By Christina VanGinkel
If you are like the average budding photographer, your camera will occasionally sit for periods unused. This could be a matter of a few days, or even weeks or months, depending on your lifestyle and work commitments. Then, when the mood strikes to get out there and snap some photos, you end up wasting valuable time reacquainting yourself with the camera's controls and functions. I know I do anyhow. My newest camera, a Konika Minolta DiMage Z5, has so many buttons and settings, that I have never even taken the time to understand them all, let alone remember what they each do. I am also a beginning photographer in the truest sense of the word, so I need help with the most basic of settings.
I have been trying to overcome these limitations by heading out with my camera and manual every chance I get. If I am taking a walk, it comes along. If I am taking my son to a football practice or game, I have it with. A ride in the truck to look for a deer post for my husband, followed by a trek through the woods, they are with me. The manual that came with the camera is not very large physically, but I made it even smaller and more portable by taking out the pages that are wrote in different languages, leaving only the English version intact. Surprisingly, it made an already portable manual even more so. It now slips easily into my coat pocket or the back pocket on my jeans.
I also have gotten into the habit of snapping shots of all sorts of things. Acorns piled on the ground, leaves falling from trees, a deer off in the distance. At my son's football games, I snap photos not only of the playing field and the kids in action, but also of the school buildings next to the field, a rainbow after a brief shower, young children rolling down a hillside next to the field, a stray dog even. Nothing that catches my eye is given a second thought, I just take the photograph, preview it, pull out my manual if I think the camera might need adjusting, and after changing a setting or two, snap another shot.
Some of the photographs I have taken are good for nothing more than the delete button. Others like the one I snapped of my grandson at our local County Fair, are worthy of center stage. His back to me as he stood on the rail of a carnival game, to get his little two-year-old arm close enough to throw a dart at a balloon, is perfect as I could ever imagine in both composition and lighting. Before becoming determined to learn how to use this camera to all of its abilities, I would never even have attempted a shot in the fading light of the day as I did. When I think of all the shots I have missed through the years because I was afraid to press the shoot button for fear of wasting film, I am reminded how fortunate I am to have such a thing as a digital camera at my beck and call. Do not let yours go to waste sitting on a shelf or in the back of a closet. Pull it out, grab that manual, and snap away. It is not as difficult as it looks, and delete is the easiest button to use.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Put Together a Slide Show!
When you mention the words "slide show" to other people, their eyes will probably glaze over with the anticipated boredom that they think you're going to subject them to. Indeed, over the years, slide shows have become nothing more than bad cliches that conjure up memories of having to sit through long, drawn-out viewings of vacation photos from your neighbors and family. You might even recall trying desperately to stay awake during biology or history slide shows at school.
You had good reason not to get overly excited at the prospect of a slide show. In those days, slide projectors were small units with a rotating carousel slide holder that projected images on the screen or on the wall. They didn't do anything else at all. In fact, the most entertaining thing you could hope for was to have a slide appear upside down or out of order. In order for the audience to know what was going on in the picture, someone would have to narrate. This would of course lead to long-winded rants from your Uncle Ralph about how bad the service was at that hotel and how he will never stay there again as long as he lives.
But that was then. Now, there are a couple of different ways you can make slide shows more interesting than they ever were in the past. The advent of digital camera technology as well as sophisticated yet user-friendly computer software programs allows you to create slide shows that are fun to watch and that your viewers will actually enjoy.
The easiest way, by far, to set up a slide show is to hook your digital camera up to your television set. What? You didn't know that you could do that? Well, you can. Most digital cameras these days come with a set of AV cables that allows you to plug them directly into your TV. Then you can scroll through your pictures and view them on your television set. This is great for sharing pictures with a large group of people, or if you just want to see bigger versions of the photos you took. Of course, there aren't any sound effects here, either, so this is not any more sophisticated than the old-fashioned slide shows that I mentioned earlier. Let's move on.
Another fairly easy way to create a slide show is to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is already installed in most newer computers, so even if you've never used it, chances are that you have it available. It's very easy to embed your digital photos into PowerPoint slides. This software also has tons of features that allow you to jazz up your slide show in nearly any conceivable way. Do you want to give your slide show a cool soundtrack? No problem. You can add sound clips with just a couple of clicks of your mouse. You can also use various transition and animation effects to give your slides even more life. You can also add captions right there on the slide, so there's no need to narrate, either.
Sharing a PowerPoint slide show is a breeze. You can either e-mail it, post it to your website, or hook your laptop up to a projector. Whichever way you do so, you'll find that the software is powerful enough to let your imagination run free.
The next time you want to share vacation photos, consider putting on a slide show. Today's technology allows you to make it as simple or as complex as you want it to be.
You had good reason not to get overly excited at the prospect of a slide show. In those days, slide projectors were small units with a rotating carousel slide holder that projected images on the screen or on the wall. They didn't do anything else at all. In fact, the most entertaining thing you could hope for was to have a slide appear upside down or out of order. In order for the audience to know what was going on in the picture, someone would have to narrate. This would of course lead to long-winded rants from your Uncle Ralph about how bad the service was at that hotel and how he will never stay there again as long as he lives.
But that was then. Now, there are a couple of different ways you can make slide shows more interesting than they ever were in the past. The advent of digital camera technology as well as sophisticated yet user-friendly computer software programs allows you to create slide shows that are fun to watch and that your viewers will actually enjoy.
The easiest way, by far, to set up a slide show is to hook your digital camera up to your television set. What? You didn't know that you could do that? Well, you can. Most digital cameras these days come with a set of AV cables that allows you to plug them directly into your TV. Then you can scroll through your pictures and view them on your television set. This is great for sharing pictures with a large group of people, or if you just want to see bigger versions of the photos you took. Of course, there aren't any sound effects here, either, so this is not any more sophisticated than the old-fashioned slide shows that I mentioned earlier. Let's move on.
Another fairly easy way to create a slide show is to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is already installed in most newer computers, so even if you've never used it, chances are that you have it available. It's very easy to embed your digital photos into PowerPoint slides. This software also has tons of features that allow you to jazz up your slide show in nearly any conceivable way. Do you want to give your slide show a cool soundtrack? No problem. You can add sound clips with just a couple of clicks of your mouse. You can also use various transition and animation effects to give your slides even more life. You can also add captions right there on the slide, so there's no need to narrate, either.
Sharing a PowerPoint slide show is a breeze. You can either e-mail it, post it to your website, or hook your laptop up to a projector. Whichever way you do so, you'll find that the software is powerful enough to let your imagination run free.
The next time you want to share vacation photos, consider putting on a slide show. Today's technology allows you to make it as simple or as complex as you want it to be.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Handcrafted Photo Calendars as Gifts
By Christina VanGinkel
With the holidays once again just around the corner, projects that put to use items we already own, and that are things the gift recipient can actually use, are always in demand. A photo calendar is just such a project. With effort put towards the choice of photographs, a photo printer, or photographs in the needed size, along with a standard inkjet printer, a stapler, adhesive, and a selection of cardstock, you can create a fantastic calendar that will result in family members asking you to create new ones each holiday season.
Begin by choosing between twelve and thirteen pictures for your calendar. One for each month, and either a thirteenth for the cover, or decide on which month's choice will be duplicated. Photo choices could include a variety of subjects, such as different family members, or be focused on one person, such as a grandchild for a doting set of grandparents. For extended family, consider photos from a family reunion, or a shared family vacation. Pets are also good choices for photographs, or even favorite landscapes. One young man I know that is a budding photographer shares his favorite photos from the past year that include everything from nature snapshots to landscapes.
If you absolutely cannot choose only twelve or thirteen snapshots, consider a variety of layouts for each month. You could use a split page on some, so you actually have two or even four photographs on one page, though this works best when the photos are related in some way. One or two pages could also be a random collection of photos. This is a great way to include a wide variety of snapshots when you are going to be passing the finished calendars out to extended members of your family. Everyone will get a kick out of looking through the individual collages to find themselves and loved ones. Feel free to spice up the photographs with borders and text. Try different media output such as black and white, sepia tone, even try hand coloring a few for a more personalized output.
Next, choose a software program to layout your calendar. Most graphic programs or general programs such as Microsoft Works all have calendar options that include personalization with dates and photographs. Pick a program that you are comfortable working in. If you end up spending an enormous amount of time trying to figure out adding text to the calendar squares, for example, you may end up giving up before you ever really get started. Gather your dates that will be included, and double check dates, even those you think you know. The calendar should be a reliable source of information for those who will receive it. Consider traditional dates such as birthdays and anniversaries, along with special dates such as family reunions. Once everything is typed and printed, attach your photographs to the calendar by using a quality adhesive, unless they were printed digitally and directly to the calendars via your printer. If needed, staple calendars on the fold lines to complete the assembly of each.
Given as gifts, these calendars will be both the highlight of your gift giving and of those fortunate to receive them. Be prepared to redo these calendars each year with updated information and brand new photographs.
With the holidays once again just around the corner, projects that put to use items we already own, and that are things the gift recipient can actually use, are always in demand. A photo calendar is just such a project. With effort put towards the choice of photographs, a photo printer, or photographs in the needed size, along with a standard inkjet printer, a stapler, adhesive, and a selection of cardstock, you can create a fantastic calendar that will result in family members asking you to create new ones each holiday season.
Begin by choosing between twelve and thirteen pictures for your calendar. One for each month, and either a thirteenth for the cover, or decide on which month's choice will be duplicated. Photo choices could include a variety of subjects, such as different family members, or be focused on one person, such as a grandchild for a doting set of grandparents. For extended family, consider photos from a family reunion, or a shared family vacation. Pets are also good choices for photographs, or even favorite landscapes. One young man I know that is a budding photographer shares his favorite photos from the past year that include everything from nature snapshots to landscapes.
If you absolutely cannot choose only twelve or thirteen snapshots, consider a variety of layouts for each month. You could use a split page on some, so you actually have two or even four photographs on one page, though this works best when the photos are related in some way. One or two pages could also be a random collection of photos. This is a great way to include a wide variety of snapshots when you are going to be passing the finished calendars out to extended members of your family. Everyone will get a kick out of looking through the individual collages to find themselves and loved ones. Feel free to spice up the photographs with borders and text. Try different media output such as black and white, sepia tone, even try hand coloring a few for a more personalized output.
Next, choose a software program to layout your calendar. Most graphic programs or general programs such as Microsoft Works all have calendar options that include personalization with dates and photographs. Pick a program that you are comfortable working in. If you end up spending an enormous amount of time trying to figure out adding text to the calendar squares, for example, you may end up giving up before you ever really get started. Gather your dates that will be included, and double check dates, even those you think you know. The calendar should be a reliable source of information for those who will receive it. Consider traditional dates such as birthdays and anniversaries, along with special dates such as family reunions. Once everything is typed and printed, attach your photographs to the calendar by using a quality adhesive, unless they were printed digitally and directly to the calendars via your printer. If needed, staple calendars on the fold lines to complete the assembly of each.
Given as gifts, these calendars will be both the highlight of your gift giving and of those fortunate to receive them. Be prepared to redo these calendars each year with updated information and brand new photographs.
Photos, Photos, Everywhere
By Christina VanGinkel
If you are like the majority of parents, you snapped dozens of photos of your newborn from before birth through baby's first year. Now, you would like to do something with all the snapshots before they are lost in a drawer or tucked in a box to languish in the back of a closet. Before this happens, make a commitment to frame a few, scrapbooks some, and organize the rest. If you happen to be past this step, and baby is already racing around with their learner's permit, you can still follow this same commitment to use your treasured photos. You just might have to climb to the back of the spare room to retrieve them and dust them off before beginning!
If your film is already processed, or your digital files are printed, you have completed the first step. If not, then get those photographs ready to work with. Next, sort them into distinct categories such as those you intend to frame or otherwise display, and those you want to use in a scrapbook. When considering display options, do not always assume this means framing in the traditional sense. Think of ways to share them with family and visitors in untraditional ways, such as on a memory board, (A foam board covered with decorative ribbon, where you just slip the photo's edges behind the ribbon to hold pictures in place. Memory boards can be framed, minus the glass, so photos are easily swapped for a constantly fresh display) a room divider, or even transferred to specialty papers for use as refrigerator magnets or on a coffee mug as a gift for a doting grandparent or aunt or uncle.
Scrap booking has become such a favored way to store treasured photographs that there is an unending choice of products to use. You can often use photos that you would not normally frame, such as your little one covered head to toe in his or her first bowl of oatmeal they tried to feed themselves. Look for the photographs that have a story behind them, and add a bit of journaling along with each photo for a treasured keepsake book that future generations will reap enjoyment from paging through and discovering how you raised you child. That future generation may even be that same child, so you will also be able to capture some of their own memories for them, before they were able to remember them themselves!
Those photographs still without a use will need to be organized. This could be as simple as sliding them into the pages of an acid free photo album or into acid free storage boxes. Refrain from dumping them back into a box to languish unprotected in a closet or spare room. This is a good time to label and sort them for possible future use, especially if you have quite a few that you did not get around to placing into scrapbooks, but that you feel will be perfect for future page layouts, as themes to build around or as accent pictures to other main themes. If you have a scanner, or many of the photographs are already digital files, try a free software organizer such as Picasa2, or one that is already installed as part of your photo editing software.
If you are like the majority of parents, you snapped dozens of photos of your newborn from before birth through baby's first year. Now, you would like to do something with all the snapshots before they are lost in a drawer or tucked in a box to languish in the back of a closet. Before this happens, make a commitment to frame a few, scrapbooks some, and organize the rest. If you happen to be past this step, and baby is already racing around with their learner's permit, you can still follow this same commitment to use your treasured photos. You just might have to climb to the back of the spare room to retrieve them and dust them off before beginning!
If your film is already processed, or your digital files are printed, you have completed the first step. If not, then get those photographs ready to work with. Next, sort them into distinct categories such as those you intend to frame or otherwise display, and those you want to use in a scrapbook. When considering display options, do not always assume this means framing in the traditional sense. Think of ways to share them with family and visitors in untraditional ways, such as on a memory board, (A foam board covered with decorative ribbon, where you just slip the photo's edges behind the ribbon to hold pictures in place. Memory boards can be framed, minus the glass, so photos are easily swapped for a constantly fresh display) a room divider, or even transferred to specialty papers for use as refrigerator magnets or on a coffee mug as a gift for a doting grandparent or aunt or uncle.
Scrap booking has become such a favored way to store treasured photographs that there is an unending choice of products to use. You can often use photos that you would not normally frame, such as your little one covered head to toe in his or her first bowl of oatmeal they tried to feed themselves. Look for the photographs that have a story behind them, and add a bit of journaling along with each photo for a treasured keepsake book that future generations will reap enjoyment from paging through and discovering how you raised you child. That future generation may even be that same child, so you will also be able to capture some of their own memories for them, before they were able to remember them themselves!
Those photographs still without a use will need to be organized. This could be as simple as sliding them into the pages of an acid free photo album or into acid free storage boxes. Refrain from dumping them back into a box to languish unprotected in a closet or spare room. This is a good time to label and sort them for possible future use, especially if you have quite a few that you did not get around to placing into scrapbooks, but that you feel will be perfect for future page layouts, as themes to build around or as accent pictures to other main themes. If you have a scanner, or many of the photographs are already digital files, try a free software organizer such as Picasa2, or one that is already installed as part of your photo editing software.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Capturing Everyday Life
By Christina VanGinkel
Scrap booking is not only addictive, it is the perfect excuse to pull out your camera and use it on a daily basis. Too often, someone purchases a camera with the full intention of using it a lot. After the initial newness wears off though, it is delegated to the shelf or drawer, only to be pulled out for special occasions such as holidays and birthdays, but this is not so in the household of a true scrapbook enthusiast.
That camera is in use more than the household's toaster! How so you might ask. Take for example these ideas for using your camera in ways you might never have imagined. (Save for if you happen to live in the house of a true scrapper already!)
Wake up teenagers on a typical morning with camera in hand to inform them that you are taking their picture as they wake up so you can create a scrapbook page about waking them up. (This is for real! I know a mother who did this!)
Take photograph of the first time your teenage son shaves to create a scrapbook page for your book of their firsts. This book will also include first tooth, first haircut, first date, first time they dented the car, first job, etc.
Snap photographs of minor accidents, such as stitches, black eyes, casts, etc. Be sure to check the severity of the accident before grabbing your camera though! If you are dealing with a more major medical issue, go ahead and snap photos, journal, etc., if you feel this will help you deal with the accident or illness in a more controlled, positive way.
Take a photograph of your child's backpack contents or your own briefcase's contents from work. Empty everything out, and remember no cheating by removing anything before snapping the photo, and then journal along with the finished photo explaining what was inside and why.
Take photographs of yourself for what scrapbook people sometimes refer to as a BOM, or Book of Me. Take a photo of yourself having your morning coffee, or with your favorite pet, or even at your desk at work to show your ancestors where you once slogged away to support your scrapbook hobby.
Take a photograph of your child's hand, writing. This is a good project to do at the beginning of each year. Snap a photograph showing their hand, writing their name. When you look back at the photographs years from now you will be amazed at both how much their handwriting has progressed, and how much they have grown.
Snap a photograph of yourself creating a scrapbook page. Be sure to take a few of the area you use for scrapping too. If you are like the majority of us, it will be a bit on the hectic side, though some of us are actually quite organized.
No subject that defines your life and family is too strange to scrapbook. Put that camera to use and capture some moments that are about as true to life as you can get. Think outside the box, as the saying goes, and leave a legacy behind for future generations to smile about.
Scrap booking is not only addictive, it is the perfect excuse to pull out your camera and use it on a daily basis. Too often, someone purchases a camera with the full intention of using it a lot. After the initial newness wears off though, it is delegated to the shelf or drawer, only to be pulled out for special occasions such as holidays and birthdays, but this is not so in the household of a true scrapbook enthusiast.
That camera is in use more than the household's toaster! How so you might ask. Take for example these ideas for using your camera in ways you might never have imagined. (Save for if you happen to live in the house of a true scrapper already!)
Wake up teenagers on a typical morning with camera in hand to inform them that you are taking their picture as they wake up so you can create a scrapbook page about waking them up. (This is for real! I know a mother who did this!)
Take photograph of the first time your teenage son shaves to create a scrapbook page for your book of their firsts. This book will also include first tooth, first haircut, first date, first time they dented the car, first job, etc.
Snap photographs of minor accidents, such as stitches, black eyes, casts, etc. Be sure to check the severity of the accident before grabbing your camera though! If you are dealing with a more major medical issue, go ahead and snap photos, journal, etc., if you feel this will help you deal with the accident or illness in a more controlled, positive way.
Take a photograph of your child's backpack contents or your own briefcase's contents from work. Empty everything out, and remember no cheating by removing anything before snapping the photo, and then journal along with the finished photo explaining what was inside and why.
Take photographs of yourself for what scrapbook people sometimes refer to as a BOM, or Book of Me. Take a photo of yourself having your morning coffee, or with your favorite pet, or even at your desk at work to show your ancestors where you once slogged away to support your scrapbook hobby.
Take a photograph of your child's hand, writing. This is a good project to do at the beginning of each year. Snap a photograph showing their hand, writing their name. When you look back at the photographs years from now you will be amazed at both how much their handwriting has progressed, and how much they have grown.
Snap a photograph of yourself creating a scrapbook page. Be sure to take a few of the area you use for scrapping too. If you are like the majority of us, it will be a bit on the hectic side, though some of us are actually quite organized.
No subject that defines your life and family is too strange to scrapbook. Put that camera to use and capture some moments that are about as true to life as you can get. Think outside the box, as the saying goes, and leave a legacy behind for future generations to smile about.
Shopping for Savings
By Christina VanGinkel
Choosing a shopping destination the next time you purchase a camera or video recorder can be a daunting task. Thankfully, CamerasandCameras.com has taken the overwhelming feeling associated with this undertaking and tried to make it as easy as can be. Take a good look at the categories themselves and you will see that they have organized choices of cameras by type, made a separate category for accessories that you may need, along with a category for lenses and another one for filters. Not to stop there though, they have broken the shopping down by retailer for those of you who may not have a full understanding of just what you are shopping for.
Amazon.com, Best Buy, Camera World, Circuit City, CompUSA, Dell, eBay Cameras, Exposures, Gateway, Overstock, Ritz Camera, Smart Bargains, Wal-Mart, and Wolf Camera will all offer you a unique shopping experience. Simply by clicking on their link beneath the retail heading, you will be brought to their storefront for easy browsing and price comparison. When you are ready to browse another store, or do a price comparison from site to site, simply back up in your browser to CamerasandCameras.com to keep track of which retailers you have already visited.
By taking advantage of these simplified links, I was able to save nearly a hundred dollars on my camera purchase a few months back. I had assumed that I would be able to purchase it locally for a savings over any online store, as I would not be paying shipping fees. I did check prices on the camera locally; at each store that was available to me, I either went into the store itself, or phoned to see if they had it in stock, and if they did, or were expecting it in, what their lowest price was. I even asked about any upcoming sales that the stores might have. With a set budget, I decided to see if I could get it online for any less after hearing what the price was, and used CamerasandCameras.com to keep track of the stores I visited.
I found it cheaper at almost every store online I visited, and in an amount of time that took me less than visiting one local store, I had price checked and ordered my camera for nearly one hundred dollars less than the lowest local price. This included all shipping charges and tax. While I am all for shopping locally when I make a purchase, in these times of tightening belts, I am also all for saving as much as I can, and one hundred dollars in quite a big difference. Without the ease of shopping provided through sites such as CamerasandCameras.com, I am not sure I would always take the time to make sure I were getting the absolute lowest price available. Thankfully, they do provide the ease, and I was able to use it to my advantage. The next time you are considering such a purchase, take a few extra minutes to compare prices, and hopefully you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was with such a substantial savings!
Choosing a shopping destination the next time you purchase a camera or video recorder can be a daunting task. Thankfully, CamerasandCameras.com has taken the overwhelming feeling associated with this undertaking and tried to make it as easy as can be. Take a good look at the categories themselves and you will see that they have organized choices of cameras by type, made a separate category for accessories that you may need, along with a category for lenses and another one for filters. Not to stop there though, they have broken the shopping down by retailer for those of you who may not have a full understanding of just what you are shopping for.
Amazon.com, Best Buy, Camera World, Circuit City, CompUSA, Dell, eBay Cameras, Exposures, Gateway, Overstock, Ritz Camera, Smart Bargains, Wal-Mart, and Wolf Camera will all offer you a unique shopping experience. Simply by clicking on their link beneath the retail heading, you will be brought to their storefront for easy browsing and price comparison. When you are ready to browse another store, or do a price comparison from site to site, simply back up in your browser to CamerasandCameras.com to keep track of which retailers you have already visited.
By taking advantage of these simplified links, I was able to save nearly a hundred dollars on my camera purchase a few months back. I had assumed that I would be able to purchase it locally for a savings over any online store, as I would not be paying shipping fees. I did check prices on the camera locally; at each store that was available to me, I either went into the store itself, or phoned to see if they had it in stock, and if they did, or were expecting it in, what their lowest price was. I even asked about any upcoming sales that the stores might have. With a set budget, I decided to see if I could get it online for any less after hearing what the price was, and used CamerasandCameras.com to keep track of the stores I visited.
I found it cheaper at almost every store online I visited, and in an amount of time that took me less than visiting one local store, I had price checked and ordered my camera for nearly one hundred dollars less than the lowest local price. This included all shipping charges and tax. While I am all for shopping locally when I make a purchase, in these times of tightening belts, I am also all for saving as much as I can, and one hundred dollars in quite a big difference. Without the ease of shopping provided through sites such as CamerasandCameras.com, I am not sure I would always take the time to make sure I were getting the absolute lowest price available. Thankfully, they do provide the ease, and I was able to use it to my advantage. The next time you are considering such a purchase, take a few extra minutes to compare prices, and hopefully you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was with such a substantial savings!
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Pentax Optio WP 5MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
By Christina VanGinkel
A few years ago, my family took a vacation to a Waterpark. We did so again this year. Having purchased a brand new digital camera just before this departure, and ironically right before our getaway a few years ago, it was a shock to my husband each time when I told him that we needed to grab a disposable camera before we headed off to our destination. The first time he asked if I was afraid of my new camera being stolen. I told him that had nothing to do with it. I needed a waterproof camera for snapshots inside the Waterpark itself. This time around, when I again said we needed to grab a disposable, he questioned if the new camera was not at the least water resistant. No, it was not I replied. He responded with the reply that you would think manufacturers of digital cameras would ever get with the program and create a waterproof camera.
Well, browsing the site CamerasandCameras.com the other day, I decided to do a quick search for a 'waterproof digital'. I was pleasantly rewarded with just such a camera. The Pentax Optio WP 5MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom offered exactly the options I would have chosen were they available before I purchased my first camera several years ago. This camera has one feature that I like right off, that being the 3X optic lens. While some people may be content with a digital zoom, I feel they are redundant in today's computer world, nothing more than a fancy way to say that you are cropping the picture, while an optic lens is a true zoom, bringing your subject in closer for a clearer shot from a distance.
The Optio WP 5MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom is also waterproof, not just water resistant. It can handle being underwater, up to 1.5 meters for half an hour at a time. This can go from the pool, to the lake, even beneath the big water bucket dump at your favorite Waterpark. Imagine all the cool photos you can capture with this, and not worry about whether or not you got the shot you were trying to capture, as you do with the waterproof disposables that are so common.
If the camera gets sand on it beachside, no worries there either, as you can just run it beneath the faucet for a quick rinse. As to size, it is both flat and small so it can easily be tucked into the pocket of your shorts or slipped into your beach bag with ease. It has a large, two-inch LCD screen for easy viewing, and with its 5.0 Effective Megapixels you can easily print pictures up to an astounding 13 x 17-inch. Not to be outdone, this camera also has features rarely all seen together in one single camera. Recovery Function for Erased Images, Synchronous Sound Record which lets you actually record a sound byte to accompany your still shot (perfect for capturing the sounds of your family's shrill screams as the huge buckets of water pour down on them all in good fun!), red eye, and macro mode. Along with full-color, black and white and sepia color modes available even during movie mode, a green mode (allows you to save settings), and continuous AF and Tracking AF, this camera is a great all around camera that can work literally anyplace. Pricing varies, but this camera is comparable in price to some other cameras with half the features.
A few years ago, my family took a vacation to a Waterpark. We did so again this year. Having purchased a brand new digital camera just before this departure, and ironically right before our getaway a few years ago, it was a shock to my husband each time when I told him that we needed to grab a disposable camera before we headed off to our destination. The first time he asked if I was afraid of my new camera being stolen. I told him that had nothing to do with it. I needed a waterproof camera for snapshots inside the Waterpark itself. This time around, when I again said we needed to grab a disposable, he questioned if the new camera was not at the least water resistant. No, it was not I replied. He responded with the reply that you would think manufacturers of digital cameras would ever get with the program and create a waterproof camera.
Well, browsing the site CamerasandCameras.com the other day, I decided to do a quick search for a 'waterproof digital'. I was pleasantly rewarded with just such a camera. The Pentax Optio WP 5MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom offered exactly the options I would have chosen were they available before I purchased my first camera several years ago. This camera has one feature that I like right off, that being the 3X optic lens. While some people may be content with a digital zoom, I feel they are redundant in today's computer world, nothing more than a fancy way to say that you are cropping the picture, while an optic lens is a true zoom, bringing your subject in closer for a clearer shot from a distance.
The Optio WP 5MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom is also waterproof, not just water resistant. It can handle being underwater, up to 1.5 meters for half an hour at a time. This can go from the pool, to the lake, even beneath the big water bucket dump at your favorite Waterpark. Imagine all the cool photos you can capture with this, and not worry about whether or not you got the shot you were trying to capture, as you do with the waterproof disposables that are so common.
If the camera gets sand on it beachside, no worries there either, as you can just run it beneath the faucet for a quick rinse. As to size, it is both flat and small so it can easily be tucked into the pocket of your shorts or slipped into your beach bag with ease. It has a large, two-inch LCD screen for easy viewing, and with its 5.0 Effective Megapixels you can easily print pictures up to an astounding 13 x 17-inch. Not to be outdone, this camera also has features rarely all seen together in one single camera. Recovery Function for Erased Images, Synchronous Sound Record which lets you actually record a sound byte to accompany your still shot (perfect for capturing the sounds of your family's shrill screams as the huge buckets of water pour down on them all in good fun!), red eye, and macro mode. Along with full-color, black and white and sepia color modes available even during movie mode, a green mode (allows you to save settings), and continuous AF and Tracking AF, this camera is a great all around camera that can work literally anyplace. Pricing varies, but this camera is comparable in price to some other cameras with half the features.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Digital Photo Storage Advice
By Christina VanGinkel
Organizing and storage of photographs has been talked about at length in numerous ways over the past several months, both here and on other photography related sites. In part, I believe because there has been some question to how long a CD or DVD will last before deteriorating. The answer to that question is varied, depending on who answers. With all the advancements in digital photography, it is easy to assume that storage of our treasured photos is just as advanced. Realistically though, unless one knows how to download, backup, and store their files properly, they are risking losing images that cannot be replaced by their own fault, and as there are disagreements about how long current storage options will last, we also risk losing our files through no fault of our own. With film, we had and still have our negatives. The problem with these is that we often misplace them, they faded, or damaged through fire, moisture, heat, etc. So what is one to do?
I currently create most all of my photographs digitally, and I store them in two to three capacities. I first download to my computer, and store them on my hard drive. From there, they are sorted, and I print, regularly, those that I know I want copies of, both for others to see and to use in my scrapbooks. I also transfer them to a CD, and a DVD. Media is relatively inexpensive, so all of my photographs are doubling being stored. Eventually, photographs are deleted from my hard drive, but by then I have them digitally stored and printed.
If this is an extreme, I feel that it is an acceptable extreme. Others I know store their digital files on servers online as a backup, or on zip drives. One person I know even stores all of theirs on the flash cards, replacing them each time they become full. When I heard this, all I thought of was 'ouch' on the pocketbook. Then I thought that this is not so surprising, because some people just do not want to lose their photo images, and some do not know how to transfer them to other storage options. So in essence, any of these options is acceptable.
If you do choose to store your files, on CD or DVD there are ways to increase the chance that your files will be safe for many years to come. Do not expose your disks to extreme temperatures, either high or low. Do not handle them any more than needed. Wash your hands and dry them well before handling them. (This is sage advice for the handling of any DVD or CD!) If they do become dirty or scratched, deal with it in a timely fashion by cleaning them or repairing the scratch if possible. I would also recommend then transferring the files to a new disc in the instance of a scratch. When you use a disk, put it away promptly after use, do not let it sit in your computer or DVD player. While none of these suggestions will ensure that you never lose a photo, they will go a long way towards keeping it from happening.
Organizing and storage of photographs has been talked about at length in numerous ways over the past several months, both here and on other photography related sites. In part, I believe because there has been some question to how long a CD or DVD will last before deteriorating. The answer to that question is varied, depending on who answers. With all the advancements in digital photography, it is easy to assume that storage of our treasured photos is just as advanced. Realistically though, unless one knows how to download, backup, and store their files properly, they are risking losing images that cannot be replaced by their own fault, and as there are disagreements about how long current storage options will last, we also risk losing our files through no fault of our own. With film, we had and still have our negatives. The problem with these is that we often misplace them, they faded, or damaged through fire, moisture, heat, etc. So what is one to do?
I currently create most all of my photographs digitally, and I store them in two to three capacities. I first download to my computer, and store them on my hard drive. From there, they are sorted, and I print, regularly, those that I know I want copies of, both for others to see and to use in my scrapbooks. I also transfer them to a CD, and a DVD. Media is relatively inexpensive, so all of my photographs are doubling being stored. Eventually, photographs are deleted from my hard drive, but by then I have them digitally stored and printed.
If this is an extreme, I feel that it is an acceptable extreme. Others I know store their digital files on servers online as a backup, or on zip drives. One person I know even stores all of theirs on the flash cards, replacing them each time they become full. When I heard this, all I thought of was 'ouch' on the pocketbook. Then I thought that this is not so surprising, because some people just do not want to lose their photo images, and some do not know how to transfer them to other storage options. So in essence, any of these options is acceptable.
If you do choose to store your files, on CD or DVD there are ways to increase the chance that your files will be safe for many years to come. Do not expose your disks to extreme temperatures, either high or low. Do not handle them any more than needed. Wash your hands and dry them well before handling them. (This is sage advice for the handling of any DVD or CD!) If they do become dirty or scratched, deal with it in a timely fashion by cleaning them or repairing the scratch if possible. I would also recommend then transferring the files to a new disc in the instance of a scratch. When you use a disk, put it away promptly after use, do not let it sit in your computer or DVD player. While none of these suggestions will ensure that you never lose a photo, they will go a long way towards keeping it from happening.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Digital Camera Shopping
By Christina VanGinkel
Shopping for a new digital camera does not have to be as difficult a task as some might think. Depending on what you wish to use the camera for, and what sizes photos you want to be able to print, will largely determine which features you need to look for when shopping. Take into consideration the price of any cameras that you find that you feel fit your needs, and break down the comparison from there.
Be careful of shopping by price alone though, as many retail outlets still offer very low-end digital cameras for nearly the same (and sometimes even more!) price as cameras with many more features. Be prepared to do a line-by-line comparison when shopping, and if there is a term you do not understand, find out if it will be of major relevance to the product.
For example, a zoom is not always a zoom. Digital and optic zoom are two very different features. Digital zoom is a term that means nothing more than a fancy way to say it crops the photo. Optic zoom uses the lens to in effect, bring the subjects in the viewfinder closer. A picture printed from an optic zoom will be clearer than the same picture zoomed in with a digital zoom.
Consider how big of a memory card is bundled with the camera. Two cameras, each with the same features, except one has a 16MB card and the other comes packaged with a 256MB card is a drastically different value. The 16MB card is only going to hold a couple of pictures at best, and you will soon be doling out extra dollars for a bigger card.
What type of batteries does each camera need? Can they be recharged, or do you need to buy the battery separate? A battery, depending on the type, can be a significant additional cost. Some digital cameras use regular alkaline batteries, which may need to be replaced quite often, while others may use lithium, or other type of rechargeable. Consider the additional cost when factoring in whether one camera is a good buy over another.
If you will be using your camera extensively in conjunction with your computer, consider what software is included with different brands. Are the programs offered full version or SE? Are all the cables for the camera to work with your computer included, and is it compatible with your computer? Does the camera come bundled with special options, such as a printer? If it does, is this something you really need or want?
Not as important, but still to be given thought, is if the camera comes with a case or tripod. While neither of these additions will break the bank, especially if you purchase basic, cost saving ones, some camera retailers may offer add-ons like these free just for ordering, so be sure to check with more than one outlet or store once you have decided on an actual camera.
Remember that comparison-shopping when purchasing your next digital camera will assure you the best deal for the least dollars, and that an informed shopper is a happy shopper.
Shopping for a new digital camera does not have to be as difficult a task as some might think. Depending on what you wish to use the camera for, and what sizes photos you want to be able to print, will largely determine which features you need to look for when shopping. Take into consideration the price of any cameras that you find that you feel fit your needs, and break down the comparison from there.
Be careful of shopping by price alone though, as many retail outlets still offer very low-end digital cameras for nearly the same (and sometimes even more!) price as cameras with many more features. Be prepared to do a line-by-line comparison when shopping, and if there is a term you do not understand, find out if it will be of major relevance to the product.
For example, a zoom is not always a zoom. Digital and optic zoom are two very different features. Digital zoom is a term that means nothing more than a fancy way to say it crops the photo. Optic zoom uses the lens to in effect, bring the subjects in the viewfinder closer. A picture printed from an optic zoom will be clearer than the same picture zoomed in with a digital zoom.
Consider how big of a memory card is bundled with the camera. Two cameras, each with the same features, except one has a 16MB card and the other comes packaged with a 256MB card is a drastically different value. The 16MB card is only going to hold a couple of pictures at best, and you will soon be doling out extra dollars for a bigger card.
What type of batteries does each camera need? Can they be recharged, or do you need to buy the battery separate? A battery, depending on the type, can be a significant additional cost. Some digital cameras use regular alkaline batteries, which may need to be replaced quite often, while others may use lithium, or other type of rechargeable. Consider the additional cost when factoring in whether one camera is a good buy over another.
If you will be using your camera extensively in conjunction with your computer, consider what software is included with different brands. Are the programs offered full version or SE? Are all the cables for the camera to work with your computer included, and is it compatible with your computer? Does the camera come bundled with special options, such as a printer? If it does, is this something you really need or want?
Not as important, but still to be given thought, is if the camera comes with a case or tripod. While neither of these additions will break the bank, especially if you purchase basic, cost saving ones, some camera retailers may offer add-ons like these free just for ordering, so be sure to check with more than one outlet or store once you have decided on an actual camera.
Remember that comparison-shopping when purchasing your next digital camera will assure you the best deal for the least dollars, and that an informed shopper is a happy shopper.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Photo Cropping Possibilities
By Christina VanGinkel
The more I scrapbook, the more I crop photos. Moreover, thanks to my computer, I can crop them digitally and then print them in the size and format of my own choosing. When I think of all the old photos that I deemed not useable, or those that I would cut away parts of the background leaving what I thought was the good part, I cringe at the thought of the many that I ruined and wasted. Before my digital camera, I was terrible about saving the negatives, so if I ruined a picture, chances were that was my one and only copy unless I had originally printed doubles. I also tossed whatever parts of a photograph that I cropped, except for the main subject that I was cropping the rest of the photograph to get at.
Now, thanks to my digital camera and my computer, I can crop a picture in a hundred different orientations until I find the one I like best, and then print it as is. My choices are almost endless. Still, with all this available to me, I was overlooking one advantage of this combination of cropping and digital files. I never thought to look at the parts of a picture that were not the main subject. Consider a snapshot I took of my son last year. He is leaning against a tree in our back forty. All around him are blue sky and colorful leaves. When creating a page in my scrapbook recently, I was pouring through my background papers looking for a scrap, one that would be an ideal backdrop for a poem I had penned. Nothing fit, nothing jumped out at me as the best choice. Then I remembered the snapshot, or I should say the background.
Within minutes I had opened up the photo in my photo editor, Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium, cropped away my son and the base of the tree, and inserted text of the poem directly onto the blue sky with the orange, red, and gold leaves as a border for the text. Perfect is the only word I can think to describe the result. It not only was the perfect background for my words, it would never be duplicated in someone else's book, as it was an original in the truest sense.
Thanks to all the advancements when it comes to our choice of cameras and computer equipment, we are only beginning to realize all the wonderful ideas we can now bring to fruition. What we once dreamed, we can now accomplish, along with some things we never dreamed at all. Whenever digital is listed in a dictionary or book, it should include the definition of 'endless possibility', as only then will we begin to understand all the wonderful options this format of photography has opened up to us, the average user. For scrapbook enthusiasts, digital photography has given us the freedom to create memories like those you will find in no one else's scrapbook but our very own. Happy Scrapping!
The more I scrapbook, the more I crop photos. Moreover, thanks to my computer, I can crop them digitally and then print them in the size and format of my own choosing. When I think of all the old photos that I deemed not useable, or those that I would cut away parts of the background leaving what I thought was the good part, I cringe at the thought of the many that I ruined and wasted. Before my digital camera, I was terrible about saving the negatives, so if I ruined a picture, chances were that was my one and only copy unless I had originally printed doubles. I also tossed whatever parts of a photograph that I cropped, except for the main subject that I was cropping the rest of the photograph to get at.
Now, thanks to my digital camera and my computer, I can crop a picture in a hundred different orientations until I find the one I like best, and then print it as is. My choices are almost endless. Still, with all this available to me, I was overlooking one advantage of this combination of cropping and digital files. I never thought to look at the parts of a picture that were not the main subject. Consider a snapshot I took of my son last year. He is leaning against a tree in our back forty. All around him are blue sky and colorful leaves. When creating a page in my scrapbook recently, I was pouring through my background papers looking for a scrap, one that would be an ideal backdrop for a poem I had penned. Nothing fit, nothing jumped out at me as the best choice. Then I remembered the snapshot, or I should say the background.
Within minutes I had opened up the photo in my photo editor, Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium, cropped away my son and the base of the tree, and inserted text of the poem directly onto the blue sky with the orange, red, and gold leaves as a border for the text. Perfect is the only word I can think to describe the result. It not only was the perfect background for my words, it would never be duplicated in someone else's book, as it was an original in the truest sense.
Thanks to all the advancements when it comes to our choice of cameras and computer equipment, we are only beginning to realize all the wonderful ideas we can now bring to fruition. What we once dreamed, we can now accomplish, along with some things we never dreamed at all. Whenever digital is listed in a dictionary or book, it should include the definition of 'endless possibility', as only then will we begin to understand all the wonderful options this format of photography has opened up to us, the average user. For scrapbook enthusiasts, digital photography has given us the freedom to create memories like those you will find in no one else's scrapbook but our very own. Happy Scrapping!
Friday, September 16, 2005
Japanese Exchange Scrapbooks
It is no secret that scrapbooks of photos and paper clippings can make a wonderful book of memories for a vacation, a school year, or even just a "year in the life." But how would it feel to have a scrapbook of a special person in your life that you may or may not ever see again. In the past five years, we have been honored and privileged to host two wonderful, 12-year-old Japanese exchange students. The exchange program of which we were part, requires that the visiting student bring a scrapbook to give to their host family. The scrapbook contains photos of the student, his or her family, extended family, and friends. But also, the scrapbook takes us back in time to the student's younger days; there may be a baby pictures, and photos that take us through his or her life from the toddler stages to the present. We were (and are) thrilled to still have these scrapbooks. It would have been wonderful to simply see them, but it is more of a treasure to still be able to look at them from time to time.
The Japanese are very big on tradition and they have many festivals and special events each year in which the children participate from very small ages. The scrapbooks our students brought include photos of them in traditional Japanese clothing with many other children the same age. There are photos of them at the toddler stage with beautiful short silk pants on the boys and colorful kimonos on the girls. At age five or six they have a festival where they all wear beautiful head pieces. By looking at this little history of one person, we were able to learn much about the Japanese culture.
The Japanese are also very big on family. In nearly every photo of the scrapbook, mom and dad were somewhere nearby. Many of the photos were of special camps or family vacations. The parents are smiling and hugging their children and just as often, there are grandparents and aunts and uncles in the photos as well. One of the students we hosted lived with her parents, her brother, and her grandfather. Her grandfather obviously had a huge influence on her life and a special place in her heart.
The Japanese are also very big on cameras and photography! While here, our students carried a camera with them everywhere, though I must confess, the girl student was much more diligent about this than her male counterpart. She went through more than a dozen disposable cameras while she was here, and we took just as many photos on our digital camera. As a gift, we made our students a scrapbook to take back to Japan with them, so they can remember us, as well as various pictures from our past. And I'm sure our students will make their own scrapbooks as well.
We will always treasure the Japanese scrapbooks, as there is that chance we will never see those students again; but if we do, and that is our hope, perhaps together we will enjoy memories of our own visits together by looking through our common scrapbooks.
The Japanese are very big on tradition and they have many festivals and special events each year in which the children participate from very small ages. The scrapbooks our students brought include photos of them in traditional Japanese clothing with many other children the same age. There are photos of them at the toddler stage with beautiful short silk pants on the boys and colorful kimonos on the girls. At age five or six they have a festival where they all wear beautiful head pieces. By looking at this little history of one person, we were able to learn much about the Japanese culture.
The Japanese are also very big on family. In nearly every photo of the scrapbook, mom and dad were somewhere nearby. Many of the photos were of special camps or family vacations. The parents are smiling and hugging their children and just as often, there are grandparents and aunts and uncles in the photos as well. One of the students we hosted lived with her parents, her brother, and her grandfather. Her grandfather obviously had a huge influence on her life and a special place in her heart.
The Japanese are also very big on cameras and photography! While here, our students carried a camera with them everywhere, though I must confess, the girl student was much more diligent about this than her male counterpart. She went through more than a dozen disposable cameras while she was here, and we took just as many photos on our digital camera. As a gift, we made our students a scrapbook to take back to Japan with them, so they can remember us, as well as various pictures from our past. And I'm sure our students will make their own scrapbooks as well.
We will always treasure the Japanese scrapbooks, as there is that chance we will never see those students again; but if we do, and that is our hope, perhaps together we will enjoy memories of our own visits together by looking through our common scrapbooks.
Restoring Old Photos
By Christina VanGinkel
My husbands grandmother passed away several years ago, but was one of those people who left a mark on all the people she ever had contact with, including her grandchildren. My mother in law showed me two pictures of her, one with her husband, and one with her two sisters when all three were in their teenage years. This second one is in black and white and has a few blemishes on it, including a scratch and a stain in the one corner. She wanted to know if I could make copies of the first, and somehow fix the second picture and make copies, as she would like to give one of each to the grandkids at Christmas this year, together in a photo album.
The first was accomplished with ease, and then I moved on to the second picture. I had seen several programs that actually advertised that they would instantly fix damaged photos, erase cracks, restore faded color (Not needed with this one as it is in black and white), etc. The problem was that I did not want to spend a small fortune to fix one photo, so I decided to see if any of the programs I already owned would be capable of doing what I wanted. Sure enough, Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium, which came bundled with my computer, has this option. (I have version 9 for those of you who want an exact comparison.) Under 'Touchup', I scrolled to the bottom of the list and clicked on 'Other Photo Repair' where I had the option of choosing 'Remove Scratches', 'Remove Dust', or 'Restore Old Picture'. The Restore Old Picture option primarily just lets you fix the focus and contrast, but the other two did what they said, and after a very short amount of time under Remove Scratches, I had the photograph looking as spiffy as the day is was taken.
Everyone has photos like these treasures tucked away, many damaged much worse than this example, and other programs may be more capable of fixing extensive damage, but if you are looking for just a quick fix of a blemish on an old photo, take a good look at what photo editing software you already own. Oftentimes we are blind as to the basic functions of programs we already own, because we do not normally use these aspects of them. The best way to uncover if what you have installed will work for whatever task you would like it to do, is to browse the links or type in the specific task in the 'Help' section found within nearly every Windows bases program.
So nice did the photo turn out, I am going to print one larger than she requested, mat, and frame it just for her. As to the small ones printed for each of the grandchildren, I am sure they will appreciate such a clear look into their grandmother's past. Coupled with the copies of the snapshot of their grandmother and grandfather, I cannot think of a nicer gift during the holidays.
My husbands grandmother passed away several years ago, but was one of those people who left a mark on all the people she ever had contact with, including her grandchildren. My mother in law showed me two pictures of her, one with her husband, and one with her two sisters when all three were in their teenage years. This second one is in black and white and has a few blemishes on it, including a scratch and a stain in the one corner. She wanted to know if I could make copies of the first, and somehow fix the second picture and make copies, as she would like to give one of each to the grandkids at Christmas this year, together in a photo album.
The first was accomplished with ease, and then I moved on to the second picture. I had seen several programs that actually advertised that they would instantly fix damaged photos, erase cracks, restore faded color (Not needed with this one as it is in black and white), etc. The problem was that I did not want to spend a small fortune to fix one photo, so I decided to see if any of the programs I already owned would be capable of doing what I wanted. Sure enough, Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium, which came bundled with my computer, has this option. (I have version 9 for those of you who want an exact comparison.) Under 'Touchup', I scrolled to the bottom of the list and clicked on 'Other Photo Repair' where I had the option of choosing 'Remove Scratches', 'Remove Dust', or 'Restore Old Picture'. The Restore Old Picture option primarily just lets you fix the focus and contrast, but the other two did what they said, and after a very short amount of time under Remove Scratches, I had the photograph looking as spiffy as the day is was taken.
Everyone has photos like these treasures tucked away, many damaged much worse than this example, and other programs may be more capable of fixing extensive damage, but if you are looking for just a quick fix of a blemish on an old photo, take a good look at what photo editing software you already own. Oftentimes we are blind as to the basic functions of programs we already own, because we do not normally use these aspects of them. The best way to uncover if what you have installed will work for whatever task you would like it to do, is to browse the links or type in the specific task in the 'Help' section found within nearly every Windows bases program.
So nice did the photo turn out, I am going to print one larger than she requested, mat, and frame it just for her. As to the small ones printed for each of the grandchildren, I am sure they will appreciate such a clear look into their grandmother's past. Coupled with the copies of the snapshot of their grandmother and grandfather, I cannot think of a nicer gift during the holidays.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Digital Printing Options
When digital cameras first came on the horizon, a few of us had a hard time getting adjusted. Sure, it was great to see a "preview" of what the picture would look like, and deleting unwanted shots was a novel idea. But many people would just load the digital pictures on to our PC's -- where they would sit. For years and years. Sure, it was fun to e-mail Aunt Tilly a digital image of the kids, but as far the family photo album went-- well, that was a thing of the past.
To this day, I still have friends who have neglected to make prints of their digital pictures. They have hundreds of digital images stored on their computers. Relying on a computer hard drive to store your pictures is a bad idea-- one computer crash and there goes the memories. At the very least, most people know to back up their digital pictures onto a CD. But what about if you're still longing for real pictures? There are a few good options and all are pretty affordable:
You can take your digital camera to a local photo developing center. This is just like the old days, but instead of dropping off film you will give them your camera card. They will download the pictures from your card and make prints out of them. You can even take advantage of one hour photo developing.
Order prints online. You can download your pictures to one of the many online photo developing sites. They will make the prints and mail them to you. The great thing about this option is you can customize your prints the way that you want them. You can order the standard 3X5 or 4X6 prints-- or a big ol' 8X10 print if you so desire. You can order color prints or black and white. You can even design holiday cards and invitations with your favorite photos on them. Editing tools can help you to reduce common photo faux pas such as red eye-- and you can even crop your photos if you want to. The online photo shops are very competitively priced and many offer free prints with your first order. Some good sites to shop at include Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com and Ofoto.com. It is best to order online prints with a high speed Internet connection-- if you are using dial-up it will take a long time for your didigital images to download. The average price for online photo printing averages from about 19 cents to 29 cents per print.
Invest in a photo printer. The price of digital photo printers has plummeted in the past year or so, so just about anyone can afford one now. A photo printer will allow you to print your favorite photos on the spot. You will need to keep supplies on hand-- like ink and photo paper (just like you do for your computer)-- but the convenience of this option can't be beat. Many brands of photo printers are compatible with most cameras. An affordable option for first time buyers is the Kodak Easyshare Photo Printer. Once you get the hang of printing your own photos, you won't believe that you used to send them out for printing!
To this day, I still have friends who have neglected to make prints of their digital pictures. They have hundreds of digital images stored on their computers. Relying on a computer hard drive to store your pictures is a bad idea-- one computer crash and there goes the memories. At the very least, most people know to back up their digital pictures onto a CD. But what about if you're still longing for real pictures? There are a few good options and all are pretty affordable:
You can take your digital camera to a local photo developing center. This is just like the old days, but instead of dropping off film you will give them your camera card. They will download the pictures from your card and make prints out of them. You can even take advantage of one hour photo developing.
Order prints online. You can download your pictures to one of the many online photo developing sites. They will make the prints and mail them to you. The great thing about this option is you can customize your prints the way that you want them. You can order the standard 3X5 or 4X6 prints-- or a big ol' 8X10 print if you so desire. You can order color prints or black and white. You can even design holiday cards and invitations with your favorite photos on them. Editing tools can help you to reduce common photo faux pas such as red eye-- and you can even crop your photos if you want to. The online photo shops are very competitively priced and many offer free prints with your first order. Some good sites to shop at include Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com and Ofoto.com. It is best to order online prints with a high speed Internet connection-- if you are using dial-up it will take a long time for your didigital images to download. The average price for online photo printing averages from about 19 cents to 29 cents per print.
Invest in a photo printer. The price of digital photo printers has plummeted in the past year or so, so just about anyone can afford one now. A photo printer will allow you to print your favorite photos on the spot. You will need to keep supplies on hand-- like ink and photo paper (just like you do for your computer)-- but the convenience of this option can't be beat. Many brands of photo printers are compatible with most cameras. An affordable option for first time buyers is the Kodak Easyshare Photo Printer. Once you get the hang of printing your own photos, you won't believe that you used to send them out for printing!
Using Photographs on your Business Supplies
By Christina VanGinkel
Creating personalized business cards, and other business supplies such as flyers, brochures, postcard mailings, and other business related material yourself is easy thanks to the advances made in the digital camera and computer fields, whether you only create the design and send out your printing, or do it all yourself from the initial design to the final printing. Snap a photograph of your business's building or an item that represents it, upload it to your computer, and you will be on your way to creating professional looking supplies. Moreover, by following a few simple suggestions, you will keep your business materials looking sharp and memorable to all your associates and customers.
Choosing a Photo to Represent your Business
When deciding on what to photograph, keep in mind that the picture that will eventually end up on your business supplies will in almost all instances be printed relatively small. One exception may be if you use it as a watermark on your business stationary, but even then, in its lightened form, lines of the image will be more important than busyness, so keeping the lines of your chosen picture clean will enhance your final output. Because of this fact, keep it basic. If snapping a photo of the actual building the business is located in, try to exclude items such as parked vehicles, as they will only detract from the clean lines of the building. If taking a picture of a sign that represents the business, ask yourself if it will be readable in its miniature version. By keeping the final printed size and various uses in mind when taking the photo, you will end up with a better photo for its intended purpose.
Choosing a Font
Font choice is as important as the photograph. Pick something that scans well, and is not hard to read. While going with a fancy font may look good initially, too busy a font will just annoy the person trying to read it when they really need it. Size of the font should be large enough to read easily also, but not so large that it fills the entire card. Leave white space.
Front and Back Printing Choices
I always recommend leaving the back of the card blank, unless you use it to print an exclusive coupon on it. This is not recommended for all business, but if you are selling a service or goods that other competitors often offer discounts and coupons for, this is a good way to keep your card in the forefront of someone's wallet. Another example of acceptable two-sided printing would be if you were an artist and your chosen photograph is of a piece of your artwork. Save for a copyright mark on the side of the photo; print all your other information on the opposite side.
In House Printing or Hire it Out?
When printing your materials, home and small business printers have become so advanced, that unless you are printing large amounts of supplies at once, it is very acceptable to use printed materials you do yourself. Do not skimp on the supplies, use perforated, pre-made business card blanks for example, and instruct the printer to print in high quality and not ink saver mode.
Creating personalized business cards, and other business supplies such as flyers, brochures, postcard mailings, and other business related material yourself is easy thanks to the advances made in the digital camera and computer fields, whether you only create the design and send out your printing, or do it all yourself from the initial design to the final printing. Snap a photograph of your business's building or an item that represents it, upload it to your computer, and you will be on your way to creating professional looking supplies. Moreover, by following a few simple suggestions, you will keep your business materials looking sharp and memorable to all your associates and customers.
Choosing a Photo to Represent your Business
When deciding on what to photograph, keep in mind that the picture that will eventually end up on your business supplies will in almost all instances be printed relatively small. One exception may be if you use it as a watermark on your business stationary, but even then, in its lightened form, lines of the image will be more important than busyness, so keeping the lines of your chosen picture clean will enhance your final output. Because of this fact, keep it basic. If snapping a photo of the actual building the business is located in, try to exclude items such as parked vehicles, as they will only detract from the clean lines of the building. If taking a picture of a sign that represents the business, ask yourself if it will be readable in its miniature version. By keeping the final printed size and various uses in mind when taking the photo, you will end up with a better photo for its intended purpose.
Choosing a Font
Font choice is as important as the photograph. Pick something that scans well, and is not hard to read. While going with a fancy font may look good initially, too busy a font will just annoy the person trying to read it when they really need it. Size of the font should be large enough to read easily also, but not so large that it fills the entire card. Leave white space.
Front and Back Printing Choices
I always recommend leaving the back of the card blank, unless you use it to print an exclusive coupon on it. This is not recommended for all business, but if you are selling a service or goods that other competitors often offer discounts and coupons for, this is a good way to keep your card in the forefront of someone's wallet. Another example of acceptable two-sided printing would be if you were an artist and your chosen photograph is of a piece of your artwork. Save for a copyright mark on the side of the photo; print all your other information on the opposite side.
In House Printing or Hire it Out?
When printing your materials, home and small business printers have become so advanced, that unless you are printing large amounts of supplies at once, it is very acceptable to use printed materials you do yourself. Do not skimp on the supplies, use perforated, pre-made business card blanks for example, and instruct the printer to print in high quality and not ink saver mode.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Why We Strive to Preserve Photos
By Christina VanGinkel
Preserving photos is a hot topic lately, what with scrap booking being so popular. I believe that much of this was brought about because so many of us have received boxes of cherished photos that are literally crumbling. Sadly, what our ancestors perceived as a lasting memory for future generations is turning into a box of sadness for many of us. One photo album and a stack of accompanying loose photos that was handed down to me were obviously assembled with care. Each loose photo appears to have names and dates inscribed on their backs, with each photo in the album itself being mounted lovingly on a black paper page. I should be able to match up those with inscriptions to those mounted, but sadly the inscriptions are so faded that even with a magnifying glass, and an attempt to scan the backs to brighten them via some touch ups has not wielded me much luck. The photos themselves are often beyond visual identification themselves, what with their being so severely faded. A few photos were identifiable and I was able to restore a few of the photos by scanning them into my computer and reprinting the, after working them over with photo editing software, but this is still not the same as having the originals for future generations.
I believe that too many of these similar situations have brought about this revival of interest in both scrapbooks and photo archival techniques. No longer are amateur photographers content to purchase just any old film or printing media. A concerted effort to use acid free and lignin free paper, inks, and storage materials is a priority. After putting out the time to both take and assemble these photos/works of art that we call scrapbooks, we rightly want them to be around for our ancestors to view and pass down to their ancestors. We want to save them the heartache and time of trying to identify who is in a given photo. We want them to not only be able to view the photos and know the names and dates, we also want them to be able to read our journaling to have a good idea of what we were doing and thinking at different times in our lives. Why this is so, some people might ask, and after much contemplation, I believe I have an idea of why it is important to some of us at least. It is because of the human nature ingrained in us to want to both live as long as possible, and to at the least leave a legacy to show that our life was lived to its fullest potential, to show those coming after us that it was worth it, this thing we call life. We want to share with them the fun we experienced, along with heartaches and joy, to say that they are not alone when experiencing the same things, which look; your ancestors went through some of the same trials in their lives.
From the earliest sepia toned and black and white prints, to the full color digital prints that many of us can print right in our own homes, often within minutes of snapping the original, photo taking and archival techniques have certainly come a long way, at last!
Preserving photos is a hot topic lately, what with scrap booking being so popular. I believe that much of this was brought about because so many of us have received boxes of cherished photos that are literally crumbling. Sadly, what our ancestors perceived as a lasting memory for future generations is turning into a box of sadness for many of us. One photo album and a stack of accompanying loose photos that was handed down to me were obviously assembled with care. Each loose photo appears to have names and dates inscribed on their backs, with each photo in the album itself being mounted lovingly on a black paper page. I should be able to match up those with inscriptions to those mounted, but sadly the inscriptions are so faded that even with a magnifying glass, and an attempt to scan the backs to brighten them via some touch ups has not wielded me much luck. The photos themselves are often beyond visual identification themselves, what with their being so severely faded. A few photos were identifiable and I was able to restore a few of the photos by scanning them into my computer and reprinting the, after working them over with photo editing software, but this is still not the same as having the originals for future generations.
I believe that too many of these similar situations have brought about this revival of interest in both scrapbooks and photo archival techniques. No longer are amateur photographers content to purchase just any old film or printing media. A concerted effort to use acid free and lignin free paper, inks, and storage materials is a priority. After putting out the time to both take and assemble these photos/works of art that we call scrapbooks, we rightly want them to be around for our ancestors to view and pass down to their ancestors. We want to save them the heartache and time of trying to identify who is in a given photo. We want them to not only be able to view the photos and know the names and dates, we also want them to be able to read our journaling to have a good idea of what we were doing and thinking at different times in our lives. Why this is so, some people might ask, and after much contemplation, I believe I have an idea of why it is important to some of us at least. It is because of the human nature ingrained in us to want to both live as long as possible, and to at the least leave a legacy to show that our life was lived to its fullest potential, to show those coming after us that it was worth it, this thing we call life. We want to share with them the fun we experienced, along with heartaches and joy, to say that they are not alone when experiencing the same things, which look; your ancestors went through some of the same trials in their lives.
From the earliest sepia toned and black and white prints, to the full color digital prints that many of us can print right in our own homes, often within minutes of snapping the original, photo taking and archival techniques have certainly come a long way, at last!
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Being prepared for a day of Photo Taking
By Christina VanGinkel
I had a very productive morning with my camera. I snapped an unbelievable picture of the sunrise over a twisting road as the mist rose up off the pavement. The type of picture I always think of taking, but I never seem to be in the right spot at the right time, or when the time is right, the batteries are dead, or I do not even have my camera with me! The last rarely, if ever, happens anymore, but in the past, this did happen quite a bit. The sun was a huge glowing ball, rimmed in a great circle of orange and red, beautiful, and it would have been a terrible waste if once again I had not been prepared to photograph it in its glory.
I was up so early for another round of picture taking involving a large bruin black bear, and I was able to take several very desirable, and very easy pictures on that front also. I often have to trek quite a way into the woods, often going through swamps, blow downs, thick brush, hills, rocks, and every other imaginable outdoor scenario you can imagine. Usually trailing my husband, this is not always the best part of one of my days that involves a camera and black bear. Let us just say that while I love photographing them, I do not always love getting to where they are!
Today though, a large bear, roughly 400 plus pounds, was kind enough to perch himself up a large tree, one full of branches big enough to easily support his weight in what appeared to be a comfortable position. The best part of it all though, was that the tree was just off a back road that I was able to drive our truck down quite a ways. I was standing in the road one minute, readying my camera, with the full intention of another hike into the woods, when I looked off to my left and realized that he was right there, at the base of the tree. With an unexpected shout, from myself, up he went and there he stayed while I snapped picture after picture.
As convenient as it was to have this large bruin almost on my doorstep, so to speak, it was a clear reminder of why I should always have my camera ready. I often start out the day with not knowing how full my memory card is. In addition, I have the bad habit of running my new digital to the point the batteries are long past dead, and I have even gone off without a fresh supply of batteries to replace those that may become run down during a long day of shooting. Anyone who knows digital cameras knows how fast they can often use up battery power. Any of these discrepancies on my part could have cost me some once in a lifetime photographs today. Thankfully, I have been working hard at trying to head out each trip fully prepared for the day. Moreover, today, my preparedness paid off.
I had a very productive morning with my camera. I snapped an unbelievable picture of the sunrise over a twisting road as the mist rose up off the pavement. The type of picture I always think of taking, but I never seem to be in the right spot at the right time, or when the time is right, the batteries are dead, or I do not even have my camera with me! The last rarely, if ever, happens anymore, but in the past, this did happen quite a bit. The sun was a huge glowing ball, rimmed in a great circle of orange and red, beautiful, and it would have been a terrible waste if once again I had not been prepared to photograph it in its glory.
I was up so early for another round of picture taking involving a large bruin black bear, and I was able to take several very desirable, and very easy pictures on that front also. I often have to trek quite a way into the woods, often going through swamps, blow downs, thick brush, hills, rocks, and every other imaginable outdoor scenario you can imagine. Usually trailing my husband, this is not always the best part of one of my days that involves a camera and black bear. Let us just say that while I love photographing them, I do not always love getting to where they are!
Today though, a large bear, roughly 400 plus pounds, was kind enough to perch himself up a large tree, one full of branches big enough to easily support his weight in what appeared to be a comfortable position. The best part of it all though, was that the tree was just off a back road that I was able to drive our truck down quite a ways. I was standing in the road one minute, readying my camera, with the full intention of another hike into the woods, when I looked off to my left and realized that he was right there, at the base of the tree. With an unexpected shout, from myself, up he went and there he stayed while I snapped picture after picture.
As convenient as it was to have this large bruin almost on my doorstep, so to speak, it was a clear reminder of why I should always have my camera ready. I often start out the day with not knowing how full my memory card is. In addition, I have the bad habit of running my new digital to the point the batteries are long past dead, and I have even gone off without a fresh supply of batteries to replace those that may become run down during a long day of shooting. Anyone who knows digital cameras knows how fast they can often use up battery power. Any of these discrepancies on my part could have cost me some once in a lifetime photographs today. Thankfully, I have been working hard at trying to head out each trip fully prepared for the day. Moreover, today, my preparedness paid off.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Does Polaroid Still Have a Place?
When I was about 10 years old, there was nothing I wanted more for my birthday than a Polaroid camera. I was so captivated by the idea that I could see a photo magically develop within 60 or so seconds of taking the picture that I couldn't get the camera out of my mind. I begged and pleaded with my mom and dad to get me one. Since my birthday falls within a week of Christmas, I even negotiated with my parents and offered to allow the Polaroid to serve as a gift for both occasions. I'm not sure which part of my arguments was most effective at getting through to the folks, but I actually did end up with the exact Polaroid camera that I wanted.
The film for the camera was quite expensive in those days, so I tried not to go crazy with my picture-taking adventures. But I still had a lot of fun taking candid shots of my brother and my dog. The photos themselves weren't of the highest quality. I still have some of those old Polaroid pictures from 20 years ago, and they look a bit faded now, although that's perhaps only to be expected after so much time has passed. I don't think Polaroid ever positioned themselves as being a high-quality camera and film combo. I think the big draw was the convenience and novelty (for that time) of having pictures self-develop in about a minute.
Surprisingly, in this day and age of digital cameras, Polaroid still sells their so-called "instant imaging" models. I don't have access to sales data, so I don't know for sure how successful these cameras are. But if I had to guess, I would say that there's probably not much of a market for them anymore. I mean, there are all kinds of very affordable, high-quality digital cameras on the market that will take much sharper photographs than a Polaroid instant imaging camera could produce. And of course, digital camera images are immediately accessible and can be printed in a matter of seconds provided that you have the necessary equipment. For these reasons, and many more (including the fact that digital cameras are so much more versatile than Polaroids), I think that Polaroid instant imaging cameras don't have much of a place in modern photography.
In a way, I am kind of sad to see Polaroid cameras becoming obsolete. I obviously have a lot of fond memories from the many years of enjoyment that my camera gave me as a child. Don't get me wrong: I know that the natural progression of technology dictates that things like this are bound to occur. Old favorites will be replaced by more efficient products with better capabilities than we could ever have imagined before. I love my digital camera, and I constantly marvel at all the things it can do. But at the same time, I will always remember the utter amazement with which I watched Polaroid pictures develop right before my 10-year-old eyes.
The film for the camera was quite expensive in those days, so I tried not to go crazy with my picture-taking adventures. But I still had a lot of fun taking candid shots of my brother and my dog. The photos themselves weren't of the highest quality. I still have some of those old Polaroid pictures from 20 years ago, and they look a bit faded now, although that's perhaps only to be expected after so much time has passed. I don't think Polaroid ever positioned themselves as being a high-quality camera and film combo. I think the big draw was the convenience and novelty (for that time) of having pictures self-develop in about a minute.
Surprisingly, in this day and age of digital cameras, Polaroid still sells their so-called "instant imaging" models. I don't have access to sales data, so I don't know for sure how successful these cameras are. But if I had to guess, I would say that there's probably not much of a market for them anymore. I mean, there are all kinds of very affordable, high-quality digital cameras on the market that will take much sharper photographs than a Polaroid instant imaging camera could produce. And of course, digital camera images are immediately accessible and can be printed in a matter of seconds provided that you have the necessary equipment. For these reasons, and many more (including the fact that digital cameras are so much more versatile than Polaroids), I think that Polaroid instant imaging cameras don't have much of a place in modern photography.
In a way, I am kind of sad to see Polaroid cameras becoming obsolete. I obviously have a lot of fond memories from the many years of enjoyment that my camera gave me as a child. Don't get me wrong: I know that the natural progression of technology dictates that things like this are bound to occur. Old favorites will be replaced by more efficient products with better capabilities than we could ever have imagined before. I love my digital camera, and I constantly marvel at all the things it can do. But at the same time, I will always remember the utter amazement with which I watched Polaroid pictures develop right before my 10-year-old eyes.
Video Genealogy Ideas
There are many things we can do to help future generations of family genealogists. Computer files and notebooks full of census record printouts and cemetery records are always a great asset, but if you have a video camera, there is so much more you can do!
One of the first things to remember when starting to make your "Family Treasure Video" is to show things, don't just tell about them. Instead of having only a written record of a final resting place of the immigrant grandpa, for instance, take the camera to the cemetery and show it. Anyone who enjoys working on this type of activity right now certainly wishes that someone from the past had been able to record those days for us.
If you know where an old family homestead was, add it to the video. Interview some of the elderly members of the family. Ask for stories and memories. You will not need to ask them to remember dates for this video because you will have that sort of thing written down elsewhere or you can mention the birth and death dates, etc. on the video when doing your own "speaking parts."
If Aunt Minnie makes the best potato salad in the world, don't just ask her for the recipe; ask if you may film her making it. If Grandma enjoys singing or playing the piano, by all means film it. Record a little bit of family holiday traditions or birthday parties. There are so many ideas possible that you will need to do a little planning on how long to spend doing each section (unless you intend to make more than one videotape).
Another good idea is to do interviews. Ask specific questions but allow the person you are interviewing to go into other areas with their memories. You may have to guide the interview to a certain extent, but any reminiscence is worth recording. Keep in mind that stories from the present are great too, considering this is being done for future genealogists. Anything we record now will be a true treasure for them.
When you have added everything that you want to include on the video, be prepared to have it copied for various family members. Make sure the original copy is kept in a safe place. If finances allow you may want to have a few DVDs made as well. In fact, every time a new technology comes along, have a few copies of the family video transferred to the new medium.
It would be a shame if VHS and DVD eventually go the way of the old 8-tracks before anyone realizes that copies of the family video weren't made. Granted that wouldn't happen for a long time, but this project is to help those genealogists of the future. It may be difficult deciding which family members will get a copy of the videos and unless you care to fund a very expensive undertaking, you can't make a copy for everyone. One solution is to find out how much copying will cost and then put out the word that anyone wanting a copy can get one by paying the copying costs.
One of the first things to remember when starting to make your "Family Treasure Video" is to show things, don't just tell about them. Instead of having only a written record of a final resting place of the immigrant grandpa, for instance, take the camera to the cemetery and show it. Anyone who enjoys working on this type of activity right now certainly wishes that someone from the past had been able to record those days for us.
If you know where an old family homestead was, add it to the video. Interview some of the elderly members of the family. Ask for stories and memories. You will not need to ask them to remember dates for this video because you will have that sort of thing written down elsewhere or you can mention the birth and death dates, etc. on the video when doing your own "speaking parts."
If Aunt Minnie makes the best potato salad in the world, don't just ask her for the recipe; ask if you may film her making it. If Grandma enjoys singing or playing the piano, by all means film it. Record a little bit of family holiday traditions or birthday parties. There are so many ideas possible that you will need to do a little planning on how long to spend doing each section (unless you intend to make more than one videotape).
Another good idea is to do interviews. Ask specific questions but allow the person you are interviewing to go into other areas with their memories. You may have to guide the interview to a certain extent, but any reminiscence is worth recording. Keep in mind that stories from the present are great too, considering this is being done for future genealogists. Anything we record now will be a true treasure for them.
When you have added everything that you want to include on the video, be prepared to have it copied for various family members. Make sure the original copy is kept in a safe place. If finances allow you may want to have a few DVDs made as well. In fact, every time a new technology comes along, have a few copies of the family video transferred to the new medium.
It would be a shame if VHS and DVD eventually go the way of the old 8-tracks before anyone realizes that copies of the family video weren't made. Granted that wouldn't happen for a long time, but this project is to help those genealogists of the future. It may be difficult deciding which family members will get a copy of the videos and unless you care to fund a very expensive undertaking, you can't make a copy for everyone. One solution is to find out how much copying will cost and then put out the word that anyone wanting a copy can get one by paying the copying costs.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Am I Sacrificing Quality If I Go Digital?
Using a digital camera has many advantages over a film-based camera. There is less hassle. It is less expensive over the long run. You know if your picture is what you want when you begin. The problem comes in when you are considering quality. Many people hedge on the digital camera purchase because they believe their pictures may look great on screen but will not turn out well when they are printed.
The general rule, though, is that you need the pictures to be 200 pixels per inch. Pixels are the tiny squares that form pictures. Decide how large you want the photo to be. The basic picture you would have printed from film is 4 inches by 6 inches. Multiply each number by 200 to determine the resolution you need for your digital photos. For the 4X6 picture, you will need 800 X 1200 resolution on your digital camera to get photo-quality pictures.
As long as you pay attention to the resolution on your digital camera, you will be in good shape. Also keep in mind that the picture will not look exactly like what you see on the camera. There are two reasons. First, most cameras only show a portion of the picture’s screen. Your camera may show 90 percent of what you will see in the picture. The same concept applies to film cameras, too, so don’t let that be the single reason not to purchase a digital camera.
The second reason is that light looks a little different once you have printed out the pictures. Digital images will tend to be darker than they appear on your camera's LCD screen. Because of this difference, you need to consider using the flash even when you do not think it necessary. Some people opt to keep their flash or backlighting on no matter what. That way they cannot get a photo too dark.
If you do plan to print from your digital camera, you have some say here in how well the pictures turn out. You have two choices. You can go to a store with a digital picture printer. These stores will have top-quality paper and a fairly easy to navigate system. The downsides are potentially long wait lines and the limited capability of the editing software they use.
You also can purchase a photo printer. These gadgets have become so popular that they are now pretty inexpensive; some models are less than $100. By having your own printer, you can make as many changes as you would like with the software system you choose. You will need to make sure you purchase picture paper, though, or the quality will suffer. Do not skimp here. There is a big difference in quality in low and high-end picture paper, but the price difference is not too great, especially considering that you did not have to pay for film or its development.
Using a digital camera soon will become the norm for everyone, and film cameras will fall to the wayside. If you make the jump now, you can work on perfecting your digital stills before completely ditching your film camera.
By Julia Mercer
The general rule, though, is that you need the pictures to be 200 pixels per inch. Pixels are the tiny squares that form pictures. Decide how large you want the photo to be. The basic picture you would have printed from film is 4 inches by 6 inches. Multiply each number by 200 to determine the resolution you need for your digital photos. For the 4X6 picture, you will need 800 X 1200 resolution on your digital camera to get photo-quality pictures.
As long as you pay attention to the resolution on your digital camera, you will be in good shape. Also keep in mind that the picture will not look exactly like what you see on the camera. There are two reasons. First, most cameras only show a portion of the picture’s screen. Your camera may show 90 percent of what you will see in the picture. The same concept applies to film cameras, too, so don’t let that be the single reason not to purchase a digital camera.
The second reason is that light looks a little different once you have printed out the pictures. Digital images will tend to be darker than they appear on your camera's LCD screen. Because of this difference, you need to consider using the flash even when you do not think it necessary. Some people opt to keep their flash or backlighting on no matter what. That way they cannot get a photo too dark.
If you do plan to print from your digital camera, you have some say here in how well the pictures turn out. You have two choices. You can go to a store with a digital picture printer. These stores will have top-quality paper and a fairly easy to navigate system. The downsides are potentially long wait lines and the limited capability of the editing software they use.
You also can purchase a photo printer. These gadgets have become so popular that they are now pretty inexpensive; some models are less than $100. By having your own printer, you can make as many changes as you would like with the software system you choose. You will need to make sure you purchase picture paper, though, or the quality will suffer. Do not skimp here. There is a big difference in quality in low and high-end picture paper, but the price difference is not too great, especially considering that you did not have to pay for film or its development.
Using a digital camera soon will become the norm for everyone, and film cameras will fall to the wayside. If you make the jump now, you can work on perfecting your digital stills before completely ditching your film camera.
By Julia Mercer
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Top Questions For Your Digital Camera Purchase
When you head out to purchase your digital camera, you need to keep a few questions in mind. Before you begin comparing the features on the various cameras, you will need to know whether or not you even need those features. To find out, you should answer these questions before you head out.
What kind of user are you? This question does not concern your level of expertise. Instead it refers to how often you use your camera. If you will pull it out everyday or carry it with you, then you need something made for heavy-duty use. If, however, you are only going to use it to snap the kids' birthday parties, then you can go with a more slimmed down model.
The second question is how clear you want the pictures to be. Digital camera quality is measured in part by megapixels. One megapixel is a pretty bad shot. You can use this camera, though, if you are taking pictures of items to sell on eBay or just using the pictures for home computer use. If you want to print the pictures or use them for professional purposes, go with a higher megapixel count.
Next, how much memory do you need? Know that you can upgrade your memory later. If you are in doubt, go with a lower amount of memory unless the price difference between it and the upgrade is very small. Are you planning to take hundreds of pictures on vacation? Then you need more memory. Are you planning to clear it after each use? Then get a little memory. Think about your habits when you are answering this question.
Do you have a preference on size? In the world of cameras, bigger is not usually better. Think about carrying the camera around. Will you be able to hold it steady? Will it become too heavy for you to carry? If your children will use it or you will need to hold it up for long periods of time, focus on lightweight models. Otherwise, you can look at how large the camera is. Decide where you will store it and whether or not you will purchase a carrying case for it.
Are you going to read the manual? That is a serious question. It is not so much that you need to read the manual, but consider your technical proclivities when you purchase all the cool extra features. If you have 100 features but only use 3, then you have wasted your money. If you are willing to spend the time to get to know your camera so that you understand the features and how they work, then you may want to consider getting more of them.
The important point to remember when you purchase a camera is that you are important and not the camera. Do not let the camera or the salesperson sell you on the camera. Go in knowing what you need and ask for the camera that best fits your needs. It is best to go in with an idea of your price range and the type of camera you will need so that you do not leave the store with more camera that you need or can afford.
By Julia Mercer
What kind of user are you? This question does not concern your level of expertise. Instead it refers to how often you use your camera. If you will pull it out everyday or carry it with you, then you need something made for heavy-duty use. If, however, you are only going to use it to snap the kids' birthday parties, then you can go with a more slimmed down model.
The second question is how clear you want the pictures to be. Digital camera quality is measured in part by megapixels. One megapixel is a pretty bad shot. You can use this camera, though, if you are taking pictures of items to sell on eBay or just using the pictures for home computer use. If you want to print the pictures or use them for professional purposes, go with a higher megapixel count.
Next, how much memory do you need? Know that you can upgrade your memory later. If you are in doubt, go with a lower amount of memory unless the price difference between it and the upgrade is very small. Are you planning to take hundreds of pictures on vacation? Then you need more memory. Are you planning to clear it after each use? Then get a little memory. Think about your habits when you are answering this question.
Do you have a preference on size? In the world of cameras, bigger is not usually better. Think about carrying the camera around. Will you be able to hold it steady? Will it become too heavy for you to carry? If your children will use it or you will need to hold it up for long periods of time, focus on lightweight models. Otherwise, you can look at how large the camera is. Decide where you will store it and whether or not you will purchase a carrying case for it.
Are you going to read the manual? That is a serious question. It is not so much that you need to read the manual, but consider your technical proclivities when you purchase all the cool extra features. If you have 100 features but only use 3, then you have wasted your money. If you are willing to spend the time to get to know your camera so that you understand the features and how they work, then you may want to consider getting more of them.
The important point to remember when you purchase a camera is that you are important and not the camera. Do not let the camera or the salesperson sell you on the camera. Go in knowing what you need and ask for the camera that best fits your needs. It is best to go in with an idea of your price range and the type of camera you will need so that you do not leave the store with more camera that you need or can afford.
By Julia Mercer
Tips on Animal Photography
Are you an animal lover? Do you snap photos of your cats as if they were your children? Well, if so, take heart. Thousands of other animal lovers do the same. The best part is that by using these tips, you may be able to learn some new tricks that help you get those great shots you need.
The first step is to be sure that you practice first. While it may seem silly if you are photographing your puppies, watch their movement for a few minutes first. If you will be taking pictures of larger or wild animals, take a trip to your local zoo or other enclosed area. Get an idea of how these animals move so that you will be prepared to take their pictures.
You should make sure that you know the animal. Be sure that you are aware of what the animal eats. You may want to bring a snack along as a reward or to distract the animal. Also know if the animal has sensitive eyes, for example, because the flash from your camera could cause a commotion. Be sure that you do your research before you start taking pictures of animals. You also can get an idea from your research of what may be natural shots. If you are photographing giraffes, for instance, then a shot of a giraffe stretching to eat the leaves on a tree would be a good habitat picture. You would want to get alligators in the water, though. Just make sure that you know what the animals are likely to be doing when you are trying to take their pictures.
The third tip for animal photography is to have patience. While many people argue that patience is a virtue, it can become trying. Instead of trying to force the animals to do what you want, which is about as productive as pushing your children to pose for the camera, sit back and wait. Do not sit with your eye at the camera, or you will become tired and frustrated quickly. Instead, you should interact with the animal. Make him feel comfortable and then snap some shots. Do not plan on a certain look or the perfect shot with animal photography because, at least at the beginning, it will be very difficult to manipulate the animals into cooperating. Try for clear, crisp photos that will look great in your portfolio.
The final, but most important, factor to remember is that you are more important than any picture. Do not put yourself at risk for a photo. If you ever feel uncomfortable, or if you feel that an animal is uncomfortable with your presence, leave the scene. It is not worth your life to get a perfect shot. The animal could have an uneasy feeling or may just be having a bad day. Either way, do not risk yourself for the picture. It will do you no good to have a perfect picture if you are not alive to enjoy it!
By Julia Mercer
The first step is to be sure that you practice first. While it may seem silly if you are photographing your puppies, watch their movement for a few minutes first. If you will be taking pictures of larger or wild animals, take a trip to your local zoo or other enclosed area. Get an idea of how these animals move so that you will be prepared to take their pictures.
You should make sure that you know the animal. Be sure that you are aware of what the animal eats. You may want to bring a snack along as a reward or to distract the animal. Also know if the animal has sensitive eyes, for example, because the flash from your camera could cause a commotion. Be sure that you do your research before you start taking pictures of animals. You also can get an idea from your research of what may be natural shots. If you are photographing giraffes, for instance, then a shot of a giraffe stretching to eat the leaves on a tree would be a good habitat picture. You would want to get alligators in the water, though. Just make sure that you know what the animals are likely to be doing when you are trying to take their pictures.
The third tip for animal photography is to have patience. While many people argue that patience is a virtue, it can become trying. Instead of trying to force the animals to do what you want, which is about as productive as pushing your children to pose for the camera, sit back and wait. Do not sit with your eye at the camera, or you will become tired and frustrated quickly. Instead, you should interact with the animal. Make him feel comfortable and then snap some shots. Do not plan on a certain look or the perfect shot with animal photography because, at least at the beginning, it will be very difficult to manipulate the animals into cooperating. Try for clear, crisp photos that will look great in your portfolio.
The final, but most important, factor to remember is that you are more important than any picture. Do not put yourself at risk for a photo. If you ever feel uncomfortable, or if you feel that an animal is uncomfortable with your presence, leave the scene. It is not worth your life to get a perfect shot. The animal could have an uneasy feeling or may just be having a bad day. Either way, do not risk yourself for the picture. It will do you no good to have a perfect picture if you are not alive to enjoy it!
By Julia Mercer
Make Family Pictures Beautiful
When you are taking pictures of the family, be sure that they say something to the viewer. Instead of just snapping a picture when the urge hits, try to find shots that will show your family with some type of message. For example, if you have a baby, a good toothless grin will make any grandmother - not just your baby's - laugh. These pictures are great for showing off.
If you are taking formal pictures with your family, then you will want to make sure that everyone is dressed in coordinating outfits. That does not mean that the children all have to look like clones; in fact, the pictures will be better if they do not. It does, however, mean that you should make an effort to have everyone match. Perhaps you all wear jeans and a solid-colored shirt. Or you could all wear red somewhere in your outfit. You just do not want Susie to have on pastel plaids and pose next to Maggie, who is wearing polka dots in primary colors.
One of the trends in family photography, though, is to have less formal pictures. You still may have someone come out to take the pictures, but you will want them on your porch swing or a local gazebo instead of in a portrait studio. The same rules of coordination apply here. In fact, they are more important in less formal shots because the background can become distracting. The family needs to look like one unit for the picture.
If you are just snapping candid stills, though, remember to leave them at that. They should be candid! Do not ask everyone to pose at your son's birthday party. Sure, you can get a picture of Baby, Dad, and Grandpa and make sure they are all looking at the camera. The point is that you do not want all of your pictures to look as if you asked everyone to take a breather and smile for the camera.
Have you ever wondered why driver’s license photos are so awful? It is because of the posing. You will capture your family members as they actually look if you get them living life instead of standing and smiling. Posing is not natural, so it makes people unnecessarily stiff. Think back to your son's birthday party. If you get him blowing out his candles, being surprised by a gift, or running to give his favorite uncle a big hug, then you will get a much better image of who your son is.
Remember that you should not skimp on the film. If you are taking candid shots, then you will need to take more pictures for them to turn out well. Otherwise, you can end up with a bunch of pictures where people may look natural, but it is not flattering. Instead you should shoot rolls and rolls of film so that you will be able to pick and choose from the best of your pictures.
Taking family photos should be a fun experience. Do not stress about it and the pictures will turn out great - and so will the memories!
By Julia Mercer
If you are taking formal pictures with your family, then you will want to make sure that everyone is dressed in coordinating outfits. That does not mean that the children all have to look like clones; in fact, the pictures will be better if they do not. It does, however, mean that you should make an effort to have everyone match. Perhaps you all wear jeans and a solid-colored shirt. Or you could all wear red somewhere in your outfit. You just do not want Susie to have on pastel plaids and pose next to Maggie, who is wearing polka dots in primary colors.
One of the trends in family photography, though, is to have less formal pictures. You still may have someone come out to take the pictures, but you will want them on your porch swing or a local gazebo instead of in a portrait studio. The same rules of coordination apply here. In fact, they are more important in less formal shots because the background can become distracting. The family needs to look like one unit for the picture.
If you are just snapping candid stills, though, remember to leave them at that. They should be candid! Do not ask everyone to pose at your son's birthday party. Sure, you can get a picture of Baby, Dad, and Grandpa and make sure they are all looking at the camera. The point is that you do not want all of your pictures to look as if you asked everyone to take a breather and smile for the camera.
Have you ever wondered why driver’s license photos are so awful? It is because of the posing. You will capture your family members as they actually look if you get them living life instead of standing and smiling. Posing is not natural, so it makes people unnecessarily stiff. Think back to your son's birthday party. If you get him blowing out his candles, being surprised by a gift, or running to give his favorite uncle a big hug, then you will get a much better image of who your son is.
Remember that you should not skimp on the film. If you are taking candid shots, then you will need to take more pictures for them to turn out well. Otherwise, you can end up with a bunch of pictures where people may look natural, but it is not flattering. Instead you should shoot rolls and rolls of film so that you will be able to pick and choose from the best of your pictures.
Taking family photos should be a fun experience. Do not stress about it and the pictures will turn out great - and so will the memories!
By Julia Mercer
Exercise for your Mind: Finding Images for your Viewfinder
By Christina VanGinkel
Photo opportunities are everywhere, yet there are days when I have a calling to get out and use my camera, but when I start out the door, I have not a clue as to what to photograph. Call it visual block if you like, because that is exactly what it seems like. A world around me, yet my camera does not seem to see anything. Everything looks a blur, or off, just not right for my viewfinder. An amateur photographer mind you, not a professional, I love taking photos, and usually find it to be a relaxing way to spend my time. When I am experiencing writer's block, my camera will often get me motivated and reopen my mind's door to allow the words to flow. So, when that does not work, I am often stunned.
When this happens, I do have a plan of action that I try to use, and most of the time it works. If you happen to be experiencing the same block, it is at least worth a try. First, set down your camera in a safe place, or if possible, put it completely away. The less a distraction it is, the better this seems to work. Go outside, preferably away from your normal space. If you live in the city or a town, take a walk a few blocks from your apartment or house, head to a park, shopping center, museum, or any other place outside of your normal routine. Take a walk by a building whose architecture is intriguing, or walk into an arcade filled with teenagers being teenagers. If you live in the country as I do, head to your favorite trail or forge a new one, (but do not get lost, as that will not help!). Then, take a deep breath and look around. Look up. Look at the woman crossing the parking lot with the screaming toddler in tow, or the fern you happen to be standing next too that is already changing color for the fall that has yet to arrive. Open your eyes and actually see what we all miss in the hurried lives we lead. Geese flying overhead, clouds shifting, traffic lights changing color, potted plants on the steps of an apartment building, the lines of a building, the crumbling of a wall, even the trash barrel overflowing. If it were something your sight would normally overlook, or look past, look at it.
I also do this exercise without actually getting out of the house. I do it at my desk when I am experiencing writer's block and cannot get out with my camera. I keep my eyes open and visualize the last place I went to outside the house. For me, the local Wal-Mart often is my stomping grounds. I try to recreate what I saw. A man arguing with his wife over whether he should buy the more expensive set of tires, all the colorful racks of clothes, even breathing in the scent of the perfume counter as I walked past. What you will soon learn is that even when we are running around in our hurried lives, we are seeing what is around us. What this work out does is force our minds to see what our eyes already did.
When I pick up my camera after participating in this exercise, I am always amazed at how fresh the world around me looks, and I never seem to have a problem finding something worthy of my viewfinder.
Photo opportunities are everywhere, yet there are days when I have a calling to get out and use my camera, but when I start out the door, I have not a clue as to what to photograph. Call it visual block if you like, because that is exactly what it seems like. A world around me, yet my camera does not seem to see anything. Everything looks a blur, or off, just not right for my viewfinder. An amateur photographer mind you, not a professional, I love taking photos, and usually find it to be a relaxing way to spend my time. When I am experiencing writer's block, my camera will often get me motivated and reopen my mind's door to allow the words to flow. So, when that does not work, I am often stunned.
When this happens, I do have a plan of action that I try to use, and most of the time it works. If you happen to be experiencing the same block, it is at least worth a try. First, set down your camera in a safe place, or if possible, put it completely away. The less a distraction it is, the better this seems to work. Go outside, preferably away from your normal space. If you live in the city or a town, take a walk a few blocks from your apartment or house, head to a park, shopping center, museum, or any other place outside of your normal routine. Take a walk by a building whose architecture is intriguing, or walk into an arcade filled with teenagers being teenagers. If you live in the country as I do, head to your favorite trail or forge a new one, (but do not get lost, as that will not help!). Then, take a deep breath and look around. Look up. Look at the woman crossing the parking lot with the screaming toddler in tow, or the fern you happen to be standing next too that is already changing color for the fall that has yet to arrive. Open your eyes and actually see what we all miss in the hurried lives we lead. Geese flying overhead, clouds shifting, traffic lights changing color, potted plants on the steps of an apartment building, the lines of a building, the crumbling of a wall, even the trash barrel overflowing. If it were something your sight would normally overlook, or look past, look at it.
I also do this exercise without actually getting out of the house. I do it at my desk when I am experiencing writer's block and cannot get out with my camera. I keep my eyes open and visualize the last place I went to outside the house. For me, the local Wal-Mart often is my stomping grounds. I try to recreate what I saw. A man arguing with his wife over whether he should buy the more expensive set of tires, all the colorful racks of clothes, even breathing in the scent of the perfume counter as I walked past. What you will soon learn is that even when we are running around in our hurried lives, we are seeing what is around us. What this work out does is force our minds to see what our eyes already did.
When I pick up my camera after participating in this exercise, I am always amazed at how fresh the world around me looks, and I never seem to have a problem finding something worthy of my viewfinder.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Safety While Taking Photographs
By Christina VanGinkel
"Mom, where is the video camera?" my youngest son asked me over the weekend. I told him, then backtracked as he was getting it off the closet shelf and asked him why he wanted it, and what he was planning to do. He had been busy most of the day with putting up a tree stand for the upcoming deer season with bow and arrow that our state has every fall. While not deer season yet, it would soon be, and he wanted to place his stand so the deer would get used to it if they happened to notice it. He responded that he was going to sit in his stand the next several evenings and video tape whatever happened to come along, whether it is a buck, a doe, black bear, fox, coyote, or even a squirrel, to get a feel for what he might encounter when hunting.
After giving him a speed course reminder of how to operate the camera, I told him he would have to charge the battery, as I had not used it for several weeks, relying lately on my new still camera's video mode for quick video here and there. He plugged it in and went out to help his dad work on some new dog pens we are in the process of building before he headed out to his stand. Before long, he was back in the house asking me if I knew where a harness was. We have a strict rule that anyone in a tree stand must be wearing a safety harness as it is too easy to take a tumble out of a stand, and a fall from that height would be hazardous, even deadly. I knew he would be back for the harness, but I waited to see if he remembered it on his own, as I want it to become second nature to him to use.
This got me thinking about how often professional photographers, or the average photographer or videographer, may overlook simple safety precautions when taking video or photos outside of their normal routine. We knew to insist on a harness, because we use them when hunting, but otherwise, we may not have even given a second thought to being up on a raised platform as dangerous.
Photographing several black bear a few weeks past, I was traversing some uneven ground, which included a small rock face and outcropping. By myself, I would not have attempted to scale the face of it, even though it was relatively small, because I have learned that accidents not only happen they happen quickly, and unexpectedly. I waited for my partner, and then passed my gear to him before heading down. He then passed all the gear down to me before he headed down. We also took the time to assess the path, even though it was not much more than a small embankment. Too often, to get the perfect shot or once in a lifetime view, we throw caution to the wind and become reckless, and this will never lead to a good shot, only a visit to the emergency room or worse. Or we do not even realize that what we are doing could be dangerous, as it all seems a bit mundane or normal. Complacency with your surroundings is not good, especially when you are in unfamiliar territory.
If you are heading out with video or still camera in hand, take the time to be aware of your surroundings, and consider if there are any tasks you can do to raise your safety level. A bit of caution can go a long way.
"Mom, where is the video camera?" my youngest son asked me over the weekend. I told him, then backtracked as he was getting it off the closet shelf and asked him why he wanted it, and what he was planning to do. He had been busy most of the day with putting up a tree stand for the upcoming deer season with bow and arrow that our state has every fall. While not deer season yet, it would soon be, and he wanted to place his stand so the deer would get used to it if they happened to notice it. He responded that he was going to sit in his stand the next several evenings and video tape whatever happened to come along, whether it is a buck, a doe, black bear, fox, coyote, or even a squirrel, to get a feel for what he might encounter when hunting.
After giving him a speed course reminder of how to operate the camera, I told him he would have to charge the battery, as I had not used it for several weeks, relying lately on my new still camera's video mode for quick video here and there. He plugged it in and went out to help his dad work on some new dog pens we are in the process of building before he headed out to his stand. Before long, he was back in the house asking me if I knew where a harness was. We have a strict rule that anyone in a tree stand must be wearing a safety harness as it is too easy to take a tumble out of a stand, and a fall from that height would be hazardous, even deadly. I knew he would be back for the harness, but I waited to see if he remembered it on his own, as I want it to become second nature to him to use.
This got me thinking about how often professional photographers, or the average photographer or videographer, may overlook simple safety precautions when taking video or photos outside of their normal routine. We knew to insist on a harness, because we use them when hunting, but otherwise, we may not have even given a second thought to being up on a raised platform as dangerous.
Photographing several black bear a few weeks past, I was traversing some uneven ground, which included a small rock face and outcropping. By myself, I would not have attempted to scale the face of it, even though it was relatively small, because I have learned that accidents not only happen they happen quickly, and unexpectedly. I waited for my partner, and then passed my gear to him before heading down. He then passed all the gear down to me before he headed down. We also took the time to assess the path, even though it was not much more than a small embankment. Too often, to get the perfect shot or once in a lifetime view, we throw caution to the wind and become reckless, and this will never lead to a good shot, only a visit to the emergency room or worse. Or we do not even realize that what we are doing could be dangerous, as it all seems a bit mundane or normal. Complacency with your surroundings is not good, especially when you are in unfamiliar territory.
If you are heading out with video or still camera in hand, take the time to be aware of your surroundings, and consider if there are any tasks you can do to raise your safety level. A bit of caution can go a long way.
Acid Free Archival Quality Photo Products
By Christina VanGinkel
When choosing supplies and embellishments to use with your photographs in scrapbooks and photo albums, be sure you use only those listed as acid free. This simple declaration can mean the difference between an album whose photos are holding up decades from now, and those whose quality is becoming compromised by the embellishment, such as stickers and journaling, that was placed along with those photographs.
I once met a young women who had done some very beautiful pages of her family and friends that she was kind enough to share with me. A few years later, I ran into this same women and she told me how she had used whatever adhesives were in the house when she first started scrap booking, and that some of her first pages were actually deteriorating already. When I asked her what she had used, her quick rely was some small tubes of industrial strength glue her husband had brought home from work. Apparently, they were as far away from acid free and archival quality as one could be, as her pages were literally crumbling wherever the glue had been applied.
Some products that have proven themselves through the years to be safe include Memory Mount by api's Crafter's Pick. It is acid free, archival quality (it will keep photographs that it is applied to looking the same as the day you applied it), repositionable, and it dries clear.
Delta archival quality, acid free, photo-safe glue is another adhesive that will keep your photographs in your albums looking, as they should. No yellowing and it will not wrinkle and curl your photographs when applied correctly.
Elmer's, a name synonymous with the glue industry, has created a complete line of Craft Bond glues and adhesives that are acid free and archival quality. Each product has specific guidelines on the package for recommended uses.
Sakura of America produces archival quality inks in a variety of pens that will allow you to journal safely wherever you want to in your scrapbooks. They are waterproof, fade-resistant, ph neutral, permanent, archival quality pigments.
Besides adhesives and inks, be sure that any products that have secondary adhesives, such as stickers, are also manufactured acid free. Papers and albums many assume will also be acid free, but surprisingly, many are not. The best way to be sure that your album and all your work will still be looking new many years from now is to be diligent in reading labels for any product that you intend to use. Acid free, archival qualities are your main concerns.
For those times when you want to include an item that is not acid free, such as a newspaper clipping, be sure to treat it with a product such as Krylon's Make It Acid Free spray. It works by neutralizing the acid and raising the paper's ph level. By applying to news clippings, artwork, and other items created on regular paper, you can safely include them in your scrapbooks without worry that they will become brittle and deteriorate. A product such as this works well, but we warned that it must be applied as directed, and you will need a very well ventilated area to apply it properly.
When choosing supplies and embellishments to use with your photographs in scrapbooks and photo albums, be sure you use only those listed as acid free. This simple declaration can mean the difference between an album whose photos are holding up decades from now, and those whose quality is becoming compromised by the embellishment, such as stickers and journaling, that was placed along with those photographs.
I once met a young women who had done some very beautiful pages of her family and friends that she was kind enough to share with me. A few years later, I ran into this same women and she told me how she had used whatever adhesives were in the house when she first started scrap booking, and that some of her first pages were actually deteriorating already. When I asked her what she had used, her quick rely was some small tubes of industrial strength glue her husband had brought home from work. Apparently, they were as far away from acid free and archival quality as one could be, as her pages were literally crumbling wherever the glue had been applied.
Some products that have proven themselves through the years to be safe include Memory Mount by api's Crafter's Pick. It is acid free, archival quality (it will keep photographs that it is applied to looking the same as the day you applied it), repositionable, and it dries clear.
Delta archival quality, acid free, photo-safe glue is another adhesive that will keep your photographs in your albums looking, as they should. No yellowing and it will not wrinkle and curl your photographs when applied correctly.
Elmer's, a name synonymous with the glue industry, has created a complete line of Craft Bond glues and adhesives that are acid free and archival quality. Each product has specific guidelines on the package for recommended uses.
Sakura of America produces archival quality inks in a variety of pens that will allow you to journal safely wherever you want to in your scrapbooks. They are waterproof, fade-resistant, ph neutral, permanent, archival quality pigments.
Besides adhesives and inks, be sure that any products that have secondary adhesives, such as stickers, are also manufactured acid free. Papers and albums many assume will also be acid free, but surprisingly, many are not. The best way to be sure that your album and all your work will still be looking new many years from now is to be diligent in reading labels for any product that you intend to use. Acid free, archival qualities are your main concerns.
For those times when you want to include an item that is not acid free, such as a newspaper clipping, be sure to treat it with a product such as Krylon's Make It Acid Free spray. It works by neutralizing the acid and raising the paper's ph level. By applying to news clippings, artwork, and other items created on regular paper, you can safely include them in your scrapbooks without worry that they will become brittle and deteriorate. A product such as this works well, but we warned that it must be applied as directed, and you will need a very well ventilated area to apply it properly.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Always Be Prepared
There is a motto I learned early in life with regard to photography: Always Be Prepared. You may think I was a Boy Scout, but this is impossible; I was a Girl Scout for a short time, but that's not where I learned the motto. I suppose it was my father who taught me to always be prepared with the camera. He taught not so much with words, but by example. I remember he brought his camera with him everywhere and was always prepared to take a picture of something, someone, or some place.
The Boy Scouts take their motto very seriously, as do I. I now have a digital camera, having gone through a whole range of cameras from the big clunky kind in the 70s to the tiny pocket variety of the past several years. Upon marrying my husband, a high-tech camera came into my life with multiple lenses and features and gadgets I still have yet to figure out. The digital camera is by far the easiest and the most convenient to use, especially with the option of viewing the photo immediately to see if it is worth saving, as well as being able to delete it if it isn't. My digital camera is small enough to fit into a pocket or handbag and it accompanies our family nearly everywhere we go. I am teaching my children what my dad taught me about being prepared with the camera.
Being prepared has given me what are referred to by many as some "great Kodak moments." I've captured spontaneous laughter between friends, the delight on my children's faces as they look at a new litter of kittens, and of course the winning (and losing) soccer games, basketball games, and track meets. In nature, I've been awed to photograph crimson sunsets, surprising lightning, or even just a nest of tiny birds, just freshly broken free from their eggs. Many of these moments would be lost in memory and time had I not thought to take the camera along.
A few years ago our family took a trip to Niagara Falls and we met with literally thousands of Japanese tourists all sporting a variety of cameras hanging around their necks. Over the years I've noticed that Japanese visitors to America must have heard the motto to always be prepared. They are constantly ready to point their cameras and shoot. I've learned a lot from them: it never hurts to take pictures of any and everything. This past summer we were privileged to host a Japanese exchange student and she brought more than a dozen disposable cameras for her month in the states. Not only did she use every camera, she also bought 5 more while she was here. I found myself using my digital camera each time she used one of hers, and now that she's gone, I'm thankful I recorded all our fun memories of that magical month.
My dad still hasn't graduated to the digital age, but he still takes his camera with him everywhere and he is always prepared. Now that I think of it, maybe he was a Boy Scout?
The Boy Scouts take their motto very seriously, as do I. I now have a digital camera, having gone through a whole range of cameras from the big clunky kind in the 70s to the tiny pocket variety of the past several years. Upon marrying my husband, a high-tech camera came into my life with multiple lenses and features and gadgets I still have yet to figure out. The digital camera is by far the easiest and the most convenient to use, especially with the option of viewing the photo immediately to see if it is worth saving, as well as being able to delete it if it isn't. My digital camera is small enough to fit into a pocket or handbag and it accompanies our family nearly everywhere we go. I am teaching my children what my dad taught me about being prepared with the camera.
Being prepared has given me what are referred to by many as some "great Kodak moments." I've captured spontaneous laughter between friends, the delight on my children's faces as they look at a new litter of kittens, and of course the winning (and losing) soccer games, basketball games, and track meets. In nature, I've been awed to photograph crimson sunsets, surprising lightning, or even just a nest of tiny birds, just freshly broken free from their eggs. Many of these moments would be lost in memory and time had I not thought to take the camera along.
A few years ago our family took a trip to Niagara Falls and we met with literally thousands of Japanese tourists all sporting a variety of cameras hanging around their necks. Over the years I've noticed that Japanese visitors to America must have heard the motto to always be prepared. They are constantly ready to point their cameras and shoot. I've learned a lot from them: it never hurts to take pictures of any and everything. This past summer we were privileged to host a Japanese exchange student and she brought more than a dozen disposable cameras for her month in the states. Not only did she use every camera, she also bought 5 more while she was here. I found myself using my digital camera each time she used one of hers, and now that she's gone, I'm thankful I recorded all our fun memories of that magical month.
My dad still hasn't graduated to the digital age, but he still takes his camera with him everywhere and he is always prepared. Now that I think of it, maybe he was a Boy Scout?
Creating History with Photographs and Scrapbooks
By Christina VanGinkel
A good friend asked me recently why I scrapbook. My reply was quick, but long. I scrapbook because I love to take photographs, and after a day of shooting, and printing the ensuing photos taken, I have some inherent need to show them off, to share them with others in all their glory. I scrapbook because I have a strong sense of family history, I want my children and grandchildren, and their grandchildren's children to know about their past. When my parents passed away, I was left with a box of photographs that are wonderful in their own right, yet I do not have a clue as to whom most of the people in these photographs are. I do not want this to happen with the photographs I take, or the new ones my family are kind enough to share with me. I first label each new photograph I take or am given, with an acid free pen lightly across the back, and then scrapbook them as time permits, and I also journal along with the photographs as I put them into my scrapbooks.
With my new digital camera, I also journal digitally, creating DVDs of both photographs and short videos to share with future generations. Through these DVDs, my hope is that not only the visual capabilities will be accessed, but also the sounds and expressions of our current lives will now be able to be displayed in the future, long after we have passed. I sometimes imagine what it would be like; if I had a video of my parents and their siblings when they were kids, if it would have allowed me to better understand them as I was growing up. I alone have taken quite a bit of video of my grandson, so that his children someday will have a front seat view to their father's life as he was formed into the fine man he will surely be one day.
Another reason I scrapbook is because the first time I saw a display full of scrapbook products, stickers, stencils, pens, papers, and fancy tools, I was in love. I saw all the possibilities just waiting there amongst all the exciting designs and supplies. As an avid photographer, I just new that I now had an excuse to take even more photos than I already did.
I know I told her even more reasons at the time she asked me why I scrapbook, but in reflection, the main reason I scrapbook is because it has become an ingrained part of my day. It provides relaxation after a day of dealing with life, of watching horrendous news stories, and realizing that not everybody is as nice as others are. It provides a way for me to connect with my kids, both my oldest down to my youngest. It creates reminiscing, which in turn brings about conversations that are perfect ways for families to stay connected. It gives me a craft that I can easily share with my family. My daughter loves to give me scrapbook supplies for the holidays, as I do in return for her. My youngest son likes to see the pages I create with his photos, and has gone from grimacing every time I pull out my camera at a family event, to reminding me not to forget my camera. He is even turning into quite the photographer himself in the process. I scrapbook!
A good friend asked me recently why I scrapbook. My reply was quick, but long. I scrapbook because I love to take photographs, and after a day of shooting, and printing the ensuing photos taken, I have some inherent need to show them off, to share them with others in all their glory. I scrapbook because I have a strong sense of family history, I want my children and grandchildren, and their grandchildren's children to know about their past. When my parents passed away, I was left with a box of photographs that are wonderful in their own right, yet I do not have a clue as to whom most of the people in these photographs are. I do not want this to happen with the photographs I take, or the new ones my family are kind enough to share with me. I first label each new photograph I take or am given, with an acid free pen lightly across the back, and then scrapbook them as time permits, and I also journal along with the photographs as I put them into my scrapbooks.
With my new digital camera, I also journal digitally, creating DVDs of both photographs and short videos to share with future generations. Through these DVDs, my hope is that not only the visual capabilities will be accessed, but also the sounds and expressions of our current lives will now be able to be displayed in the future, long after we have passed. I sometimes imagine what it would be like; if I had a video of my parents and their siblings when they were kids, if it would have allowed me to better understand them as I was growing up. I alone have taken quite a bit of video of my grandson, so that his children someday will have a front seat view to their father's life as he was formed into the fine man he will surely be one day.
Another reason I scrapbook is because the first time I saw a display full of scrapbook products, stickers, stencils, pens, papers, and fancy tools, I was in love. I saw all the possibilities just waiting there amongst all the exciting designs and supplies. As an avid photographer, I just new that I now had an excuse to take even more photos than I already did.
I know I told her even more reasons at the time she asked me why I scrapbook, but in reflection, the main reason I scrapbook is because it has become an ingrained part of my day. It provides relaxation after a day of dealing with life, of watching horrendous news stories, and realizing that not everybody is as nice as others are. It provides a way for me to connect with my kids, both my oldest down to my youngest. It creates reminiscing, which in turn brings about conversations that are perfect ways for families to stay connected. It gives me a craft that I can easily share with my family. My daughter loves to give me scrapbook supplies for the holidays, as I do in return for her. My youngest son likes to see the pages I create with his photos, and has gone from grimacing every time I pull out my camera at a family event, to reminding me not to forget my camera. He is even turning into quite the photographer himself in the process. I scrapbook!
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