Put Your Photos On Canvas For Christmas

I have been looking for a company for sometime that did quality Canvas work, when I came across ZAZA Gallery I knew I found a place to final get some of my photo work converted to canvas. They had me when they referenced my favorite photographer Ansel Adams “zone system process”

ZAZA Gallery has many options you can choose from when you are deciding the perfect format you want your image displayed. You can have your image printed in its Original, Pencil Sketch, Oil Painting, Comic Style or Impasto Style. You may want your image in it’s original color, black & white or sepia tone. Your choices don’t end there, you also are able to choose the thickness of your frame as well as the technique you want your image wrapped on the frame. And then there is a number of sizes from which you can choose starting with an 8×10 all the way up to 36×48

I quickly decided on an image I wanted to send them to see the quality of their work. I emailed them the image on Tuesday afternoon and figured it would be a couple of weeks before I got my completed image back. Well this afternoon I received a package from ZAZA Gallery. My first thought was no way would I be happy with the quality when it only took them one week to process my order.

When I opened my package I was sure I would not be happy, but I was pleasantly surprised. The image that I took out was of exceptional quality.

The wrapping and frame was also of exceptional quality

I will definitely be sending more of my images to ZAZA Gallery and will also refer my clients to get their images turned into beautiful works of art from ZAZA Gallery

I was supplied with a 8×10 canvas of one of my images so that I could review the print. All opinions in this review are mine.

Shoot Out On The High Seas

I am gathering information for an event that I have been toying with for about a year now.

The event would be a photo shoot on a cruise:

*There would be models available for photo shoots on board the ship as well as photo shoots at exotic ports.

*There would be learning sessions in all areas of photography from working your camera to the photo shoot to final processing and printing.

This will be a great way to improve your photography skills by getting out with other photographers and shooting. You will see different techniques that you may want to incorporate into your shooting style.

This will also be a wonderful event to network with photographers, models & photoshop experts from all over the place.

This event would be for any level of photographer from beginner to advanced

If you would be interested in a event of this type please leave me a comment letting me know if you are a photographer, model or would like to speak at this event.

Social Media By The Sea Conference Speakers

All of the speakers on the SMBTS Cruise Conference were amazing. They had so much information to share. I was the photographer for this awesome group.I still come away from each of the sessions with some kind of tidbit to help enhance my online presence.

Here are the speakers and the topics they spoke on

Willie Crawford @WillieCrawford

Willie spoke on What is Social Media in the opening session

*How to use Social Media to grow your business

*Importance of Social Media in Blogging

* What tools to use to help you become successful

In the final session Willie spoke on Affiliate Marketing

*Do you monetize your blog, your website?

* Learn the secrects of making money

*Learn the secrets and tools you use/need to put your blog/website to work

I learned so much from Willie but the main thing I learned was how to work smarter using all the tools available to me to get more things done and get them done efficiently

Jen Grant @Cr8tiveJen

Jen Spoke on The Foundations of a Blog

*Choosing a platform

*Establishing a Voice

*How to promote your blog on Social Sites

*Learn the importance of obtaining back-links and increasing comments for your blog

Jen helped me realize the importance of establishing my own voice. I received some excellent tidbits on how to do this during her session, but one of the great things of being on a cruise ship and at a convention you also get to socialize with the speakers outside of the session. I got more insight on establishing my voice while chatting with Jen while we were waiting for one of the shows to begin in the main lounge on the ship

Dawn Papandrea-Kahn @paintermommy

Dawn spoke on What Does Your Layout Say About Your Blog

*Does the look of your blog/website really matter?

*Do I need a custom header

*Tips on Spacing, Widgets and Sidebars

*What blog platform is the most effective for my blog?

*Why do I need a blog button ad?

*The importance of adding photos/images to your posts

I learned so much from Dawn watch over the next few weeks as this blog makes some much needed changes.

John Hinds @John_Hinds

John spoke on Book Deals

*Should you make your blog/website into a book

*Best practice for getting your book done

*Two key ingredients that could make your book a best seller

*Ninja tactics: Amazon, Advertising on social sites & more tatics

The key thing I learn from John I actual learned at the speed networking session, This is the same concept as speed dating. I learned instead of concentrating on writing an ebook take that same topic and concept and put the energy into writing an actual book to be published offline.

Michelle Price @prosperitygal

Michelle spoke on Social Media/Viral Marketing

*Social Media, if used effectively, is the key to success. What does that really mean?

*What do the most successful people concentrate on?

*How Social Media can help you market your business

*Learn how to leverage your social media realtionships into increasing traffic to your blog and or website

*How do you find guest bloggers for your site or even trade posts/buttons with another blogger

*The inside scoop on how to become a social media rockstar!

Michelle shared a ton of valuable information and the one area I am going to concentration on is connecting with powerful people in my area of expertise.

If you want your online presence to grow you need to plan on attending next years SMBTS Cruise conference you will come away not only rested from being waited on hand and foot on the cruise but filled with so much valuable information your presence can’t help but begin to grow

My New Home

I know I know I need to post my blog on my Cruise. Well as that is going to be a long post and I am still working on those pictures I thought I would start with something a little easier.

The day after I got back from the cruise I moved into a new house, about 15 minutes from where I was living. But this home is more of what I had in mind when I moved here to South Carolina.

The woman who owns the home I will be sharing, is working on restoring it, it was built in 1920. And so far she has done a wonderful job.

So here are some pictures of the inside of the house

This is the sitting area of my room as you can see in the picture Bandit has claimed the couch.

Another look at the sitting area and you can also see my little office area, but more importantly check out the fireplace. I so wanted a fireplace and to have one in my room is more than I could have ever hoped for

Bandit even has his own area

And then my sleeping area, I was so happy my King sized bed fit and did not seem to take over the room

The bathroom has alot of the original fixtures

Then every girls dream this is my closet. It also has lots of shelves and cubbies for storing stuff, I have to go shopping there is alot of empty space in here

The stairs to the second floor, Bandit gets down stairs and then forgets how to get back up to the room I have to come to the top of the stairs and call him. He is very smart, I’m not sure why this is causing him trouble, other than the fact that we have never lived in a house with stairs so that is new to him

I love this front door

This is the living room and my roommates dogs room when she is gone. When she leaves I close off the doors so Bandit does not go in and bother her dog in his crate, Bandit is learning this is not his room, this is hard for him, he thinks he needs to own the whole house. But he is learning he can only go in there if I am with him

This is a sitting room just off the living room. When my Brother in law was here the other day he said if it was his house that would be the cigar room even though he doesn’t smoke cigars

I really like this room this is the dining room, it is so open and sunny I enjoy sitting in there in the morning having breakfast and watching the birds and squirrels playing in the yard

And here is the kitchen area

There are more rooms to the house, be on the watch out in the next couple of days for the rest of the inside and then a tour of the outside of the house

Brag About Your Adventures This Summer

With the first day of school just around the corner, it is time to begin thinking about the first assignment your going to have. That ever dreaded speech “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” Well why don’t you prepare to WOW your classmates and create a photo collage of what you did this summer.

35% off all Photo Posters with Promo Code ‘poster-19′

College students, want to take all your friends off to college with you? Well now you can, how about creating  a collage and turning it into a mouse-pad

35% off all Photo Mousepads with Promo Code ‘mousepad-2′

Want to share with Grandma and Grandpa that great trip you had or couldn’t find that perfect vacation magnet, well now turn your prize vacation photo or just a prized photo into a magnet

35% off all Photo Magnets with Promo Code ‘magnet-9′
The bragging possibilities are endless, let your mind go and get as creative as you want to be

Coming Home With Good Cruise or Vacation Pictures

I will be heading out on a cruise in a few short weeks and have been reviewing my tips for taking photos on a cruise ship.

Taking pictures on a cruise ship or on any kind of vacation can be very challenging. To avoid coming home with dark, blurry, poorly framed pictures here are a few tips to help you come home with treasures.

Bring the correct equipment:

• Your camera should be small. A big bulky camera will become tiresome and eventually get left in the room. You want to have your camera with you all the time, because you never know when something interesting or exciting may happen.
  
• Test your camera several weeks before your trip. If it is not working properly you have enough time to get it fixed or buy a new one. Pulling it on the trip for the first time in month only to find it doesn’t work can be quite a disappointment and very expensive if you try to buy something to replace it even if it is disposable .
• Make sure you have your charger, plenty of batteries, plenty of memory cards or film. These are quite expensive to purchase also/

Back Up

• When taking pictures of people in front of the ship or other landmarks don’t make the amateur mistake of placing the people right in from of the object. One of two things happen, the people either look real tiny or the large object is cut off.
• Instead place the people far enough away from the object so you can see all of the object, but also can see the peoples eyes clearly. The you back up 10 to 20 feet. Now I wouldn’t recommend doing this on the pier are you will end up in the water
• You can always get a good picture of people with the ship at the end of the pier or from the beach once in port.

Zoom In

• Zoom in on peoples faces to show the fun that is being had on the cruise. You want to fill the frame with a smiling face eliminating all distractions around them. You don’t want a picture of Aunt Sally having fun in front of a trash can. Zoom in and just get her smiling face and you have now eliminated the trash can

Use Fill Flash (Your Flash)

• Cruise ships’ lighting is horrible for pictures. Even though the room may seem bright enough turn on your flash to throw a little light on to their face, so you don’t get home to find everyone has black eyes.
• This is a good tip for photographing people in any room type situation

Take A Picture Of Everything

• Take a picture of the ship itself
• Photograph the decor. If you are drawn to a statue, picture or mural then photograph it.  I always take a picture of my cabin door with the cabin number visible.
• Take a picture of the food, the majority of time the food is so pretty you don’t want to eat it. Then when you get home you try to describe it. Just take a picture before you take a bite.

Even though I mainly concentrated on a cruise ship, all these tips will work for any kind of vacation. So enjoy your time and bring home some great memories

Don’t forget to join my blog to recieve more tips on getting great photos

Why You Should Never Leave Home Without Your Camera

Early this morning I headed out with a couple of my friends. We were headed to the farmers market and then to pick blackberries. When I showed up with my camera around my neck, they looked at me and said “your bringing your camera?” I answered back, “I sure am never know when you might come across something that you may want to photograph.”

I have also given myself a challange, I am trying to photograph ordinary objects making them something someone would want to hang on their wall. If you really think about what you do in a given day there are 100’s of opportunites to create an image.

Well let me stop talking and share with you my ordinary pictures from this morning and you tell me would you think someone might consider putting any of these on their wall as art? Please leave me a comment and let me know which one you like the best too.

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How To Clean Your Camera

1. Clean The Body: Even if your goal is to clean off your lens and sensor, you really need to clean the body first. This way you keep the dust and dirt from getting inside your camera during the cleaning process.

• Wipe off the exterior with a soft cloth

• Clean around the lens mount

2. Clean Your Lens: Cleaning the lens can greatly improve your image quality. I mean it is the first part of the camera that takes in the image. It is pretty important.

• Blow the lens with air from your blower to remove any dust particles

DO NOT USE COMPRESSED AIR

• Put lens cleaning fluid on a microfiber cloth and wipe the lens. Don’t put the fluid directly on the lens as this could ruin the lens

3. Clean the Sensor:

• Make sure you’re in a dust free environment
• Refer to you camera’s manual to put your camera in sensor cleaning mode
• Blow air on the sensor. (Keep camera facing down so as you blow air the dust particles fall downward)

**DO NOT USE COMPRESSED AIR

• If after blowing air you feel the sensor is clean enough then you can end sensor cleaning
• If you feel it needs more you can use a sensor cleaning brush to gently wipe the sensor (Remember to still keep the camera facing downwards)

Tips for Photographing Children

Children are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, for two reasons, I love capturing their innocence and two they are unpredictable so no two childrens photos are the same you never know what they are going to do.

Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your time photographing the children in your life.

1. The correct time of day makes all the difference: Children are usually at their best around mid-morning. They are happy and well rested

2. Show them in action: Children are constantly moving. Try and pose them and you will end up with the teary eyed, red faced photo. Allow them to be themselves and you will have a happy child and an image that will be cherished forever.

3. Get the Child’s perspective: Get down on their eye level. This helps keep the child’s body in the proper proportions. No one likes to see their child with a real large head.

4. Become a spy: Snap the shot when the child is oblivious to you. You will capture some great images with this technique.

5. Forget the smile: A forced smile looks just like, well, a bad forced smile, if you must have a smile play with the child. Play peek a boo, make funny faces, put a toy on your head. You will get a natural smile and expression. But sometimes a deep in thought imagine can be just as nice.

6. Include the parents in the shot: The parents reaction to what the child is doing can be just as fascinating as the child

Using The Environment As A Frame For Your Images

A technique that can really define an image is to use environmental elements as a way to frame your subject. Using a branch or an arch of a doorway in the foreground can help bring the viewers attention to the subject or lend a greater feel for depth.

An environmental frame will also show the subject of your image in relation to its surroundings.

A frame can also help clean up the image by concealing distracting objects as well as fill a blank void

When using frames that are darker than your subject the human eye will be drawn to the brightest point in the image once again drawing attention to your subject

Notice the picture below the moon is framed by trees, because the trees are in the showdow your eye is drawn to my subject because it is the brightest object in the image. Also the trees are hiding the houses that are on the other side of the fence