Photo Express customers do a lot more than just photos, and here is a great example.
Paul Thornley creates his colourful drawings first using pencil, then outlining in Micron ink (available at PE), and colouring with Copic markers (also available at PE). The result is a fun, bright drawing to commemorate a vacation he has taken, or a person he knows, etc. It's all about the memories, right?
Paul also does custom work and can be contacted at 604-315-8349 or pejashideout@hotmail.com.
Many of you know Mary - if you have ever been in the store when Mary is in, you can't help but catch her enthusiasm.
Recently, one of her beloved kitties (she has 3) passed away. These are her babies, so it was very hard for her when "Porkie" passed on.
I helped her make a 12x12 frame yesterday to remember Porkie.
It was very quick to do - a 12x12 frame, one sheet of 12x12 patterned paper, one sheet of cardstock to mount the poem, and then we used the new Rainbow die from QuicKutz. Mary was smart enough to use the QuicKstipz paper which already has adhesive on it so it was very easy to layer the different colours ontop of the bottom rainbow piece. Then we added 3 of her favourite pictures and now she has a great memorial to hang on her wall.
Here is the Rainbow Bridge for anyone who has had a loved pet pass on.
Michele
Rainbow
Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to
someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can
run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and
comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored
to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong
again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each
miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when
one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent;
His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying
over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend
finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted
again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the
beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet,
so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author unknown...
Sometimes it's who you know. Ryan knows pro photographer Tracy Fowle as his sister-in-law (and PE customer), and he knows Photo Express foto source as the place to get custom printing and framing. So when Tracy took an amazing photo of his family this Thanksgiving on River Road in Maple Ridge, he and his wife Sherri wanted to make a statement.
So they brought the image to Photo Express and decided to go big - real big! Below is Ryan with his beautiful canvas print, 42x75 inches ( 3½ x 6 feet!). It's tough to see in the photo, but the canvas is "gallery wrapped", which means the image is actually stretched around a wood frame, so no other frame is necessary. Just hang and enjoy. The print is going up in their great room, and guess what? Nobody is going to miss it!
As their children grow, this photo will only get more precious with time (and it won't fade either, it's printed with archival inks and paper).
Congratulations Ryan - you "got the picture"!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
1. Have fun! As your family's CMO (Chief Memory Officer), take the opportunity to document the holidays from your unique perspective. Also, make sure you get out from behind the lens and into some pictures yourself!
2. Candids! Candids! When amongst family and friends, pretend you are a paparazzo (with manners) and go for those journalistic shots where the subjects are not posing for you. People talking, laughing, being together. The natural results will be very pleasing. And hey, you only live once, don't be afraid to set your camera to black and white for your journalistic shots!
(click image to see larger)
3. Take a picture of your decorated living room every year. It will make for great memories in later years!
(This living room shot was taken with a 5-second exposure on a tripod)
4. Your camera's factory settings for file size and compression are almost always the best for general shooting. Don't be tempted to turn down the quality to get more pictures on your memory card.
5. Take closeup pictures of the Christmas decorations in your house. They make really cool scrapbook page elements!
(click image to see larger)
6. Don't always crop close to your subjects. Looking at photos from the past, we like to see the styles of the day. Christmas is the one time of year when almost everybody takes out their camera, so take advantage of capturing your customs and fashions from year to year. Your grandkids will appreciate it!
7. Use your flash on a sunny day in the snow! It may sound crazy, but the brighter the conditions, the more shadows can appear on peoples' faces. Using your flash can help to fill in the shadowy areas.
8. For a beautiful picture of your Christmas tree, try turning off the flash and using a tripod. Or, you can set your flash to "night mode", or "slow" mode.
9. Photo Express is not open on Christmas day, so make sure you have enough memory and battery power on hand (hey, maybe you're getting a big new memory card for Christmas!). It is a good idea to charge up your batteries before you start your holiday traditions. If your camera uses AA batteries, you can use alkaline batteries in an emergency.
10. Focus, then recompose. Put your intended subject in the centre of your viewfinder, then press the shutter release button half-way to focus (this may seem obvious to a lot of us, but a lot of people aren't aware that pressing the button half-way allows an autofocus camera to search for a focus point). While keeping the button half-pressed, you can now move your subject to a more interesting area of the picture.
11. Try several different angles or zoom positions to get that perfect shot. Standard photos of smiling people holding presents make great memories, but try to go outside the norm as well. Candid shots, photos of children taken from down at their level, closeup shots of Christmas baking, Christmas cards, etc, make wonderful additions to scrapbooks and albums.
12. Don't let bright Christmas lights fool you. You generally need to use your flash when taking people shots indoors. Make sure you are within acceptable range to avoid underexposure.
Hope these tips help you get the best holiday photos ever!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
When I mention "flash photography" or "studio lighting", do you think "That's way out my league!"? What if I said you could quite easily take photos like this with about an hour of coaching:
It's true! And you can get that coaching on Saturday, November 1st, 2008 at PE's "Studio Lighting & Photography Demo". Click the link to get more info on this great event, now in its 3rd year at Photo Express foto source.
By the way, the photos above were taken by my wife, who has a great eye for composition, but virtually no experience with studio photography. Total cost of our home lighting setup? About $200. These photos were taken with a 1-light setup! That's right, only 1 light was needed, and it wasn't even a strobe light (one that flashes), it was a "continuous light" (on at full power all the time).
These types of lights take the guesswork out of lighting, because what you see is what you get. Once you position the light, it is like shooting outdoors without a flash. In this case, we fooled around with a few manual exposure settings and away we went!
I'm so glad we have these photos of our then-1-week-old daughter, because she now she is all grown up (3 weeks old)! To learn about this and other simple but powerful studio lighting setups, check out the Studio Lighting & Photography Demo.
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
You might be looking at that title and saying "What the hey?". Let me explain. Every photo uses a combination of shutter speed and lens aperture to create the exposure.
Shutter Speed = how long the camera lets light in
Aperture = how big of a hole lets the light in
Shutter speed is a simple concept. The longer the shutter is open, the more light comes in. So 1/250 second lets in more light than 1/500 second.
Aperture is simple too. The bigger the hole between your lens and the camera, the more light comes in. The confusing thing is that an f1.8 aperture is actually a bigger hole than an f22 aperture, and there are all these seemingly random decimal numbers. That's because we are measuring a ratio between the holes at the front and back of the lens, so a smaller ratio means they are closer in size. Make sense? If not, just think, "smaller number, more light".
Here's the cool thing about aperture. It affects your "depth of field". A large depth of field means everything is in focus. A small depth of field means only a little bit of stuff is in focus. With aperture, smaller number = less depth of field = less in focus. And sometimes less in focus is good! Controlling the depth of field can turn an average photo into a great photo. Here's the easiest way:
If your camera has an "A" or "Av" setting, that is the Aperture Priority mode (SLR's and compact cameras can both have this mode). Instead of shooting in Auto or "P" mode, try aperture priority, especially outdoors.
Once in aperture priority mode, you change the aperture and the camera finds the right shutter speed for you. So when you dial in a smaller number like f5, the camera will find a faster shutter speed to compensate. Here are some tips on what to do when:
Landscape photography: Use a higher number like f16 or f22. This keeps the foreground and background in focus. It also means a slower shutter speed, so a tripod is highly recommended.
Shot at f5.7. Only some buttercups are in sharp focus.
Shot at f22. Pretty much everything is in focus.
Portraits: Use a low number like f2.8 or f4.5. This blurs the background and focuses attention on your subject. It also means a faster shutter speed, which minimizes the effect of your subject moving (especially kids).
Shot at f2.8. Only toddler is in focus, even though he is moving!
Sports: Use a low number like f2.8 or f4.5. The faster shutter speed will help to freeze the action. Keep in mind your focus area will be small so if possible, put your camera into continuous shooting mode, take a burst of photos, and keep the best one. Delete the not-best photos in the camera!
Shot at f4. Ball carrier is frozen, rest of the field is out of focus.
Low light: Use a low number like f2.8 or f4.5. This allows in more light, meaning you will get a faster shutter speed and less chance of camera shake or subject movement.
Shot at f5.3 to allow for natural light.
The principles above work for both point-and-shoot and SLR cameras. I hope you can now see why SLR lenses with lower minimum apertures (eg. f2.8) are more expensive and more desirable. "Smaller number, more light" makes a difference!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
PE's own Karen got some awesome photos of the fireworks at English Bay in Vancouver on Wednesday. In case you're checking out the finale tomorrow, here is how she got her shots:
She put her camera on a tripod and in Fireworks mode!
Pretty simple huh? For the shots below, her settings were:
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 2 seconds
Aperture: f8
Maximum zoom
A tripod is a must for these settings. (click for a larger sample)
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
Die Cut Box & Mini Album $5 - Kid Friendly!
Wed July 2 1-3pm
Thur July 3 7-9pm
Fri July 4 7-9pm
Sat July 5 10am-12noon
Sun July 6 1-3pm
Drop in anytime during these hours and create this cute little project. Just bring your adhesives, everything else is supplied.
Mary is a "cat person". Her "kitties", as she calls Porky, Tinky and Missy, give her unconditional love and great joy. So when friends bought her this "MEOW" frame from PE as a gift, she knew right away what she wanted to do with it.
She ordered up her favourite photos of her kitties and placed them in the frame. Then she took it a step further by adding some "rub-ons" (like stickers with clear backgrounds), QuicKutz shapes and patterned paper. To top it off, she used her brand new Mademoiselle QuicKutz font to add the words "True Love".
Mary's personal masterpiece will be the first picture she puts on the living room wall of her new condo! Great idea, Mary.
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
Jean Robinson is a local artist who specializes in bold, colourful abstract paintings. Recently, she was commissioned by Mardecus Hair Studio to put up some large reproductions of several paintings. So she came to us and we printed up some absolutely gorgeous reproductions, sized 3 feet by 4 feet!
Jean is pictured above with "Illusion", and you can see it is about as big as her! Drop by Mardecus Hair Studio if you want to see all the results, and drop by Photo Express to see what we can do for your visual creations!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
It started with a walk in the woods in one of beautiful Maple Ridge British Columbia's many nature trails. Laura had thought ahead to bring her camera (I think it was a Canon S2-IS), and took a photo of the trail, with its tall, moss-laden cedars creating a canopy that allowed shafts of sunlight through.
The more she looked at the photo, the more she liked it. After all, it looked like a postcard, and she had created it! She started with some 8x10's, then moved onto 16x20 size. She gave some copies as gifts to visitors, and then she heard about PE's new grand format printer. After consulting with us, she decided that a 40x32 inch print would fit nicely on her wall. And here we have it!
Note that the above photo of Laura isn't doctored, even though it seems you could walk right into the forest. That's how vivid Photo Express' grand format prints are! Laura is head-over-heels with the results. What is your favourite personal photo, and how big would you like to see it? Talk to us at PE (604-463-3654) and we will make it a reality!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
You've probably heard about photo books as the new rage in presenting and preserving your photos. But if you are like most people, you just haven't found the time to give it a try. If only there was an easy way to create a beautiful photo book from the comfort of your own home, and have it professionally printed at a reasonable price.
Online photo books are here! You can use our new, free online RocketLife program to create and order photo books from the comfort of your own home. It is so fast and easy, you can literally design a book in minutes! You simply have to try it to believe it. Michele has called it "scrapbooking meets video games." And what's more, you can even save your projects as you go, and order all sorts of photo gifts like mugs, greeting cards and mouse pads. Perfect for gift giving.
Below are some helpful links to get you started:
Link to the online software (you'll probably want to bookmark it)
Getting Started Video Tutorial
Introductory Video:
Go on, try it now! You will be amazed at what you can create with your own treasured photos.
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
We signed up with the School District 42 Homestay Program and next thing we knew we had Diego from Mexico at our door. We soon determined we wanted to keep him, but his parents wanted him back after 3 weeks. He had so many great experiences and we wanted to give him something to remember us by. So we borrowed his memory card and made him a photo book!
Below are a few pictures of Diego enjoying his book. He couldn't believe how awesome it was to have his photos published like this! You can believe this will be his favourite souvenir.
Software used: Memory Mixer. This book was designed at home from 12am-2am! (ask us about this great program in the store)
Product printed: 11x8½ Hard Cover Photo Book, 20 pages: $35.95 Club Member price
There's no better gift than a Photo Book!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
Well, our brand new, 42" wide Grand Format printer is up and running, and our first big task was to outfit the walls of the newly renovated club house at the Maple Ridge Golf Course, a local institution. This was a real treat as this is the course where I learned to play golf (and my dad Marcel did too!).
We printed up four HUGE prints, each 52 inches by 40 inches, and custom framed them. Joe from the golf course is pictured below with the final results, beautiful B&W images from the past 75 years to which we added sepia tones, borders and captions. The images were courtesy of the Maple Ridge Museum. Be sure to check them out next time you are in the club house!
Talk to us about getting your images real big up on the wall!
Trust us with your Memories,
Ron C
