3 Things : playing with printing + a giveaway

Hi Ali,
I love the vellum! A look that I have experimented with is printing my photos onto transparencies and then painting (on the back) with diluted acrylics. The vellum would be so much easier and I love the look of it over the lace cardstock.
I am really enjoying your words + photos week. For me, too, this is what it is all about.
Kelly

I love visiting your blog every day. You are so creative and seeing what you do re-inspires me to create and experiment. I love to edit photos to remove the color from all but certain details - makes the end product look somewhat like a hand-tinted photo. Then I print the edited photo on different papers (vellum is a favorite).

I have two tips. Turn off that flash. I turn it off all the time and get great results. And my second tip is to change your vantage point: get down low or way up high and don't be afraid to take shots over your shoulder. My fav. pic from our Disney vacation is of my 9YO who thought he was "too cool" for Disney. When he thought nobody was looking he had that look spread across his face of sheer wonderment. I happened to catch this out of the corner of my eye and rested my camera on my shoulder and snuck a shot. It's THE BEST photo ever!!! It's imperfect, I didn't get 100% of his face but it sure tells a story and preserved a memory. The other day I went for a walk with my 7yo and just held the camera out and started shooting. I got some great shots of us holding hands and some great shots of her face that I otherwise would not have had.

My favorite photography tip is to use natural light for stunning portraits. oh yeah, and to take LOTS of pictures.
Thanks for the giveaways,

My latest favorite thing to do with photos is to print them out onto index cards to make quick, cheap mini albums!

I just got the new Rebel XSi by Canon. I am excited to try out several different lenses on it. Mostly the 50mm. I love how the photos look so clear on the subject and blurry in the background. Can't wait to get the hang of it!

My photo tip is to take lots of pictures. I figure if I take a ton of pictures there has got to be a few of those that will capture what I am looking for!!! And if not there might be a portion of the picture that I can crop out and use!

A great tip given to me is when you photograph a moving object (our 4 year old) with a digital camara....press down the shutter button and hold and follow through with the subject. I've been practicing this and I'm getting some wonderful action shots.

I'd like to learn more about lighting conditions when photographing and how to find the best lighting for taking pictures. I seem to really struggle with having underexposed images that are super grainy. Maybe I just need a better digital camera.

My latest photo tip is to open up your lens as wide as it goes and shoot from your hip, hold it up high, hold it down low but shoot without looking through the eyepiece. Just fire away and see what fun perspectives you get;)

Hi Ali,
I love taking pictures but I need to figure out how to take clear photos in large rooms without the flash. I love the coloring better but I always end up with a slight blur problem. I'm looking forward to taking BPS Photography 101, and am hoping I can learn to capture the emotion of the situation/event I'm photographing and not just the surroundings. Your blog helps me with this, it really does!
The only tip I can share at this time is to have a camera with you much of the time. You never know when an opportunity to capture a moment will present itself! I try and keep my small Kodak in my purse for this purpose.
Thanks, Ali!
PAM

I recently decided I needed a camera small enough to carry in my purse at all times to capture those -if only I had my camera- moments. I now have a Canon PowerShot A590 digital on order!

My photo tip would be when taking pictures of people, especially your loved ones, get close. Lets see those beautiful freckles, the laugh lines, the adorable expressions both adults and children have.
I do know I treasure the close up shots of my family members who are know longer here on earth with me. Looking at the pictures I remember their personality, the good times we had and the love I feel for them.

I would like my two boys to work together for a great photo-without one or both complaining about having their picture taken! lol

As with some others, I don't use my flash, but need to work on the blur factor! I also somehow find I get better results with my pictures when taking them of things rather than people, but people (my kids) are my main subject these days, so I'm working on it and having fun in the process!
As for a tip, I would say experiment with perspective!!
Loved reading this! Thanks!

Ali...
I really love this
you have inspired me to get creative with printing things on unusual surfaces...
I have printed on CALICO before and it wasn't like meant for the printer I just actually put calico through the printer to print the photo out...it worked really well.
that wasn't for scrapbooking it was for a quilt with photo blocks though
but i imagine that you could trim the calico and put it through a xyron to make it sticky???
just an idea.
I really love the printed on vellum look i am DEFINITELY going to try that and i reckon it looks awesome in front of the KI lace...
I am loving this blog concept i have learnt heaps
thanks ali
Hugs
Kayla Renee

My tip is to pay attention to the area surrounding your subject. When I haven't taken photos for awhile I sometimes forget this and end up with all sorts of clutter in the background. Thanks for the giveaway and sharing your inspiration!

Biggest tip - carry your camera with you.
Move around - change your perspective. Realize what your point of view is on life - and how do you show that with your photos.

I continue to work on capturing the moment without having everyone looking at me. I spent so much time, for so long, getting everyone to look at me when I took a photo, now I want to capture them in the moment and not have them look into the camera, but that is all they will do now. It is all about re-teaching them and surprising them. I never thought I would love "in the moment" photos so much, but I do. Thanks for all the inspiration and things to think about!

I would like to be to take better self-portraits. thank you for all the inspiration!!!

The only tip I have is take lots of pictures and don't be afraid to delete the not so wow ones. I have surprised myself many times with the pictures I have taken.
I have learned to look at what I am viewing in the view finder, and zoom in a bit. And sometimes zoom out a bit. I've been more patient with what I want to get a picture of. For example, animals. They are so unpredictable, more so than kids (and I have 6 of them).
Good luck on the printing on various papers. Love to see the results, even if they don't quite turnout the way you hoped.

some of my best loved photos were mistakes...never discount a less than perfect photo.
cindy

Love the look of the vellum photo - that's a must try!
The tips that have worked the best for me are to get close and avoid using flash.
Thanks so much for this great series :)

you can never take too many photos! And I'm working on getting a new lens for my Nikon . . .

My number one tip would be to "move" your subject from the middle of the viewfinder/screen. Some of my greatest photos are of my son heading in/out of the frame.
I love my pictures that i take outside, but i need to work on ones i take indoors... they don't have great lighting and/or they are fuzzy. I so need to work on that!
I would love to play and try printing my photos on vellum or fabric! I've been wanting to!
Thanks for the giveaway! And thanks for this awesome new adventure words + photos!
Carolyn in FL