Digital Scrapbooking 101 BLOG

Simple Ideas to Entertain the Kids this Summer (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on June 25th, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Training.

2 Simple Ideas to Entertain the Kids this Summer (Part 2 of 2)

By: Wes Waddell 

We left off in part 1 with setting up the Digital Mystery Game and providing some basic ground rules and courtesies as needed.  We then sent our little spies, detectives and reporters out into their world to gather the data and photo evidence for their first story.  Now, it’s time to put on the final touches and to finish up the stories.

Playing the editor:

Your job in the game is not to criticize or take control, but to guide the children in their stories.  Yes, the younger they are the more help they’ll need; at least at first. But, you’ll also find that with just a little guidance, it won’t be long and they’ll be almost completing each story on their own.

When they first come back, have them explain a little about what they seen, what is on their notes (make sure they take notes… it’s very important later) and how the story unfolds.  Make sure that they have a beginning, a middle (the content that matches the title you first gave them) and a finish or ending.

If any of the parts are missing or it doesn’t match the story title, then your guidance as the editor is needed.  Ask them questions that lead them to the answers themselves. Ask why a photo is important or what could be added to better tell the complete story.  It’ doesn’t have to be perfect, just complete and thought out to the best of their abilities. 

If you see them begin to get frustrated, take a snack break or give them a clue that helps them out. Above all, keep it fun or it won’t last long.  You’ll also see that their stories and their capabilities will grow as they do more and more of them.  You’ll find a healthy helping of praise for what they do will go a long way in motivating them to go farther and do more.

Now, if needed, send them back out to gather the rest of the photo evidence and story notes.

The Final Story:

The fun doesn’t stop when the photos are all taken.  Now it’s time for them to draft the storybook scrapbook and show off the stories in a newsletter or website.

No, you don’t have to be a computer wiz to make this work, but if you do know how to assemble a basic web site or to create an online newsletter or blog, then you can show mom & dad or grandma and grandpa what the kids have been up to.

If you don’t know how to put the storybook scrapbooks or newsletters online, then just print the photos on card stock or photo papers and cut them out.  Then just get out the glue sticks, colored markers and stickers and let them create the stories the old fashioned way… by hand. 

We even take the digital storybook scrapbooks and print them out sometimes and then paste them to a large poster board in newspaper fashion with large photos of the kids by their stories.  Frame it in a poster frame and you have some really treasured memories to hang on the wall.

Kids and computers go well together and kids these days are using computers in school as young as 6 years old.  You can use any word processing program or digital scrapbook program to insert the photos and add the story text to.  Many of them will allow you to save the finished stories as a web page or upload to a blog. My 10 year old granddaughter is able to help her 7 year old sister to create beautiful storybook pages with Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.  I showed them how a couple of times and now I only have to help print the final stories after I review them.

That’s it, how far you take the game is up to you.  Create a whole summer storybook scrapbook or just have a few wonderful pages to frame and hang on your walls.  It’s fun, it keeps them busy and the memories they create are preserved for years to come.

It just doesn’t get any better than that!

Wes Waddell

www.PrincessCrafts.com
www.TwastheNightScrapbook.com

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2 Simple Ideas to Entertain the Kids this Summer

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Training.

2 Simple Ideas to Entertain the Kids this Summer (Part 1 of 2)

By: Wes Waddell

 

“School’s Out for The Summer” as the classic KISS song goes.  These words begin causing stress for many a parent weeks before the actual event takes place.

 

Why?

 

Because every parent knows that within days… sometime hours, the dreaded whine begins: “Mommy, I’m bored… there’s nothing to do!”, “I don’t want to go outside, there’s no one to play with!”  The historic echo’s still ring within the walls at our house, even now after the kids are grown and on their own.

 

The good news is that I’ve found a new way to keep my grandkids entertained for not just hours, but for days and even weeks during the summer, and no, it’s not sending them to grandma and grampa’s house!  I’ve taken an old page from my grandmother’s bag of fun and turned it into a new technology children’s game.

 

We call it “The Digital Mystery”

 

Appropriate for kids ages 6 and up… especially good for “Tweens” and young “Teens.”

 

No! you can’t get it in stores…  at least not yet

 

All you need is a cheap digital camera, a small notebook with pencil and a few minutes of your time creating story lines.  I’ll explain the story lines in just a minute; first let’s talk about the equipment.

 

I said cheap digital camera for a reason.  Kids are sometimes hard on things… I know that’s nothing new to you.  But the younger they are the harder it is for them to take care of things and to keep track of them.  So, depending on age, just pick one up that you can get in almost any chain store these days. Your only requirement is that it needs to hold at least 36 to 40 images in its memory so you aren’t bothered every few minutes downloading them to a computer. Of course older kids will be able to do this themselves.

 

The notebook and pencil can be anything from pocket size to a school notebook. They’ll be using it to take small notes on what they see in each photo they take. Younger children will need more room to write and older kids will want something that can fit in their pocket or camera case. If you use a larger notebook, consider putting it in a small backpack or shoulder bag for them to carry it in… don’t forget to put their names on it!

 

Now, on to your small part in the game.

 

The object of the game is to tell a story using digital photographs and notes or comments for each picture.  Your part is to come up with a few story titles for them to start with.  Here’s a few things to consider when you start listing the mystery story titles:

 

1. The younger the child, the smaller the area they have to explore. You may want them to stay in the back yard or on your block.  If you live in an apartment complex, you may need them to stay in a play area or inside the building itself.  So, you wouldn’t want mystery titles such as “What the neighbors did today” if you want them to stay in the back yard. You might want titles such as “Bugs of the 123 Willow St. House” or “What Else Lives at 654 Bluebird Lane.” My 6 year old granddaughter loves “What My Teddy Bear Did Today.”
2. Your titles need to hint at some kind of mystery or puzzle that needs to be solved. You want the kids to have a definite purpose with the photos and story and not be able to just take random pictures of just any old thing.  You want them to think (age appropriate) and take some time… preferably a lot of it; in coming up with the final story. Tweens and Teens love to play the part of the detective or spy. Give them titles like: “What Changed in the Neighborhood Today?” or “Who Worked on Our Block?” One of my 10 year old granddaughter’s favorites is “Wildlife of Our Street.”
3. While you don’t want them peeping in windows or invading the privacy of siblings or others, you do want to nurture their natural curiosity and imaginations.  Depending on the child, you may need to set some basic ground rules and consequences for breaking the rules.  The bottom line is that you want them to have fun, but at the same time you want them to be courteous to others.

 

Getting Started:

 

It’s best if you begin planning a few days before school’s out.  Having 8 to 10 Mystery titles (per child) all ready to go before you need them will make your life much easier and ensure that they have plenty to keep them busy.

 

One quick note:  This also works really well for vacations and day trips too.

 

Here’s how we play it at our house:

 

I set up a storyboard using a piece of white poster board.  I have a column for each of the grandkids with their name at the top of the column.  Below I have rows about a ruler wide all the way down the page.  Under each name I have a story title for each child that is different and age appropriate. 

 

After every 5 stories, there’s a prize that they earn for getting to that point.  I never have more than 5 stories listed at any time for each child as I keep that part of my mystery as to what comes next and what the next prize will be.  After they finish one story, I add a new one to their column so that they always have five listed and one prize they are working towards.

 

Depending on how long they will be staying with us, I try and make the last prize a really special one that I know they will cherish.  Last summer we took them to a water park at the end of the week.  This summer, since they are a bit older… we are looking at getting them new digital cameras now that they know how to use them and take care of them.

 

Next, I’m the editor for a fictional news site.  I have final say over all completed stories (just like in the real world) and I get to send them back out to fix any parts of their story that I find missing.  This serves the purpose of both, keeping them busy longer, and at the same time teaching them to complete the whole story with quality (age appropriate again) work with complete thoughts.

 

That’s it! Off they go to start their first story and you are free to do what needs to get done around the house… even if that’s to relax or take a nap

 

In part two, we show you how to keep them busy by actually creating the story on the computer using the photos and notes they take here.

 

Until then…

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8 Tips for Taking Better Digital Photos

Posted on March 3rd, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Training.

Title: 8 Tips for Taking Better Digital Photos

Author: Wes Waddell

Article:

I used to have problems taking good digital photos that I was proud to show off to family and friends… Do you have the same trouble taking good digital photos like I did?

I spent lots of money and spent months of my time taking photo courses only to learn that unless I was going to become a professional photographer, 93% of what I learned had nothing to do with shooting great photos for my walls and scrapbooks.

If you are a lot like me and are looking for just the right information on how to take good digital camera photographs for personal use – If you are looking for the right tips that will keep you from missing or messing up the once-in-a-lifetime photos of family events and vacation travel – then you have come to the right place. 

So, What do you need to know in order for you to begin taking really good digital photos? Well, the first thing you’re going to need to remember is this: It’s you, the photographer that takes beautiful photos, not the camera. You can have the most expensive camera in the world, but if it’s not pointed in the right direction and you don’t click the shutter… you get no photos. Just think about it for a minute. It’s really true… isn’t it? I’ve personally seen some people (myself included) take truly gorgeous photos with a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera, while others take absolutely lousy shots with the most expensive digital SLR.

Fear not my friend! By read these 8 simple tips on shooting good digital photos and applying them the next time you take photos – Before you know it, you’ll be capturing photos that will make a pro proud.  REALLY!

Let’s get started:

1. Read the Instructions

This one should already sound familiar to you. You go out and buy the latest digital camera out there, bring it home, take it out of it’s box and then immediately proceed to work with the knobs and try to take photos with it.

You may briefly flip through the hundred plus page digital camera manual and then probably put it back in the box and never look at it again. I’ve got to tell you… this is NOT a good idea!

If you take the time to buy a good digital camera, you owe it to yourself and to your family, who’s photos you will be taking, to understand all of its ins and outs. Take just a little time to learn how to control it’s manual exposure settings, how to use all of it’s different automatic exposure modes and probably most of all – how to use the flash and how far away it will work. The knowledge you gain about the workings of your digital camera will be invaluable when you’re out with your family taking those special photos.

2. Control the Flash

I know we briefly touched on this one in step one, but it’s so important that I’m taking it to the next level here. One of the most important techniques you need to learn with your digital photography is how to control the flash. Personally, I rarely rely on the automatic flash that comes with most digital cameras. Depending on the individual situation, you will need to sometimes turn off the flash (if for nothing else to conserve on batteries as the flash is one of the biggest users of power) or use the flash as a fill while still capturing the backgrounds that are out of it’s range.

Let’s look at an example: When taking outdoor photos, it is sometimes a good idea to turn on the flash and use it to illuminate the subject (fill flash), especially if your subject is in the shade or has the sun at their back. On the other hand, you may choose to turn off the flash when taking some indoor shots. Sometimes, using the flash indoors can result in a harsh glare or reflection from glass in your photos.

3. Know Your Macro Mode

Almost all of today’s digital cameras come with a macro mode. This setting is meant for taking close up shots of small objects like flowers or figurines. On our Fuji S2000, it’s represented by a flower symbol on the back near the LDC screen. On our Nikon, it’s the same flower but it’s on the thumb wheel setting control. You’ll want to read the instruction in the manual for your exact limits, but when you turn on the macro mode you get as close as 4 to 6 inches. Most of today’s digital cameras will focus in macro mode between 4 inches and 1 or 2 feet. Makes for some great background close-up photos.

4. Keep the Camera Level

The basic rule of you always hear in photography is that you need to hold the camera level. OK, common sense.  But, has anyone ever given you the tips as to how to best make sure this happens?

Since most digital cameras come with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, you can use it to properly level your digital photos. Here’s how you do it: The next time you’re taking a photo inside or out, try to look at the LCD screen or in the viewfinder for the horizontal lines to use as guides. What I mean is to make use of lines such as the horizon when you’re taking a photo of a sunset or a window sill or wall corner when you are taking images inside. By lining them up with the edges of the LCD screen or camera viewfinder, you better ensure that your photo will turn out level.

Of course, there are times when you may want to get creative and tip the camera on an odd angle to make a shot more artistic or unique.  that’s fine, but remember that with digital images, you can also do that with your digital/computer scrapbook or photo editing software later and still have the original image for traditional use. So, unless you are going to send the image to someone or post it online without editing first… there just isn’t the need there used to be for odd angles.

5. Keep the Digital Camera Still

I recommend this digital photo tip to all photographers, new and pro alike – carry a camera tripod with you, even just a clamp on one.  Camera tripods are an must have tool in your photography arsenal. Tripods are need a lot more often then they are used.  They are an absolute must if you’re taking shots under low-light conditions without a flash or when trying to capture fast moving objects such as runners and kids on a swing.

I always use a tripod when I’m taking photos at night in the city streets.  The trick is to have one that is small and light enough that you won’t mind carrying it around, yet sturdy enough to hold your digital camera steady while you press the shutter button. The bigger and heavier your camera is, the bigger a tripod you’ll most likely need. For most non digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras, you won’t need a huge one – just a simple light compact one that collapses and is easy to pack.

6. The Right Setting For The Right Speed

I find that the ISO setting in digital cameras confuses most people, especially when you first get started. If you think of it as film speed and that the faster an object moves, the faster or larger the ISO setting you normally need.  The ISO setting of a digital camera essentially controls the sensitivity it has to light. With that in mind, if you’re taking a photo of something like a flower in macro mode, then you should always try to use a low ISO setting of like 50 or 100. This allows the camera to use a longer shutter speed (stay open longer) and produces a cleaner image. On the other hand, if you’re taking digital photos of a moving object, like a child playing on a swing, then a higher ISO setting in the range of 400 or even 800 if the sun isn’t very bright would be better.

The good news…

You don’t need to remember all of this, just so you understand the basics and apply them to your cameras build in auto settings.  Mine has settings for portrait (people pictures), landscape (scenic’s with no people), runners (high speed moving objects) and a few more.  I just need to remember to choose the right auto mode for the conditions I’m taking photos.

For example: I use the normal auto mode for taking candid shots indoors at parties or in hazy light outside.  I use the runner or high speed mode when I’m at a racetrack or soccer game so that I get faster shutter speeds to stop the action and not blur the people or cars.  I then use the portrait mode when I’m taking people pictures with flash in a posed situation.  It’s only one those rare occasions when I’m doing something unusual, like shooting sunset images with people in them that the manual modes come into play.

One last note you need to know: The higher ISO setting you use and the faster the shutter works… the less light gets into the camera sensors. This tends to produce noisier or less sharp photo images. This ties right back to why you need to carry a tripod… so you can use slower shutter speeds and still keep the camera steady enough to get a clear digital image.

7. No Such Thing as Too Much Memory

Just like the days gone by when you needed to make sure you had enough rolls of film for your old traditional film cameras, make sure you always have enough memory capacity or memory cards in your digital camera bag so that you don’t run out of space before you run out of digital photos you want to take. It’s a terrible situation to be in on a holiday while taking great photos and you suddenly hear that alarm beep and realize you’ve just run out of memory space in your camera.

We’ve all been there in the past, so here’s some general digital photo guidelines to help you make sure that your digital camera has enough storage.

• - 2 megapixel or smaller cameras – you’ll need at least a 64MB card
• - 3 megapixel camera – you’ll need at least a 128MB card
• - 4 megapixel camera – you’ll need at least a 256MB card
• - 5 megapixel camera – you’ll need at least a 512MB card
• - 8 to 10 megapixel camera – get at least 2 1GB CARDS OR 1 2GB or larger card

Bottom line, you should be able to take 200 photos or more without running out of memory.  Even at that, I still carry and extra memory card just in case.  You never know when one will go bad or get damaged.  Better safe than sorry as cheap as memory is now.

8. No Power – No Digital Photos

Power or batteries are everything with digital cameras.  When your batteries run out, so does your ability to take photos. Carry a spare set of batteries, two sets if the session will be long or is really important… such as a wedding or 50th anniversary party.

That said, here’s a couple of things that caught me off guard and what you can do to avoid the same problems.

Fresh batteries, but the camera won’t work.  This one happened on vacation and we almost didn’t get any photos.  Did you know that rechargeable batteries come in different voltages?  Turned out that I had mixed a set of 1.2v NiMi’s with a set of 1.1v. Turns out they don’t work when mixed.  Put all the same voltage and type in your digital camera if you want it to work correctly and never mix alkaline with rechargeables… never, never, NEVER!

Last one: Keep your rechargeable batteries charged. Rechargeable batteries loose their charge over time… some in as little as a few days of sitting. Make sure that you have your charger packed and that all your batteries are freshly charged before you head out to take your digital photos. Since my camera will take both alkaline or rechargeables… I also carry a spare set of alkaline batteries as a backup on important digital photo shoots.  If you can, you may want to do that as well since alkalines if not too hot or too cold will hold their power for years.

In Conclusion

Wow. I know, that was a pretty long article crammed with great information. I hope that I’ve been of help to you and that I gave you some good ideas and tips on taking really good digital photos. Just try to remember what I said… while the most expensive digital cameras have some amazing features, you still need a photographer with an eye to take nice pictures. I have no doubt that if you apply the above ideas and tips to your everyday digital photo shooting then you are already a better photographer.

About the author:

Wes Waddell is a Precous Memories Preservation Consultant who, along with his wife, runs a computer hobby site on digital scrapbooking your photos. Get the greatest digital scrapbook gift… ever! The no cost Computer Scrapbooking 101 Course that has everything you need, including no cost software at: www.ComputerScrapbookTraining.com  

You’ll find full access to the entire course complete with all the tips, photo software links, fully illistrated online training and even all the digital scrapbook templates you need for your first small photo scrapbook project. You’ve learned how to take better digital photos… now it’s time to learn how to preserve all those precious memories of a lifetime.

www.ComputerScrapbookTraining.com

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London Bridge Pigeon Swarm…

Posted on February 2nd, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, My Thoughts.

Hi Scrapbook Friend,

We’ve been on the road with our new motorhome now for more than two weeks and are just having a ball.  We love it.  Everyone should work from a mobile office!

We had a little time to kill in Lake Havasu while my parents, who are traveling in their 5th Wheel RV with us, had a tire fixed.  Instead of just waiting around the tire shop, we went back to the London Bridge, just a few blocks down the road and Kathy fed the ducks (very little) and pigeons (got most of it).

(Click on the image for a full size view)

As you can see, she had quite a handfull to contend with.  We bought a little duck food from the boat rental vendor and began feeding the ducks.  But, the pigeons weren’t going to miss out and came a flyin’.

Kathy let one of them land on her arm and before you knew it, she had almost more than she could hold.  It’s funny that the one other time we fed the pigeons like this was at Trafalga Square (not sure I spelled it right – let me know if I didn’t) in London England back in the late 80s.  She loved it then too.

We didn’t keep all the fun to ourselves though…

A man brought his little gray haired mom down and we gave her some of the food too.  It didn’t take long for the pigeons to see she had food to now.  They didn’t have a camera with them, so we took this shot for them on our camera.  Hope they find it OK and enjoy it as much as the memory it made.

Kathy can’t wait to start turning this trip into another great travel scrapbook.  We also can’t wait to share a lot more of our photos with you in the form of digital scrapbook page templates and digital stationery papers.

We arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday and will be there for a full week. 

We’ll get more photos posted of the trip in the next few days.  If you want to see more of our travel photos and use them to make your own scrapbook background pages or digital stationery… we have lots more of the photos on our Free Stationery BLOG at:

www.Free-Stationery.info

Happy Scrappin’

Kathy and Wes

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

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Digital Scrapbook Artist Software Review

Posted on November 21st, 2008 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips.

Hi Digital Scrapbook Friend,

Serif just sent us their new Digital Scrapbook Artist software for test and review.  We’re going to put it through it’s paces this weekend and compare our results with the test we did for Indigo Rose and Scrapbook Max software.

We’ll let you know next week what worked, what was hard or impossible to use as well as  how it compares to Scrapbook Max and the more advanced photo editing software such as PaintShop Pro and Adobe Photo Suite.

Stay tuned…

Kathy and Wes

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

www.TwasTheNightScrapbook.com

P.S.  You can still read the great review we did for Scrapbook Max on our main hub site at: www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

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Scrapbooking Children’s Stories

Posted on August 6th, 2008 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Training.

Title: Scrapbooking Children’s Stories

Author: Wes Waddell

Article:

Children’s stories and scrapbooking… who would have thought they went so good together?

Kids are always telling stories and I would venture to guess that you are always telling your kids bedtime stories. Why not capture some of them in a storybook scrapbook?

You may even find that creating the story book scrapbook together with your kids will bring you closer than you ever knew possible. Besides helping them to express their emotions and capture their memories for the future… it lets you teach them life’s little lessons with the stories of your life.

Here’s a few “Storybook Scrapbook” ideas that you and your child can start with:

A) Custom Version of their Favorite Children’s Book

Yes, it’s plagiarism, but as long as it’s for your personal use and not sold or freely distributed, there is nothing wrong with getting started this way.

After all, that’s how story telling got started. One person recounted or made up a story and it was then customized and retold by others for generations.

All you need to do to turn the children’s story book into your own personal story book scrapbook is to change the names so that your child and his/her friends and family become the characters’. Then add photos of your child and his friends acting out the parts or use photographs you took while they were doing the same things.

For example: If the children’s story book is about a trip to grandma’s house, then use images you took on your last family visit to grandma’s and use your families names as the characters in the book.

B) Children’s Trip Book

The next time you take a trip to the Zoo or your child goes on a field trip to the fire house… or any place they feel is fun; go along and take lots of photos.

When you get home (or no later than a day or two) record your child telling the story of what they did and what they saw. Transcribe the story and add the photo’s for an instant storybook scrapbook treasure.

You could even use the sound track and the still and/or video images to create the child’s story on CD video or DVD.

C) Playground Monsters and Pirates

Take your child to the playground and get lots of photos of them climbing, sliding, swinging and just having fun.

While you are there or after you get home, make up stories with your child about the monsters they are escaping from or the Pirates that they are fending off. Take notes for each image and lay them out in a little story line.

Now, by hand or (even easier) using digital scrapbook techniques, add the monsters, pirates, whales or what ever they imagined into the images and fill in the whole story line.

Before you know it, you have your child’s very first custom story book scrapbook.

D) Story of Children’s Dreams

Children have an amazing ability to daydream, imagine and to dream really big! Encourage your child to explore all the different possibilities of life and their fantasy worlds. Take the time to record and transcribe these dreams and stories.

User your imaginations to help your child create the pictures that go with these stories and dreams. Digital scrapbook software can work wonders for this.

Whether you act out the stories and take photos or use photographic images of your child’s past that you then edit digitally to come up with the graphic parts of the story. The one thing that will be certain is that you’ll have one amazing story book scrapbook that you and your child will love reading for generations to come.

These are but a few of the common themes you and your kids can start with.
Once you get started, you’ll find new ideas and stories poping up everywhere.

Enjoy and preserve your children’s fantasy life while you can… they grow up and it disappears into history all too fast!

About the author:

Wes Waddell is Co-owner of Cookbook4Kids.com and TwasTheNightScrapbook.com - the first storybook scrapbook digital download on the Internet. Now you can make your families most treasured memories a part of the story.

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