Graham & Brown Frames Wallpaper

Posted on May 3, 2010

We love this product because kids want to climb, paint and color on walls and now you can let them!

There’s an art to grouping pictures on a wall. First, you must position the pictures eye level. Second, you should create a mock up of the planned arrangement, making sure to include all measurements. Third, look for complimentary frames. Fourth…What’s this? About to give up already?!

If we lost you at “create a mock up,” then the Graham & Brown Frames Wallpaper is for you. Just as perfect for nurseries and playrooms as for moms who can’t be bothered, the Graham & Brown Frames Wallpaper comes with the frames already arranged. So all you have to do to create your very own version of the decorating craze de jour is give your little Georgia O’Keefe some crayons let her go at it.

Graham & Brown – Frames Wallpaper Specifications

- Width: 20.5in, Roll length: 32.8ft.

- Design match: Free.

- Design type: Contemporary.

- Design style: Motif.

- Features many small frames in white and black.

- Lets you put up your youngsters art, paint directly in to a frame, or put up family photos.

TO PURCHASE THIS, CLICK HERE.

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8 Tips for Mom-a-raz-zo Photographers

Posted on April 28, 2010

Post from Digital-Photography-School.com by Elizabeth Halford

n. pl. mom-a-raz-zi – A mom who doggedly pursues her children to take photos

Much like the paparazzi who have become notorious in Hollywood for stalking celebrities and making their lives miserable, I must confess that I belong to the growing community of parents who pursue, nay, stalk their children day in, day out, to take photographs. The thought of a single day, field trip or activity going undocumented simply does not bode well for me.

Photos of children are so vastly different from other types of photography. A photo of a child will always evoke emotion, no matter the quality, subject matter, composition – children are dear to every heart in some way or another so when I photograph them and approach a shot to edit, I handle each shot with sensitivity. Having taken about 30,000 photos in the past 7 years, it could be easy to become emotionless and robot-like in my approach to photography. Rather, I remain strongly connected and with deep emotion, particularly in regards to children.

Here are 8 tips I’d give any aspiring momarazzo to bump up your game:

{1. Point of View} Try a different point of view rather than the normal face-on photo. Wait until they’re doing something sweet and try a shot of what they are doing.

{2. Something to do} Hand them a toy or get them involved in an activity and wait until they’re engrossed before you start shooting.

{3. Back Off} Back up and zoom in. Children have a very good sense for when they’re being manipulated and as any parent knows, they hate to be controlled. Back up, get out of their space, zoom in and just wait.

{4. Cropping} When you crop a photo, give your subject a space to look into. If they’re facing or staring into a certain direction, give some space on that part of the photo to give the viewer a sense that they are present in the moment. It makes you wonder ‘what are they looking at?’ Don’t place your subject in the dead-center of a photo.

{5. Get sporty} Whether you use a point-and-shoot camera (the kind without changing lenses) or an SLR (the kind with changing lenses), I’ve found the sports mode the best for children. Kids move FAST and so to catch them in action requires a very fast shutter. Also on some cameras, the sports mode allows continuous shooting where you hold down the shutter button and it just snaps shot after shot in succession. Then you can pick the one that caught that perfect moment.

{6. Make them scream} Kids hate being forced to smile and quickly learn to just ’say cheese’. Tell them to scream or shout something like “NO!” or “PEE!” Anything is better than the ‘cheese face’ and shouting makes for interesting expressions.

{7. Get Down} Everyone knows that kids are little. Get down and shoot on their level. Don’t make them come up to yours. Get down on your knees or lay on your belly and see what the world looks like from there.

{8. Edit} Play with your photos. Every photo can be made a better with a bit of editing. Editing can consist of changing a photo to b&w, playing with colour levels or adding a glow (great for kids). More intensive editing can be things like texture layers, colour replacement, adding blur, selective colouring, etc. Professionals and pro-sumers use programs like Lightroom or Photoshop (you can get free trials from the Adobe website). I started out with Google’s Picasa (FREE!) program. You can download it and use to organise end edit your photos and even make slide shows to upload on YouTube or photo collages. There are quick and easy buttons to add a glow, transform the colour or bump up the saturation to make your colours more vibrant. Picasa is an excellent place to start if you want to experiment with editing your photos.

Most of all, have fun and make your own rules. Photography can be the most intensely enjoyable hobby for yourself and your fans. Get out there and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

About the Author: Elizabeth Halford began her photography career by stalking her three kids six years ago and has since moved on to other people’s children.

She owns a lifestyle portrait studio in Hampshire, England. See more of Elizabeth’s work at www.elizabethhalford.com.

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A Timely Photo Wall

Posted on April 2, 2010

Article by: Cool Photo Ideas

Talk about creative! This unique photo display features 12 framed images that are lined up to form a circle that creates the look of a clock and then 2 large hands are perfectly centered in the middle to create the full affect of a “photo clock”.

For a large space this is a magnificent and creative idea!

To keep a cohesive look all the photos are black and white in black frames with white mats. The frames will all be the same size excluding the 12,3,6 and 9 spots which will be the same frame just in a larger size.

The idea can be carried into any room of course – and as with any photo wall we suggest you lie out the design on the floor first to figure out your circular dimensions which you can then transfer to the actual wall.

Here is the same wall with the inclusion of some wall text of the family’s name and year….there are just so many options for this idea!

To read the full details of this photo wall creation, go to Timely Photo Wall

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DIY – Kat Geiger Modern Photo Display

Posted on March 26, 2010

kat geiger’s modern family photo

Today’s first diy project comes from kat geiger of design spunk and green under glass. having “always had a difficulty admiring family photos in general”, kat was longing for a way to showcase her family photos that would “capture the soul” of her family. “plastered smiles, perfect hair, they simply aren’t us” she explained.

For the past several years, kat has been working with mixed media collage, and thought it would be fun to incorporate real people she knew into her work. then it dawned on her- this would be a great way to solve her family photo dilemma. while cleaning out her grandmother’s house, kat found an old thesaurus she used during college and decided to incorporated it into her new ‘family photo’.

Using glue, a paint brush, her old encyclopedia and some household crafting materials, kat created this updated spin on a family photo. i love the final result and think it’s such a fun and clever way to showcase your family photos without falling prey to the “plastered smiles and perfect hair” that sometimes plague traditional portraits.

CLICK HERE for kat’s full project instructions and to create your own modern family photo!

Kat Geiger’s Modern Family Photos
by Kat Geiger of design spunk and green under glass

Materials:

-Wood or canvas of desired size
-white glue
-paint brush
-meaningful up-cycled book
-family photo
-x-acto knife.

Steps:

1. Painstakingly cut each family member from a larger snapshot using x-acto knife and set aside.

2. Tear pages from book.

3. One at a time paint the backs of the pages with glue, adhering them to canvas or wood surface until entire surface is covered.

4.Allow to dry overnight.

5. Next, carefully paint backs of snapshot cut outs with white glue and place on top of book pages where desired.

6. Adding other paper cut-outs and shapes to these projects can be fun too. (Being a fan of negative space, I was inclined to leave the rest of the piece blank.)

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Inspiring kids through photography

Posted on March 20, 2010

Infinity Photography & Design attended our very first WPPI conference down in Vegas a little over a week ago and it was absolutely amazing. We learned so much valuable information for taking our business and portraiture to the next level. We were lucky enough to win a free pass from The [B] School which helped make this experience possible. The [B] School is a great photography forum that Infinity belongs to where we’re able to learn, share, and help other photographers with questions and problems they might have. We recently came across this wonderful post and video about several photographers and businesses that made it possible to share with the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas the wonderful world of photography. Here’s the full post:

Inspiring Kids Through Photography

By Ron Dawson

Think back to that time when you were just a lad (or lass) in elementary school…when that fireman, policeman, astronaut, or some other cool grown-up came to teach you about their job. Remember how inspired you felt? Well, a couple of Saturdays ago, our long-standing client Pictage partnered with Canon USA to give a group of kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was just a couple days before the official start of the 30th WPPI expo and conference and I had the honor to film the event and create a recap video. Some of the top photographers in the country were on hand to teach kids ranging in age from about 8 to 16, how to take photos. The all star team included (in no particular order): Justin & Mary Marantz, Zach & Jody Gray, Mike Colón, Ray Santana, Kenny Kim, Will Jacks, René Tate, Shawn Reeder, Mike Larson, Chelsea Nicole, and Matt & Stevi Savage. Behind the scenes documentary photos taken by Joe Buissink and Monty Jessop.

The day started with Pictage CEO Jim Collins addressing the crowd of about 80 kids. Then it was pizza time and mingling with the photogs. Next was about a 30-40 minute classroom session where the photographers gave primers on composition, lighting, and use of the equipment. Then all the groups headed over to a preserve for a photo scavenger hunt. The festivities ended with all the kids getting certificates.

The video I shot that saturday was finished by sunday and showed at the WPPI awards ceremoy Wednesday night, March 10. About 40 of the kids from the event were on hand to watch themselves on the big screens, then get a standing ovation from the crowd of photographers. As the kids marched out of the ballroom to go back home (it was a school night after all), they were greeted by high-fives and congratulations. How cool an experience must that have been for these kids, many of whom are underprivileged.

This was an amazing and fulfilling project to be a part of. As my company Dare Dreamer Media turns its primary focus to highlighting worthy causes, this is just the kind of work that is right up my alley.

How can you inspire a child today?

Pictage brought out some of the top photographers in the country to teach kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas about photography. Co-sponsored by Canon USA.