Challenge #2: Photo Focus

One of the most challenge parts of creating for me is sharing what I make.  I don't mean giving them away...I mean taking nice photos of my projects to put on my blog or share on facebook with friends.  My photos come out crooked....too dark...flat...totally making it look like I spent very little time on the project.  I really want to do better with this, so I invite you to work on it with me.

Challenge #2: Photo Focus:  Make any project you like...the challenge is in HOW you photograph that project to put on your blog.  Be creative and make it look the best you can!

Getting you started:
How to take great photos
How to photograph your scrapbook layouts
Photographing Layouts
How to take pictures of your cards
Photographing cards indoors

Getting Ready for Summer

It was a toasty 108 degrees at my house today...and it "technically" isn't even summer yet!  You can bet that most of my family's summer will be spent indoors (unless we are in a pool).  I hope to get LOTS of scrapbooking done.   In order to help the rest of you get into the "summertime" mood, I will link you to Rebecca Cooper's Blog, called "Simple as That".  She has a free Summer Photo Checklist that you might find handy.  I love her "photo checklists" and will be printing this one out and keeping it on my fridge!

Welcome to Summer!!!!!

Organize This: Week 6

This week we will begin to tackle our photos!  I won a Library of Memories Class several years ago and loved how she got me thinking about organizing this part of my world.  I discovered through this process that I am MUCH better at having my photos stored on the computer than printed out.  I never know what I am going to want to do to a photo before I use it (resize, black and white, crop, alter), so I prefere to print as I go.

We have an external hardrive with our photos backed up on it.  I have folders sorted by year and then by month.  If we do something extra special during a certain month (big trip, birthday) then I make a subfolder for that in the month so it is easy to find. 

Check out My Love Affair with the Label Maker to see her great suggestions for your photos.

How do YOU organize your photos?  I would love to hear!

Winter Solstice by Rebecca

This is Rebecca.  Happy Winter Solstice, for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  While our southern counterparts are enjoying their longest daylights of their year, we are experiencing the shortest daylight of 2011. 

But it's a celebration, because it just gets lighter from here!  So take advantage of whatever light you can find today and celebrate the return of light:

--Take an outdoor picture.  Check out http://weather.thefuntimesguide.com/2006/01/winter_pictures.php for some good basic winter photography tips. And I found this site http://photo.net/learn/point-and-shoot-tips with some really good general photography tips for those of us with point-and-shoot, basic digital or film cameras.  I sometimes wish I had a fancy camera and the skills to use it; This article made me realize that I could just get better with what I've got!

--If you're doing a December Daily/Journal Your Christmas type project, think about using Winter Solstice as your theme today.  Some journaling prompts: How does the short daylight time impact you and your mood? What is it like to go to work in the dark and come home in the dark and not get to see daylight? What do you look forward to with the return of more daylight?  This blog post http://womensmemoirs.com/memoir-writing-prompts/memoir-writing-prompt-winter-solstice-and-more/ provides a good journaling prompt idea, to focus on a turning point in your life.  It's a good day to feel a little gratitude!

--Read about the origins of winter solstice and Yule celebrations. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/wintersolstice.shtml Even if you're not Wiccan or Pagan, see if you can find any of your own traditions in the historic roots and celebrations of Winter Solstice/Yule! http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/SolsticeArticle.html

--Light a candle or a fireplace to usher in the return of light. Or, for a more delicious rake on that symbolism, make a Yule log cake (Buche de Noel)! I collected several pictures/recipes on a Pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/rebecca_delo/bouche-de-noel/

--And for less calories, try a yule log craft, like http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/11/toilet_paper_tube_yule_log.html or http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/yule-log-favor-boxes

Hope you are enjoying the daily posts here on the blog.  We're coming close to the end, and this is my final post for the month, so Merry Yule, Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! 

See you in 2012!

Rebecca

Photographing Christmas Lights and Your Christmas Tree

Ever since I got my DSLR camera (2 Christmas' ago), I have wanted to be able to take some good pictures of my Christmas lights and tree.  Last year at this time I was still stuck in "Auto" mode...but this past year I have really learned how to use all of the Modes, including Manual.  So I started searching for a few tutorials to get me moving in the right direction for photographing my tree.  I have even found ideas/tutorials for using a point and shoot camera for these types of photos.  This is what I found...

A blog post from "Unskinny Boppy" with camera settings for a DSLR

A blog post with lots of examples using both point and shoot and DSLR cameras by August Tea Photography.

Another post by professional photographer, Danielle Bryson

Another blog post with lots of links by Midwestern Sewing Girl

Merry Christmas!!!
-Meridy

Christmas Season Photo Opportunities

Get out your camera, it's time to take some pictures!



Photo by Meridy Twilling

Today I want to give you a list of Holiday season photo ideas. You may need photos for your P365, December Daily, or for your scrapbooks or photo albums. I hope you find something on the list that inspires you to get out your camera.

I know that most of us are already taking pictures of the holiday events, school programs, picture with Santa, Church programs, and snow. I am trying to give you a few different ideas. Most of these ideas will work with or without people in your pictures.

* your mailbox filled with your outgoing Holiday cards

* the stockings hanging empty and then filled- When my daughter was three I got a picture of her decorating the tree and she was wearing two Christmas stockings.

* children writing their letter to Santa

* the temperature on a bank sign or in your car when you go out in the morning

* the Menorah each night

* a holiday craft you are working on

* a baby in a Christmas stocking- We did this to my grandson the year he was born.

* the special dish you only get to eat on the holiday along with the recipe

* playing with the decorations as you are trimming the tree- I have a picture of one of my daughters wrapped in Christmas lights, and another of the girls wearing ornaments as earrings.

* the wrapping paper rolls

* lined up boots and the mitten pile or everyone bundled up to go out

* enjoying a warm cocoa or tea

* a pinecone and needles with snow

* your favorite ornament- I love the idea of making a mini album with pictures of all of my favorite ornaments and who gave them to me and any story behind them.

* your street decorations or a picture of all of the houses on your street decorated

* snow angels

* charity work- donated canned goods, the tree of names, the Salvation Army bell

* the grocery cart filled with everything you need for you holiday party

* decorating a gingerbread house or cookie

* the kids getting off the bus on the last day before vacation

* three wise men- I know you have to know some wise men

* kids wrapping their gifts to others- My girls always shopped at the dollar store for our whole family. They picked one item for each relative and then wrapped them all. It was so exciting for them to be able to pick each gift and take the time to wrap them.

* the clock when you finally get to go to bed on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve

* snow chains on your tires

* enjoying your favorite holiday story or movie

* the plate of cookies and milk or whatever treat you leave for Santa

* dreidel game

* a special seasonal jewelry piece- I have a snowflake necklace that I love and a reindeer pin made from puzzle pieces.

* holiday morning breakfast

* watching the parade in person or on tv

* Advent calendar- It doesn't matter if it's the Lego Advent, Starbucks, or the one you worked on at home for weeks.

* Christmas jammies

* winter toys- ice block maker, sleds, quads, snowmobiles

* the sledding hill before there is snow and after

* Happy Birthday Jesus- Our friends make a cake and celebrate every year.

* a holiday craft you are working on

* a craft fair

* the bus if you are taking a bus trip- At Christmas we have a lot of bus trips to NY for a show.

* your suitcases if you are traveling

* the car loaded with the gifts you are giving

* baking

* a live nativity

* the special gift/craft that comes home from school with your child

Last, but not least...Don't forget to take a picture of something that didn't work out- the gingerbread man that someone bit before he had a chance to be decorated, the wrapped gift that the paper didn't fit on and you had to use another sheet to patch, the clay ornaments you made that all cracked when you baked them. Those things that you don't want to even think about right now but will be funny later.

Happy Picture Taking!!!

Jennifer

Photo Organization and Photo Editing References

I realize there are probably 100's of photo organizing programs and web sites, I thought I would share some of the FREE sites that I use...

Simple Photo Editing and Collage Making

I use Picasa 3 to do simple cropping and editing on my snapshots.  I also use it to create "mini" wallet prints on a 4x6 size photo.  Picasa 3 is a free download from Google.  It helps you organize, edit, and share your photos.  Click here "Picasa 3" for a link to the Picasa site. 

Enhancing Special Photos

Picnik is a fun, free site I use to (quickly) add enhancements to some of my photographs.  It is VERY user friendly and good for someone who does not own Photoshop.  Photoshop is much more advanced, but Picnik is much quicker to learn and it's free.  There is a "Premium" membership available through Picnik, which costs about $25 a year.  You can see exactly what comes in the "Premium" membership when you browse their website.


Project 365 On-Line Storage and Organization

If you are participating in Project 365, or Project Life, (where you take a photo every day of the year), a good site that many people use to organize their photos is Shuttercal.  I personally have not used this site, but I have heard great things about it.  There is also a place for keeping notes about each photo you download, and all of your photos are organized on a "calendar" for easy reference.

Ringing in the New Year with a great offer!

Happy New Year! I hope you are looking foward to all of the things to come in 2011!  It is a blank canvas just waiting for you to create on it!  If you have not done so yet, you need to check out Ali Edwards One Little Word challenge.  Choose a word that reflects who you are or who you want to be in 2011.  You can check it out here: One Little Word .  My word for 2011 is Persepective!  I think it will be a great challenge to me over the next year to change the way I see things!  I can't wait to grow in this area!  What is YOUR word going to be?  Don't forget to scrapbook it, too!  I will be sharing my layout here very soon!

I got a great offer in my e-mail and thought I would share it with you!  It expires January 9th, but is a great way for you to start off the year right with lots of photos to scrap! 

Snapfish is having a great deal on Penny Prints!  Here is the code:  Just use code 2011PENNY at checkout by 11:59PM PST on January 9.*

Enjoy!  Don't forget to check back on the 5th when we reveal our first Kit to copy!  I'm completely in love with it and can't wait to show you what I put together!

*Beth