DIGITAL PHOTO Do you need a little motivation to organize your photo memories into photo albums, photo montage, photo collage or scrapbooks? Maybe you just want to find time to burn your photos to a disk for safe keeping. To create a memorable moving record of your photographs and video clips can be a daunting task. Here's what you need to know and how much you can expect to pay to create a video pictorial of your family history. Some internet services claim that you can get a photo DVD production for $99. This is somewhat misleading as pricing for a slideshow piece is subjective.
A video production with music & simple transitions will generally bill out in the $250 / $350 range for approximately 30-50 photos. The difference in cost will be based on standard photos or photos submitted on disk as well as how the photos need to be adjusted for video presentation. The backgrounds will be black and the inserted text is white and is limited to the opening and ending screens. Additional charges will apply for additional photos, any photo enhancement that needs to be done, special effects, transitions and unique soundtracks. Be advised that at the lower price points, photos are usually inserted as submitted, meaning the photos are not cropped or adjusted for quality.
PHOTO COLLAGE & DECOUPAGE is the art of decorating objects with pictures, photos and printed designs. Once you add a a glasslike finish, like Mod Podge to cover, seal, and protect them, you will have a true keepsake. The term "Decoupage" comes from the old French word decouper, meaning "to cut out. Then there’s digital collage...my all time favorite. When I’m not gluing things to other things, I working on my Mac in Photoshop..
Check out The Gang’s most recent
corporate video production on YouTube
Click Here to learn more about producing a video...
Organizing digital photos, or sorting out your boxes of photographs, can be a daunting task. If you try to keep it simple, the task of organizing photos can be a wonderful trip down memory lane. Start somewhere and finish. Then start somewhere else. Set an egg timer for 15 minutes and see how much you can get accomplished. Grab your kids, or significant other and don't forget the kleenex.
-
A.Individual Subjects – photos of mom, dad, kids, grandparents.
-
B.Chronological Order – by the year
-
C.Specific Events – childhood, graduation, travel, wedding, birthdays, anniversaries, sporting events, reunions, communion, Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah and special events.
-
D.Start by organizing your photos first and then work into the video clips, to keep it simple.
-
E.Keep the recipient and audience in mind when organizing your photos and video…don’t forget Aunt Martha. We’ve included a couple of checklists, so no one gets left out.
-
F.When you are starting to organize photo memories, either actual photographs or digital photos, there are a few simple tips to keep the photo organization process under control.
-
G.Take a grouping of photos and remove the images that will never be used for any photomontage, video photo collage or photo scrapbook. Unwanted photos are simply out of focus, heads cut off, difficult to distinguish what is going on in the photo or they are just plain awful.
-
H.Label a large manila envelope and throw these unwanted photos in there. If you’re working with digital photo files, create a new folder on your desktop and label it unwanted photos. If you can’t throw these photos away, file them. It will cut your photo organizing time in half later on.
If your photos are not in a digital format you will want to scan these photo images to a disk to preserve your photos and to simplify the photo or video photo creation process. Since time is often the largest expense in these situations, photo and video organization will help to cut costs for any digital photo or video collage project.
DO IT YOURSELF Photo Scanning Help:
1. Clean your scanner bed with a non-abrasive wipe & appropriate cleaner.
2. Make sure glass is dry before placing picture or image down.
3. Photos need to rest against one side of the scanner bed so that the photos remain straight.
4. Preview photo before scanning.
5. Scan all photos using the Color option even if they are B&W.
6. Photos 2x3 or smaller - Scan at 600 dpi.
-
7.Photos 5x7 - Scan at 300 dpi.
-
8.Photos larger than 5x7 - Scan at 200 dpi.
-
9.Always save as a jpeg or .JPG without compression
If the thought of photo scanning makes you cringe…there are people for that. Most photo scanning or photo digitizing companies, on or offline, will charge anywhere from .30¢ per photo on up, to scan images to 300 dpi, higher dpi = higher cost. Prices are subject to change dependent on resolution and number of photos. Call your local photo store or print shop and see if they can help you or we can scan your photos @ 39¢ each to the resolution we need to create your video. You can count on spending a little more if you want the photos manipulated in anyway. These additional costs can include color correction, red eye repair, cropping, removing a background, or changing the overall color of the image.
There are so many choices when developing quality prints from digital photos or film. We can turn our photo memories into creative posters, custom designed tee shirts, photo coffee mugs, photo collage photo bracelets and so much more. There are literally hundreds unique photo gifts and creative photo projects.
CAPTURING THE MOMENTS
It's safe to say that close to 90% of the photos in the average photo album are of people. We love to see ourselves in pictures, surrounded by our family, our pets and close friends.
Most of us line everyone up and have them pose for the shot. There's nothing wrong with that for a framed print or a holiday card. With digital photography it's easy to keep snapping off shots...there's bound to be a good one in the bunch, but with standard film it can get somewhat expensive to keep shooting for a prize winner.
I've found that when using images to create scrapbook pages, video montage or photo collage, a little bit of pre-planning is worth the extra effort and will truly improve the photo gifts and memories you create.
Before you click the shutter this holiday season, ask yourself, what do you want the photo to say?
It may seem like a silly question, but it will help you capture the images that can be used for precisely the right photo art application.
Once you've planned the shots that you're looking for...I always try to remind myself to:
* Hold the camera straight
* Find a point of interest
* Get in Close
* Check the background
* Elbows tight to your side.
* Inhale
* Exhale 1/2 breath
* Hold steady
* Click
CREATING A DIGITAL PHOTO BOX COLLAGE
A Photo Box Collage is a great layout to display multiple photos of the special times in our lives.
I create most of my box photo collage digitally, because of the versatility and endless special effects that photo software has to offer.
Supplies needed to create a stunning work of collage art digitally:
* Multiple photos of the event
* Photo software
* Complimentary text
* Fun graphics
* A good printer
* Photo paper
* A picture frame or foam core backer
The art of handmade photo collage is still alive and well! I really enjoy physically cutting and pasting images and will be having a workshop in January that I hope you'll check out.
As a reminder (I know I always say this), when creating handmade cut and paste collage, please make copies of your original photos. Take them to your local printer for copies (inkjet copies may smear if you put any kind of sealer on them). Copy centers can also help you reduce the size of your images if you don't have the wherewithal or software to do DIY.
My favorite size for digital photo box collage is 16" x 20" inches. This is a great size for framing and display. You'll find that this size is large enough to view, so you don't have to squint to see the images and the picture frames are readily available. Choose either six, nine or twelve photos for the best display.
If you don't want to create it yourself, we can help! Pricing for custom photo collage starts at $6.00 per digital photo and includes basic cropping, placement and creative touches.
Drop us a line for a custom photo collage quote.
DIGITAL PHOTO IDEAS • DIGITAL PHOTO GIFTS
LINKS AND RESOURCES
DIGITAL PHOTO & FREE PHOTO GIFTS
Digital Photo Collage & Corporate Identity
Blending the bits and pieces of corporate America.
Lynda.com - Best Learning On Line
If you don't want to read a manual...learn online! Great tutorials. Reasonable prices. You'll love this.
Thousands of Creative Photo Projects
Scrapbook pages, photo and gift ideas. Take a look.
Photoshop Tutorials with Images
Step by step refresher. Great Resource if you don't have you're manual nearby.
No experience necessary and it's REALLY FREE! With HP's handy tool, you can now quickly and easily take your own digital photographs, upload them to one of their creative templates and then print them to share with family and friends. To get started, just pick a category. Discover a cool and creative way to use your digital photos.
Making a great poster can be fun and is certainly a challenge!
Look Wow (PC) - Web Photo Enhancement
Add special effects to your photos,FREE! No registration, no downloads, no membership required.
Download MySharedPhotos Uploader and create your own FREE web photo album. Enjoy the simplicity of the interface.
Photobucket. Where millions manage their media. Upload all your photos, videos, and images to Photobucket for free. Make slideshows and remixes.
Digital Stock Photos - Creative, Royalty Free, News, Sport ...
For Digital stock photos and on-line stock photos - Getty Images is the leading provider of creative and editorial imagery and film to communications ...
Creative Photo Designs - Fine Art Prints, Photos, & Stock Images
An online gallery of digital fine art prints and stock images, imagery, photos, and photography.
Creative photos from Flickr,best flickr photo,flickr mashups,popular flickr photo.
Share photos and try out creative photo ideas - HP Digital ...
Tips for DIY photo projects and software to share your photos, along with creative photo ideas.
Store Hours: CLOSED MONDAY • Except Mosaic Tile Classes
Tuesday - Friday 10-7 Sat 10-6 Sun 12-5
