 JULY ALBUM IDEA: My Furry Baby Book
Our furry friends are, for many of us, treated like our children. We often have just as many, if not more pictures of them that we love to look at and share with those that appreciate just how important they are to us. So why wouldn't we take the time to make a photo book or even a flip book, so we can enjoy photos, memories and videos of them making us smile. This is Norman. He was my 8 year old bassett baby. Lymphoma took him from us 3 years ago and I can't get enough of looking at pics and videos of him. I keep a shadowbox for every loved one I have lost and am now working towards either a flipbook, photo book or video slideshow for each of them.
1 Comment
 The perfect birthday or anniversary gift is a photobook telling them how important they are to you. Make a list of all the reasons you love them, and find pictures to express it. Maybe you could come up with 52 photos to signify the past 52 weeks of your relationship.
Other options are to build this book for your child(ren) or a parent. Who doesn't want to feel loved and appreciated in a very personal way.  Graduating is both exciting and terrifying with so much to look forward to and so much left behind. They will face many challenges and may want to look back to remember how they got to where they are.
You can give them that with a photo book full of their memories. You could have their favorite inspiring song lyrics throughout the pages or maybe information that they will need to know when they are on their own. Maybe include a few of their favorite recipes, whatever you think might make them smile. If you want to get really fancy, consider having a digital flipbook created for them. You can include videos, audios, links to youtube videos, etc. Whatever route you chose to go, they are sure to cherish it. Check out some great graduation song options that you may want to find lyrics for. https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/music/a16001/graduation-songs/ My personal favorite is The Climb by Miley Cirus  Time to start thinking about how to make your mom happy with a photo. If you are going through your photos and come across the perfect one for mom, create this free digital card for her. Step1: Download the powerpoint template card below 
Step 2: Drag and drop the perfect photo for mom onto the template and resize it to fit the frame  Step 3: Click on the text box and add your new text  Step 4: Save it as an image file for printing or sending digitally -Choose "File" -Save As -Choose a location to save it to -Choose the image format to save it as (JPG or PNG)    Step 5: Email, text, print out your card or post it to your social media and make her day! 
 What child doesn't like a good story, even better, one thats about them. A ONCE UPON A TIME photo book is the kind of book they will want to read / view over and over again and likely cherish for longer than that.
It should start with a simple, happy memory. Maybe the day you brought your new pet home. Choose photos to accompany the story and turn it into your child's personalized story book. Make sure they are the hero of their own story and its sure to be a hit. And don't think for a minute that only a small child would appreciate this. There are times in everyone's life when they could use the reminder of a wonderful, happy time in their life. March 31st is World Backup Day, so I wanted to share some backup ideas with you.
The 3-2-1 Backup method is used by major organizitions and industry professionals alike and is considered industry standard to protect your important files and images. The important thing to remember is that you don't want to keep all of your eggs in one basket, so to speak. I learned this valuable lesson several years back when I trusted an external hard drive to be my only storage for 7 years worth of teaching images for the university. The hard drive was only 2 years old and of good quality, so I assumed I had nothing to worry about. Suffice it to say, I was dead wrong and red faced as I explained my predicament to several instructors. They now had to start from scratch. This is the same situation many others have faced, whether it was a computer crashing, an external hard drive malfunctioning or stolen or a natural disaster destoying print photos. In the end, the result is the same...a very unhappy person. So this is how the 3-2-1 Backup works: 3 copies of your data: You want the original and two other copies. It is not uncommon to keep the original files on your computer with the 2 copies elsewhere. 2 Different Media: You will want to choose 2 different places to store the 2 copies of your data. If the originals are on your computer and it gets stolen, you will need to turn to one of your copies. Some will keeps prints as a backup while others choose to have a copy on a USB or external hard drive that is kept near the originals for quick and easy file restoration. This is great unless both the original and the copy are compromised due to their location in your home such as a fire. This is where the next recommendation comes in handy. 1 copy off site: Keeping 1 of the copies off-site can give you protection in case of natural disasters or theft. Using the cloud for storage of your files is a simple and cost effective method and the most common type of off-site copy, but keeping another external hard drive copy at work or with another family member is an option as well. You may also want to take into account what you want backed up, whether its just photos and documents or if you want your whole computer backed up and how often. These decisions will help you to identify the right 3-2-1 backup system for you. A simple example of a 3-2-1 backup would be having the originals on your computer with an external hard drive attached for a copy and Backblaze as a cloud based computer backup. Now thats peace of mind!  Monthly Album Idea: Our Day At A Glance
Spend the day documenting your family's regular activities. In the end its the little moments that we want to remember...breakfast favorites, what mom put in our lunches everyday, family game night, favorite netflix shows we binge watched, books we read to the kids over and over again. Don't let these everyday moments fade away. These tiny treasures will increase in emotional value every year. And don't forget that done is better than perfect!  February's Photo Book Idea is an ABC photo book. Toddlers and parents alike will love this themed book. Each page would represent a letter of the alphabet and a photo you choose, or better yet took, with your toddler. A is for Apple, B is for Banana, etc. Get creative with it. Once you've completed the book, upload to any on-line photo book printer and enjoy! Your toddler gets to learn and spend quality time with you at the same time, while you enjoy and create family memories.   So you want to get some family photos scanned but you're not sure where to start? Have no idea how to find the right person / company for the job?
Here are a few of the questions you should have answers to before you decide: 1. Are they Certified Photo Managers? https://thephotomanagers.com/user/agt631/ A Certified Photo Manager has made the time and financial committment to become educated on best practices, maintain up to date standards and connect with specialists in all areas of photo management. If they don't know how to do it, they can connect you with someone who does. 2. What resolution will your prints be scanned at? For many companies it is all about speed, not quality. Scanning your photos at a low resolution for the purpose of speed or due to low quality equipment can seriously restrict what you can do with the digital images in the future. You may not be able to use low resolution images in photo books, video montages or enlarge them for framing. Best practices would involve scanning images at a resolution that is compatible with your digital storage space and useful for any future photo projects. 600 dpi is what I would recommend for most images. 3. What service options are available? If you hand over a messy box of old, disganized photos in, will you be sent home with a scanned digital mess too? Many companies will only offer a scanning service, so if you bring them a mess, you will simply take home a digital mess as well. Most of my clients bring me their disorganized photos because they don't want to deal with the overwhelm themselves. As a Certified Photo Manager, I can not only organize their print photos but build an organized folder system for their digital images, with the correct orientation, and file renaming and tagging, making it easy to find the photos they want to view and share. I can consult with clients on a personalized print and digital storage and sharing system that works with their technical abilities and goals for the photo project. 4. What are their standard operating procedures to protect your photos from damage? Cotton or medical gloves should be worn when handling photos to protect them from dirt and skin oils. As well, options should be available for scanning delicate photos, letters, etc. from damage, such as using specialized scanners or camera scanning. Your family memories should be treated with care, find out if you will receive a personalized experience or if your photos are simply one of 20 other projects that will be tossed into the automated scanner that day. These are just a few of the questions you will want to know before you choose which business to trust your scanning project to, but it should give you a good start. In the end, you have to feel confident that they will do a good job on your scanning project and that they are knowledgable and upfront with their service agreement, fees and should be happy to answer your questions. Happy scanning!!! |
|||
