Sunrise Creations Blog

I've often spoken about photobooks here on our blog.  You know how much I love them for the way they preserve your precious photos but you might not realise just how gorgeous they can make your photos look.

A photobook is not like a photo album.  We don't just take your photos and plonk them onto a page.  A photobook is a work of art.  It's the kind of book that you'd be proud to leave out on your coffee table for guests to look at,  Each photobook is unique.

Would you like to have a look at my recent work?  These are examples of my own personal albums.  Just click on the images and you will be able to preview the whole album.

 

 

You can see how the photos tell a story.   The backgrounds are chosen to complement the photography and you can even add some text.

If you'd like to have a photobook full of memories created for you, contact me.  I will help you select the right photos to tell your story.

Our blog is so chock full of useful tips about how to take a great photo, ideas for photography subjects, uses for your photos and much more.  Sometimes it can be hard to find the information you are looking for. One of the most important topics we have covered is how to manage all of those precious photos so we thought we'd make it a little easier to sort through by listing some of the best posts here.

So, here are our 5 top posts that will help you sort, organise and store your precious photographic memories.

1. Storing your photos online.  One of our more recent posts which talks about backing up your images by storing them in online photo storage sites.

2. Ahhh - I can't find my photos!   Just how many photos do you have on your computer?  If you had to find one specific photo, how long would it take you?

3. How to choose photos for your album.  You can't save them all so here are some tips to help you work out what to keep and what to include in your album or photobook.

4. Do you have a corporate record?  Not all photos are personal.  Don't forget about your corporate photos.  They tell the story of your business so make sure you protect them.

5. Turn them into canvas.  We all have one favourite photo of our children that we want to preserve.  Turn it into a canvas print to hang on your wall.  That gives you 2 formats of your favourite photo.

We hope these ideas help you easily get sorted and organised.

 

Isn’t it funny how easily we can let something slip from our minds when it’s not there right in front of us? In our defence, life does get the better of us; one minute it’s Monday, the next it’s Sunday, and you find yourself getting ready to start another week all over again.

The human brain usually works best when we get a reminder about things. A little trigger here or there – a fragrance, a song, a place – can flood your mind with sensations. So what better to be reminded of than your memories or feelings for someone, something or some place you love?  That’s often why we enjoy having photos around us at home and at work.  They are a visual reminder about what we love and enjoy which we can then share with everyone else.

Very often, behind the photo is a story.  A great way to tell the story further without even saying a word is compiling a series of photos of what was happening that special day.  Your child’s first day of school, for example, would have been a process of getting ready, making the lunch, packing the bag and then leaving home to start their exciting new journey.

I always take photos throughout the day because you never know what you’re likely to capture or what particular part of the day will be the one that moves you most.  Seeing my child in uniform for the first time brought tears to my eyes but, unexpectedly, so did the moment when I watched him walk out of school with a big smile and a new friend. 

By taking the photos of each moment and putting them together in a photobook or in a series on your wall, they form something like a visual story, to be shared, admired and reflected upon for years to come. You don’t always have to limit yourself to one photo for a memory – your own story board with a collection of photos can say a thousand words.

The trip is planned, the camera is purchased, and the excitement is building. Travel photography can be great fun and highly rewarding with just a little time investment before you leave.

Read your manual and become familiar with your camera before you set off! If possible, spend a couple of weekends before your trip learning the different functions on your camera. Visit photographic web sites (e.g. Flickr) and check out what others have photographed in the region that you’re going to visit. Look to your strengths, so if people are your “thing”, research the possibility of using portraiture to make your travel photography sparkle with individuality. 

Set yourself a goal or project, if you love landscapes, an example might be to photograph every sunrise or every sunset during your travels. Pack lightly, a compact camera is a great choice for a handbag, but if your more of a keen enthusiast then a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) with a double lens kit would be a great choice, also consider a light weight tripod and don’t forget to take your camera everywhere you go.

The perspective from which you decide to shoot can make or break a photograph. Get down low, or get up high, use reflections creatively in landscapes, bend those knees and try to look at the world from a slightly different perspective, think about an ant’s eye view for example.

Your main aim whilst travelling is to have FUN so don’t allow yourself to feel pressured to capture great photographs, often your personality will show through the photos and it is that which will make them interesting to others. Having your photographs professionally produced onto quality photographic products will allow you to cherish your travel memories for many years to come.

Photos are the key to your memory. With our breath-taking canvas prints and stunning photo books, you will be sure to relive all those precious moments and to share them with friends and family. So, happy travels and come back with many wonderful photographic memories to share!

Not all photos were created equal.  I know that there are some of mine that I never want to see again!  Thank heavens for digital cameras so we can delete the offending photo and take a better one.

Sometimes it's nice to collect all the photos from one special occasion and put them together in an album.  Linking them in a theme is a lovely way to create a very special keepsake album.  Pick an occasion like a first birthday party, a wedding or even assemble one over time.  Your childs first school year is a busy time full of growth and change.  How nice it is to watch it happen all over again through the pages of a photo album.

When you are confronted by a sea of photos it can be hard to work out which to include and which to leave out.  That's why I have added a special page that will guide you through the completion of your album.

This is the checklist for putting together an album that is the story of your baby's first year.

PHOTO ALBUM CHECKLIST

Today I thought we might have a little bit of fun.  Do you remember doing those puzzles that test your powers of observation by asking you to identify the differences between two images?  I used to love those and I believe that they helped me improve my powers of observation and that has helped me with my photography and design.  It also helps immensely when you are putting together a special event.  That's how you'll see what works and what doesn't.

So, how well do you pay attention?

There are 5 differences between these two images.  Can you find them all?  You'll have to look carefully!   Leave your answer as a comment.  

Good luck!

Check in tomorrow for the answers.

Part of the fun of having a party or reception is taking the photos and when it comes to photographing food, there are some tricks that you need to know. Professional food photographers have all sorts of secrets for making food look good.  We won’t go there! 

This is a basic guide on how to photograph food and whilst I cannot promise you that the end product will be as good as a professional shot, I can promise you tips that will help anyone present food in a photograph that looks good enough to eat.

Well let’s start looking at a few tips, and don’t forget that even with a point and shoot camera you can get some good food photographs.

1. Turn off the flash. Food has lots of complex colours and the built in flash will just wash out both the colours and the contrasts that you’re hoping to show in your photographs. Keep in mind that with no flash you will need good natural light and a steady hand.
2. Natural light: this is an easy step to organise, as usually a kitchen has good windows and therefore good natural light. If not, get creative and take your plate outside or to any room in the house with good natural light.
3. If you don’t happen to own a tripod, then elbows can be used as a natural tripod. Balance your elbows on your worktop and get the food framed nicely. If you cannot achieve that with elbows, consider grabbing a few cookery books on which to balance the camera. Taking this time to ensure a solid foundation for the camera will result in a sharp photograph with no blur.
4. Use a wide aperture, this will blur your background and keep the focus on the food. Keep close to your food and consider cutting into the dish if it looks more appetizing with a piece missing and with the inside exposed.

You can use your photo editing software to lighten the food, should the need arise, or to colour correct your photograph to make it look the more appealing.  If you practice this technique a number of times, you will soon find that you’re able to shoot appetizing and enticing photographs of delicious food items!

Wouldn't it be great to create your own recipe book and illustrate it with photos of the food you have cooked?

So go for it and start shooting, and if at first you don’t succeed, bake (or buy) another dish and try it all over again, and don’t forget to invite your friends over to share some of the wonderful dishes your photographing! 

 

 

Too many people have experienced the frustration of unlabeled school photographs in the old family album or in that box under the bed. Memories can fade and those who do remember eventually pass on, leaving us with photos full of anonymous faces.

To the great relief of family historians, more people and even photographers are now clearly labelling school photos with names, date, class and school. This is a great step forward in keeping those precious moments in time alive.

Some people have taken to “scrap booking” their school photos, creating wonderfully decorated albums with bodies of text, poems and keepsakes all combined into awesome pieces of art, but inevitably there are those of us who feel they missed out on the arts and crafts gene, who would still like to present our precious photographs in an attractive publication.

Here at Sunrise Creations we offer a Designer Photobook service that allows you to have any special collections of your photographs printed and bound into quality publications, much like any other coffee table book that you see that contains colour photographs.

 

You could prepare a photobook that is a history of your child's school experiences from start to finish or create one that is the record of a school year.  Imagine a book filled with photos of your child, his or her friends, starring at the school sports or in the school play and in costume for dress-up day.  There is so much that happens in a school year that really should be recorded.  Annual photos don't capture any of the real essence of school days, do they?

I'm a sentimentalist at heart and while I love scrapbooks I hate the thought that the photos will fade or change colour over time. That is why I love photobooks so much.  They also let you capture the more informal moments of school life.

Putting together a photobook of each child’s class and school photos is a wonderful way of presenting and preserving them as an attractive collection, and makes for a wonderful graduation gift.  

Personalised photo books and guest books have come a long way with the invention of digital imagery.  People have embraced the beauty of having a stunning personalised photo book on the coffee table to display the most treasured memories or having a beautiful guest book to record visitors to their home for future generations to look back on.

The areas where these items are have not yet made an impact is in the corporate office or for corporate events.

Nothing speaks of a company’s strength and growth than a photographic history of the company, impressively laid out in a stylish photo book on display in the company’s reception area.   New and existing clients can browse through the book and get a feel for the character and strength of the company they are dealing with.

An alternative would be to use the book as a gift to long serving employees with images of the particular employee’s involvement in the company throughout the years together with some information tidbits relating to the employee’s contribution to the company.  Combine this into a beautifully bound and presented photo book for a memorable gift to mark employee milestones.

A personalised company guest book is also a wonderful way to help visitors engage with the company and build credibility so that they are happy to become clients.  A personalised history of company events, parties and celebrations and those that attended lets people connect with the more personal side of your business.  People love to be included and a guest book is the perfect way to involve your guests in taking part in your company’s history for future clients and employees to view for many years to come.

Why give someone an ordinary recipe book when you could do something much more exciting and personal?  A photo book with a collection of your special photographs, professionally printed and displayed in a hard cover book is something you will treasure and keep forever.

A different and clever way to use a photo book is to create an heirloom cookbook with a collection of special family recipes.

Think about all those family recipes handed down that are favourites to cook on special occasions or family dinners: Mum’s chicken casserole, Auntie’s Pavlova, Grandma’s stuffing or your Uncle’s favourite marinade. Gather together these special recipes, add some photos and create your very own unique family cookbook.

What a very special gift this book would be, especially for the 'cook' in the house.  It would also be a special and significant gift to family members who are moving out of home for the first time.

Creating your family cookbook can be quite easy, you will probably find the hardest part is trying to select the recipes you want to include!

When asking family members for their favourite recipes, ask them to hand write them .  Then you can then scan them and save as a photo format.  Preserving handwritten recipes will add charm and sentimentality to your book.

You will also need to add some photos from special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas of your family gathered around enjoying food. Don’t forget close-ups of the food itself!

An Heirloom recipe book is a unique and beautiful lifelong keepsake to be enjoyed by all members of your family and to be handed down to the next generation of cooks.