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Archive for January, 2008

Photography Tip: Camera Settings For The Xmas Tree

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008

A question from Theresa:

Noell, these are such beautiful photos. I’d like to know more about shooting the lit up tree. It’s so tricky. What ISO and f-stop did you use?

I meant to write a post on this before the big day came, but I was so busy with last minute mini-book gifts I just didn’t get it done. It’s one of my New Year’s goals to have more timely holiday posts!

But, for those of you who still have their tree up (like me!) and want to practice for next year, I have some tips.

First, if you have a setting for White Balance, set your camera for Tungsten lights.

Next, crank your ISO to 800 to allow more light in. Also, open your aperture as wide as possible. I set my f-stop at f/1.4. This allowed me to have my shutter speed at 1/125.

In hind-sight, I would have lowered the shutter-speed, though, because I ended up adjusting the light and mid-tone levels in my editing program to bring out more of the light.

Good luck! Every beautiful tree deserves a beautiful photo.

Creating A Cover

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008

A question from Julie:

I have recently finished my latest scrapbook and I am starting another one about my trip to Australia with my family. I am working on the title page for the cover now but I have no idea how to start it? Should I make it filled up with embellishments and photos or go simple? Please give me some tips about making the cover of my book. I really don’t want to make a mess on my first page.

If it is the cover of a full-size album and you’re unsure about it, I would recommend starting simple with a title and a small amount of embellishments around or behind the title. You could place the it in the center, about one-third the way from the top, or down toward the lower left corner, or make the title a vertical line down the left side of your cover.

Unless I had a fabulous idea with photos on the cover, I wouldn’t usually add a picture. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, though. If you do, I’d cut a piece of a page protector and find a way to adhere it over your photo.

When it comes to choosing your embellishments, let the overall tone of the trip dictate the style of your cover page and the items you place on it. Look for embellishments that compliment that emotion. Cluster and layer your embellishments around the photo or title, or both.

For help with the embellishments, you can watch these videos:

Clustering Embellishments
Layering Embellishments
Visual Triangles