Last week I discussed flash use in digital photography. This week I will discuss some of the many ways you can use your digital photographs this coming Christmas.
The photographs you make may be printed, put in an album and emailed to friends. But what else can you do with them. With Christmas coming up, it is a good time to explore that. Most of the labs using a digital processor can now add fancy borders and messages to your print. With those, they usually offer calendars and greeting cards featuring your images. Why not give someone a coffee mug with one of your photos printed on it. Mouse pads, pillows and even blankets with you photo can be purchased as well.
If you are doing you own printing at home, you can purchase greeting card paper to make your own holiday cards or iron on transfers to make your own photographic T-shirts. Custom CD and DVD covers, personalized gift tags can be made at home as well. Canvas and silk papers can be purchased for an art look to your photos (would make a nice gift) as well as magnetic and adhesive papers for fridge magnets or home-made bumper stickers. Scrapbooking has become a very popular hobby, so why not make your own scrapbook pages?
Looking for something a little more unique? Why not have a coffee table photo book created. There are several companies on the web that offer this service. Try photoworks.com, shutterfly.com or kodakgallery.com, though I have not tried any of these yet myself.
There are endless possibilities to what you can do with your photos, all you need is a little creativity.
Next week I will go over summarize my review of Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.
The digital photography tip of the week is written by the PCIN Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Chris is a long time photographer and is currently the vice-president of the Niagara Falls Camera Club. You can see more of his photography at his Photo of the Day website.
If you have a tip to send Chris, or a question about digital photography he can address in the newsletter, send it to chris@pcin.net.
Once I got the right printer, paper and photo-editing software to suit my needs (I had to try a few to find out what I liked to work with best), I browse through my photos to find the ones that are unique and match my ideas and thinking about the world. I feel if I’m interested in the topic/subject/object I photograph, I’ll do a better job of both shooting and selecting the photos I’m using to communicate ideas about the world with others.