Drawing from backgrounds in sociology, English literature, art photography, and a passion for film, Boakes’s diverse foundation shapes her art. In this interview, we discuss her photographs, creative process, and advice for others to find their voice in visual art.

You’re a student, photographer, and creative. Tell us about your creative journey to get to where you are today.

I’ve always been around creative people and motivated to not just be academic. I grew up with my grandma teaching me and my sister to collage and draw with our left hands.  I watched my dad on holiday taking photos with a camera he would soon give to me—as well as admiring my uncle’s photography. 

The passion then bloomed as I started to study photography at school and promote it using social media and any submissions I could get my hands on. I think, especially within art, it’s super important to put yourself out there and submit to as much as you can. 

In July 2022, I submitted three images to a small online zine (the kids are talking) titled “Cowgirl.” It is a small achievement but one that would motivate me to submit to other publications like the Philm Red Addition in 2023. Right now, I’m focusing on exploring photography techniques as I continue to use the darkroom and camera-less styles.

If you had to describe your work using only three words, what would they be?

I think in this book, the photography really varies. At the start, they feel more nostalgic; in the middle, they feel more rebellious; and the book ends with quite surreal and weird images. I guess those are my three: nostalgic, rebellious, weird. In that order.

How have your studies influenced your work?

For my A-levels, I take sociology, English literature, and art photography. They have all influenced my work in some way, whether it was consciously or not. Even though it’s not a set study of mine, I think one of the big areas that influences my work is film. Moving image is definitely something I would love to explore in the future.

What is the most adventurous thing you’ve done in pursuit of the perfect shot?

Something I definitely want to do with my work is be braver and more outlandish, but in this book, you can see quite tame adventures. For example, in images ‘fish, lion’ and ‘woodlouse,’ I convinced my friends to set up a blow-up mattress in a public park whilst wearing pyjamas. In the very same park, I’ve photographed friends suffocating in alien masks and camouflage outfits.

What inspired you to create the book Wisdom Teeth? And where did the title come from?

I was inspired to create this book by my photographer role models whose pages sit on my shelves—as a sense of accomplishment definitely comes from a physical body of work. 

I chose the title Wisdom Teeth mainly because I thought mine may have been coming through as I was constructing the book. The title also nicely sums up ideas about growing up and teenage life, which I tried to present.

Can you share a behind-the-scenes story about a photograph in Wisdom Teeth that would surprise readers?

The main thing that may seem surprising about the book is that a majority of it was used for GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) coursework. In fact, the mixed media pieces ‘fish, lion’ and ‘woodlouse’ were my graded final pieces. As you get to the end of the book, you see my more recent A-level pieces, which I’m continuing to explore.

How did you decide on the final sequence and layout of photographs in your book? Was there a particular narrative or flow you were aiming for?

The last few images in the book are from a shoot I did around the idea of man versus alien. I’ve always been fascinated with space and sci-fi, and especially the fear around it, so I wanted to show a staged, low-budget, DIY, and childish adaptation of quite sinister and violent scenes. 

Specifically, the inspirations here stemmed from short films my dad made when he was my age, with him and his friends frolicking in forests playing war. So, to enhance this naive viewpoint of conflict, I made paper-mache alien and robot helmets and constructed cardboard tubular guns. 

In terms of layout, since it’s my first book, I wanted to experiment with different page designs. I spanned one of the images over two pages, splitting up the aliens from the men. 

Describe your bookmaking process from curation to final design. Can you share an unexpected lesson you learned about yourself during the process?

The first thing I did was choose the images I wanted to include. To bring some order to the chaos of the book, I decided to only include digital images and not limit the curation to a certain theme (something I will most definitely do in the future). 

One of the last additions to the book was the handwritten elements. I hand-wrote, scanned, and inverted my page numbers and titles as I wanted them to feel authentic and scrapbook-y. 

This project has probably been one of my longest, and I’ve definitely learnt about taking my time and trying out many options. If I went with my first layout, we would be looking at a very different book!

What’s the most valuable piece of feedback you’ve received on your work, and how might it help others in their creative journey?

One of the best pieces of advice or feedback I’ve been given is to photograph more. It seems simple, but there have been countless times when I’ve seen something, and my camera hasn’t been in my pocket.

What advice would you give to photography students about developing their unique artistic voice?

Inspiration is so widely available now that it can be hard to develop a unique voice. A lot of it comes from research and finding out what you like when looking at other people’s images—and what you do with those ideas. There’s no use in collating inspiration if you don’t plan on being inspired by it.

I also think it’s just all in experimentation. Recently, I’ve tried out chemigrams but realised that they aren’t something I like because they lack too much control.

Do you have plans for future publications or creative works, and if so, can you give us a sneak peek?

Leading on nicely from the last few pages of the book, I’m trying to explore those narratives more in-depth and create a more vast display of work. In the future, I want to present different photographic techniques. And, because this book didn’t follow a preset theme, I would love to focus on a single narrative next time.

***

Blurb is a self-publishing platform for indie creators. If you’re ready to self-publish your photo book—we’re here to help!

The post Wisdom Teeth: Behind the Zine with Rose Boakes appeared first on Blurb Blog.

So whether you’re elevating your portfolio or boosting your branding and marketing efforts, we’ll explore how creating a photo book can help you express your creativity and take control of your work.

Are photo books worth it?

Dismissing print and photo books as irrelevant can be easy. After all, you can instantly reach a global audience with a website, ebook, or Google ad—or get discovered by going viral on TikTok or Instagram. 

So why print in the digital age? Here’s TL;DR on why photo books are worth it. 

• Tangibility is timeless. First, photo books offer a hands-on experience that no screen can match. You can touch the pages, feel the texture, and get up close and personal with your photos.
• Photo books are the ultimate storytellers. They let you curate your best shots into a cohesive narrative, like a director creating a blockbuster movie. And, like a movie in a theater, you aren’t fighting for your audience’s attention with popup ads and the next post a click away.
• They’re a high-impact medium. We’ve all gotten used to scrolling, clicking, typing, and tapping to the point where digesting any digital content is slightly numbed by the interaction of a device. Swap a digital device for a photo book, and you bring your stories to real life.
• You gain complete creative control. Here’s the cherry on top: Photo books give you total say over how your work is presented, from layout to paper quality. It’s like having your personal art exhibit without the pitch, setup, and location-bound setting.
• Your marketing and branding get elevated. Whether you aim to showcase your work as a portfolio or tell a specific story with your photos, a book offers an engaging platform to level up the engagement and memorability of your work, especially when it comes to marketing and branding yourself as a professional.
• Photo books are the perfect keepsakes. Unlike digital files that can disappear into the abyss of tech failure, physical copies are here to stay. They’re like time capsules of your creative journey, ready to be passed down to future generations.

There are a plethora of photo-sharing platforms that are convenient and low-cost. Print-on-demand photo books are one such platform! And with print, you can make a powerful, standout impression that makes your work more memorable and enjoyable to digest. 

Why photo books add value to any project

There’s no denying that photo books hold their value, especially in an era when we view most things from a device. Producing a physical portfolio or photo book can elevate your work and build your brand as a photographer, artist, or creator. It’s a power move for your creativity. Let’s dive deeper into the reasons that make creating photo books worthwhile.

1. Narrative storytelling

A photograph can tell a much richer tale than any number of words. It’s a whole story in one shot. But we often scroll past images on digital platforms without genuinely understanding their meaning. That’s where photo books win against digital content.

A photo book lets you curate your work so that each image flows seamlessly into the next, giving you total control over the narrative. Flipping through the pages and experiencing how one photo leads to another takes viewers on an immersive journey through your creative vision.

• Narrative control. Every page turn in a photo book reveals something new and unexpected. You control the suspense, climax, and photographic narrative.
• Structure. Digital platforms often display images individually, rather than as part of a thematic collection. With a book, you can ensure each image is seen with the others that help bring it to life.
• Context. While photos are powerful on their own, captions provide additional insight into the captured moment or what inspired you. A photo book gives you space to add depth and truly weave a story.
• Detail. From paper choices to font selection, every element contributes to the tale you’re telling. Photo books allow greater direction over each design detail.
• Permanence. Digital platforms and formats change, but a photo book remains constant. Your narrative in a photo book is preserved exactly as you intended it, forever.

Photo books give you the freedom to control your narrative. In a world where content is consumed and forgotten within seconds, photo books offer the time and space to weave a story that will be remembered. 

2. Elevated portfolios

Today, putting your work on the web is a requirement for almost any creative field. But let’s not forget about the impact that traditional mediums can have. Since a website is status quo, a tangible photo book can make your portfolio stand out—especially during in-person meetings.

A photo book also lets you showcase your photos in a way that digital portfolios can’t. Flip through pages filled with stunning images on high-quality paper, and you’ll see. The physical act of touching and turning pages adds depth to the viewing experience, something that you can’t replicate digitally. It enhances engagement and creates a stronger connection between viewers and your work.

• Professionalism. A well-designed photo book shows you went above and beyond to prep for your meeting. Plus, it shows you know print as a craft.
• Curation. Unlike digital platforms with unlimited space, you must curate your images and create a cohesive narrative to fit within a book.
• Attention. When hiring managers look at a physical object, they can’t scroll away or get distracted by an email notification. A book helps keep them in the moment and focused solely on your work.

Printing a portfolio book offers unlimited creative possibilities, enabling you to present your work originally. Still on the fence? Explore the pros and cons of a portfolio book versus a digital portfolio. (Psst. We think you should do both.)

3. Impactful brand building

In the visual arts world, having a standout brand is a must. A photo book is your secret weapon for showcasing your unique point of view and making a lasting impression.

A photo book isn’t just a compilation of photographs; it’s an opportunity to display your distinct flair and leave a long-lasting impression. It’s a physical representation of your artistic identity that captivates viewers and leaves them wanting more.

• Trust. Physical books invite viewers to engage, touch, and feel your work. This makes your brand feel real and substantial, enhancing trust with your potential clients.
• Personalization. Print-on-demand photo books allow for a high level of customization, from adding a dedication to swapping out projects. Personalizing books for your top-tier clients shows you care.
• Quality. Photo books let you showcase images in their best light while controlling for issues like display calibration. If your wedding package includes a print book, you are showing off the final product a prospective client can expect.
• Longevity. Photo books are long-lasting, making them a constant reminder of your brand’s message and values. Unlike digital content, which can quickly become lost in the endless online stream, a photo book remains a permanent fixture on a desk or coffee table.

Your choice of paper, cover material, design layout, and overall photo book format come together to shape the perceptions and image of your brand. With print-on-demand brands like Blurb, you can customize these elements to align with your brand’s personality while leveraging bookstore-quality standards.

4. Smarter networking

Pro photogs know that connections are crucial in this industry. A photo book can be a powerful tool for establishing relationships and growing your network. Think of it as your calling card—showing the people you want to know who you are and what you can do.

Your book is your opportunity to present your unique perspective and an embodiment of your creative vision. As people navigate your book, they are not just browsing images. They’re taking time to ponder if your visions combined can lead to fruitful collaborations or professional opportunities.

• Better business card. The purpose of a card is to continue a connection. A photo book has the added benefit of not just sharing your contact information, but also giving an in-depth look at your work. Add in the story of who you are as a creator, and you have an artifact that will make others want to keep in touch.
• Example of your work. Showing others what you can do is the fastest way to gain their confidence. If you’re seeking collaborators, bring a photo book of work you’ve done with others. If you’re a designer looking to get in the door to an agency, take a book of your agency work.
• Conversation starter. Just like a coffee table book prominently displayed can start a chat, a photo book can serve as a conversation piece during networking events. People are more likely to engage in a conversation when there’s something physical to discuss.
• Versatility. While many think of photo books as expensive, hardcover collectible pieces, a photo book can be economical too. You can create one that is only a few pages and can be printed on regular paper or cardstock. Build what works for you—whether you’re mailing tons of cheaper books to generate work or printing a single, spendy layflat for a few high-profile meetings.
• Reference material. Having an actual portfolio book to show off your work is invaluable. It can clearly illustrate your process, range of skills, and how you approach different projects. Bring one with you to meetings with your mentors to gain valuable feedback.

Plenty of creatives bring a tablet or computer to networking events and coffee chats to show off their work. But there are so many reasons to consider a print book, too. By integrating photo books into your networking strategies, you can leave an unforgettable impression.

5. Limited editions

There’s nothing like viewing photography in print. Original images hung up in a gallery or museum let you experience a work of art larger than life. But there are only so many museums and galleries. That’s why photo books, for many, are the most practical way to view a photographer’s work. And, unlike art hung on a wall, they’re pieces of art you can hold.

Producing a limited-edition photo book can elevate your photography to the realm of fine art. These collectible items can become desirable for enthusiasts, collectors, or fans who appreciate your book’s exclusivity and uniqueness.

• Exclusivity. Limited edition photo books offer a sense of exclusivity, making them intriguing to collectors and even casual fans of your work. They can also increase the perceived value of your photography, which will help your brand.
• Increased value. Collectibles increase in value if the artist becomes more popular or the work itself becomes historically significant. If you’re a star on the rise, yours is an excellent investment for collectors.
• Marketing advantage. Announcing a limited edition run creates urgency, making it a great marketing strategy that can help to drive up demand and interest in your work.
• Control. Limited editions also allow you to maintain control over the distribution and ownership of your work. You can ensure that it remains rare and valuable, rather than mass-produced.
• Enhanced design. Take this chance to pull out all the stops. Add in special features like autographs, unusual format, bonus content—whatever you can think of.

If you’re looking to increase your visibility, generate excitement about your work, and add a new revenue stream to your business, try a limited edition run. It’s a great way to stand out from the crowd and add value for your collectors.

6. Engaging educational tools

Photo books are often like secret portals for viewing the world. A photo book isn’t just a collection of attractive visuals; it’s an opportunity to explore the lessons and stories behind each photograph. Whether art, history, geography, or personal experiences, photo books offer a fascinating means to learn and explore new things.

• The power of visual learning. Photo books are like learning stimulants for your readers’ brains. They use images to help engage and educate us about people, places, and points of history.
• Cultural exploration. Forget about armchair traveling through Instagram. A photo book dedicated to different cultures helps you offer a first-class ticket to viewers so they can understand niche aspects of the world.
• Historical documentation. History books are cool, but photo books are time machines. You can capture moments in history and bring them to life via photo books in a way that textbooks can’t. It’s like sharing a front-row seat of the past.

For all ages, photo books are both educational and inspirational. Remarkable photo books can be the catalyst for new travels and life directions. And the act of flipping through the pages is sensory, helping support retention and learning.

7. Archival documentation

A well-crafted photo book is the superhero of archival documentation and legacy preservation. Unlike digital versions that are prone to becoming obsolete and forgotten, a tangible book can preserve your work for distant generations.

• Preserving memories. Photo books keep memories alive for future generations. They’re like low-tech time capsules. Whether it’s family history or life milestones, photo books freeze your favorite moments in time with tons of detail.
• Nostalgia. Photos bring back memories, and many woven together makes you feel like you’re reliving the past.
• Catharsis. Creating a photo book can be soul-baring if you use your photography as self-expression.
• Inspiration. High-quality visuals in a photo book can help spark your creativity and present you with new perspectives.

This type of documentation extends well beyond just personal use. Photo books are a staple in museums and libraries, helping articulate history and preserve cultural heritage. 

The enduring appeal of photo books in a digital world

In a digital domain where screens reign, it’s easy to dismiss photo books. So, why consider photo books for your project?

• Show off your skills. A photo book is like a VIP pass to your photography prowess. It lets you curate your best shots and impress everyone with your artistic eye.
• Make a lasting impression. Want to leave a mark on clients or gallery owners? A stunning photo book or coffee-table book will do the trick. Creating a memorable experience with the tactile sensation of paper and high-quality prints is an irreplaceable part of viewing art.
• Get touchy-feely. There’s something magical about flipping through real pages and feeling the weight of high-quality prints. It’s a sensory experience that digital galleries just can’t replicate.
• Evoke emotions. Photo books can engage readers and evoke emotions to a degree that digital outlets can’t touch.
• Tell a story. With a photo book, you’re the storyteller. Arrange your photos strategically to guide viewers on a captivating narrative journey.

Not limited to these qualities, photo books also offer lasting archival value, networking potential, and educational utility. They’re the Swiss Army knives in the creative world of visual arts. 

***

Blurb is a self-publishing platform built for photographers. If you’re ready to unleash the power of print, check out Blurb’s photo book options. They offer something special that digital media just can’t match. 

The post 7 reasons why photo books are worth it in the digital age appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Self-publishing a photo book can have real value for your business, from generating book sales, pitching yourself to new clients, or creating a package that includes a gorgeous printed book. So whether you’re a professional photographer, painter, sculptor, designer, culinary artist, or other creative—you can and should capture and compile your work into a pro-level photo book. But even when our work and creative abilities are strong, assembling that work into a cohesive and captivating book might still be challenging! 

These photo book design tips for creatives will help you build a professional, finished product while giving you ample creative leeway to communicate your unique vision.

Create an eye-catching cover

Your photo book cover is your book’s first impression on your audience, so it’s essential to make it count. An eye-catching cover entices potential readers and sets the tone for what’s inside. Here are some tips on how to create a captivating cover:

• Select a representative image. Choose a photo or image of your work that captures the essence of your craft and showcases your unique style. This could be one of your most striking photos or an abstract design that reflects your book’s theme.
• Be clear on the purpose of your book. Your cover should reflect the purpose and intention of your photo book. Is it a travel photo book, a family portrait album for a client, or a portfolio of your sports photography? Make sure the cover accurately represents the content inside.
• Play with typography. Pair your chosen image with appropriate typography to enhance its visual appeal. Try different font sizes, styles, and colors to find the ideal combination that reflects your brand or personal style. Check out resources like Google Fonts for inspiration. Remember to stick to two to three fonts max, as more can confuse your design.
• Avoid clutter. Less is often more in cover design. Too many elements may detract from its overall impact. Stick to clean lines and simple compositions for maximum effect.
• Create multiple designs. Don’t settle for just one option—experiment with various layouts, images, and text combinations until you find a look that truly represents you as a creator.

Crafting an alluring cover will distinguish your professional photo book design from the rest. Taking time to create an engaging cover will pay off by attracting attention from potential readers, especially those browsing online. After all, people do judge books by their covers.

Be thoughtful with page layouts

Designing the page layouts for your photo book can be a challenging task. How do you organize your images and text to best features your work and convey your book’s narrative? Follow these best practices to assemble professional-looking page layouts.

• Less is more. Just as you did with your cover, avoid cluttering your pages with too many photos, images, or other elements. Keep it simple and let your creative work shine by giving it room to breathe.
• Keep your layouts balanced. Balance is key to making a professional-looking photo book. Make sure individual pages are well-balanced and create a connection between the cover and the interior pages.
• Establish a focal point. Choose a main photo or element to draw the viewer’s eye. This creates a sense of proportion and visual interest.
• Mix up your spreads. Vary your page layouts to keep the viewer engaged. Try using double-page spreads for panoramic shots and single-page layouts for close-ups. Mix text and images, layer elements, and create section spreads to break up dense portions further.
• Tell a story. Leverage your page layouts to tell a story or convey your theme. Consider the flow and sequence to establish a logical progression for your readers and create a cohesive and meaningful photo book.

By carefully considering the size, shape, and placement of the images and text on each page, you can create compelling page layouts that will grab your readers and make your work stand out. 

And remember, if it is stressful to build your own layouts, use templates! There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to simple, clean book design.

Narrow down your typography

Typography is crucial in conveying the underlying mood and style of any professional photo book design. The right font choices complement your images and enhance the overall aesthetic of your book while creating a visual hierarchy to guide your readers.

You’re likely drawn to a few different fonts as you build your cover and interior page layouts. Now it’s time to narrow your selections and create continuity throughout your book.

Find the perfect fonts

When selecting fonts for your photo book, consider how they interact with your images. A well-chosen font should be legible and reflect your desired tone. 

For instance, if you’re showcasing minimalist architecture photography, a clean sans-serif typeface might be an ideal choice. But for something more authoritative and loud, try a font like Visage Bold or League Gothic.

While there aren’t rules for typography, most creators pick two to three fonts for an entire book. This allows your photo book to feel cohesive and timeless. Play with your title, headline, and body fonts—how do they work together, and how do they contrast? 

Build visual hierarchy

To ensure that text elements are easy on the eyes while maintaining focus on the photos themselves, use varying font sizes or weights to establish a clear visual hierarchy within the pages. This technique helps distinguish the headings and subheadings from body text, guiding readers seamlessly throughout content sections without overwhelming them visually.

Spend time increasing and decreasing your font size. It’s a dance—what is legible while still appropriately filling the space?

Play with colors

Your color palette helps orient your audience to the tone, setting, and era. It’s an incredibly important step in the process. As you work through your cover and layouts, selecting your images, you probably get a sense of the mood and repetitive focal hues. Use it to choose colors for design elements and text.

• Be selective. Experimenting with color can add depth or emphasis to specific text areas, like captions accompanying photographs. But just remember not to overdo it with too much color composition and stick to a handful of colors for consistent branding. Three to five colors usually work for a cohesive palette. 

• Maintain readability. When choosing colored fonts against backgrounds and images, prioritize readability by providing sufficient contrast so viewers can easily discern words.
• Choose cohesion. Lastly, ensure chosen colors align well with the overall design palette and theme, maintaining consistency throughout the book.

Remember, typography is a powerful tool in your photo book design arsenal. Meticulously selecting typefaces and toying with magnitude, look, and shade blends to create an alluring visual narrative.

Pay attention to the details

The small details can significantly elevate your professional photo book’s design, making it more engaging and professional. Many decisions go into choosing the right details—from text overlays to paper selection—so it’s a good idea to break down the process into smaller pieces, starting with these elements.

Edit your images intentionally

When creating a professional photo book, it’s essential to edit your images thoughtfully. Every decision you make when editing your photos can help bring out the best in them and create an engaging visual narrative for your readers. Do this in two steps.

• Calibrate your monitor. If you haven’t calibrated your monitor, you can’t trust the color, contrast, or brightness you see while designing. While your book might look fantastic on your display, it’s unlikely to look good in print.
• Edit one by one and as a collection. Now it’s time to go through each image to color correct individually. Next, look at your spreads—how can you tweak your images so they fit together? Finally, review your entire book and edit your photos as a single collection.

Add captions and descriptions

Adding captions or descriptions to your images provides context and engages readers by telling the story behind each photograph. This extra layer of information can deepen the connection between viewers and your work with another narrative element. 

However, be sure to use text mindfully and creatively where appropriate, and avoid overusing text to distract from your work. While copy can add to your storytelling abilities, the best photo books speak for themselves visually.

Pick your paper type

The tactile experience of flipping through a physical photo book is essential to its appeal. The right paper type and finish are significant decisions, as they influence the final color and look of the very images in your book.

We’re obsessed with these details. Here are the paper types we consider when designing a photo book—and when we use them. 

• Lustre paper. A popular option for photo books with a slight sheen that offers excellent color reproduction. It is also durable and resistant to fingerprints, which works well for portfolios and pitch decks.
• Standard paper. A versatile choice for hardback and paperback photo books, this classic paper is suitable for books of all sizes and offers a good balance between cost and quality. We use it for leave-behinds, zines, and sellable books when the margins matter more.
• Mohawk proPhoto Pearl. For a luxurious, high-end paper that will make your images pop, Mohawk proPhoto Pearl is the perfect paper type selection. This paper is ideal for event-specific books, like family portrait albums.
• Mohawk Superfine Eggshell. A heavyweight text paper with an eggshell-textured, uncoated finish that adds a touch of elegance and refinement. We pick this paper for wedding albums, engagement photo books, and any other heirloom-quality prints.

Weight, color, and coating all play a critical role in the finished product of your photo book. For more input, read how to choose your paper type.

Proofread copy carefully

This is where hiring an editor or proofreader can pay dividends with your photo book, especially if you plan to sell and distribute your book to the masses. When proofing your book’s text, it’s critical to evaluate your copy for three things.

• Typos. Ensure there are no spelling mistakes in the book’s captions, descriptions, or other written content as they detract from professionalism.
• Syntax. Check sentence structure for readability; awkward phrasing might confuse readers or disrupt their engagement with images.
• Punctuation. Proper punctuation helps maintain clarity throughout written content so that meaning isn’t lost to misinterpretation caused by missing commas or periods.

Incorporating these finer details produces a polished final product that showcases visual artistry and thoughtful craftsmanship in your professional-quality photo book.

Seamless navigation

Creating a seamless flow and navigation experience for your readers is essential to a professionally-designed photo book. A well-organized book not only boosts the general quality of your photo book but also moves readers to explore your content. A few key elements contribute to smooth navigation in professional photo books.

• Table of contents: A categorized list of book chapters or sections provides a straightforward way to locate specific material swiftly. They’re particularly handy for photo books with multiple themes or categories.
• Page numbers: Page numbers are helpful to guide readers. Ensure they’re consistent in style and placement throughout the book, typically placed at each page’s bottom corner or center.
• Index (if applicable): If you feature numerous subjects or keywords in your photo book, consider adding an index at the end. An index provides alphabetical listings with corresponding page numbers so readers can quickly locate specific topics without flipping through countless pages.

Incorporating these navigational elements into your professional photo book will make it more user-friendly and accessible, ultimately enhancing its appeal when selling your book online.

Consistent Branding

As a professional creative, branding is critical to establishing your identity and making your photo book memorable. You create a cohesive look and feel that reflects your unique style by incorporating consistent branding elements like your logo or identity mark, color palette, and typography throughout your book.

Brand identity integration

Your brand identity, like your logo or author signature, serves as a visual representation and reminder of you as the creator behind your book. If applicable, include your brand identity elements in strategic locations within your photo book, like on the cover, title page, table of contents, or the corners of each page. This helps reinforce brand recognition and makes a lasting impression on readers.

Consistent color palette

We’ve talked about this before, and we’ll talk about it again—color is that important! Selecting a color palette that complements your images and adheres to brand guidelines ensures consistency across all design elements. Use these colors consistently across all design elements, like text boxes, backgrounds, borders, or image filters.

Cohesive typography choices

While you’ve selected fonts during your cover and layout phases, it’s worth it to take a final look at your choices. Stick with fonts that reflect the tone of your work and support existing branding materials—like your website, brochures, or other collections. 

This ensures consistency throughout every aspect of work now and in the future. In doing so, maintain font hierarchy using different font sizes or weights for headings versus body text. If you can nail this detail initially, you’ll have a clear idea of how to approach it throughout your photo book and for future projects.

Test and iterate

With any professionally-made book, you must test your creation with a sample audience and gather feedback. This process enables necessary revisions and improvements, ensuring that your photo book meets the highest professionalism and design excellence standards.

Share your draft with fellow professionals, friends, or family members who can provide valuable insights into what works well in your book and areas that need improvement. Encourage them to be honest about their opinions on layout, typography, image selection, and overall aesthetics. You can also use online platforms like Behance or Dribbble for additional feedback from creative communities.

Hire a photo book editor

If you can afford it, it usually pays off to hire a professional who can help ensure that your work reflects your vision. A photo book editor has lots of experience and expertise in evaluating photos and text for accuracy, clarity, and consistency. An editor can bring a fresh perspective to the project and offer advice on everything from the overall concept to the tiniest details.

Speaking of details, having an experienced eye can save time by catching errors before they become costly mistakes. Your editor should know how to spot subtle issues like typos or awkward phrasing—plus more significant problems like a confusing cover design or inconsistent design choices. 

Start your professional photo book design with Blurb

Blurb is an online tool that allows you to design and publish a professional photo book as well as sell and distribute your book globally. Choose from our free design tool, BookWright, or leverage Adobe InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop integrations to design your book. Our free and fully customizable templates make it easy to get started without photo book design experience. 

When ready to publish, we provide a wide range of custom format options, like the popular layflat photo book or a more economical softcover format, as well as an assortment of paper options. Once published, you can sell your book through Amazon or Blurb’s Bookstore. 

Interested? Learn more about how to create a professional-quality photo book with Blurb today.

The post Professional photo book design tips for creatives appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Editor’s note: In this three-part series, pro photographer and educator Jared Platt will teach you to create high-quality photo books with Blurb. Jared will take you step-by-step through picking your photos for your photo book, using the top bookmaking tools, and printing your end product. Want to see the entire tutorial? Visit Jared Platt’s website!

Welcome to class. I’m Jared Platt, a professional photographer and educator, and I’m ready to help you in the process of making a photo book. In this set of lessons and assignments, I will walk you through the process of creating your own self-published photo book.

In this part of the series, we will focus on picking your images for your perfect photo book. This is an extremely important step, as the quality and selection of images will make or break your finished product. Let’s get started.

How to pick a theme for your photo book

It can be daunting to sit down and start a print photography project. Where do you even begin? The answer is simple: with a photo book theme.

A theme provides a roadmap for your photo book layout and helps you to determine which images will best tell your story. This will help you to narrow down your images and create a cohesive layout.

There are endless possibilities for themes, so take some time to brainstorm. Once you have a photo book theme in mind, you can start selecting images that fit your vision. Keep in mind the overall tone of the book as you make your selections. You may also want to consider the size and shape of the images in order to create a balanced design. With a little planning, you can create a beautiful photo book that tells a story and captures your unique style.

That said, life is full of surprises. Sometimes, we set out with a clear plan, but end up deviating from that plan in unexpected ways. The same is true for photography. We may set out to capture a certain scene or subject, but end up finding something even more interesting along the way. For this reason, it’s sometimes best to simply let the photos dictate the theme of your photo book. By definition, a photo book is a collection of images that tell a story. So, if you find yourself with a collection of photos that don’t seem to fit together, don’t worry! Just let the photos be your guide, and trust that they will eventually lead you to the perfect theme for your book.

How to search for and collect your images

With your theme in mind, just start looking for images that stand out to you amidst all your photos. Once you have found a few images that inspire you, start doing some research based on those images.

You can use keywords, locations, people, or dates to help you find more images. If you are using the Lightroom desktop or mobile applications, you can also use Adobe Sensei to help you find images. Once you have found some images that you like, throw them in your collection and move on. Don’t be too detailed at this point, just collect on an instinctual level.

If you’re anything like me, your photos are scattered across multiple hard drives, and you may even have them on SD cards, and cloud storage providers. Even if you’re relatively organized, it can still be a pain to track down a specific photo. That’s where Lightroom comes in. Lightroom is a powerful photo management tool that makes it easy to find, view, and organize your photos.

Collect images with Lightroom

A great way to keep your photos organized is to create a collection or album in Lightroom Classic or Lightroom Desktop and sync it with the Cloud. This will allow you to find photos more easily and keep them organized. To do this, simply find the Collection or Album panel in Lightroom Classic or Lightroom Desktop and click the plus button. Then, make a new Collection/Album and start collecting items into that collection. You will be far more efficient if you assign that collection/album to be your Target Collection and you Sync it with the Cloud (the Lightroom Ecosystem). By doing this, you will be able to find photos more easily and keep them organized in one place.

As you focus on creating your first collection, keep an eye out for quality images as well as those that help tell the story you’re trying to create. By being more selective in this first pass, you’ll be able to put together a stronger, more focused collection. And don’t forget to include your favorite shots! The most important thing is that you enjoy the process and end up with a collection that you’re proud of.

How to pare down your collection

You now probably have a ton of photos—perhaps even hundreds—it’s time to pare them down. When creating a photo book, it’s important to select images that will tell your story in the most effective way. This means that you may need to select some of your lesser-quality photos or even delete some altogether.

Before you begin paring, it’s a good idea to create a new collection or album with the same name but Second Pass at the end. Make it the Target Collection and start looking through your first collection. Look for common themes and connections between images. If you are telling a narrative story, look for images that will help push the narrative along. 

Working with Lightroom

It’s helpful to work in Lightroom once again at this stage. You can even create a virtual copy of the image you want to keep in the main collection and then start working on the new version. This way, you can keep the original safe and work on a copy. You can also use Lightroom’s flagging system to mark images you want to keep. To do this, simply click on the flag in the toolbar and select the desired option. You can use stars, flags, or even colors to organize your images, just choose the method that works best for you.

Picking photos for a photo book can be a daunting task, but it’s also a lot of fun! By focusing on your theme and collecting images that inspire you, you’ll be well on your way to using all the photos in your camera!

Pro tip: Use the Command or Control Key with the B or T key to add them to the target collection (B in Lightroom Classic and T in Lightroom Desktop). Or just drag the images into the new, smaller collection.

You’ll want to be far more selective on this pass. Keep only the strongest photos that best represent your theme and story. Delete any images that are poor in quality, don’t fit with the rest of the collection, or are simply unnecessary. This process can be tough, but it’s necessary to create a high-quality photo book.

How many photos to select

How many photos should you select for your print photography book? This is a question that often plagues photographers, especially those who are just starting out. The answer, of course, depends on a number of factors, including the size of the book and the purpose of the book. For example, if you are creating a large coffee table book, you will likely want to include more photos than if you are making a smaller album for personal use. The same is true if you are hoping to sell your book or use it as a portfolio; in these cases, you’ll want to be selective in order to present your best work.

Ultimately, there is no hard and fast rule for how many photos to include in a print photography book. My general rule of thumb is to start with a selection of around 25 images for an 8×8 book, or 50 for an 11×14 layout.  This is a good starting point, but you may want to include more or fewer photos depending on your individual project.

It’s important to remember that the goal is to tell a story with your photos, not just fill up a book with as many images as possible. By being selective and choosing the strongest images, you can create a photo book that is both beautiful and meaningful.

In the end, the best approach is to select the strongest photos that best represent your theme and story. This may mean including fewer photos than you initially thought, but it will result in a more cohesive, high-quality book.

Guiding questions

Paring down your first selection is easy with a few simple questions:

• Does this image fit with my theme?
• Is this image high quality?
• Do I really need this image?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you probably don’t need the photo.

When you’re finished, take a look at your new second pass collection. Is it still telling the story you want to tell? If not, continue looking through your first collection and make more selections. Once you’re happy with the images in your second pass collection, it’s time to start creating your photo book.

Work with an editor

But wait! A second set of eyes can be extremely helpful when it comes to editing your work. Friends and family can be a great resource for this, as they can offer quality feedback and help you to catch any duplicates or holes that you may have missed. However, it is also important to choose someone who you trust to give you honest feedback, as well as someone who is familiar with the genre of the project you’re working on.

In addition, a mentor or other experienced professional photographer can be a great asset when it comes to polishing your work and ensuring that it is of the best possible quality. By taking advantage of these resources, you can ensure that you have chosen your strongest images—well before you start your layout.

Decide on your final presentation

With your pared-down collection in hand, it’s time to start imagining the end product. You’ve probably already started this process during the selection step. In fact, as concrete ideas come to mind of how to present your images, you write them down and entertain them as you go about your day.

Ask yourself questions

But the moment has come to make some choices about the final look and feel of your book. Again, it’s worthwhile to use some guiding questions to help.

• What is the purpose of this book? Are you looking to entertain travelers in a bookstore or impress guests with a beautiful coffee table book?
• What mood would you like to evoke? Is it a serious meditation on the trauma of war or a humorous look at gas station signs?
• What kind of price point do you want to hit for this book? Are luxurious materials worth the extra cost or should you stick to more affordable options?

Once you have some answers to these questions, it’s time to start sketching out some ideas and making final decisions. This can be a fun process, but it’s important to remember that the goal is to create a beautiful and cohesive book, not just a bunch of pretty pictures.

Look for inspiring photo books

When it comes to creating a photography book, inspiration can be found in many places. You can browse photo book templates for inspiration. You can find ready-made templates at most online photo book companies, like Blurb’s BookWright, or you can create your own using design software like InDesign, Photoshop, or Illustrator.

Other photographers’ work is another great source of inspiration, as photo books can offer ideas for sequencing, layout, and design. Be sure to check out photo book galleries, both online and in-person, to get a sense of what’s possible and find ideas that you may not have considered.

By the way, you can also find books and magazines in the Blurb Bookstore. There, you’ll find a wide variety of photography books, ranging from traditional portfolios to more experimental works. By browsing the titles in the store, you can get a feel for the many different ways that photographers are telling stories with their images. You’ll also be supporting other artists like yourself.

Once you have a solid idea of the look and feel of your book, it’s time to start laying out your images. This is where the real magic happens, as you get to see your photos come to life in a finished product. Head to the next part of my series to see it all come together.

***

Continue Jared’s ongoing series with the case for printing photo books and how to design and print your book with Blurb. Or see the whole tutorial on Jared Platt’s website!

The post How to pick photos for your photo book appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Editor’s note: In this three-part series, pro photographer and educator Jared Platt will teach you to create high-quality photo books with Blurb. Jared will take you step-by-step through picking your photos, using the top bookmaking tools, and printing your end product. Want to see the entire tutorial? Visit Jared Platt’s website!

Printing a photo book is a fantastic way to cut through the online noise, present your work to customers or clients, and even sharpen your skills as a photographer. Photo books are physical objects that demand to be handled and looked through—rather than posted and scrolled past. By taking the time to curate and sequence your images, you can create a narrative that wouldn’t be possible in a digital format, and that will last for years, not seconds.

With almost two decades in the field as a published photographer and educator, Jared Platt knows more than a thing or two about the art and business of photography and publishing. Whether you’re a professional photographer, semi-pro, or ambitious amateur, he’ll walk you through the reasons why and the how of printing your own. He’ll take it from here:

Why print professional photo books?

Get past the gatekeepers

When I was in college in the 1990s, the internet was still in its infancy, and book and magazine publishers were the gatekeepers to a mass market of viewers for photographers. During my undergraduate studies, I took a course from Mary V. Swanson that was based on the business of photography and getting published. We would take field trips to the bookstore and browse through all genres of magazines and books, researching which publishing companies were using photos so we could submit our work to them.

Photographers at the time either maintained their expensive hobby for themselves alone or continued to submit work to publishers in the hopes of reaching a wider audience. On the off chance that a photographer had plenty of cash upfront, they could also try to self-publish.

But early in my career, the only way to publish your own book project was to print hundreds of them. I knew photographers who sold their extra car to pay to print their book and then spent the next ten years trying to sell that book and recoup the cost. They did it because they understood the value of the book experience. 

I don’t think there is a better way to enjoy photographs than in a well-printed book or magazine. It is the perfect viewing distance to really feel the image and the ideal opportunity to add contextual information, with text accompanying the photographs.

In the past, the only way to create that joy of photography in print was to hope that the gatekeeping publishing industry would accept your photographs or sell that second car to try to print and market your book yourself.

Now, platforms like Blurb have leveled the playing field so that photographers can print their books and market them to a global audience. The best part is that these tools are democratizing the process of publishing by making it more affordable for people to print high-quality books (or magazines) at high volumes or even just one at a time. 

This is as big as the online photo revolution that we’ll discuss next but with a better outcome for the photos!

Cut through the online noise

The gatekeepers of the publishing industry have not only fallen to self-publishers. They’ve fallen to the open free-for-all arena of social media, blogs, and turnkey websites. But while the world gained access to many amazing photographers with the rise of the internet, many of their amazing images instantly get lost in the noise. It’s never been easier to post your photos, but it’s also never been harder to get noticed.

Everywhere I go, I see people buried in their phones, scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. I was recently in line at the grocery store, and five of the six people in line were scrolling but not reading. Instead, they constantly slid their finger up or down the screen—rapidly consuming images and videos. It made me think twice about the impact my photos have on Instagram.

Today, any photographer can reach the masses with a free social media account and a smartphone. But whether those masses will see their images depends now on searches, algorithms, and trends. Over 500 million people are sifting through 95 million photos and videos posted to Instagram every single day! No wonder the people in the grocery store line never stopped swiping through pictures on their phones. Who has the time?

The truth is, if you’re a photographer, your images are competing with billions of images online. Rather than go up against huge companies and influencers who spend their time and money learning how to beat those algorithms, you can skip the crowds with a printed photo book. While anyone can post online, a book is a physical object that can’t be scrolled past or ignored. This is another great reason why to print a photo book. It’s a tangible way to break through the digital clutter and present your work in a way that demands attention.

Present your work to clients

I am a professional photographer, paid to take portraits of people and document weddings, among other events. This new access to one-of-a-kind book printing changed how I provide physical images to my clients. 

Before affordable books were available, I had two options to share shoots with my clients. One, print an unmanageable stack of loose proofs that could get lost in the mail. Or two, post them online where the images would be viewed on the client’s uncalibrated monitor with scary saturation in the magentas and the sharpness turned up to 1,000%. 

By affordably printing a single book or a magazine for clients, I can control the print quality and the experience they have when looking through their images. I can curate which images are shown next to which and decide the size of each image. I’ve found there is no better way to offer clients the results of their wedding or photoshoot than in a well-styled and exquisitely printed book.  This is another obvious reason to print a photo book.

Although I use quite a few different programs to design different books, Blurb has always printed them, and my clients love the experience of sitting down and looking through their images from a wedding or a portrait session with a beautifully printed and designed book.

Maintain creative control of your art

Even though I make my income in portraits, weddings, and lifestyle photography, I am like all photographers on the planet. I love making landscapes, still lifes, travel photography, and documentary photography work. And most of the time, that kind of work is entirely personal. 

But at times, I still want people to enjoy the images in a way that I control. I can’t do that on Instagram or Facebook, so I don’t often publish my photographic work online. Instead, I use self-published books and magazines that allow me total say over the final experience.

Creating a photo book is much more deliberate than simply uploading photos to a website or sharing them on social media. You get to curate your images and decide what size the book will be, how many pages, and what kind of paper. You pick the style of the cover, customize the layout, and choose where to sell or gift the product.

And in the end, you have a beautifully printed artifact that you made entirely yourself. There is something magical about holding a printed photo book in your hands. It’s a physical embodiment of your creative vision that you can share with others (or keep entirely to yourself). When you make a photo book, you create a timeless object that will be around long after you’re gone—something that the internet can’t provide.

Hone your photography skills

Finally, self-publishing a book also provides an incredible learning experience for you as a photographer. For the majority, there is very little thought that goes into posting an image to social media. 

But reviewing and selecting images and designing a book around those images is an entirely different experience. It inspires deeper thinking, more planning, and most importantly, it slows the process down a little. When you decide you are going to make a book, the exercise of selecting your images becomes a much more serious endeavor. You ask yourself more questions about the photos and how they fit together. Just the need to come up with a title for the book forces you to think about the theme of your selects.  

As you design your book, you place each image on the page with a great deal of thought. Will it be on its own? Will there be an image on the facing page, or with there be any text to help explain the pictures? Should the photo fill the entire page? If not, how big should it be? Should it be cropped to fit the page design a little better? And if so, how does that change the image’s meaning? 

Putting photos on a series of pages also means you must think of the sequence and the cadence of the story you’re telling. This self-publishing process is one of the most productive things a photographer can do to improve their photography.

Making a photo book is an enriching experience, both creatively and personally. It allows you to take complete control of your work from start to finish, and the process of creating one will make you a better photographer. If you’ve never made a photo book before, I urge you to try it. 

Start your journey with me

The internet and social media opened up the floodgates and connected photographers with the world. But the availability and affordability of self-publishing finally made it possible for photographers to bypass the gatekeepers and present their art in a truly meaningful way to connoisseurs of photography. Not only are my Blurb books a considerable part of my professional photography business, but they are also an integral part of my improvement as an artist. 

If you have not created a self-published book, now is a great time to start. It doesn’t have to be a big, expensive book. It could be a simple magazine. But take this as a challenge. 

As for me, I always have a few personal bookmaking projects happening at any one time. I am now creating a book I call Notes, a small book with a mixture of photographs spanning my entire career and my thoughts about the photographs. Often those thoughts are stories about the photos, and sometimes they are metaphoric musings inspired by the photos. I have been working on that project for a little over a year now. 

I also recently completed my 0º project, a large book of landscape images with a small behind-the-scenes companion book. I documented the process unfolding in the videos and text of the following two blogs in this series.

I discuss the entire activity of reviewing and selecting images, honing in on a subject for the book, choosing the right kind of book for the project, and even designing the book. I also show the step-by-step process of using two different book designing tools: Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Book Module and Blurb’s BookWright software. I hope you will join me and engage in your own self-publishing project at the same time.

Check out the following two blogs in my guide on how to start a photo book. You will walk away with far more than a book in hand.

***

Continue Jared’s series on how to pick photos for a photo book and how to design and print your book with Blurb. Or see the whole tutorial on Jared Platt’s website! And if you’re a visual learner, dive right into Jared’s video on starting a book project with Blurb.

The post The case for printing photo books appeared first on Blurb Blog.

1. What inspired this book project? 

I’ve been interested in mixology for a few years now, and I’m really drawn to cocktails aesthetically, so I felt I could make a cool book myself. I also own quite a few cookbooks now, and will only purchase well-designed ones. So I wanted to create a book that I would want to own. I also feel as though “fruity drinks” get kind of a bad rap, so I wanted my book to open that selection up to a wider audience. I think they’re delicious, and more people should have the opportunity to try them. 

2. Tell us about your creative process for designing this book. How did you decide on the trim size, format and cover design? 

I started by creating moodboards so I could have a focused direction. Then the internal design of the book started with me creating as many fun, rounded grids as I could. I digitally created as many of those as possible, and let the actual recipes dictate which ones worked. It was a lot of fun to just play around with colors, add my illustrations, and just be loose with my design. 

I really let the content inform my choices for the physical dimensions of the book. Cocktail recipes are short, and I knew I didn’t want to pack my book with multiple recipes per page. A 7×7-inch book gave the recipes room to breathe, and the hardcover gave it the professional quality I wanted. 

The cover looks pretty much how I pictured it; in a way it was the first thing I designed. Once I had the title “Fruitful,” those huge letters just popped into my head fully formed. I played with some details to customize the type, but I knew from the start what I wanted the cover to be. 

3. How did you achieve the typography treatment of the cocktail names? 

Probably my favorite choice of the whole book is the western typeface, because I think it comes out of left field but really works.The recipe titles were a result of probably hours of fine-tuning. They were always going to be mostly on rounded paths, because I thought they looked way more eye-catching, especially with such short recipes. Eventually, I doubled the titles, filled in some individual letters, and just moved around the kerning. My favorite detail I added was the two little seeds in the Watermelon Sugar title; that’s the sort of thing I wanted to put in so you could find new details each time you looked. 

4. Is there a story behind your choice of colors for this project? 

I just wanted my colors to look warm and summery, and evoke that fruity impression. I tried to pick a palette that would work for my full range of drinks. 

5. Why did you choose to include illustrations instead of photographs? 

I felt illustrations were a much better use of my skill set. I had an original plan for what the illustrations would look like, and they completely evolved once I started playing with the patterns and layouts. It also made sense for my budget and the vibe I was going for. 

6. Which tools or software did you use to create your PDF files and why?

I used Blurb’s Adobe InDesign plugin for the creation of the book and cover, and the illustrations were executed in Adobe Illustrator. InDesign has tons of grid, layout, and typography capabilities, so the book would come out clean, no matter how many organic elements I added. When it came to my illustrations, Illustrator was really the only program where I could adequately experiment with my pattern designs. 

7. What are the most common mistakes people make in book design (cover, font, page layout, colors, etc.)? 

This is actually my first book design, so I’m no authority, but I’m an advocate for accessibility in all areas of design. I’ve seen a lot of people struggle when copy isn’t legible or readable, so I think it’s important to pay attention to the scale and color of your typographic content. I believe a book should balance form with function. The cover is also one of the biggest factors in book design, and it’s so unique to books; sometimes the cover isn’t given enough attention, or there isn’t enough of a risk. 

8. What advice would you give someone who wants to turn a collection of recipes into a cookbook? 

The main thing to think of is your “gap in the market”, so to speak. In my initial stages of research I, of course, found tons of cocktail recipe books. However, there weren’t too many dedicated to “fruity drinks”, at least not any I would want to own. So I curated a list of some sophisticated takes on “fruity drinks”. It was important to me that a consumer looking at my table of contents would find a good mix of recipes, but a cohesive list. I think if you frame your content in a way that’s new and exciting, and then execute the design really well, you’ll have a great finished product. 

9. Where do you look for creative inspiration? 

I’m so thrilled to be living in the age of the Internet, because we have literally endless inspiration at our fingertips. I find the most online inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram, where I get to look at other artists. I also am always reading about typography and art, so books end up playing a huge role in my creative landscape. I’m also always taking pictures of things that interest me in my everyday life, or at least writing them down in my notes. 

10. Any design projects you’re currently working on or excited about? 

This summer I’m really going to be focusing on painting, and I’m freelancing for a few clients. In the fall, I’ll be headed to school to get my Master’s degree in Media & Information Design, so my thesis will be my next big project! I’m excited to see where all of that takes me. 

11. How did the process of designing a book compare to your other creative work, such as your paintings and graphic design projects? 

I’ve classically been a bit of a perfectionist, so this project provided me with the opportunity to play around a lot. I was designing with a consumer in mind, but it’s not imperative that anyone buy it, so I took that opportunity to do exactly what I wanted to do, which I believe paid off. There aren’t many times in design where you just get to have fun and make all the executive decisions, so I feel like I have a product that totally reflects my point of view. A book is also one of the most intensive projects I’ve ever done, so I definitely needed to stay on top of my follow-through, but it was really rewarding.

***

Blurb is a self-publishing company that can help you design and print your books on demand. Want to create a cookbook or photo book project of your own? Start designing your pages today. 

The post Behind the Book with Jane Powers appeared first on Blurb Blog.

There are a few different ways to digitize your old photos. You could download an app to your mobile phone or send your archive to a photo scanning service. But for the best results, it’s worth investing a little time in using a flatbed scanner at home. 

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• A flatbed scanner. Most home office printers have a built-in scanner and provide the relevant software to install on your computer. 
• A clean microfiber cloth.
• Compressed air. (Optional)
• Photo editing software. Either the software that comes with your scanner or a tool like Adobe Photoshop.(Optional) 

Step 1: Get organized

Start by taking stock of the number of photos you want to digitize and make a plan. Depending on how much time you have available, breaking your entire archive into smaller piles makes scanning your old photos a more manageable task. Around 15-20 photos in one sitting is probably about right.

You could also scan pieces of memorabilia to use as part of your photo book project. Maps, newspaper clippings, charts, event programs, tickets, certificates, announcements, official documents (deeds, wills), recipes, letters, poems, stories, songs, art, drawings, and diary or journal pages can all be scanned along with your images.

Step 2: Prepare your scanner and photos

To get the best results, both your scanner and the photos themselves should be free of smudges, smears, and dust as even the smallest specks will show up.

Start by wiping down your scanner bed with a clean, dry microfiber cloth. Avoid using paper towels or tissues for this job as they leave behind tiny specks of debris and may even scratch the surface.

To get rid of smudges, you can dampen a small part of your microfiber cloth and gently clean the glass. Let it dry completely before scanning your photos.

Top tip: Wipe the scanner bed with your cloth after every few scans to keep it free of dust.

If you have it, compressed air is the best way to remove dust particles from your photos. But gently dusting them with your dry microfiber cloth will work too.

You might be tempted to try and smooth out the creases and curled edges of old photos. But this can cause more damage. Instead, gently lay the photo down as flat as possible and scan as it is. Most crease lines can be edited out later with photo-editing software. (Plus, these markings are part of the charm of your old photos.)

Step 3: Scan in color

Even your oldest sepia photos should be scanned in full-color. Black and white images can be scanned in full color too, unless they have been damaged by ink or tape residue. In this case, scanning in grayscale will make it easier to touch up those photos later.

Step 4: Choose your resolution

Best practice is to scan your photos at the highest resolution available, as you can always reduce the resolution later, if needed. But scanning at 600 dpi will be sufficient for most images. If you have limited digital storage space, you can scan at 300 dpi. At this resolution your images will be sharp, but they will lose integrity when enlarged. 

To share photos online, scan them as you would any other image with a high resolution to create an archive copy, and then export them to 200dpi JPGs. This smaller image is better for posting online or emailing to friends.

Top tip: BookWright will flag any images with a resolution lower than 250 dpi. You will need to shrink the image until this warning disappears to ensure the best results in print.

Step 5: Scan and save

You might want to start by scanning just one image at a time. But as you feel more confident, you can save time by scanning a few at once. The average home scanner should be able to scan four 4×6 in. photos at a time. You’ll want to leave about a quarter inch of space around each image. This will make it easier to crop them into individual files later.

As you scan each item, label the digital file clearly. Try to include meaningful details and use the same structure for each image. E.g. May 1954_New York_MumAndDad. You may end up with enough photos to create a second or third volume of your photo book, so organization counts!

Step 6: Touch up

When it comes to editing, you may not want to do much more than crop or straighten your images. Most free photo-editing software should be able to take care of this and other minor touch ups such as removing red-eye or applying basic color corrections. To make more extensive changes, such as removing crease lines, you’ll need a more sophisticated tool like Adobe Photoshop.

Once all your photos are scanned and saved as digital files, you’re ready to start making your book.

The post How to Scan Your Old Photos appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Today we live in a hybrid world, a wonderful hybrid world, of nearly endless possibilities. Want to shoot film? Sure, why not? Or maybe you are a pixel lover and someone who needs images right away. Then digital awaits. Or, if you are like me, you choose whatever methodology and technique fits your specific project and you use those tools, analog or digital, to accomplish the goal. There are many who look at this situation as “film vs digital” but I prefer to view it as “film AND digital.” Let’s take a look at some common questions on this topic.

1. Digital is the newer technology doesn’t that make it better overall?

No, digital isn’t necessarily better, only different. Digital does offer certain advantages which I will explain later, but I would look at the film vs digital question as more of a lifestyle choice. Film does not require the latest technology or camera system and doesn’t require software, firmware, or computer hardware unless the user wants to digitize their work. Digital photography does require software, firmware, hardware, and things like digital asset management for storing your images over time. Digital photography is also very much tied to screen time and heavy computer usage.

2. What are professional photographers using?  

For the most part, professional photographers are using digital, but there still remains a small percentage using film. However, it should be stated that most professionals are now working under conditions and requirements that demand the use of digital photography. Most photographers, however, regardless of whether or not they are using film, still love film and hold a special place for it in their hearts. Many of the best photographers working today began their careers with film.

3. What are the advantages of using film?

Permanence, tangibility, pace, and look. Film archives very well, something that often gets overlooked. Put a negative in a shoebox and a hundred years later, chances are, it’s still there and still in decent shape. Film can also be very tactile, especially when combining film photography with working in a traditional, wet darkroom. Film is hands on (holding your negatives, mixing chemistry). Film is also very slow compared to digital, and what may be considered limitations by some—only 36 exposures per roll, having to reload, not being able to see the images—are, in my mind, positive aspects of using film. These same limits actually make the photographer THINK before hitting the shutter release. And finally, the look of film is entirely different from digital images. Sure, you can pseudo-mimic film with digital files, but you can never quite replace the look of film.

4. What are the advantages of using digital?

Immediacy, flexibility, pace, and look. Digital is right here, right now. Immediacy of imagery is one key advantage. Also, digital photography is the great chameleon. One exposure can be color, black and white, or anything in between. Just import your digital photographs into your favorite imaging software and let the magic begin. Sure, you can scan film and do similar things, but you can’t do it in real time as you can with digital. Digital photography proceeds at a much quicker pace than analog photography, which requires delivering the film to a photo lab, or processing it yourself. And finally, digital also has its own look. Super sharp, grain-less, noiseless, with remarkable detail.

5. Isn’t it difficult to find film?

Well, there might not be a Kodak kiosk on every corner like there once was, but finding film isn’t that difficult. There are photography stores, like Freestyle in Los Angeles, that specialize in analog photography. There are numerous films available today, both black and white and color. The only challenge might be that the cost of film continues to go up. But it’s worth it!

6. What are the disadvantages of using film?

The cost of film continues to rise and availability will also, most likely, continue to become more challenging. In addition, if you need images right away, film is not going to work. There is also an energy and environmental angle to consider. Processing your film either requires driving to a photo lab or shipping your film to a photo lab, both of which take time, energy, and financial resources. You could also build your own darkroom, but many folks just don’t have the space or resources to manage this endeavor.

7. What are the disadvantages of using digital?

Some say that digital photography lacks the soul of film photography, but I just see this as a lifestyle difference and not something that really makes that much sense. If your client needs images minutes after capture, then the soul of the photography really doesn’t come into play. But digital photography is costly. The equipment is far more expensive, requires near continual upgrade, and also includes things like computers, software subscriptions, and archiving needs. Archiving digital files over several decades is incredibly expensive and time-consuming. Digital can also allow for all kinds of bad habits like overshooting and “chimping” (staring at the back of the camera while still in the field), and digital photography has also impacted our ability to edit well. Staring at thousands of tiny thumbnails on a laptop screen isn’t easy.

8. Does one medium work better for making books or magazines?

Again, one is not better than the other, only different. Each film is a unique combination of grain, texture, saturation, contrast, etc. The photographer, based on their needs, chooses a film to fit the project. Digital, on the other hand, can be any and all of these things. Perhaps they are not identical, but they are very close. Printing film and digital works the same, but the look is different. Personally, I prefer the look of film to digital, but I have also been using film a lot longer than I have been using digital. And like anything else involving print, the photographer should make plenty of tests.

9. What if I haven’t shot film in decades but I want to experiment. Any suggestions?

First off, welcome back. I think you will enjoy how differently your mind will work while using film. Second, ask around for a film camera. Chances are someone you know has an old film camera they are no longer using. If not, check used camera sources. You can get a wonderful camera for very little money. Next, check your local area for film processing and scanning. If you don’t have resources in your community, you can ship your film to places like Richard Photo or Photo Impact, both in Los Angeles. Then, just enjoy.

10. You mentioned in your opening paragraph the idea of a hybrid world of photography. What did you mean by that?

Great question. When I say “hybrid,” I mean using both film and digital technology together. For example, I still prefer to shoot film, but due to health reasons I can no longer work in the wet darkroom. So, I shoot film then send it to a lab where the film is processed and scanned at high resolution. The lab then puts the work on an FTP where I can retrieve it and download to my computer at home, wherever home may be. Then, my film images enter the same digital workflow I use when I’m shooting digital files. I have been doing this for roughly twenty years and it works incredibly well. I get to use my favorite, old cameras, and I get the look of film but I also get the workflow, control, and archive of my digital system.

Turn your photo collection into a beautiful book.

The post Hit the Books with Dan Milnor: Film vs Digital Photography appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Feed that need for art, storytelling, and design by exploring one of these DIY home crafts projects—and make them your own.

1. Travel photo book

When you think of your favorite places, what images come to mind? Relive special road trips, adventures, and outdoor treks by gathering your memories into a travel-inspired photo book. This can be a wonderful craft to do at home. Make it more of a hands-on project by scanning tickets, postcards, and mementos to accompany your photos and give them a travel journal feel.

2. Recipe journal or cookbook

Maybe you want to design a custom journal where you can document new recipes, flavor combinations, and food illustrations. Or maybe you’re keen on making a family cookbook with color photographs and personal touches—grandma’s recipe cards, stories, and handwritten notes. There’s no right or wrong way to collect your culinary ideas and inspiration. For this home DIY home crafts project, just follow your gut!

3. Holiday portraits

Everyone has a favorite time of year, often tied to holiday celebrations or gatherings with friends and family. On that special occasion, you were probably snapping photos all day (or all week long). Now it’s time to turn those seasonal memories on your phone or camera into beautiful wall art prints, a fantastic craft to do at home. Holiday portraits also make the perfect gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, or just because.  

4. Baby keepsake prints

When you welcome a little one into the world, every moment you spend together is precious. Capture the sweetest memories or milestones by making a keepsake photo print of baby’s first giggle or first steps. For this DIY home craft project, try our archival-quality canvas wall art for a beautiful combination of texture, warmth, and rich colors. Or, consider a baby keepsake book to document important milestones and share them with loved ones.

5. Family magazine

Each member of your family has a unique story to tell. For this fun DIY craft to do at home, get the adults and kids together to create a family magazine, filled with drawings, photos, games, songs, and memories. Use one of our magazine templates to get a head start on your page layouts, then scan and upload your feature images and text. Celebrate by sending a copy to friends or relatives.

6. Nature photo wall art

You can draw a lot of inspiration from the flora and fauna in your own backyard, garden, or local park. Try zooming in on the details or go for sprawling panoramas. Your photographs of landscapes, animals, and patterns in nature can become original works of Wall Art in just minutes. Display your prints alongside fresh flowers or seashells on a shelf dedicated to the natural world.

7. Coloring book

There is no age limit when it comes to the joy of coloring. So why not invite everyone in the house to join the fun? For this at-home craft project, make your own line drawings, and scan them to create pages in your one-of-a-kind coloring book. The creativity continues later on when you sit down to relax as a group or on your own, adding all the vibrant hues you love.

8. Pet portrait or collage

Shine the spotlight on your animal pal by making a piece of wall decor inspired by their sweet and silly antics, a perfect craft to do at home. Choose one photo that represents their personality best and turn it into wall art, or collect and scan a group of photos to make a special collage. See which kind of print—canvas, acrylic, or metal—is the best fit for your pet portrait.

9. Children’s book

Are you a fan of tall tales, big adventures, and colorful pictures? Unleash your imagination by writing, illustrating, and self-publishing a children’s book of your own. Start by making a storyboard to see how the story and drawings will fit on each page. Then print and share your creation with young readers everywhere.

10. Kids art portfolio

If your child’s playful drawings, paintings, and school craft projects are piling up at home, transform them into a kid’s art portfolio book. For this DIY home crafts project, scan the individual artwork, choose a favorite image for the cover, and make a keepsake book you and your child can enjoy for years to come.

11. Idea journal or notebook

Talk about endless possibilities for this at-home craft! A custom journal, notebook, or sketchbook is a wonderful creative tool for brainstorming and collecting inspiration. Quotes. Magazine cutouts. Photos. Poems. Drawings. A list of dreams and goals. Make every page your own.

12. Grandparent memory book

A grandparent memory book or memoir is a great DIY project that you can do with the entire family. It’s a wonderful way to document family history and celebrate the life experiences of your loved ones. You can put together a memory book like a scrapbook, adding photos, newspaper clippings, stories, holiday memories, and memorabilia. And don’t forget to include a family tree drawing! Print copies of your keepsake book to share with relatives near and far. 

13. How-to book

Help others find crafts to do at home with a how-to book. Knitting, gardening, writing, photography, design, woodworking—the hobbies and activities you excel at can be the subject for your next book project. Share your knowledge and expertise with other creatives by combining photographs, diagrams, and tips to make a magazine or guidebook for beginners.

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Let the DIY home crafting begin! What’s the perfect format for your new print project—photo book, magazine, notebook, or custom wall art? Blurb is here for all your self-publishing, crafty needs!

The post 13 crafts to do at home appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Whether you’re a seasoned shutterbug or just starting, learning how to take good photos with your phone reveals a realm of creative possibilities. This guide will take your mobile photos from good to great, showing you how to capture memories and make art at your fingertips.

So, if you want to start taking better photos on your phone and make every shot count, follow these tips and tricks.

1. Capture the unscripted

Don’t underestimate the allure of candid photography. It’s not just about snapping away; it’s observing and anticipating that unguarded laugh or thoughtful gaze. Aim to be discreet and patient, allowing natural scenes to unfold before you click. These spontaneous captures often reveal a depth of story and emotion that posed shots might miss, making them standout pieces in any collection.

2. Learn the rule of thirds

To add depth to your photos, activate the gridlines in your camera settings. The overlay of horizontal and vertical lines on your screen helps you apply the rule of thirds: a compositional technique that places subjects along these lines or intersections for an engaging effect. An off-center subject can lend dynamism to an otherwise static scene.

3. Seek unique reflections

Reflections aren’t mere duplications—they’re opportunities for creativity within your compositions. Search out less obvious reflective surfaces like rain-soaked streets or architectural glass facades, offering unique lighting conditions and visual twists that captivate viewers’ attention far beyond conventional shots.

4. Fine-tune your focus

Autofocus is handy, but taking manual control lets you tell richer stories through your images. Whether highlighting a dewdrop against leafy backdrops or isolating street performers amidst urban chaos, tapping where you want crystal clarity is a subtle tip that yields transformative shots. This small step draws viewers’ eyes exactly where you intend, crafting photos with intentionality behind every pixel.

5. Embrace the abstract

If you have a photographic tendency to capture complete head-to-toe scenes with perfectly centered subjects, this creative exercise is for you! The goal of shooting abstract photos is to capture something familiar from an unusual perspective or show only part of the whole scene. A close-up or tilted shot of food, architecture, or everyday objects can be surprising, exciting, and even mysterious for the viewer.

6. Use negative space effectively

In photos, the space surrounding your subject is just as important to the composition as the subject itself. That area is known as negative space, and it frames focal points by providing contrast and context for impactful imagery. Play around using vast skies above landscapes to add serenity or shadow-laden alleys, creating tension around subjects. A mindful approach utilizing negative space turns empty spaces into powerful storytelling elements, allowing you to take better iPhone photos with simple shifts in your vantage point.

7. Shoot with burst mode

For those fleeting moments that pass in a flash—kids at play, pets on the move, or action-packed scenes—use your phone’s burst mode. This feature takes several shots per second, increasing your chances of nailing that perfect shot with sharp focus and just the right expression or pose. Reviewing a sequence lets you choose the best from an array of images where /timing is everything.

8. Look for leading lines

Leading lines aren’t just part of the scenery. They’re powerful compositional tools that guide your viewer’s journey through the image. Look for natural guides like walkways, fences, or architectural features, as these leading lines draw the eye deeper into a photo and create a sense of movement and depth.

9. Keep a clean lens

The simplest truth holds: A clean lens is key to clear photos. Without a cap to protect it, your phone’s lens is vulnerable to everyday smudges and dust—a quick wipe with a soft cloth before shooting ensures you start with impeccable clarity rather than relying on post-production fixes that might not recover every detail.

10. Play with patterns

Our world abounds with patterns. When you spot them, they provide rhythm and structure in photographs. From manufactured designs like brickwork or textiles to natural views like leaves or waves, capturing repetition draws viewers in by creating familiar yet mesmerizing visuals.

11. Zero in on details

It’s natural to want to get everything in a single shot, but that means you risk missing out on smaller details that can make photos compelling. Intricacies overlooked at first glance become central characters under scrutiny. So, once you’ve got your landscape shot, consider what finer elements warrant their own stage—a shift from breadth to depth that often yields truly captivating imagery.

12. Use flash sparingly

Your camera’s flash isn’t always your friend, especially at night when its harsh light can flatten scenes and strip away a photo’s subtlety. In a dark setting, the flash alters colors and creates overexposed images, making the subjects look unnatural. But when used judiciously, even in daylight settings, it can lift shadows and add dimension back into well-lit subjects, giving nuanced results without the pitfalls inherent after dark.

13. Welcome symmetry

Symmetry, a cornerstone of compelling compositions, naturally draws us in. When you find or create symmetry in your photography, whether by splitting an image down the middle or aligning elements horizontally, you produce photos that exude harmony and balance. This technique works wonders for both natural landscapes and urban architecture—anywhere you can mirror elements to captivate the viewer.

14. Stabilize your shots

Sharpness is critical for high-quality photos, and stability is its faithful ally. Even slight movements can blur an image in low-light conditions or when capturing long exposures. Use stable surfaces like walls or tables to support your arms. Or better yet, invest in a tripod designed for mobile phones to ensure crisp images every time you shoot.

15. Shoot using the volume adjuster

Ditch the screen tap for sharper shots by using your phone’s volume button as a shutter release. This simple phone photography tip reduces camera shake significantly, particularly when shooting one-handed or reaching for tricky angles. Like a traditional camera, it gives you more control and stability, leading to clearer images without extra effort. It can also be an effective shooting technique when using burst mode.

16. Experiment with exposure

Exposure shapes the lightness or darkness of your photos and sets the mood. Play around by manually adjusting exposure on your smartphone. Brighten up shadows to reveal hidden details or darken highlights for silhouettes and drama. Finding a balance between light and dark can transform an ordinary scene into something extraordinary.

17. Harness the golden hour

The golden hour—shortly after sunrise or before sunset—is photography’s open secret for stunning natural lighting effects. It offers soft, diffused light that flatters subjects, enveloping them in warm hues ideal for shooting portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes. Make it a point to venture out during these peak times and capture the magic inherent in Earth’s most flattering spotlight.

18. Optimize portrait mode

Portrait mode isn’t just about blurring backgrounds. It’s about making subjects pop against softly defocused surroundings, drawing viewers’ eyes straight to the main focal points. Today’s smartphones have smart algorithms that differentiate between subject and background, providing DSLR-like results. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of this feature and emphasize who or what truly matters within each frame.

19. Enhance colors selectively

Colors have tremendous power. They can change an image’s mood and direct our attention. With editing apps at your fingertips, selectively amplify vibrant hues that demand notice or tone down others for added subtlety. This targeted approach ensures certain elements stand out, making your images more striking and memorable.

20. Capture the essence of motion

Your smartphone is a powerful tool for portraying movement in captivating ways. Utilize slow-motion to dramatize fast action, or switch to time-lapse to condense hours into seconds, showcasing the bustling pace of life or the serene progress of clouds across a sky. These features give you creative control over how motion unfolds within your visual storytelling.

21. Incorporate foreground interest

To give depth and context to sweeping vistas, include intriguing foreground elements, like rocks etched with patterns by the sea, close-ups of swaying wildflowers against vast backdrops, or architectural details framing urban expanses. This approach adds layers and creates three-dimensional scenes that draw viewers to journey through photos as they explore every plane.

22. Use selective focus for artistic impact

Selective focus is a powerful tool to draw attention exactly where you want it. You can take better phone photographs rich with artistic flair by focusing on just one detail—a droplet on a petal, the texture of aged wood—and letting the rest fade into a soft blur. This technique highlights the beauty in simplicity and guides viewers’ eyes through your visual story.

23. Time your shots for natural expressions

In portrait photography, timing is everything when capturing authentic expressions. Wait for those unguarded moments—when laughter erupts or thoughtful gazes emerge—for images that resonate with genuine emotion. Quietly observing your subjects helps you anticipate these fleeting expressions, allowing you to freeze them forever in time.

24. Shoot from different perspectives

Changing your viewpoint can drastically alter how you perceive an image’s subject matter. Shooting from down low makes even the most mundane objects monumental. Conversely, high vantage points shrink vast landscapes into understandable patterns. Shooting from different perspectives results in unique narratives compared to typical eye-level shots, inviting viewers to rethink familiar scenes anew.

25. Mind the horizon line

A skewed horizon line can unsettle an otherwise serene landscape shot. Use your camera’s built-in level or edit post-shot to ensure straight horizons, lending balance and stability to outdoor scenes. This small detail maintains order within nature’s vastness and keeps viewers grounded in reality.

26. Use overlays for composition

Beyond the rule of thirds, explore compositional guides like the golden ratio or diagonal lines available in some camera apps. These overlays can inspire you to arrange your photo’s elements in fresh and visually appealing ways. They push traditional framing aside, allowing for spontaneous and well-structured compositions.

27. Photograph during weather changes

Weather transitions bring about some of the most captivating lighting conditions. Be ready to capture these moments, whether it’s a storm clearing up or fog drifting in, as they provide unique atmospheric effects that add moodiness and drama to your shots. Such times offer fleeting opportunities to photograph landscapes under extraordinary light.

28. Emphasize scale in landscapes

Adding a familiar object or person within vast scenes gives viewers a sense of scale, amplifying the grandeur before them. Whether it’s a tiny figure against towering mountains or a lone tree amidst an expansive desert, these reference points help convey the majesty of nature’s canvas.

29. Capture contrasts

Seek out contrasts—old versus new structures or bright spots amid shadowy areas to create visual tension within your scene. These striking differences draw attention and encourage deeper contemplation of the story behind what might otherwise be ordinary elements when viewed alone.

30. Motion blur for dynamic effect

Motion blur adds a sense of speed and vitality to your photos. It’s particularly effective for scenes with movement, such as busy streets, sports events, or action shots. Adjusting the shutter speed on your iPhone or phone camera lets you capture both motion and stillness, creating an engaging, dynamic effect within the frame.

31. Expect to edit

Even when you’ve framed your shot and set your focus, the photo might not be what you had in mind. That’s what photo editing tools are for! Whether tweaking brightness, adjusting contrast, or cropping for better composition, post-production is where good photos become great. It allows you to refine what you’ve captured so that your final image truly resonates with its intended purpose and audience.

32. Review and learn from your photos

Set aside time to go over your photos with a critical eye. Look for patterns in what works and what doesn’t, paying attention to elements like composition, lighting, and subject matter. Use these sessions as learning opportunities. Every image has a lesson to inform and improve future photography endeavors.

33. Share and collaborate

Engage with a community of photographers by sharing your work. Constructive feedback is invaluable; it pushes you out of your comfort zone and introduces new techniques or perspectives you might not have considered. Collaboration is the key to growth in any art form. It’s how we learn, adapt, and ultimately refine our craft together.

From phone captures to photo books

In a world where we have our smartphones practically glued to our hands, we often forget the satisfaction of holding physical copies of our photographs. Transforming your digital snapshots into beautifully bound photo books not only preserves them more permanently but also gives you an actual object to share and enjoy with others.

The leap from ordinary to extraordinary isn’t as vast as it might seem when taking photos with your phone. It’s all about knowing how best to use the powerful camera that lives in your pocket. Understanding light, composition, and color can turn simple shots into stunning visual stories.

With this handful of simple phone photography tips, you can elevate your images and capture what you see and how you feel about what’s in front of your lens. So, let this journey be both instructional and inspiring. By honing these skills, you’ll soon have enough captivating images for social media and other creative applications, like travel books and family photo albums.

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Blurb is a print-on-demand service that helps turn your digital masterpieces into high-quality books that last a lifetime. With user-friendly design tools and a range of customizable options, Blurb makes it easy to bring the stories behind your images to life. Sign up to get started.

The post How to take good photos with your phone: 33 tips and tricks appeared first on Blurb Blog.

1. How did you get interested in documentary photography? 

First off, I should clarify that I don’t consider myself a documentary photographer, per se. For me, documentary photography is rooted in a very concrete time and place, while I’m trying to talk more about a larger social condition and a larger identity. I guess I would describe myself simply as a photographer. Of course, when I’m photographing people, ideas, and places I definitely stick to the ethics of documentary photography. I follow the guidelines of what it means to be a documentarian, but I would want to put some distance between what I do and what a photojournalist does. They are very different approaches. Documentary photography is more reactionary whereas my approach is more of a construction.

But as to how I got interested in photography, really it goes back to when I was 4. My grandmother gave me a camera. I had just moved to the US from Taipei, Taiwan. My family in the US were farmers and ranchers so I went from the bustle of Tai Pei to living on a very rural ranch in Eastern Colorado, where the grocery store is an hour away. It was a very isolating experience and as a result, I was incredibly shy as a child, a characteristic that lasted all the way into high school.

A camera was a way for me to process the world around me, to be present, but also to have something physical to hide behind. From an early start, the camera was always a useful tool for me and it really grew out of that. I never really considered photography as a career until high school though, when I had a couple of teachers and a mentor tell me that it could be a future for me. They saw something in what I had to offer and gave me the confidence to pursue that. And they shared their tools with me whether that be sharing the photo history they knew, technique, or even cameras to borrow. That was instrumental, without them I wouldn’t be working as a photographer in the capacity I am today.

2. What other genres of visual art or writing have influenced your image-making? 

Definitely painting. In painting, there’s a lot of the same constructive sensibilities that I approach my photography with. Even non-abstract painters, who depict the direct world around them are still constructing. They’re constructing a scene that is rooted in reality and trying to reveal some sort of truth. That’s the same approach I try to take with photography, although it does vary from project to project. A piece like American Backyard, for example, needs no element of fabrication. It should reflect the whole, unaltered truth. A project like The Mirror Pond, on the other hand, is much more pictorial. It doesn’t necessarily need to be grounded in a time or place. I can take more liberties in terms of the elements that I add or remove. Not in post-production, but during the creation of the photographs, as well as how I direct the people in each image in order to construct a narrative that conveys a truth that can’t necessarily be perceived in one moment. There are certain situations and peripheral ideas that need to be built. So again, that’s how I’m different from a documentarian, it would be unethical for a documentarian to build their own narrative like that, and call it fact.

3. How do you decide which photo projects to turn into books? 

I think it’s just a feeling really. For me, there’s an evolution of the work that needs to take place. I always expect for the early work in a project to never be used because that phase is more of a tool for me to figure out what the idea is in the first place. I’m always making work and then pulling on the threads that reveal themselves. I’m always photographing, but then some things kind of distill out of that – the vast majority though never sees the light of day.

It also varies with each project. In the case of American Backyard, we always suspected it would lend itself well to being a book and there are a couple of reasons why. One, the structure was very linear, literally following a line through the sand, and that inherently lent itself to turning pages in a book – just as the landscape unfolds. Secondly, there is so much nuance to the politics and identities around border issues, and the book explores some of these narratives which are overlooked by national media. In order to cover the detail that we wanted to go into and to provide a platform for those voices to speak through, it needed to be in written form. The book was the cornerstone component of that mission because it’s easy to share and distribute and lots of people can access it.

The process of making a book is one of distillation because you really have to consider the idea of the work from every angle. Whether or not a piece of work becomes a book, I almost always lay out the project in that sort of traditional format, because it forces me to carefully consider what the essential elements really are. You have to work within a very reductive process where you’re stripping everything but the essentials. What’s really cool about a platform like Blurb is that it offers a way for me to play with different concepts in a physical, tangible realm at a cost that I can afford and within a realistic timeline. I have printed layouts out in xerox before, but it’s different when you’re locked into a bound material that will determine what the final output is. It’s particularly useful in terms of sequencing and editing. I can show a work in progress to my peers, collaborators, and critics in a format that they understand because books are such a universal way of disseminating information and ideas. They create a common entry point to a piece of work. I can also watch people; how they interact with the page and the image. It’s so useful to see which images are glanced over, which ones are missed, how the page layouts and sequencing can really pull people in or miss the point entirely. It helps me to be more reactive and produce multiple iterations with new learnings applied each time.

So, whether something will definitely be a book or not, I like going through the process of assuming it will live in a printed, sequenced narrative

4. In your photo book, The Mirror Pond, the opening text reads “For a mirror pond to be a mirror pond, it has to be nearly still.” How did you arrive at this image, and when did you know you wanted to use it as the title concept? 

The title concept came before any images were made. The metaphor was actually penned in one night when the idea came to me. Then I set out to create images that visually articulated that idea and that metaphor. I always start with an idea before making images, although sometimes an image can spark a new direction that can turn into a new series or at least an investigation.

5. Have you always been drawn to photograph “the quiet moments that reveal” rather than bustling street scenes? Or does your approach vary depending on the subject matter? 

Yes, I’ve always been drawn to those quiet spaces. I think it goes back to my relationship with photography and it being a quiet place of introspection. I’m a quiet person in general and so that’s inherently how I approach picture-making as well. I do think that the world is so loud today and that maybe there’s more space for a conversation to be had in a quiet space. I guess I equate loud with a fixed narrative, whereas I would like my photography to be more ambiguous and the viewer to arrive at their own conclusion. Quiet things in quiet places and a quiet approach seem to do well at allowing that. As long as it’s loud enough to bring them into the page in the first place!

6. You say the work in The Mirror Pond is autobiographical on some level. What is your relationship to natural spaces and rural communities like these? 

I identify with quiet spaces and natural places the most just because of how intrinsically tied the outdoors is to my origins, When you grow up on a farm you’re constantly outside, whether that’s for work or for play, so it’s an integral part of my personality and shapes what I’m attracted to today. It’s also how I recentre. Whether I’m making work or on a bike ride, being outdoors in those spaces is how I think. I’ve never been able to make work in a city, and I think it’s because I just can’t think in such frenetic places. Maybe one day I’ll find the knack of creating quiet pictures in a noisy place – that’s the ultimate challenge.

7. American Backyard is a photo book you created in collaboration with Genevieve Allison. What did you learn about creative collaboration, and how did it affect your process as a photographer? 

It’s really nice having someone to share ideas with and ultimately be empowered to change your ideas. Photography is inherently such a solo pursuit that it can be refreshing to have a dialogue and thought process that exists outside of your own head. I’m definitely drawn to subtlety and nuance so it’s refreshing to be able to see the other side of the same coin and how the same experiences can be interpreted so differently. It’s great working with a writer because they have a way of distilling experience in an inherently different way to a photographer. That can help me to visualize photos that I hadn’t thought of because they’re coming at it from a different paradigm.

8. Telling a story through images takes practice. What are the most common mistakes you see new photographers make in curating images or designing their books?

In my experience, photographers often make photos that they think other people want to see rather than making photos based on their own vision and what they have to say. I think that’s the biggest pitfall that any creative faces, in any medium; wanting to be relevant, have social currency and to make work that matches that which they’re seeing is successful. And there is commercial value to that. But it can be hindering in terms of having something new to say and making original work.

Secondly, I would always want to be sure I’m the right person to tell a story and be aware of the issues of othering and sensationalizing. I’m always careful to ensure that I’m not becoming a ‘visual colonizer’ or constructing a narrative in a place I don’t belong in or have any history with. I try to keep that at the front of every creative decision I’m making.

9. What advice do you have for a photographer embarking on a photography project?

Firstly, I keep a journal and every day I write down what’s working and not working. That’s helpful because if I’m stuck and feeling uninspired it’s something I can go back to and see if there are lessons I’ve missed. That’s something that carries over beyond specific projects, and can help you get out of the dead ends that any artist can find themselves in. Having a place for reflection is important and it’s also a way to slow yourself down and appreciate what it is you’re doing.

I also really like making contact prints as the work is developing. I share them with others or push them around a table, just to see them all at once and to see if there are any narrative holes. That tactile experience can really help keep a project focused and on track.

10. When you’re not behind the camera or editing images, what other activities or routines are essential to your creative life? 

Exercise and getting outside, whether I’m hiking, cycling, or just breathing fresh air and enjoying time in a quiet place.  Being with friends and loved ones, cooking, reading, movies, and listening to music all help too, but moving my body outside is the most crucial escape for me.

Inspired to start your own Photo Book project? From our Adobe InDesign plug-in to our free desktop software BookWright we have the perfect tool to bring your project to life. Get started today.

Elliot Ross
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The post Behind the Book with Elliot Ross appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Here’s a batch of our best pet photo book ideas to get you started.

1. Big Personality

Do you have a critter that just loves to be the center of attention? Put your special friend in the spotlight by collecting snapshots of their big personality in action. Maybe your pet loves to greet friends and family with a display of affection, or they can light up a room with a crowd-pleasing display that says, “look at me!” Have fun creating a photo book that keep all eyes on your pet’s over-the-top persona.

2. Welcome Home

The first few days and weeks with a new pet in the home are full of curiosity, excitement, and discovery—that goes for the humans and the animals! There’s nothing like those early pictures that show your new family member exploring cozy corners, windows, mirrors, colorful toys, and fellow pets as they settle into their space. To make your pet photo book of first moments extra personal, add captions or include blank pages where everyone in the family can add notes and stories about their favorite photos.

 3. Pet Buddies

Is every day full of surprises (and tender moments) thanks to a lively duo, trio, or troop of animal friends in your home? Highlight all the activity of this special group of sweethearts (or troublemakers) in a dedicated pet photo album. Get ready to oooh, ahhh, and giggle at all the playtime, cuddles, and moments of mischief caught on camera.

4. Favorite Things

Toys, treats, songs, sounds, furniture, cuddly blankets, spots for perching—you know better than anyone else all the things that make your pet happy, from morning to night. Chances are, you’ve already snapped plenty of photos of your animal pal in a state of bliss. Create collages of their favorite things, or organize your pet photo book in the style of a “top 10” list to make it extra playful.

 5. A Kid’s Best Friend

Children and animals can become instant friends, leading to all kinds of hilarious and sweet moments. Photos that capture this growing friendship are a must for any keepsake pet photo album. If the pet has been in your child’s life for several years, try arranging photos chronologically to document their time together, from day one to one-thousand and beyond! Encourage your child to add handwritten stories and memories with prompts or questions, like “Remember when. . .”

 6. Fun Adventures

From backyard adventures to weekend road trips, some animals are at their happiest when they’re on the move. For pets that love to venture outside, fill your pet photo book with pictures of them enjoying different cities, landscapes, and seasons—spring puddles, summer lakes, autumn leaf piles, and wintry snow drifts. Even if your pet stays indoors, there will be hilarious and sweet moments to record on the go: crawling, paddling, jumping, racing, or flying through the air!

 7. Holiday Moments 

When the forecast calls for Halloween costumes or sprigs of mistletoe, do you include your pet in the festivities? Whether you give your cat jingling stocking stuffers or you dress up your pup in holiday gear, collect all those holiday-themed photos and create a heartwarming pet photo album to enjoy throughout the year. This kind of memory book also makes a perfect gift for family members of all ages, who will love seeing their cuddly friends on display.

 8. Lasting Memories 

It’s always difficult to say goodbye to our dearest animal companions. After the passing of a pet, some people find that reflecting on happier times and celebrating a pet’s life can bring solace in the midst of sadness. When you look through a photo keepsake of beautiful moments, you will be reminded of the very special bond you shared. A pet photo album is a great way to keep their memory alive.

9. Mood Book

Some pet behaviors are rather mysterious to us, while others are outright entertaining or endearing. Just like us, animals go through their own cycle of moods each day, which can provide some great photo ops. Think about all the pictures you’ve taken of your cute critter at rest, at play, excited, sleepy, exploring, and everything in between. Maybe there are certain facial expressions or silly poses from their daily routines that make you smile? Those quirky close-ups could fill a whole pet photo book!

10. Unique Tricks

Dogs, cats, and birds have definitely been known to put on a show for adoring audiences—maybe you also have bunnies or guinea pigs that know a trick or too? Whoever is performing, it’s bound to be adorable! If your pet happens to love dancing, bobbing, or singing for treats, get it on camera and create a pet photo book that proudly displays all of their one-of-a-kind animal antics.

Turn these pet photo album ideas into a creative project for the whole family, and put your special memories in print! Start a new photo book today.

The post 10 Ideas for a Pet Photo Album appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Whether it’s college, high school, or second grade, you’ve got a great reason to celebrate and commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime milestone with a school days memory book. Read on for some great theme ideas and tips for making a graduation photo book that rises to, and elevates, the occasion.

Pick a theme

We’ve got enough graduation photo book ideas to fill a spiral-bound notebook here, but one easy way to narrow things down is to decide whether it’ll be a book about graduation day (and/or the parties), or a look back at the student’s year (or years) in school. 

For the former, you’ll want to make sure you take enough great photos to properly document the event, including all of the most important faces and moments. Have an idea of what you want to include in your book, and keep that in mind while you’re shooting. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to find, frame, and capture great shots, but it can’t hurt to learn a bit about how to take better photos in preparation for the big day. 

If your graduation photo book is more of a retrospective, your biggest (and most fun!) task will be collecting the photos you’ll use to tell the story. Depending on how deep your theme runs, this could mean just scrolling through your phone’s camera roll or digging through old memory cards and reaching out to your network of friends and loved ones to assemble the ultimate anthology. Whatever approach you’re taking, make sure the photos you select are high-quality and high-res enough for print. 

Most of today’s graduates grew up in a world where there was always a camera within reach, so you may find that you’ve got a virtual mountain of photos to choose from. Remember, you don’t have to include everything—a short-but-sweet graduation book can hit the highlights, and it’s a great route to take if you intend to print lots of copies to share. But if those highlights are hard to narrow down, and you really want to go big, Blurb offers large book formats with hundreds of pages to rival any textbook. 

Graduation day

Naturally, you’ll take a lot of pictures of the big day. If you’re making a graduation day book out of the whole affair, you’ll want to take more. Document the lead-up. Find a good angle for the diploma handoff. Seek out and snap plenty of shots of the friends, family members, and teachers in the crowd. And aim to collect a nice mix of posed and candid moments. A good event photographer is everywhere—but do make sure to be present in the moment yourself, and respect the wishes of more shy subjects.

Achievements

Graduation is a big achievement, and it can’t happen without a lot of other achievements along the way. A graduation photo album that chronicles those wins makes for a great way to recognize and encourage the grad’s hard work and encourage them going forward. From first-days-of-school, to blue ribbons, to the successful driving test, if you’ve got photos of moments that make you proud, now’s the perfect time to bring them all together. 

Extracurriculars 

Graduation isn’t all about a successful string of report cards. Some students forge their most important memories (and huge parts of their identity) on the field, volunteering, performing—the list goes on. If extracurriculars like sports, band, or theater were central to the grad’s time in school, a custom graduation book is a good idea for a theme that can do those pursuits way more justice than any one-size-fits-all yearbook. 

Friends

The grad isn’t the only person graduating, and their friends likely played a bigger part in their formative years than any academic subject or sport. They were there for the carpools, the sleepovers, the road trips, and maybe a breakup or two. Building a graduation photo book around the grad’s circle of friends and their exploits is a great reminder of how important these bonds are—and can even serve to strengthen and preserve the friendships as they move on to new endeavors. 

Personalize it

One thing that’s great about making a personalized graduation book is that you can truly personalize it. Beyond the theme, the book’s layout and content can reflect the interests and passions of the graduate. So if they’re heading off to art school, a look back at their student’s journey from crayons to oil paints can really hit home—and the book itself can include artistic flourishes to carry the theme. 

This will probably come naturally for the grad who’s self-publishing their own graduation book. If you’re making a book for someone else, think about who they are and what they love throughout the bookmaking process. 

Add features and extra touches 

Notes, captions, and quotes

A graduation book doesn’t have to be strictly a Photo Book. Have some editorial fun with it by including text that helps tell the story and provides context. Did something hilarious happen right after that photo was taken? That detail would make for a great caption. Did the valedictorian say something that really defined the day? Quote them on the final page. Remember you can also scan and insert just about any document or piece of artwork among the photos. So that first misguided (but beautiful!) attempt at drawing a horse can live on forever.

Room to write

You may want to leave some space for friends and family to write their own notes for the graduate, especially if the graduation book is being unveiled on the day-of. This could be an open-ended blank page or two for signatures, or a more structured prompt like advice for the graduate, favorite memories, or some fill-in-the-blank statements. It’s a great way to involve all the most important players and make an already personalized graduation book even more personal. 

Graduation day and parties

Even if your book project follows a different theme, graduation day can make for a great final chapter, and put a nice bow on things. If you plan to include it, try to take some shots that account for the overall theme you’re following here, too. Gather the team for a group shot in their gowns, or have the dance squad strike their favorite pose.   

Blooper reel

Generally, you’ll want your graduation album to feature photos that portray your subject(s) in a good light. But nobody’s perfect, and including some not-ready-for-Instagram bloopers can liven up a page or two. The regrettable haircuts. The DMV-quality school photos. The irresistible laugh so big the braces actually showed. These character-building snapshots might’ve been embarrassing at the time, but they can actually help tell a more honest, heartwarming story about growing up. Of course, your mileage may vary; do make sure those bloopers come from a place of love. 

Make the book

When you’ve got your plan in place, and your content gathered, the next fun part is turning it into an actual graduation book. Blurb’s free BookWright software includes everything it takes to lay things out for publishing, and it’s easy to pick up and get started. That said, you’ll still be making important decisions along the way, and each page is an opportunity to make the book even more special. Set aside some time, and your book will keep improving with every click.

We’ve got lots of resources to help you make a great photo book, and most of BookWright’s tools are self-explanatory. But here are a few things to keep in mind as you set out on your bookmaking project: 

Choose the right format. You’ll select the trim size (book dimensions) upfront. Different trim sizes and bindings allow for different page counts. So be sure to check the dimensions and confirm you’ve got the size you had in mind, and the pages you’ll need for everything you intend to include.

Fix your photos. Not to say they’re broken…but a lot of people are surprised when they place two photos next to each other and find that they’re distractingly different after they’re printed. BookWright can help identify photos that aren’t high-res enough to print properly at a given size and offers single-click image correction to help ensure that the colors pop.

Remember the cover. It might be a simple line of text or the best shot from the top of your photo pile, but you’ll need a well-designed book cover and title. Everyone’s process differs, and you should never judge a book by its cover—still, the cover should never be an afterthought.

You’ve graduated!

That’s Graduation Books 101. Remember: your final assignment should be a fun one. Use the graduation photo book tips and ideas you’ve learned, and you’ll wind up with a finished product worthy of honors. Done right, a graduation book is something you’ll want to revisit more often and display more prominently, than any diploma. 

Ready to make your graduation photo book a work of art? Get started and make your photo book today!

The post Graduation photo book ideas and tips appeared first on Blurb Blog.

There are hundreds of yearbook ideas and themes to choose from, ranging from nostalgic, to future-focused, to pop culture. Your yearbook might feature a combination of topics, or you may choose one theme for your entire book. Starting with the cover, think about ways to incorporate your theme(s) into your yearbook page spreads, from the table of contents to class photo pages and social pages. Try using the same colors, graphics, and typefaces throughout the book to create a cohesive story from all your various sections about the year’s events.

10 Yearbook Ideas

Whether you are designing a yearbook for elementary school, middle school, or high school, these yearbook ideas will help you create a masterpiece that students will treasure for many years to come.

1. Add a section for school trips & travel

So much happens over the course of a school year that it really is an adventure. Celebrate the journey that your students have taken together with highlights from school trips or travel-themed content. Include fun maps, images of far-off places, and inspirational quotes that remind them of how far they have come and how far they will go.

2. Make a collection of quotes

This is one of the most popular yearbook themes. Collect quotes from the student body and teachers to use throughout your yearbook. You could ask them specific questions, such as what their favorite memory was from the year, or their funniest moment. Students will love having the chance to contribute a personal message to the yearbook!

3. Design your own emojis

Your students will love a yearbook filled with customized emojis. Use them as captions for pictures, on the cover page, and around action shots. Let your imagination run wild and have some fun creating personalized emojis for your yearbook based on your school mascot.

4. Celebrate your favorite games

Create a yearbook dedicated to the games that your students love to play, whether it’s board games or video games. The cover could be a play on the board game Life or based on a Monopoly board. Or you could gamify the student body, turning them into video game characters and superheroes.

5. Include storybook characters

We all have favorite books and fictional characters that teach us about growing up, getting along, and going on adventures. Fill your yearbook pages with colorful designs, inspirational quotes, and whimsical characters from stories you’ve read together.

Side note: It is illegal to use copyrighted art without permission. As an alternative, invite your students to create drawings and stories inspired by the books they love. This idea can work with any set of popular characters, as long as you only include artwork created by your students. For essential illustration tools, make sure to check out our blog.

6. Make a list or photo collage of best moments 

Poll the students for their favorite highlights from the school year and then create yearbook pages around those school day memories. Perhaps it was the winning touchdown at the homecoming game or the senior prank that left everyone laughing. Fill your book with plenty of memories and include quotes from the student body.

7. Create a book of student artwork

Show off the incredible talents of your student body in a yearbook filled with their art. For added fun, have a contest among your students to design the cover art of the yearbook. The other submissions can then be used throughout the inside pages. It’s a creative way to get everyone involved.

8. Show the year in reverse

Start from the end and move back in time, capturing every memorable moment from the school year. Include dances, sports events, science fairs, etc. You could also incorporate elements of pop culture from the year, such as popular songs, movies, and books. The last page of the book can be filled with pictures from the very first day of the school year.

9. Highlight sports, clubs & special activities

Most yearbooks include a section dedicated to the school’s sports teams, special clubs, and musical groups. Take it one step further by making sports, music, and creative activities the overall theme of your yearbook. Have fun weaving team colors, on-stage highlights, and song lyrics into your yearbook design.

10. Dedicate a section to the graduates

Show the new grads how proud you are by creating several pages to celebrate their achievements, talents, and unique personalities. This could be a space where students can celebrate a goal they achieved, include a fun fact about themselves, or note one of their favorite things. Make it extra special by leaving room for student autographs.

Site note: If you’re interested in creating a graduation photo book, check out our blog for ideas.

So there you have it. 10 creative yearbook ideas and themes to inspire your own tribute to a year of school life. Get started on your yearbook today with Blurb’s free tool Bookwright!

The post 10 Yearbook Ideas: Themes, Pages, Covers & More appeared first on Blurb Blog.

From their first bath to their first time at the beach, there is so much that you don’t want to forget. We’ve rounded up our ten favorite baby book ideas. Each memory book offers a unique way to document important milestones in your little one’s life that you will be able to share with them for years to come.

1. Letters to your baby

Some parents-to-be choose to write letters to their baby during their pregnancy. This is a special way to share the emotion of being a parent and record the experience of your baby’s first years from your point of view. They may not be able to read them for a number of years, but they will be incredibly meaningful when the time comes.

2. Major milestones

There are going to be dozens of milestones in your baby’s life in the first year alone, and you are going to want to keep track of them all. Creating a baby memory book dedicated to documenting each new first will help you remember their first smile, the first time they sat up, their first doctor’s appointment, their first steps, and everything in between. You can include everything from photos and reports from doctor’s checkups to lists of the foods they’ve tried, and the names of their favorite toys.

3. My, how they’ve grown

There is no better way to see how much your baby changes during their first year than by documenting it in a baby memory book. Schedule a day each month to take a photo of your baby and see just how much they are progressing. Placing a fun prop or toy next to them is a creative way to highlight just how fast they’re growing! Fill in your baby book with other pictures from special occasions, family vacations, and trips out and about.

4. Birth story

There is no more special day in your life than the day that your baby is born. Document the entire story, from your preparations and first contraction to your time in the hospital, and the trip home, in a personalized baby book. Include details like the time of birth, weight, who was there, and how long the labor lasted. You could also include their birth certificate and other mementos.

5. Family tree

Teach your baby about their family near and far, by creating a family tree book. Start by drawing a tree on the first page and listing their relatives on each side. Then fill the pages with photographs of family members past and present. Include pictures of your baby with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins so that they can see themselves with their family. Does your baby look like you at a young age? Include side-by-side photos!

6. Memento book

Create a baby book filled with mementos from your baby’s first year. Begin the story with their first ultrasound, and then fill the pages with items that represent your first year together, such as poems, song lyrics, nursery rhymes, the invitation to their baby shower, their birth announcement, a lock of their hair, their birth certificate, and more.

7. Baby photo album

Nothing tells a story better than pictures in a photo book. And chances are that you will be taking a lot of pictures of your new baby. While many photos are stored and viewed digitally today, why not keep it old school with a beautiful custom notebook filled with printed baby pictures. Make sure to include everything, from sweet and silly to their first tantrum. Once your baby gets older, you will love sitting down and sharing each moment with them again.

8. Alphabet book

What better way to teach your child the ABCs than by creating a baby storybook filled with pictures of their favorite toys, foods, animals, and family. For “A” how about a photo of them with their aunt? “B” could be a photo from their first birthday, “C” a picture of them in their crib, and so on.

9. Vacation book

You will never forget your first family vacation with your new baby. Wherever you go, turn photos from their first adventure into a baby keepsake book filled with memories that you can revisit at any time. You could create a timeline of family vacations by making a new travel book each year.

10. Wish book

Like any new parent, you are sure to have hopes and dreams for your child’s future. And so will your friends and family. Ask the people around you to write out their wishes for your baby, the things they’re excited to share with them as they grow up, and their promise to support them (and you!) now and in the future.

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Blurb is a book-printing company that can help you get ready for your new arrival! Make a beautiful baby keepsake photo book quickly and easily with our free desktop tool, BookWright.

The post 10 baby book ideas appeared first on Blurb Blog.

From the camera obscura to pinholes to Daguerreotypes, historically, photography was much more about chemical and mechanical experimentation with light than it was about art.  It wasn’t until George Eastman—an industrialist in Rochester, New York, who was the first to employ scientists as part of a factory’s research and development team—made his first breakthroughs that photography came to matter to people outside a scientific setting.

Here are 10 landmarks in the history of photography that changed our relationship with images forever.

1888-1889: The Invention of Film

George Eastman, who later formed the Eastman Kodak Company, invented a film with a base that was flexible, didn’t break, and could be rolled for both storage and capturing images. This rolled film is first used by moviemakers, launching the motion picture industry. It was widely used until the 1920s when it was refined into 35mm form for still cameras.

1900: The Brownie Camera

Eastman introduced the Kodak Camera in 1888, but it was the Brownie, which was small and sold then for just $1, the equivalent to a mere $25 today, that changed everything.

Before Eastman released his Kodak cameras, historically, photography was for formal, academic, or professional use only. His camera was so easy to use, “even women and children could operate it!” claimed an early ad. And use it, they did! Almost overnight, pictures became prized personal objects. Photography became accessible to the masses, who no longer needed professional, technical, or aesthetic training to document their lives. Snapshots were invented—the ease of creating photographs broke them free from formal, serious subject matter. People used cameras to capture the goofy, beautiful, and ordinary everyday life. Smithsonian Magazine notes that these early photos rarely showed anything sad.

In one year, the Eastman Kodak Company sold an unprecedented quarter of a million of these little cameras.

1925-1949: The Invention of the Modern SLR Camera

After Eastman’s little camera created a worldwide market for cameras and film, other companies joined the competition for a piece of it. Camera technology continued to evolve throughout history, with companies like Canon, Nikon, and Leica joining the race. Each added components to their cameras that are all part of our modern cameras today: interchangeable lenses, built-in light meters, flashes, and automatic film advancement. Though the vast majority of photography in 2019 is digital, cameras and photography still use the developments from this time as referents for our contemporary experiences.

The 1940s: The Creation of Color Film

Color film was first available for movies, then for still cameras. The technological development meant that we remembered in color as well as saw in it. It also changed the processing—color film could no longer be processed and printed at home in someone’s bathroom. This increased the cultural attachment to images and also grew a chemical production and photo-processing industry that corresponded to the new, complicated film.

The 1950s: Illustrated Magazines Golden Age

Life Magazine, Time, National Geographic, and even fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s BAZAAR hit their heyday. These historical magazines fueled an even deeper cultural appetite for images. Photographers were elevated to rock star status, and a new way of communicating emerged—photojournalism. Skilled photographers and their imperious, exacting editorial teams could now tell entire stories using photographs alone. Some of the most famous photographs in modern history were created in this magazine era. Photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, and Alfred Eisenstaedt created some of America’s most iconic, recognizable images while on assignment.

1963-1972: Polaroid Introduces Instant Photography

Edwin Herbert Land was an inventor who experimented with light-sensitive polymers that were eventually used in polarized-lens glasses. In 1948, he unveiled his first instant-film camera, and over the next few decades, refined the technology into one of the most marketable consumer products of all time.

First released as black and white film, instant color film dominated the market by the early 1970s. In 1972, Polaroid released its iconic folding camera that was in millions of homes. For the first time in history, people could get instant access to their memories—in color—without having to send them away for film processing. There was no longer a days or weeks-long gap between what you captured and the revelation of how it turned out. Polaroid even developed more sophisticated cameras with professional-level exposure meters and equipment, but they never caught on because the prints they produced couldn’t be reused and reprinted for publication in books and magazines as well as slide film could.

1986: The Invention of the Digital Sensor

The technological development of the mid-20th century was fueled by two extremely powerful forces: the entertainment industry and the Cold War.

In 1951, Bing Crosby—that Bing Crosby, the entertainment and media mogul of White Christmas fame—helped fund the laboratory that created the first videotape recording, which captured live images and saved the information onto magnetic tape by converting it into electrical impulses. During the 1960s, NASA migrated its recording technology from analog to digital signals to record the surface of the moon and astronaut footage. The U.S. Government’s funding helped hasten further rapid development in the digital sensor as they discovered its use in spy satellites and other spy technologies.

Texas Instruments patented the first film-less camera in history in 1972. By 1986, Kodak scientists had invented the world’s first megapixel sensor. This first digital sensor was finally capable of producing a photo-quality 5×7 print. In 1991, Kodak outfitted a Nikon F-3 with a digital sensor, marketed toward photojournalists. Combined with its Photo CD system, these Kodak products defined color in the digital space and tied computers and cameras together forever.

Ironically, these digital cameras were the downfall of the 100-year Kodak supremacy, as other global camera manufacturers outpaced Kodak in the digital revolution and rendered film cameras obsolete. From 1997-2007, both Canon and Nikon released models that so advanced digital cameras, they could finally capture and render images better than film. The advent and refinement of ink-jet technology completed the revolution with new, easy, accurate ways to print digital images.

2007: Apple’s iPhone Takes Over the Market

Despite advances in digital cameras that created the smallest image-capturing devices in human history (tiny cameras that could fit in a shirt pocket!), Apple’s iPhone put a reasonable digital camera in everyone’s hands. It also had intuitive, sophisticated ways to render and transfer phone photos with iPhoto and the Photos application on the device itself. While it wasn’t the most impressive sensor or lens, the device was calibrated for the best possible photos with the least possible photographic knowledge and effort. This returned everyone to a new snapshot era. Photography came full circle. From science project to formal history to consumer captures to fine art, it was now back in the hands of everyday people capturing everyday life all the time.

That same year, Flickr, the world’s largest online host for images invented in 2004, reported that the iPhone was the most dominant device in contributing to its nearly billion images. The open-source app store created new ways to process and modify images without costly professional software and created new avenues to display them.

2007 Facebook Develops Photo Albums and Tagged Posts

While Facebook was already a few years old, 2007 marks a major overhaul with the invention of image tagging, the Timeline, and Facebook Albums. The appetite for images exploded. Before Facebook, digital images languished on a hard drive in miscellaneous folders, only occasionally printed, after a cumbersome, cable transfer to a desktop computer. Though it was easier than ever to create images, there was very little use for them, until the ubiquity of social media. Suddenly, there was a purpose behind creating these ordinary images of ordinary things.

For the first time in history, your images could get the exposure that was previously only available to fine art in galleries in just a few clicks. Photos become the storytelling agent and status symbol for everyone online. The combination of always having a camera, plus easy processing and posting from the same device changed everything. This democratized image-making and audience reach in an unprecedented way, more than any other past invention. Posting still images and, eventually, video became a way of sharing experiences rather than merely isolating moments as objects and putting them on display.

2010 Instagram Launches

Instagram was the first photo-centric online sharing platform, bought from the original developers by Facebook for $1 billion in 2011. It boasts billions of images connected by location and hashtag, from fine art to the mundane and grainy. Image tropes and their popularity on the platform drove the rise of selfie culture, shaped food trends, created honeypot destinations, and turned everyday life into a full-time aesthetic experience measured against Instagram-engendered ideals.

We’re still coming to terms with this impact on our culture and well-being, but participation in all of it hinges on creating images with both cameras and mobile devices.

New developments in photography technology are still searching for the perfect balance of power and precision, capability and size. We’re still trying to get the best possible images with the lightest, most portable equipment, which now includes satisfying our cultural appetite for video. From the first silver plates to the latest viral video, the history of photography will always reveal the way technology shapes the way we see, live, and remember in the most extraordinary and ordinary ways.

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Ready to make a photo book? Blurb lets you choose from six book sizes, three cover types, and six paper options, including layflat. Get started today.

The post The History of Photography—10 Moments that Changed How We See appeared first on Blurb Blog.

What is the definition of a photographer? 

This might seem like an odd question, but let me start this entire exercise with a critical statement. You don’t need to BE a photographer to BE a photographer. If you want to become a photographer, the first thing you should do is define what that means. Do you simply want to raise your skill level, make images for fun, and show them online? Or do you want to become a “professional,” make a living from photography and exhibit your work in museums and galleries? Or do you want to do a combination of these things? Defining what your objective is will help you find a way forward.

Should I go to school or learn online?

I spent four years studying photojournalism, so I’m a bit biased here, although I realize that there are other viable means of learning the craft. However, in my opinion, building a career on something like YouTube is somewhat shortsighted. That’s because typically platforms like YouTube will showcase more of what’s popular or trendy, rather than provide an in-depth education, which is what you need if you are interested in having a multi-decade career in photography. Most people might fall into the middle ground of perhaps learning technical data online, but practicing and training with mentors, workshops, or formal education.

What basic technical skills do you need to become a photographer? 

For some reason, people new to photography tend to place a significant amount of importance on the technical side of photography. More so than the aesthetic side, and I can see how this might seem natural. However, the technical skills required to become a photographer aren’t as daunting as one might assume. Things like the basics of shutter speed and aperture settings are skills that can be learned and implemented quickly. The same can be said for a fundamental grounding in film processing or digital post-production. But, just know that real skill emerges when one becomes proficient enough in these areas to NOT have to think about the technical side.

There is also the business side of photography. That means everything from negotiating to marketing and fulfillment. These are all things you will learn over time and are critical for long-term success.

Is there anything I can start doing, regardless of budget, that would help me reach my goal of becoming a professional photographer?

Yes. Practice. Every single day. Photography is a skill, like fencing or accounting. Getting good requires a great deal of practice so the more field time or studio time you can muster, the better off you will be. You are going to make mistakes, but so what? Everyone makes mistakes. Just keep snapping.

Also, start looking at what is already being done in the genre of your choice. Now, you have options here. Looking at work online, which I’m personally not a huge fan of, or looking at photography books, which I’m a HUGE fan of. Here’s why. The online photography world is an endless rabbit hole, mostly comprised of subpar work being promoted as awesome. Photography books, on the other hand, are expensive to produce, time-consuming, and challenging in a variety of ways. Consequently, photography books tend to be well thought out, edited well, sequenced well, and designed with the utmost perfection. You can learn A LOT from these pages. Books will also show you the history of your profession. What has already been done? Who did it? How can you add to the conversation?

What about assisting photographers or finding a mentor? 

Yes, yes, and yes. I spent at least four years assisting other photographers, even some who worked in fields completely unrelated to mine so that I could learn a specific technique or two.

I once assisted someone who photographed reflective medical parts with a 4×5 camera, one agonizing Polaroid at a time. We would spend twelve hours doing ONE photograph. I nearly lost my mind, but I also learned how to light a reflective object, which is no easy matter. I also assisted photographers who worked for National Geographic Magazine, Time Magazine, Life Magazine, and commercial clients like Adidas, because that was the kind of work I saw myself doing. And here is the wonderful thing. Once I had a relationship with these photographers, and they knew I was serious about becoming a professional, they made sure to teach me about all aspects of being a photographer, not just how to make images. These generous folks taught me about the business of photography, right down to how to do my taxes.

Mentorships are also invaluable. After nearly thirty years of doing photography I still have mentors, people I trust entirely to speak the truth about my work. These folks tell me when I’ve nailed something, but more importantly, they tell me when I need to keep working.

What about having a website and social media presence?

Yes, to both. But keep in mind the viewing habits of the modern editor, agent, or prospective image buyer. Short and to the point. That means that editing for the web is critical.

A potential client will typically know within seconds whether or not they are going to work with someone. So, show your best work, your most original work, and don’t skimp on things like the “About Me” page. Clients are hiring your photography, yes, but they are also hiring YOU as a human being. Showcasing what else you are skilled in, or interested in can play a significant role in your securing a job.

As for social, don’t go overboard. You don’t need to post all day every day. Successful professionals don’t have time to study your feed all day long. Also, remember that Instagram is all the rage today, but in a few short years, we are going to be talking about another, newer network. Think of your website/newsletter/blog as the long-play, and your social as an ever-changing short-play.

In essence, what you are attempting to build is a branded platform with you in the center. Web, social, and print to start with. You could then branch out to things like podcasts and motion channels.

What is the ratio between the business side of photography and the actual photography side?

I wish I could say it was 50/50, but working full-time as a professional photographer is about 80% business and 20% actual photography. However, this does depend on the style of work you do, your business setup, and whether you have a team or work independently.

Working as a photographer is about efficiency, so things like post-production must be sleek and streamlined, otherwise, you will end up working nights and weekends. Let the software do some of the work for you by automating your books and model releases, etc. Think about things like hiring a bookkeeper, an assistant, or a digital tech for on-the-job processing.

The more streamlined the business side, the more shooting time you will have.

Are there any other industry related things I should consider? 

Yes. Attend festivals, portfolio reviews, openings, museum shows, etc. Get out there and stay out there. Things like Review Santa Fe and The Palm Springs Photo Festival are key annual events that will expose you to all sides of the industry.

Signing up for portfolio reviews will not only provide feedback on your work. It will also force you to learn how to talk about your work, how to define your position in the industry and explain what you do and why.

How do I price my work?

Pricing, licensing, and establishing a legitimate pay structure is crucial to your long-term success. Many photographers work with agents or agencies who can help in this regard, while others use software to establish their rates. Working for free should be avoided. The idea that someone will hire you for free, love you, and then begin paying you legitimate rates is not a great strategy. It’s not to say I haven’t seen this work, but the success rate is very, very low. It is better to keep a part-time job that allows you to say no to those unpaid gigs.

What is the single most important piece of advice for becoming a professional photographer?

Making original work is the single most important thing you can do. Now, this isn’t easy and it might take you years to figure out how to do it. That’s okay. There’s no rushing certain things, and this is one of those things.

Your work should be different than my work. Your work should be as unique as your fingerprint. Original work has value because a client has to come to you to get it. The vast majority of images you see, especially on platforms like Instagram, are derivative works; content not photography. Content is work that crosses your eyes but never hits your brain. Photography, on the other hand, involves those rare images that are IMPOSSIBLE to forget. Seared into your psyche for the rest of your life. You want to be a photographer, not a “content producer.”

***

Want to create your own professional photography portfolio? Get started with one of our high-on-design templates or create your own custom layout.

The post How to be a photographer appeared first on Blurb Blog.

During the holidays, everything is a little bit more beautiful. From decorations to delicate sweets, to parties, and visits with faraway family and friends, ‘tis the season with a hundred reasons to snap a photo. Here’s how to organize and showcase the best moments of the season in a holiday family photo book.

1. Gather All the Photos

Take a moment to put all the holiday photos from all your devices into one folder. You may also want to gather the photos taken by other people, and set up a shared folder for an exchange. Make sure all the photos you plan to use are in the same resolution, so the image quality is consistent. If you use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC to sort and edit your photos, you can easily import your final photo selections into your book layouts using BookWright’s Photo Manager module.

2. Sort and Delete

This is the hardest task of them all, but a few tips make it easier. First, take advantage of the date-stamping on your photos, and sort them by date or event, or even by time. Then work through one small pile at a time when you’re feeling fresh. Mark your favorite shots, and delete the rest. Bad shots, eyes closed, poor lighting, the first 8 shots you took before getting the best one—don’t keep them. The more you have to wade through shots you can’t post or won’t print, the less likely you are to do either of those things. If you didn’t frame a shot quite right but you love the subject matter, feel free to crop it and create a stronger image!

3. Create a Permanent Archive

As a curator of these holiday memories, your job is to keep them safe. Back up your photos at least twice—to a hard drive and to cloud storage. If you haven’t been doing this all along, start with this holiday season. Establish a pattern of folders and naming. Once you’ve done the setup with a recent batch of photos, working on the backlog will be that much easier.

4. Pick a Variety of Photos to Use in Your Book

It takes several kinds of images to tell a story. Look for these basic shots to keep in your event collection:

• Portraits & group shots
• Setting the scene—decorations, table-scapes, gifts, ornaments, favorite objects, etc.
• Interactions & candid shots between people
• Biographical objects—slippers, clothes, favorite mugs, scarves. Objects that work as “portraits” of people, without actually showing people themselves.
• Personality & emotion shots—images that capture people in their element, or with expressions that reveal who they are or how they were feeling
• The cover shot—look for that one picture that says it all. That one image that shows a key moment of action, or all the special elements of a scene.
• Closing shots—loaded cars, packed suitcases, piles of leftover wrapping, confetti everywhere, something that shows the end of the celebration

If you don’t have everything on the list for your holiday collection, don’t worry. Use the list to help you consider which images to keep this year, and also what pictures you’ll be trying for next year.

5. Choose a Book Design Tool

There is more than one way to design a holiday memory book. It’s all about selecting the book-making tool that works best for you and your project.

BookWright: Our free desktop publishing software lets you create professional-quality layouts—no design experience needed. Add your favorite images and captions to premade templates for a quick start, or start fresh with your own layouts. Download BookWright now.

Adobe InDesign Plug-In and Lightroom Book Module: Create Blurb-ready layouts without leaving your workflow. Learn more.

Blurb Mobile App: The fastest way to make a holiday photo album is to download the Blurb mobile app on your iPhone or iPad. You can create, print, and share a beautiful photo book in minutes! Choose from 2 square book sizes.

6. Sequence Photos to Create Layouts

Time for the fun part! Group and sequence the best photos to create your holiday story. Designing a photo album takes a little trial and error, but following a few basic strategies will take you a long way.

Tell a chronological story: Putting your photos in chronological order is never required, but it’s an easy way to organize your story and build momentum, especially if you have images from multiple events, celebrations, or locations. Consider starting each section with a photo that captures the mood, colors, or activity of the day.

Mix it up: Combine images of different sizes in your page layouts, and alternate landscape (horizontal) shots with portrait (vertical) shots to create visual interest. Include a variety of image styles and compositions on each page (close-ups, scenery, people, objects, decorations).

Think big: We all have our favorites—sometimes it’s a candid portrait or a striking composition. Don’t be afraid to fill an entire page with a single photo that is especially meaningful. (Just make sure the image resolution is high enough to be enlarged without becoming blurry.)

Leave white space: If you are working with a lot of photos, it can be tempting to cram 5 or 6 shots on the same page. Resist the urge. Your best images will never stand out if they are too small or buried on a crowded page. For a better viewing experience, try putting fewer photos on each page and include larger borders or white space in between.

 7. Add Captions or Text

A great picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes even the best photos in your album do not tell the whole story. Adding playful captions or section headers can really bring your holiday book to life and capture all those missing details (a joke, a holiday toast, a song, a movie, or a quote).

 8. Share Your Album

Order copies of your photo book to gift family or friends this year, and it can become part of next year’s decorations on your shelf or coffee table.

Ready to make a photo book with all your pictures from the holidays?

Get started today.

The post How to Curate Your Family Holiday Photos appeared first on Blurb Blog.

The Mobile Photo Book

Nowadays, most of our favorite moments are snapped and stored on our phones. That means you have a quick, easy, and thoughtful gift sitting right in the palm of your hand.

Download the Blurb Mobile App and follow these easy steps to create your 1-Hour Photo Book Gift.

Step 1: Choose Your Photos

We recommend choosing at least 25 photos for your book (there’s a 20-page minimum). Try to include a variety of photos. Mix up images of people and places with ones that showcase favorite things.

You’ll also need to select your favorite image for the cover.

Step 2: Edit Your Photos

Make a few quick tweaks and finishing touches so that your photos tell the story you want them to, without distraction. A little time spent tuning up the brightness, contrast, and colors will ensure your chosen images shine on the page.

Step 3: Create a New Book

Open the Blurb Mobile App and choose your book size. The Mini Square 5×5 in. format is unique to the app and is a fun, pocket-sized keepsake. For something more luxe, choose the Small Square 7×7 in. format.

Both formats come with Premium Lustre paper.

Step 4: Autoflow Your Photos

You can quickly pull your images directly from your phone’s image gallery or from your Facebook albums.

Step 5: Layout Your Photos

Choose from three layout options: portrait, landscape, or square with a white margin around your images. Vary layouts from page to page to suit your chosen images.

You might find that you need to add or remove pages as you order and layout your photos. If so, remember that pages can only be added in even numbers, and removing pages or rearranging photos can affect other spreads in the book.

Step 6: Add Captions

Once your photos are laid out, you can add in text to help bring your 1-hour gift book to life. Memories, shared jokes, song lyrics, quotes; anything that adds to the story you’re telling.

Step 7: Pick Your Cover Photo

Select images for the front and back cover. This will be the first thing the person unwrapping your gift will see so choose carefully.

Step 8: Upload and Order Your Book!

And that’s it! In just one hour you’ve made a unique, fast gift that they’re bound to love.

Now it’s time to get gift wrapping. Check out our post on Creative Ways to Gift Wrap a Book, so that they’ll never guess what’s inside!

Blurb for iPhone and iPad
Ready to make a fast and easy book with Blurb? Choose from 3 different page layouts, add captions, and autoflow your images to make a beautiful book on the go. Get started today!

The post The 1-Hour Gift Book appeared first on Blurb Blog.

November: Gifting Made Easy – Notebooks & Photo Books in BookWright

• Explore Blurb’s new custom notebooks and journals
• Discover inspirational ideas for making a notebook or photo book
• Get a quick introduction to BookWright, Blurb’s free bookmaking software
• Find out how to choose the right paper type and trim size

Watch the Webinar

Top 10 Questions from the Audience

1. Why do books make great gifts?

I think books make great gifts for several reasons. Books are inspirational, whether they’re literature based or image focused. They inspire us to learn, to remember, and to imagine. Books are also an inexpensive gift, comparatively speaking. They make great stocking stuffers. Small, light, easy, and customizable for each family member. Sure, you can go online and buy something mass produced or you can make an intensely personal book. Books are timeless, especially when they are about family which is the perfect subject matter for the holidays.

2. How do I find Notebooks in the Blurb software?

Easy! Download and launch BookWright, Blurb’s free book-making tool. On the left-hand side of the Bookwright window, you will see “New! Notebooks.” Click that button and you are on your way.

3. Can I use multiple types of page styles in a single Notebook or Journal?

Yes. This is one of the key elements of Blurb’s journal offering. Notebooks and Journals are completely customizable. You can combine options like blank pages and grids, or narrow-ruled mixed with wide-ruled, etc.

4. What are the Notebook size options?

Blurb offers 5×8, 6×9, and 8×10 notebook and journal options. These are all available as Softcover, Hardcover ImageWrap, and Hardcover Dust Jacket.

5. Are there any other tips you suggest for notebook- or journal-making?

First and foremost, use your own visual content. I use photography, notes, drawings, and other visual ephemera. I drag and drop the content into the layout and then often end up writing over all of it. The “shapes” tool in Bookwright is a great feature. For example, I can create circles or triangles and then drag photographs into those shapes. I also tend to prefer thick journal books, so I normally make my journals over 100 pages.

6. What about photo books as gifts? 

For sure. I’ve been making photo book gifts since Blurb first arrived on the scene back in 2006. Photo Books are more expensive than Notebooks, but they serve a different purpose and are perfect for showing off visual content. So many of us spend copious amounts of time making images, and Photo Books are the single best way of displaying good photography. If we look at the history of humans and photography, we see a clean lineage of the book as a gift and the book as a family album. I really enjoy creating a book about each family member, so that over time, everyone gets a book.

7. Do Photo Books and Notebooks use the same materials?

No, photo books offer their own unique set of material options and the same is true for notebooks. One is not better than the other, so create what best suits your needs and budget.

8. Can I create a custom template for notebooks in Bookwright?

Sure. You create a custom template just like you would for any other book format. Name the template, save it to “my templates,” and you are good to go.

9. I tend to make books with Lightroom. Can I use Lightroom to make notebooks?

Currently, no. The best way to make a notebook or journal is with Bookwright.

10. Do you have any advice for using the notebook as a Journal?

Yes. Be creative, take chances, and use all the tools we used as kids. Scissors, glue, markers, paint, tape, etc. Write as if nobody will ever see what’s inside. I find journaling to be a very therapeutic endeavor.

Stay tuned for our next webinar in January 2019!

Custom Notebooks & Journals
Ready to make a completely custom notebook or journal? Choose from three sizes and mix and match blank, lined, square, or dot grid notebook pages. Get started today.

The post Hit the Books: Notebooks & Photo Books | Webinar Recap appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 6:
White Sands, New Mexico

This image is part of an ongoing project on the American West, with New Mexico being the primary focus. This particular image was made at White Sands National Monument with a Nikon F6 and 35mm lens. I used Kodak TRI-X 400 film.

What Worked?

There are two strong diagonals working in this frame. The first being the natural, sand ridgeline. It takes the viewers on a sloping path from right to left. The children are also aligned in a strong diagonal, that leads the viewers to the horizon line.

I also like how the children are matched up in similar poses. One set is standing and climbing, while the other is sitting and sliding. This is a real moment. Legs are in the air, arms raised, etc. If you look closely you can almost see the sand flying.

I also got lucky with a thin cloud layer, which provides detail in the sky. White Sands is an exposure nightmare typically, but the Nikon F6 has the best metering system of any camera I’ve ever used, so the exposure is dead on.

What Could be Better?

All of the children are on the same focal plane. All at nearly the same distance, which doesn’t provide much depth in the image. There is no real background outside of the cloud layer. I dream of a child in the foreground, on a sled, with sand blasting up in the air, but that is still a dream.

Although the distance I’m at provides a sense of scale, I could be one or two steps closer.

Ready to make a Photo Book? Get started today.

The post Daniel Milnor’s Notes on Photography │ White Sands appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Milestones book idea

From birthdays to promotions, from the last time on training wheels to the last day of high school, from the first 5k to the full 26.2 miles—life is full of big moments. Remind someone of the huge successes and turning points in their life by curating a photo book full of special snapshots. This photo book idea can be a collection of times they made you proud or the story of one particularly amazing journey, like the first year of parenthood. No matter what, it’s a great way to show someone you care and give them an opportunity to reflect.

Adventure album idea

A travel photo book is two gifts in one—a collection of beautiful photos and a chance to transport yourself back to an amazing trip. Whether it was a vacation to an Italian beach last summer or a quick weekend road trip you took years ago, a photo book can help you savor your shared travel memories. Use the album as a collection of highlights, or put the photos in chronological order to remember how you and your fellow travelers spent each day and where you went.

Pet photo book idea

While most pets prefer a bone or a ball, pet owners will be delighted to flip through page after page of their beloved furry friend. If your friend is an Insta Dog or Cat Parent (or any pet for that matter), you can download tons of great shots from their social media and put them in a square photo book. Opting for a smaller photo book will accommodate digital photos with less distortion and pixelation.

Wedding album idea

Capture and cherish every moment of your special day. You and your spouse can relive your ceremony and reflect on married life with a photo album that’s customized to highlight your favorite moments. Collect special memories from the ceremony to the dance floor and turn them into a one-of-a-kind Layflat photo book that will be treasured for years to come. Even if it wasn’t your wedding day but you were a guest, a small wedding photo book of the pics you and others took is a great gift idea for the couple! Include guest snapshots, the venue, and the happy couple’s moment at the altar that went by in a blur.

Children’s art portfolio book idea

Cherish your child’s creativity and this exact moment they’re in—whether it’s a superhero phase or a unicorn obsession—with a photo album of their artwork. The pictures, drawings, and colorful art that your child creates can make a truly special gift that not only celebrates artistic expression, but looks great on display. Photograph or scan their creations to share with family members in a photo book that’s made to last. Who knows, maybe this will be the first of many books your child creates.

Holiday photo book idea

The holiday season is filled with great photo ops of all kinds. There are family celebrations, festive decorations, snowy adventures, and delicious shared meals—all deserving of a close-up. Every day seems to bring new joys and surprises. What are the memories that stand out to you? Remind your loved ones of a previous holiday season from years past, or compile the memories you’ve already had this winter into a photo album that lets them look back and enjoy. 

A week in the life idea

Indulge in the ordinary moments. Give friends and family who live too far away an inside peek into your daily life. Spend a week documenting the routines you keep, funny moments you experience, and meals you make. Notice the little things. Create captions that give context and insight. You can create a connection with distant loved ones while gaining a new perspective on the quieter moments in life. 

Love book idea

Give your significant other or spouse a personalized photo book highlighting all those delightful dates and shared milestones. What does your love story look like? Gather up your favorite selfies and mementos to create a sweet album for that special someone on a birthday, holiday, or anniversary. Leave room for captions, pressed flowers, or old movie tickets to make your album even more immersive and tactile.

Baby book idea

Parents know how quickly baby milestones can breeze by. Even when you’re taking it all in, the changes in your little one can happen so fast and there will be countless moments you want to hold onto. Their first bath, first toy, first birthday, or first steps. Document all those sweet discoveries and new adventures in a precious album you can gift to the special people in your child’s life. Get more information with our baby book blog post. 

Graduation book idea

A graduation photo book is the perfect gift idea to commemorate their big day. Make it a celebratory collection of photos with friends, family, and teachers. Reserve sections in the book for specific topics like certificates of achievement, sporting events, or the school play. Give them the chance to celebrate their hard work with a yearbook that’s dedicated to them.

Family history book idea

Preserve your family history, photos, and memorabilia in a beautiful keepsake album, and you’ll have the perfect gift to share with relatives at reunions, birthdays, or holidays. Create a detailed narrative about your family with genealogical research, historical documents, and a family tree, or keep it simple with photos from each side of the family and personal captions. 

Hometown travel book idea

Photograph your hometown and its attractions through the eyes of a visitor. Visit the monuments, parks, best restaurants, and personal haunts and document them in a guidebook. Gift this travel photo book idea to friends who have yet to visit or loved ones that have already made the trip. If there’s something in your hometown travel book they haven’t seen, then they’ll have a list of reasons to come back!

Other ideas and considerations

Before you begin laying out a new photo book, think about paper type, consider your template, and plan captions. 

We recommend premium Mohawk photo paper in a Layflat book for an album that will stand the test of time and continue to look sleek and high-quality. Use a pre-built photo book template in BookWright to make it easy to lay out just like a pro designer would. You get the perfect mix of portrait and landscape shots on every page, but you’re able to customize the layout if you want more creative control. Lastly, remember to write meaningful captions. No matter your photo book theme, the image titles, and dates will make your photos that much more meaningful. Also, consider including inside jokes, anecdotes, quotes, and other bits of text to spark a memory. 

There you have it! Time to apply these ideas and get that creative energy flowing. Picture the personalized photo book you’d like to make. You can rest assured that your project will be a gift that’s cherished for years to come.

***

Ready to take one of these ideas and make them your own? Create a photo book today.

The post 12 photo book ideas that make great gifts appeared first on Blurb Blog.

If you have a collection of photography that you don’t know what to do with, turning them into a photo book is a great way to showcase your work. Whether you keep it just for yourself or share it as a portfolio, there are many photography book ideas you can create. Draw some inspiration from the photo book examples below to help you get started.

30 ideas for your next photo book

Idea #1 – Annual yearbook

Birthdays, reunions, vacations, renovations, new schools, graduations, new additions, big achievements—a lot can happen in a year, and nowadays most of it is caught on camera. Put it all into a photo book so you don’t forget a moment.

Idea #2 – ABC photo book

The alphabet is one of the first things we all learn. A photo book full of a little one’s favorite things and bright colors can help make that first adventure into the world of words even more fun.

Idea #3 – A photo a day

If a new addition in your family is growing fast, taking a picture of them every day can help you record the changes that take place in the blink of an eye. We love this photo book idea to capture evolution over time. But it doesn’t have to be a person. How about taking a picture from the same street corner every day? What changes do you see? What stories emerge as you lay out your images in your photo book?

Idea #4 – Pick a color

For a creative project, pick your favorite color and take as many pictures as you can featuring all of its different hues. It’s a great way to practice your photography and photo editing skills as well as leaving you with a photo book full of your favorite shades.

Idea #5 – Four seasons

The world around us changes from month to month, as one season flows into another. Capture this beautiful, natural process with photos of the same tree, garden, or vista in spring, summer, fall, and winter. Those images will make a stunning coffee table photo book.

Idea #6 – Anniversary album

The traditional gift for a first wedding anniversary is paper. So, what better way to celebrate than with a beautiful photo book made up of images from your first year of wedded bliss. Hint…it makes a good gift for all the other years to come, too! View our anniversary photo book ideas for more inspiration.

Idea #7 – By children, for children

This is a great idea for a summer project. Ask your children, nephews, and nieces to come up with their very own bedtime story, featuring all their favorite characters. Encourage them to draw the illustrations for each scene and turn them into a book that they’ll want to read again and again.

Idea #8 – Portfolio

Whatever your career goals, having a book full of your best work and ideas is an invaluable tool. From photographers to make-up artists, a professional-quality photo book is the ideal way to showcase your skills and talent.

Idea #9 – Client book

At the end of each year, you’ll want to reach out to your clients to thank them for their support and remind them of the successful projects you’ve worked on together. A personalized photo book is an effective and memorable way to strengthen your business connections.

Idea #10 – Instagram photo book

Instagram empowers us to capture the beautiful, inspirational, and hilarious moments of everyday life.  The moments that are otherwise lost forever as we rush through each day. With Blurb’s free tools, you can turn your Instagram shots into a handy photo book, so you can remember the things that made you smile, if even for a moment.

Idea #11 – Cookbook

When it comes to delicious food we all have our tried and tested family favorites. With a personal cookbook, you can indulge in some home comforts wherever you go. Try using our free cookbook templates to make sure you don’t miss out any crucial steps or ingredients.

Idea #12 – Coffee table photo book

Shots of stunning vistas and panoramic views were made to be displayed, uninterrupted, on the pages of a layflat wedding book. Perfect for browsing through on lazy Sunday mornings, relaxing with a cup of coffee.

Idea #13 – Travel guide

If you love to travel, you likely have a ton of amazing photographs you don’t know what to do with. Combine your travel photos with local tips and advice to help others find their way around your favorite places. Explore our travel photo book ideas for some inspiration.

Idea #14 – Reasons I love you

Let the person you love most in the world know exactly why. From the big things to the little everyday things, a combination of illustrations, photos, and anecdotes could make a beautiful Valentine’s Day gift.

Idea #15 – Super fan memento

What’s your favorite sports team, band, author, or film director? Share your passion and knowledge with others who love the same things you do. Make a photo book full of images and fun facts, and let the world know why you’re a super fan!

Idea #16 – Family tree book

Who we are today has been shaped by the people that came before us. Celebrate your family history with a family tree photo book that traces your family tree back to its roots. An ideal gift for everyone at the next family reunion!

Idea #17 – Flipbook illustrations

If you’re a dab hand at illustrations you could make your very own classic flip book for a novel way to tell a short story.

Idea #18 – Fashion line

If your burning ambition is to clothe the next generation of runway models, why not get started on designing your own fashion line. Annotated sketches or images of garments you’ve already created will make for a stylish photo book showcasing your natural good taste.

Idea #19 – Coloring book

If you’ve got piles of sketchbooks full of illustrations, drawings, and doodles, then you’ve got the makings of a beautiful coloring book, worthy of a place on the shelves of the Blurb Bookstore.

Idea #20 – Cocktail recipe book

What’s your favorite tipple? Pair elegant shots of classic combinations and new concoctions with ingredient lists and instructions, for a recipe book with a twist.

Idea #21 – Charity drive

Whether you’re raising awareness or raising funds, a book explaining your story, your purpose, and examples of how people can help make a difference could be an effective way to persuade others to dig deep or give their time.

Idea #22 – Wedding book

No big day is complete without an album that captures every special moment. Our Layflat books with panoramic spreads mean you can relive every minute as though you were doing it all again.

Idea #23 – Wedding guest book

The perfect memento of a special day. Create a book that your nearest and dearest can fill with best wishes, anecdotes, and their memories of you and your other half.

Idea #24 – Engagement book

One question. One answer. Celebrate the start of your new adventure together with a photo book that captures the moment it all began.

Idea #25 – How-to guide

Crafting, cooking, knitting, writing, photography—whatever you’re good at, share your knowledge and expertise with the world using a combination of clean-cut images and rich-text formatting options.

Idea #26 – B&B guest book

If you’re in the business of hosting guests from far and wide, a custom guest book is the perfect way to capture the stories of the travelers that pass through your door. Or why not create a book for each guest’s room detailing all there is to do, see, eat, and drink in your local area.

Idea #27 – Graduation day

From your first day at school to your first day as a graduate, you’ve worked hard to get to where you are. A world of opportunity awaits but take a moment to recognize the journey you’ve been on, what you’ve achieved, and the people who’ve shared it with you.

Idea #28 – Pet books

Our furry friends are part of the family and that means they deserve their very own photo book. They keep us company, make us laugh, and bring joy to our lives every day. Isn’t it about time to create a pet photo album dedicated to all those great memories? If you can get them to sit still long enough for a photo that is!

Idea #29 – Photo essay

It might be a cliché, but it’s true that often a picture paints a thousand words. If you’ve got a story to tell a carefully curated photo book could be the most powerful way to get your message across.

Idea #30 – Wonderful wildlife

What better subject for photography and illustration than the beautiful flora and fauna of the natural world around you. Why not start by documenting the wildlife roaming around your own backyard?

***

One format. 30 different ideas. And that’s just the start. Add to our list of photo book ideas with your next project. What will it be?

Ready to make a photo book? Get started today!

The post 30 photo book ideas to get you started appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Image 4:
Sahara, Morocco

With a co-worker preparing for a trip to Morocco, I thought this image appropriate. It’s taken somewhere in the Sahara Desert, Morocco in the year 2000. It was shot from the back of a camel with a Leica M6, TMAX 3200 film, and a 35mm f/2 lens. We ended up spending the night out in the dunes and were lucky enough to experience a full moon, which was so remarkably bright it was nearly impossible to sleep.

What Worked?

There is a lot about this image I like. First, the gesture. I am from the “decisive moment” philosophy, so catching real moments is key for my photography. His arm gesture also comes in the form of a diagonal, which adds a dynamic element to the foreground. The man is slightly off center, so not quite Rule of Thirds, but pretty close.

I also like how the light bends around the dunes and leads your eye back, right, then up and out of the frame.

Finally, I took this image from above, which really helps isolate the man in the foreground and provides an overall depth to the image.

What Could be Better?

This was one of those cloudless days in the Sahara, so there really isn’t much detail or drama in the sky. Not much I could do about this, but maybe I could have used a yellow filter to add a bit of contrast. I also think I need to bring a little more detail out of the dunes.

Lastly, the footprints in the upper left. Without those prints, it would look like virgin dunes, which to me, would add to the feeling of isolation.

Photo Books
Ready to make a Photo Book? Get started today.

The post Daniel Milnor: Notes on Photography │Sahara appeared first on Blurb Blog.

01
How do I prepare my gear?

I’ll just say this, be ready. Remember, most of the time you will be driving, so have your gear ready and waiting. When you see something you have to slow down, get out, and shoot, so having to unload, unpack, or assemble means you are going to miss critical moments. I keep one camera and lens outside of whatever bag or case I’m using, but I also keep it covered and in the shade. I try to keep it as low in the vehicle as possible. Heat rises, so why risk baking your favorite lens? Those reflective windshield covers work perfectly to hide gear and keep it cool.

02
Do you have any specific road trip gear?

I sure do. A road trip is different to a long-term documentary project, where I would be focusing on something specific for an extended period of time. Road trips are about the unexpected. My favorite road trip gear combination is a Polaroid camera, and/or any other instant film camera, and a journal. Instant film is, well, instant, and with a glue stick in hand, you can glue those babies into your journal, and create a real-time book of your adventures. You can then scan or photograph those pages and create a Blurb version of the same book. I’ve done this many times, and find the journal to be one of the most personal aspects of any good road trip.

Road trips are about the unexpected.

03
How do you turn your photos into a cohesive book of photography?

Think about a theme, or several themes. This could be something straightforward like “sunrise” or “landscapes,” but I would choose something slightly different like “red objects” or “the ugliest truck stop t-shirt.” Strange is good. You can also choose a single word and play off of that—something like “reflective,” ”transition,” or “geologic.” I typically have at least two themes going at all times, in addition to the main theme of “Hey, I’m on a road trip so I’m photographing everything.” Combining all these themes can help you tell the entire story of your journey.

04
What about portraits?

If I never see another selfie, it will be too soon. Forget the selfie. Real photographers aim their cameras at other people. I’ve always found the portrait to be the difference between people who claim to be photographers and those who truly are. Portraits are an essential part of any good road trip. The cop who pulls you over. The park ranger. The gas station attendant. The truck stop massage therapist. Whoever. It doesn’t matter.

Break the ice early in the trip by photographing your road trip travel companions. Photography is like any athletic endeavor; the more you practice the better you will be.

Watch our webinar about portrait photography.

05
How do I photograph people I don’t know?

Embrace the stranger. Talk to people. Do it right and they will take you off the road, into their lives, and beyond.

One of the tricky things about photography today is that every single person has a phone in their hand and is incessantly shooting every single aspect of their day. For someone who might live along a popular road trip route, this could get very tiring. So, you have to talk to people and explain who you are, what you are doing, and that photography is not just a hobby, but something you take very seriously. How you carry yourself, how you explain yourself, how you pose people, speak to them, and explain your process is critical to portrait success. Once people realize they are part of your process, and not just a quick victory, there is often more of a willingness to let you engage. This willingness can also lead to the wonderful “If you think I’M interesting, you should go photograph my brother!”

06
I feel like I see so much road trip photography, so how do I avoid the clichés?

Great question. Does the world need another image of someone in a VW van posing in lotus alongside a famous Southwest artery? Short answer? No. Even though the idea of a road trip might seem like it should cover the cliché mainstays of roadside attractions and heavenly landscapes, what makes a road trip interesting is you, and the more personal you are the better off you are going to be.

It seems that many photographers today are shooting for the idea of who they are supposed to be, not who they truly are, which is why so much of the photography we see today is so sterile, predictable, and homogenized. I want to see the imperfect, the personal, and the mysterious. It doesn’t matter if it’s slightly out of focus, or the exposure is off by 1/3 of a stop. I don’t want to see retouching or perfectly crafted images. I want to see soul. Question yourself and dig deep into the “why” you are doing what you do. I want to see your fingerprints on those maps and those images.

07
I have such limited time, so how can I make something interesting?

I hear this a lot. “I want to go on a road trip, but I only have two days.” Well, two-days is totally fine. Do yourself a favor and slow down. Literally.

Why not take a one mile stretch of road and just focus on what happens in that one, small space? Spend the entire 48 hours shooting. You would be surprised what happens on the right stretch of road. And this is the total opposite of most road trips, where people are covering huge sections of the country at high speed. Once, I did an entire project on the intersection of two roads. I visited the same exact intersection repeatedly until I had a body of images. I chose an intersection in a city, but you could easily do this at a rural location. You could even set up a backdrop and make portraits of passing drivers. Just a thought.

08
Should I edit and share as I go?

In my personal opinion, no. My philosophy on this matter is definitely in the minority, but I believe you can’t do two things at once and expect to do both of them to the best of your ability. This comes back to the personal aspect of the road trip, and how important it is. If you are shooting and sharing as you go, you are shooting for the audience and not for yourself. To do truly great photography you must be connected at a deep level, beyond the obvious, beyond the cliché, beyond the popular. I think personal photography needs to be marinated. Slow cooked if you will.

Just slow down, think and connect. Share when you have something cohesive to say, something personal.

09
What about turning your road trip photography into a travel book?

This entire post was always about the book at the end of your trip! I’ll give you a personal example.

The last real road trip I undertook was a 4,000-kilometer trek through the wilds of Western Australia. Ten days. Two friends from Perth and myself in a Hyundai diesel SUV. I had two gear-based themes going. One was mobile phone photography in color, the other was black and white photography with a 6×6 Hasselblad.

I knew I wanted a book that encompassed the flavor of the entire trip, but I also knew this would be a semi-difficult book to make because we saw so much, and covered so much ground, that the edit alone would take some time. So, to take the pressure off, I first created a book titled “No Reception” about the mobile phone photography. I gave myself thirty minutes to make the book, total. Yep, that’s it. I made myself NOT take it too seriously, and this landed a book on my doorstep less than ten days later.

This meant that I felt more relaxed about making the overall book, which I titled “Meat and Candy” after the two things my friends seemed to eat every single day. I found this funny and fascinating and knew it was the kind of personal detail that would make the book very much mine. I chose a format (7×7) that fit the aspect ratio of my negatives and was also inexpensive, but looked great. And to make the book feel serious, I used the Proline Uncoated paper. This book was never meant for public consumption, but I love it because it brings me right back to those moments in one of my all-time favorite places.

10
Are there any great road trip books out there?

Yes, for sure. One of the most famous photobooks of all time, “The Americans” by Robert Frank, was about a trip across the United States. One of my personal favorites is “Voyages” by Raymond Depardón. Lee Friedlander also has some great road trip imagery. And don’t forget to watch things like Smokey and the Bandit or Cannonball Run, to get really fired up beforehand. Good luck, be safe.

Travel Photo Books
Ready to make a travel book? Get started with one of our high-on-design templates or create your own custom layout.

The post Hit the Books: How to Take Photographs on the Road appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Unique memory books 

Important people

A meaningful memory book tells the story of you and the people that matter most to you. Start by making a list of loved ones to include and gather up the memories that capture your unique bond. You can divide your book into sections dedicated to each friend or family member, group your photos by season or special event, or treat each page as a collage of moments. Don’t forget to add fun quotes and captions.

Happiness book

Seeing things you love and your favorite things to do is an instant mood boost. Whenever you’re feeling lonely, discouraged, or uninspired, you can leaf through for a fresh place to start. This one doesn’t even have to be your own photography.  It can be quotes, cutouts from magazines, images you find on Unsplash—anything that makes you happy to see it. Simply creating is a happy activity, let alone when it lives in your line of sight.

Childhood toys

This is a great baby book idea. As children outgrow toys, stuffed animals, even well-loved costumes, shoes, and capes, take a photo of them. It may not be practical to keep each object forever, but you can keep all the memories between the covers of a memory book.

Favorite songs and albums

This kind of memory book works for any age. Create an autobiography out of songs and albums. Find the cover art, maybe even photograph your physical copies of CDs and vinyl.  Write a brief note about the memories connected to that song or album, or how it shaped you. Author Nick Hornby did this brilliantly with his book, Songbook, but you don’t have to be a bestselling author to organize your record collection in the pages of a book.

Quotes and inspiration

We get inspiration for how to live from so many places. Whether it’s family wisdom passed down, favorite authors, or Instagram reposts, creating your own memory book means you can collect it all into one volume to revisit for reminders. Pair quotes with photos of the family member that made them famous, or with photos and illustrations that also inspire you. It’s like making a mix-tape of all the wisdom you carry around. The best part about making it yourself is that it’s yours! Your collection will be as unique as you are, and that’s the beauty of it!

Doodles and drawings

Digitize those sketches and get them into something more permanent. This also makes a great gift for the artist or doodler in your life. Photograph the best pages in sketchbooks, notebooks, and journals and create a personal body of work in one, professionally printed volume. This safeguards your ideas, inspirations, and practice sketches from getting lost or scattered.

Commonplace memory book

This is one for readers. One way to remember what you read is to write excerpts in notebooks for future use. It’s a practice that dates back to the 18th century. but many people now keep notes of what they read without even knowing about the tradition. Your memory book doesn’t have to be visual. It can be a gathering of your reading notes into a single volume. As you compile them, you can sort them into different categories—love, success, faith, money, and lay out your book according to those sections. You’ll create a volume that’ll be an heirloom for years to come.

Pet album

It’s becoming more and more common to see Instagram accounts solely dedicated to pets. There’s something special about our furry friends who bring so much joy and love to our lives. Our pets are family members! Why relegate those photos to a phone? Put them in pages so your pets can live on with the rest of the family and take their place in the collection of family albums.

Year-in-review

Speaking of getting your photos off your phone, why not make an annual photo book? Put those special moments in print so they aren’t forever buried in a feed. You can auto-flow your photos right from your phone and Facebook account, and within minutes, you have a print version of your year. Don’t leave your memories to constantly-changing technology. You took those photos for a special reason, put them in a memory book so they’ll stand the test of time.

Annual events

It’s easy to overlook these because they happen every year. But making a memory book about an annual event is easy because the theme is already there! Gather all the pumpkin patch photos, or shots from the annual sisters’ road trip, or from holidays over the years. Maybe you always attend opening day for baseball. Having the photos in a book means you can revisit those annual events throughout the year.

The whole journey

Is there something you’ve done that took you months or years to accomplish? A goal you finally reached? A project that finally reached completion? Maybe you reached your weightlifting objective, and you have your gym selfies to show your progress. Maybe you finished a mural. Have you been fundraising for an important cause?

Put together the memories of how you got there because sometimes it’s as much about what it took to get somewhere as actually making it. If you haven’t started your journey yet, bearing in mind the possibility of making a memory book will encourage you to document along the way!

Where I’m from

This can be an important gift to yourself as a tool of self-discovery, but it can also be a comforting gift for someone who’s about to set sail for somewhere new. Gather photos that represent family heritage, pictures, and artifacts from a hometown or neighborhood, histories of local landmarks, family traditions, etc. Taking a good look at your roots, and holding them in your hand in the form of a memory book, can give you wings to reach the next place on your life journey.

Weekend getaways

Just because it isn’t a big vacation doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of print. Bachelorette weekends, family visits, local adventures, brief visits—they make great little volumes of memories. Plan a little in advance, and you’ll be able to collect everyone else’s photos from the trip and have plenty of material to create a travel photo book.

Custom ABC memory book

You may not be a world-class illustrator, but you can make a special children’s book for the little ones in your life. Gather photos for each letter of the alphabet that are personal and meaningful. It’s a fun creative challenge for you that has a built-in structure and theme, and it’s fun learning for your little one as you pore over it for years to come.

Letters of note

It’s rare to exchange written letters anymore, but we have a flurry of emails. Some of our most poignant cultural memories come from the letters of writers and artists that were originally “off the record”. What written treasures do you have stashed in a folder in your inbox? Take out those early-days romantic emails, those stories from studying abroad, or the day-to-day catch-ups between friends. Clear away the clutter and arrange the collection as a conversation. Years from now, you’ll be so glad you don’t have to track down a way to read them.

See how Kathleen Monahan turned her father’s handwritten letters into a wonderful family memento: Dear Mom Love Johnny.

Vision memory book

What about the memories you still want to make? You’ve heard of vision boards—where you keep visual reminders of goals, hopes, and dreams. What about a vision book? Put those plans and future reflections in writing on real pages. Where do you want to be in five or 10 years? What do you want your life to look like? What’s your plan for getting there? Gather pictures, quotes, detailed descriptions, and reflections for your vision book. Make it beautiful. Keep it laying around. When you hold one of these in your hands, you can meditate on creating a life that inspires the most important audience—yourself!

We already have a library of memories in our heads. They flood back in an instant, triggered by a certain scent, song, or time of year. Maybe there are a few we don’t want to see again, but others, when they are brought back to mind, meaning we get to experience that love and joy all over again. Rather than wait for the weather or a particular combination of smells, put the best ones in pages so you can take them off the shelf whenever you’d like. Make that inner library a real one you can have and hold with personal memory books.

The post 16 ideas for making a memory book appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Tell us about your work. How did you get started as a stylist?

Originally, I started out styling and designing as a home stager. Eventually, that turned into styling products in my own home for Instagram and my blog. I work with companies that have similar values, quality products that I can stand behind, and a style similar to what I produce. My favorite clients trust me and my styling abilities, and they give me free reign to create something I think people can relate to or be inspired by.

What role does photography play in your business?

Photography is huge in my business. Having the correct lighting and layout are all important to showcasing a space that I designed. I don’t consider myself a photographer, but I’m definitely particular about angles and balance, so that comes in very handy when I’m taking a picture.

What was it like to make your book?

I’ve never made a book like this before, so I wasn’t sure how easy it would be. I was surprised at how straightforward it was and how much fun I had. I kept adding more and more pages!

What do you think of Layflat?

The Layflat paper was perfect because landscape shots really showcase the interior of our RV, which was an important part of our book. Being able to have that spread across two pages without a crease was priceless.

How does making a print page layout compare to designing and styling a space?

I used a lot of similar techniques that I do while mixing patterns when I designed my book. If I selected an image that had a lot going on for the left side, then I chose something a bit subtler for the right side. I also tried to keep similar color stories from page to page so there was a consistency as you flip through the book. I think that’s very similar to, in a home, where each room blends into the next with a color story.

How does your Blurb Book compare to other photo books you’ve seen?

I was really impressed with the quality of the photos being printed on such a large scale. It was also amazing to see my landscape images spread across the Layflat pages; it looked so professional! It was really fun to be able to create a title for the book and the customizability was a great feature.

What are the best parts of your job? What are some of your challenges?

The best part of my job is that I’m doing exactly what I want and what makes me happy. Being able to get paid for that is absolutely amazing! A challenge would be not knowing exactly how much I’ll make financially every month.

When you were a small child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I’ve always been obsessed with decorating and often redecorated my space and my parents’ house (when they would let me!) I’m doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do!

If you could go back and talk to your 5-years-ago-self about your business, what would you say?

Listen to your gut and just keep doing what your instincts tell you to do. Don’t try and force yourself into what you think people want. If you’re doing what you love, other people will love it as well because it’s creative and authentic.

What’s one project you’re dying to do?

I would love to have full reign on a hotel project and make every room completely different from the next. I actually have a goal of opening up an Airbnb and doing just that in the next year or so.

Thanks so much, Liz, for taking the time to talk with us. We can’t wait to see what you create next!

What do you think is the key to translating a 3D Space to 2D page layouts? Share your tips in the comments below!

The post Travelling in Style: Layflat with Liz Kamarul appeared first on Blurb Blog.

First, collect them all, with albums in mind. Think through the photos you’ll want to keep when you consult with your photographer and encourage guests to take photos with a mind to share them. The tricky thing is getting files sized for print from your guests, where you don’t have to snag lower-quality pictures from Facebook and Instagram. Try using an app like WedPics or Wedding Snap, and encourage guests to download it and add to your collection. You can put these apps to work from your engagement party and various showers through the day-after wedding brunch. You’ll need to create accounts and albums and do a bit of planning, but a little setup with guests and photographers goes a long way.

Once you’ve got your photos collected, sort them into albums based on the chronology of your day: rehearsal dinner, getting ready, formal portraits, reception landmarks, etc. This helps you make sense of what you have, and move through your images a bit faster when building album collections.

An anthology of the whole wedding is an obvious, must-make wedding project. But it won’t hold everything, and a wedding album is focused on the bride and groom. Here are a few ways to use the rest of those much-loved wedding day photos:

Bridesmaid Book/Groomsman Book

The wedding party was there for all the best moments, which means they were in many of the photos and maybe took as many themselves. They were there for showers and bachelor/bachelorette bashes, and you have as many photos from the lead-up as you do from the big day. Customize a photo book gift for your attendants with special moments—especially the Maid of Honor or Best Man—as a thank you, which also serves as a great bridal party gift.

His & Her Parents Albums

Many people’s wedding day would have been impossible without the love and support of their parents, and weddings offer a special time for families to come together. Create a family album, emphasizing sweet moments and showcasing siblings so your parents can remember favorite family celebrations.

Grandparents Albums

These can feature not only significant ceremony moments and grandparent photos, but shots of all the grandkids together or grandkids being their silly selves.

Destination Albums

If you got married somewhere gorgeous, why not pair all the venue photos with your location and honeymoon photos? You’ll have a travel album that’s sentimental and one-of-a-kind.

Wedding Guest Albums

If you were a guest at a wedding for one of your much-loved family members or friends, chances are good that you’ve loaded your phone with the day from your point of view. Why not make an Instagram album and give it back to the couple as a photo book gift? They’ll cherish those memories and enjoy the recap of missed moments as much as you do.

Wedding photos in the digital age are the photos that keep on giving. And they’ll last a lifetime, with hours and hours of enjoyment, if they’re printed and accessible. Make the most of those cherished memories by collecting, printing, and sharing them in albums for anyone.

Have a suggestion for a wedding day photo book gift that’s a bit unexpected? Post ways to share your wedding photos in the comments below!

The post 1 Wedding, 100s of Guests: Gift Albums from The Big Day appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Allan Jenkins’ work combines the best of traditional and modern techniques. For example, his Victorian-era cyanotype prints are created from digital negatives and his self-published print books are based on his hand-sketched notebooks. Jenkins’ ability to succeed in both the fine art and commercial photography worlds is a testament to his craft. He was kind enough to talk to us about his process, his work, his thoughts on the state of photography today, and the books he has made with Blurb.

The post Talking Cuba and Cyanotypes with Photographer Allan Jenkins appeared first on Blurb Blog.

Arthur Tress has been taking pictures for more than five decades, constantly exploring new ways to express himself visually. From his early work in ethnographical photography, to environmentally-focused documentary work, and fantastical fabrications of “magical realism,” Tress has consistently reinvented himself. And he was kind enough to speak with us about his life, his work, and the books he self-publishes with Blurb.

The post The Marvelous World and Books of Arthur Tress appeared first on Blurb Blog.