Father's Day Gift Ideas

My first Father's Day suggestions require a bit of planning and pre-ordering but I hope you see that as a way to get ahead on your to-do list!

I love the customized bobble heads on www.Headbobble.com.  They are so great because they use a 3D computer to transform your photographs in to a Bobble Head!

Check out www.pinholepress.com for some amazing Father's Day photo-gifts.  The designs are amazing and their gift suggestions will impress even the most design-snobby dad!

Check back in next week for some additional suggestions!

Your little Picasso

I have such a hard time getting rid of any of my child's artwork. To me, every single work of his art is a masterpiece!  They tend to pile up on the table or overlap on the fridge in our house!  I think I have now found two solutions that might allow you to give each and every masterpiece it's proper respect!

Cuco Books are the perfect solution when you are trying to make space.  Lyssa Orchid takes your selected art works, has them professionally photographed and sends the images back to you in a beautifully bound book.  It is the perfect way to preserve and celebrate the art with out taking up any wall space!

The Great Remember offers another artistic solution.  You can send them the artwork, outgrown clothing,  or photographs and they will create an applique or mosaic suitable for framing!  Of course, if you are crafty, you could try your hand it and make it a family summer project!

The Photo Stand

Can you tell that we had a lot of fun at Justin's fortieth?  The Photo Stand has provided lasting evidence! The Photo Stand is the perfect element to add to any get together and I must say that I am glad I took DJ Lucy Wrubels advice and set out some props for people to play with.  Each of the photos comes out of the machine 4x6 and can have a logo or date on it.  We also had the images flash up on a TV that was in the room.  It was so much fun!  The bonus is that we get a CD of all of the images as well as a web-gallery!!!  What a blast!  Too book ThePhotoStand for your next party check out www.ThePhotoStand.com

Photo Perfect!

Taking a family photo worthy of a Christmas card is a difficult task so I turned to Kady Dunlap, a professional photographer who has certainly captured her fair share of precious kids, for some tips!

She gave me some great recommendations:

1. Orient your session around your children's happiest time of day! Pick a time when they are most alert therefore more willing to co-operate.

2. Be sure that your clothing selections are both simple (no crazy patterns or busy prints) and comfortable for you child to wear. Itchy or scratchy clothing will cause them to squirm.

3. Be sure your photo style is a match for your everyday lifestyle. Enlist a professional who works in your style casual and comfortable or posed and formal.

4. Location is everything. Select a location that is familiar to your children. At home, the park, your favorite location will make your kids feel more at ease.

5. Attitude is everything! Always be relaxed and flexible around kids even if they are rambunctious or not co-operating. When you have a professional photographer, be willing to leave the scene if necessary! Often the kids will behave better if the parents are not around.

National Grandparents Day is Sunday, Sept 12th

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that National Grandparents Day would be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.  I think Grandparents deserve their own special day for all of the special things they do.  I think it is a great opportunity to visit with your own grandparents or to honor the grandparents of your children.  Here are a few of my suggestions to make this grandparents day special for the deserving people in your life:

-Cook a special meal using your family's famous recipes and honor your families heritage.  If your grandparents came from Italy, have a big Italian meal.  If they came from Scotland, use tartan tablecloths.

-Give a gift that has sentiment.  I always love giving photos and these frames from Pottery Barn are wonderful!  The shape of the frame is simple yet unique and the mat that comes with the frame gives it a very polished custom look.

-This is a great day to pull out the cameras to record a special time together.  Take a multi-generational photo and ask your grandparents to record some special memories on video.

Fashionable Photographer

As accessories editor at Teen Vogue, Sarah Frances Kuhn was constantly toting her camera around from appointment to appointment chronicling her thoughts about the latest accessories.  After changing the generic strap on her own camera for a suede, nylon and metal handmade strap, she responded to all of amazing comments she was getting by starting her own line!  SFK contains various strap styles that resemble the handles on a traditional Chanel handbag.    There are traditional black and gold straps, a punky pink strap and a multicolored one with beads at the ends.  The best part is that these straps look like a million bucks but only cost $30!  And think of the dollars it will save you if it keeps you from loosing your camera!

Before you were hot....

I recently read about a fun, good spirited outlet for embarrassing photos.  We all have them and they always provide a good laugh!  www.BeforeYouWereHot.com is a website dedicated to publishing your old ugly duckling photographs.  The only purpose is to give you a giggle and build a brotherhood/sisterhood of life's awkward moments.  Their motto is "Don't be mean, Keep it clean."

You simply upload your photo and write a little caption, laughing along the way. Of course you are also encouraged to upload an "after" photo  as well.

If you are not so sure about downloading your own photos but are interested in checking out others you can browse other images by categories such as bangin' bangs, braces, retainers and headgear, hair issues, school portraits and fashion victims.  There is also a category dedicated to celebrities!

Taking Great Vacation Photos

I treasure photos taking on our vacations.  They are the lasting memories of wonderful adventures!
Here are a few tips to help us all take better photos while on our summer travels.

There are a few steps that you need to tackle before you go:

• If you have a new camera, make sure you know how to operate it and practice with it by taking a lot of test shots.  
• Make sure you have a proper travel bag or protection for it.
• Purchase extra batteries and memory cards and pack them in your camera bag.  You will not want to spend your vacation time looking for camera equipment!

Here are few tips for great vacation photos:

• Pay attention to the entire frame.  Zoom in as close as you can to your subject and make sure there are not any unsightly distractions around the edges of the frame.
• Be sure to take both horizontal and vertical images.  Variety will make your photo albums more interesting.
• A professional photographer once told me that if you breath in while pressing the shutter button your photos will be less blurry!
• The sun should be at your back when taking a photo.  We took a lot of photos last week with the sun behind our subjects and when we looked at them, the people looked like black silhouettes!  
• Outdoor shots are best when it is cloudy or a bit overcast!  
• Take lots and lots and lots of photos!  I have a two year old so we need to take 20 shots to get one good one!  

Look great in your Summer Scrapbook!

Looking good in a bathing suit shot is something I try to leave up to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models!  Sometimes I can't avoid having my photo taken while trying to relax in a swimsuit or at a pool party though!  Looking back through some old photos I found one where my arm seriously looked as wide as my thigh!  I was mortified.  It motivated me to do a little bit of research and figure out the little tricks that can help me photograph a bit better! Here is what I learned:

1. Try to avoid photos taken at high noon as the light is harsh.  Morning light or just before sunset are the most flattering.
2. Be sure the camera is at eye level or slightly higher.  Anything lower will give you a double chin.
3. Don't look directly at the sun as it will make you squint.
4. Check your posture before the shot!
5. Smile....in a relaxed natural way.  
6. Pretend you love the camera.  Often people who look the best in photographs genuinely like having their picture taken.  Join their club!  It shows!
7. Lean slightly back with your weight on your back foot and turn slightly sideways.  I tested this.  It works!
8. Remember, there is always photoshop!

Fuji Film is Fun!

There is really nothing like a Polaroid Instant photograph!  The film has become very hard to come by so Polaroid fans seem to have converted to FujiFilm's Instax Cameras.  The Instax Mini 7S Instant Camera is small, powered by AA batteries and spits out credit card size images.  So cool!  The images average out to a cost of about 70 cents each and take about 3 minutes to develop.  It is such a cool way to greet guests at the door of your next party and send them away with a picture or save them as a guest book!

Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum

If you are looking for some spring fun then look no further than the Dallas Arboretum. Their Dallas Blooms event has become the largest floral display in the south! The festival goes on through the 11th of April and features over 500,000 spring blooming bulbs such as tulips and daffodils and over 100,000 pansies and poppies!

Don't hesitate to head that way on a cloudy day because they now offer a Rain Pass! If it starts to rain during your visit they will hand you a Rain Pass when you exit and you can come back any other day in the next three months!

Dallas Blooms is a perfect get away with the kids too. On Mondays and Tuesdays from 10 to 2 you can keep your children busy with a petting zoo, arts and crafts and face painting. For $5 you can have a silhouette made and for $15 you can capture your gorgeous child among the gorgeous flowers from James French Photography. If it is raining outside, they will take the fun indoors! I can't think of a better way to tire out my son on a rainy day!

There is a special Easter Celebration for Children with a concert by Eddie Coker on the 2nd of April from 11 to 12 and then again from 1 to 2.

This weekend they host the annual Artscape event featuring 90 artists on their beautiful grounds. Take a stroll through their booths from 9 to 5 on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of March.

PhotoJoJo Craft for Valentine's Day

There is nothing like a hand made gift but I especially love the idea of making one with photos! I found a clever new book called Photo jojo! that I just adore. it is filled with really fun photo craft ideas for any time of year. I especially love the idea of making a little "brag book" out of an altoid's tin! The instructions are so easy and it is such a great way to carry around photos of your loved ones. When you are finished you will have a great little box filled with images that fold out like an accordion. I would be thrilled to make one of these for my Valentine!

Photo Perfect!

I love looking through old photos but I get so overwhelmed trying to keep them organized! Especially now that we have JR because he is so funny and we are constantly trying to snap "cheeses" of him! He loves it! Here are some fun ideas and ways to keep your photos organized!

• Julie told me that she uploads all of her images to Kodak Gallery on the first of every month. I love that idea! That way they are organized chronologically and you can always find what you are looking for! She also makes a book for each month it is mailed to in an organized and memorable fashion. Shutterfly offers a similar product as does iPhoto. It is instant scrapbooking!
• I have an addiction to printing photos out. I know it sounds a bit old fashioned but I like to send them out to friends and frame the really good ones. I store my prints in boxes like this one. I just make a tab every time I add in a new event. It works really well as long as I don't let a big pile back up! My mom uses boxes too but instead of putting them in by event or date, she devotes a box to each member of the family and has others for group shots. It is a matter of preference. I also love the organizing tools from Exposures.com
• If you have old family photos or photographs that are very special, you might consider investing in some materials to help you keep them safe. There are so many special products designed to prevent discoloration and deterioration. Check some out here.
• I like to leave out a basket of bowl of photographs on my coffee table for people to peek through when they are over. I typically fill it with duplicates so that they can feel free to take the image home if they like it.
• If you are looking for a way to give your holiday snapshots a new look, upload them to Rollip. You have options for a dozen different effects that are so cool! They can give your photo beautiful textures and faded colors that old photographs used to have. You will love it!
• Another cool website that you can give your images a new look is All Pop Art. Send them your photograph and they can turn it into a Warhol-esque masterpiece or print it on canvas.

Paparazzi Posing!

It seems like there are cameras everywhere this time of year! There are parties with photographers, family and friends with cameras and, of course, it is also time to pose for the family Christmas card! I asked Steve Riley, former photographer of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Calendar, what I can do to look my best in each and every photo. Here are his tips:

-Practice finding your best side in the mirror at home or look at snapshots that you like of yourself. Movie Stars do it! Why can't you?

-Be sure to mattify your make up. Shiny, glossy and iridescent cosmetics are less flattering when digital cameras are around.

-Work on your captivating smile in the mirror. If it is hard for you, try this: breathe in and, just before the shot, breath out saying the word "yes" while smiling! This will create the look of a natural smile.

-Lean forward slightly at the waist and take the chin down. Event photographers always have their lights on high to prevent red-eye. This light creates shadows under the nose and chin but leaning forward and lowering your chin removes them.

-Attitude makes a difference. Have fun with the camera and pretend that you are on the red carpet at the Oscars vamping for you cheering fans.

25,000 Pumpkins!

My favorite spot to get fantastic photos of my son is among the 25,000 pumpkins and 22,000 chrysanthemums, fall marigolds and ornamental peppers at Autumn at the Arboretum's Great Pumpkin Festival. Here is a photo of my little guy playing around the 15' Pumpkin House! For more information visit www.dallasarboretum.org/Events/AutumnFestival2009.html