don’t have to open all the ones with the original number codes in order to find just the one you’re looking for. An example: front of Tennessee house with flag.

With practice, most people become quite proficient with their starter digital cameras. Being able to share family photos online with all their friends and relatives at absolutely no cost makes the price of a digital camera extremely attractive and reasonable. In addition, the purchase of an inexpensive photo printer expands the possibilities.

You can afford to buy attractive frames when you spend so little producing a special picture for Christmas presents. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other friends and relatives love to collect a wall of pictures of family they do not get to see all the time. In fact, even if they get to see them all the time, they will treasure gifts of special pictures. For example, you see how cute and enchanting your toddler is in his everyday activities, so if you use your digital camera to take a lot of shots, you will come up with just the right one or ones to make the grandparents very happy.

Hand Them The Camera!

November 14, 2009

Teenager in the family?

Hand them the camera!

One late summer day in September when I was a teenager, I was asked to watch my little sister, Ruth while my parents did something unusual for them; enjoy something that was not work. They were going to get a free airplane ride from Klein Fertilizer Company to view their farm from the air as a “thank you” for their business over the years. Because I wanted to see the airplane that my parents were in and when it flew over photograph it too, I decided to dress up my little sister and “chase” her around the yard of our farm and try to get some good pictures of her.

Don’t Know Much About That

I didn’t know much about photography at all; I only knew that things were changing before my very eyes and it was not being recorded in pictures for my family to remember. Dressing up when you are a farm kid is not something that happens very much or by accident. Some farm animal or some thing is always getting your clothes dirty or torn. In addition to that, in order to make ends meet in a business with small profit margins, the kids wore hand-me-downs from other people’s kids or their older brothers and sisters most of the time.

And so, with my parent’s permission I found a cute outfit for little Ruth to wear for the pictures I was going to capture of her and we combed her hair and wiped her face and hands off so that she would look her cutest and best!

Take Advantage Of Unexpected Opportunities

I let Ruth keep the comb in her hands as she was not willing to give it up just yet; no harm in that being in the picture, I thought. Almost immediately the pet dog, Sport, wanted to get in the picture too! That would be a good one I thought as I studied the scene for the best angle. You can see that I didn’t do too badly as the light is coming over her left shoulder. I can see today that I should have moved in closer though, because there is a lot of wasted space around her and the pet dog.

Look For Props

Then there was a black walnut tree nearby, and with the comb still in her hand, I asked her to put her hand on the tree as I took another picture. That one turned out good too, especially since fill flash was almost unheard of in those days. However, I didn’t understand the rule of thirds then, so that composition understanding was not applied to show the benefit of how that would have contributed to an even better picture.

Some Things Are Too Hard To Get

Soon, the airplane carrying my parents was flying over head. You know that it’s the right one because the pilot comes down to about 500 feet over the farm and circles it. Quickly, I snapped a picture of the airplane! However, I did not have the option of using a telephoto lens to bring the airplane closer, therefore the airplane is just a dot in the sky!

Finish The Shoot

With the airplane now gone, I took one last picture of my little sister sitting on her haunches beside the box of my prized little Kodak Starmite camera. The light was right and showed her little face well, but as you will notice, no artful rule-of-thirds was applied and there is more picture of the green grass than there is of my baby sister!

Mission Accomplished!

That was it! I took only four pictures! Remember there was only 12 pictures on the roll, and I was paying for the film, and the developing, and the printing, and all with just money I made from baby-sitting for other families children.

Ah For The Good New Years!

Today, all of that is different! With your digital SLR camera, your teenager can study the results of their photographing almost immediately. They can take many pictures without incurring additional expense. And if they are interested in art and recording memories, your family will get the benefit of at least a few very beautiful portraits!

Personalized Calendars With Your Special Pictures Make Great Gifts

November 12, 2009

It can be hard to find meaningful gifts for your family in the run up to Christmas. Your children probably have a wish list as long as their arms, but what about your parents and in-laws, who seem to have everything they need already. One thing that everybody uses is a calendar and a perfect way to make it meaningful and personalized is to produce one yourself, using special pictures that you’ve taken of your children over the year. These calendars make wonderful gifts for anyone who is close to your family.

Photoworks has a very simple and easy to use program for designing your own calendar and as they are known for the excellent quality of their printing you are sure to get beautiful results. How you design your calendar is up to you. You can just choose thirteen great photos of your kids and leave it at that. Or you could decide to get more creative and choose a theme. Here are two suggestions, but you can do whatever your imagination suggests.

Following the seasons: Seasonal pictures make sense in a calendar and you can highlight the seasons with your choice of photos of your children too. January and February could have photos of them playing in the snow, or all muffled up in winter clothes splashing in puddles. For the spring months look for photos you’ve taken of them picking spring flowers or on an Easter egg hunt. Summer photos will be easy to find – just sort through your vacation pictures for some great shots of your kids on the beach or at the pool. Fall colors and Halloween pictures come next, and then we are back with winter scenes and of course a Christmas picture for December. You don’t have to restrict yourself to pictures that you’ve taken over the last year. You could include a cute baby picture of your child’s first Christmas several years ago or get nostalgic with toddler pictures of your now school age children.

Family occasions: For this idea you could set up a series of photos of your kids especially for your calendar. Write down a list of important family birthdays and anniversaries. Divide them up month by month and then get older kids to design colorful hand-written notices saying things like “Happy Birthday Grandma” or “It’s my Birthday!” or “Happy Easter”. Find some occasion to remember for each month and if there are more than one make a separate notice for each one. Then take fun photos of your kids holding up the notices with big smiles. Choose different backgrounds for each photo and have the kids change clothes between shots. You can have some photos with two or more children in and others with just one of them, but make sure that they each get the same number of photos of themselves in the calendar, they are bound to count! Only do all this if it sounds like fun for all of you – you want the kids to look like they are having fun too! Once you have put all the photos together you’ll have a really personalized fun family calendar to remind everyone of all the important dates throughout the year.

After all this work putting photos together you will probably want to order yourself a copy of your gorgeous calendar as an early Christmas gift too, and until 16th November Photoworks have a special offer giving two calendars for the price of one, so get creating calendars now!

Photo Safe Storage Boxes

November 11, 2009

Now that you have taken the time to print your pictures, where are you going to keep them? Photo safe storage boxes are the simple and perfect solution. Photo storage boxes not only can hold large quantities of pictures but do it in a quick, an organized manner.

Quality Does Matter
Since you invested time and money into printing out your pictures, you should take the time to buy quality storage boxes. These boxes do not have to be expensive but remember this is an investment. Photo storage cases that are designed to preserve your photos for years to come can fall into two main categories, archival storage boxes and acid free storage boxes. Archival storage boxes are built very durable with a very tight fitting lid. These boxes are designed to hold your photos for a long time by protecting them from light, pollution and other harmful items. Archival storage boxes are usually treated so that they neutralize any acid that the photo might come into contact with in the box. Acid free storage boxes are like the name states, the materials they are made from are free from acid. Acid free storage boxes might not have the same barriers that archival storage boxes but will protect your photos for years to come. For paper to be considered acid free, the acidity of the paper should be 7 or higher on the pH scale. Either of these boxes will not protect your photos as well if you store certain kinds of items with your photos. Paper and photo negatives are two items that should not be stored with your photos. Photos should not be stored in manila envelopes, shoe boxes, file photos or plastic baggies. Make sure the storage boxes are acid free, lignin and PVC free. All of these will ruin your photos, you will not see it over night, but they will cause your photos to deteriorate.

Size
Archival and acid free boxes come in different sizes. You need to consider what size pictures you are storing. You should be able to find boxes that will hold small 3×5 photos, medium size photos on up to much larger photos. You also need to consider if you will be storing any pictures that are mounted and or matted. These added features will increase your picture size, and you might need to purchase a larger box.

After you go out and purchase your storage boxes, chip away at those photos that you have stored in a temporary home or still in the computer. Design your filing system to fit your need, whether it is by months or occasions. This way you have made sure that you will have these memories to share with generations to come.

How to Photograph Your Baby

November 11, 2009

Everyone loves to share their baby’s picture, let’s face it your baby is the cutest baby in the world. When we take pictures, we are always striving for that perfect picture; a picture that captures how cute your baby is. After you read some of these tips on how to photograph your baby, you will be more confident when going after that perfect picture.

Know your camera
You do not need the most expensive camera on the market to take brilliant pictures. Get familiar with what your camera is capable of doing. This might sound unexciting, but you need to read your camera manual. I suggest reading it first without your camera and then with your camera in hand to be able to play with the modes as you reread about them. Flashes are great when you need them to fill in the shadows or if the room is too dark. Flashes can wash out the subject of the picture. Take advantage of the natural light to create a softer light on your subject. Play with your shutter speeds until you create the look you are trying to achieve with your pictures. Make sure your camera is set to shoot continuously.

Know your Subject
You need to be realistic about the pictures you are trying to create. Have someone help you with the baby, so you can concentrate on taking the pictures. Babies take the best pictures when they are not hungry or tired. Take advantage of nap time to create the most peaceful pictures. When they start showing signs of being tired or hungry, take a break, so baby and you will not get stressed out. At ages 0-3 months babies cannot sit up, really hold their head up or flip over when on they are laying down. At ages, 3-6 months babies can do a little more, hold their head up longer, roll over, sit up and play with their feet. At 6-9 months, babies start crawling and holding on to things to walk. At 9-12 months babies are crawling fast, starting to walk without help and can understand simple instruction. You know your babies abilities the best so trust that gut feeling. Once babies can entertain or feed themselves, these can be used to help keep the baby’s attention while you continue to take pictures. When they start moving, contain them such as in a laundry basket to keep them in one spot for a little while.

Enjoy the benefits of a digital camera and snap away, you can always delete pictures later. The one thing about taking the perfect baby picture is that you never know when it will happen.

For Creative Photography You Need A Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera

November 10, 2009

Back in the days of film a single lens reflex camera was the mark of a real photographer. Buying an SLR was the step you took when you wanted to do more than just take snapshots. I remember getting my first Canon SLR for my 18th birthday. It was the door to a new world; a world in which you had some control over the photographs you took; different lenses, manual settings and a larger format film, which gave better quality prints than the average snappy snap camera of those days, all meant that you could be as creative as you wanted to be with your photography.

Nowadays we are all shooting on digital, but buying a single lens reflex camera still has the same advantages as it did then. It is a step up from a compact camera and allows you to have more control over your photography and get much better quality images.

The single lens reflex, then and now, refers to the fact that you are looking directly through the lens rather than a separate viewfinder, so you see exactly what you will get in your photograph. One of the great advantages of this is that it makes it much easier to use manual focusing for creative photography.

Today’s compact cameras do give you taste of looking through the lens if you use the screen to view, but any form of manual focusing is trickier on a screen, so you are more likely to stick to autofocus, which can limit your creativity. Autofocus works fine when you are framing your shot conventionally with the subject quite central in the frame, but as soon as you want to do something different, such as having your subject off to one side, you have trouble getting the focus exactly the way you want it.

If you are taking creative shots with a small depth of field, you need the control of manual focus so that you can decide what you want to have in focus. Think of gorgeous portraits where the eyes are completely clear and sharp, but the edges of the face and hairline are already softer, falling away to a blurry, out of focus background: this is only really possible with the flexibility of manual focus and a good lens.

I have a compact camera which I love for its portability. But as soon as I want to take a close up portrait or a creative close up of food or flowers, I wish I had an SLR in my hands, as I struggle to get the autofocus frame positioned where I want it. I have achieved some reasonably creative pictures with my compact, especially with its macro facility, but when I compare them to what is possible with an SLR they just aren’t in the same league.

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