March 6th, 2009

Photo Book Ideas: An Autumn Book

Get Your Photographs:

When your goal is to put a photo book together, your fist goal should be, of course, to gather a lot of photographs together. Try to get in the habit of taking your camera with you wherever you go, because you never know when a quintessential fall moment will appear. Those ragamuffins selling pumpkins in from of the store, squinting in the crisp autumn sun? The tree at the park whose leaves have suddenly exploded into bright orange? Those crazy Halloween costumes that you want to remember forever? These are the moments that you want to be prepared for. You will find that the more you have your camera on you and at the ready, the more you begin to have the mindset of a photographer. In other words, the more you look, the more you’ll see.

When you are taking your photos, don’t simply take one and move on. The advent of digital photography has enabled all of us to snap away without fear that we are wasting any film. The more shots you take the better chance you have of getting a great one where the subject, the lighting, and the composition all come together.

Get Some Words Too:

Just as you take your camera with you everywhere, you should also get in the habit of keeping a small notebook in your pocket. Photo books work great with bits of text interspersed, whether they come in the form of captions or in small essays or quotes. If you are a writer at all you will relish this part of the project. If not, you can look around for quotes that have to do with autumn, have some friends or family members contribute some thoughts about the photos they are in, or simply stick to captions and short explanations.

Arranging and Design:

If you do not have Photoshop, take a look around for a similar program so you can do at least some basic photo editing. You can do a lot of great things with photos with such simple tricks as cropping and adjusting the brightness and contrast. Of course, the better you are at these type of programs the more you can do. It might be worth your while to look around online for a tutorial if you have the time and inclination.

As far as layout, there are free templates available online if you don’t have access to programs like PageMaker or Indesign. Whichever route you choose to go, give some consideration to the flow of your book. Do you want it to be chronological or more thematic? Let your creativity be your guide, and be sure to use some blocks of text to keep things flowing along and to provide context if necessary.

Printing and Binding:

Use the best color printing method that you can get your hands on. When it comes to binding, you will either want to see what your local print shop has to offer as far as hardcover options, send it all away somewhere, or pick up your own binding machine. These machines can be had for remarkably little money, are dead simple to use, and offer the speed and flexibility to make whatever books you want to make whenever you want to make them.

About the Author

If you are interested in more information about how the right Thermal Binding Systems can help you create a great photo book, you might want to visit MyBinding.com. They offer a great price on these machines and they even offer Free Shipping on orders over$75. Plus, they carry a full line of Thermal Binding Supplies, in many colors and sizes. Check it out today!


Family Tree


Family Tree


$14.99


A collection of solo works as performed by members of Hawkwind.Family Tree is a compilation album credited to Hawkwind that actually gathers tracks from various spinoffs and artists related to the band. Leader Dave Brock occupies a third of the album, and Jerry Richards and Alf Hardy’s Paradogs contribute three tracks, two of which (“Nile” and “Noctis Labyrinthus”) also appeared on their CD Paradogs. Other performers include the Little Big Men (Richard Chadwick and Steve Bemand), Ron Tree, and Liz Gizzard. The music ranges from cheap techno-space rock to total oddities (e.g., Ron Tree and Vital Chi’s “Tuff on de Street” is a short experimental spoken word piece). The quality is uneven; the pumped-up dance track by the Little Big Men falls off the mark, but pieces by the Paradogs and Brock are worth a listen. The latter blends space rock guitars with synthesizer backing tracks ? la Jean-Michel Jarre. The album is rounded up with a badly recorded version of “Motorway City,” performed by Hawkwind in 1979. This last inclusion is highly questionable. The straightforward rock format of this song, the sound quality, and the obvious age of the recording compared to the rest of the material on the CD make it an all-around strange and unwelcomed conclusion. Maybe the band felt a Hawkwind track was needed to provide roots to this family tree. ~ Fran?ois Couture

Lineage Family Tree Software


Lineage Family Tree Software


$29.99


Whether you are just starting your family tree or are a seasoned genealogist, Lineage Family Tree Software makes it easy to preserve your family history and share your research with Friends and Family. Preserve your Family History in 4 easy steps: BUILD, SEARCH, DESIGN and SHARE. With an easy-to-use interface, genealogy is made simple for beginners and advanced enough for the seasoned genealogist. Advanced features include : Citation and Source Management Capabilities, Genealogy Scrapbooking Feature, FREE access to over 1 billion online records and more. Create multiple types of charts such as Pedigrees, Descendant Charts, Ancestor Charts, Fan Charts and more.

Nova Family Tree Maker


Nova Family Tree Maker


$91.99


41012 The #1-selling family history software Easily research your roots and document your family story Exclusive! Access more than 4 billion historical records on Ancestry.com Create family books, charts and reports and slideshows to share with others Add photos directly from iPhoto Includes the Family History Toolkit DVD Processor: Intel-based Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 or later Hard Disk: 450 MB Space Memory: 1 GB RAM Others: Internet connection required for Internet features Family Tree Maker for Mac gives you more exciting ways to discover your history. Rich storytelling tools let you build your family tree and create charts & reports, plus incorporate photos and video. Only Family Tree Maker for Mac includes a free 6-month Ancestry.com membership with access to 3 billion U.S. historical records, including immigration, marriage and census data. The end result is a family history you’ll treasure for years to come. Complete Product Family Tree Maker Graphics/Designing Graphics/Multimedia Intel-based Mac Mac OS Not Applicable Nova Nova Development Corp Software Standard www.novadevelopment.com

Word Fetti family 108 stickers


Word Fetti family 108 stickers


$1.59


Talk about a good use of a paper shredder ? Making Memories threw in a few magazines and Word Fetti is what came out Word Fetti is a jumble of witty, colorful, adhesive-backed words and phrases that liven up anything you stick them to.Word Fetti is great for labeling photos, highlighting journal blocks, and complementing accents. You can put single words alone or group them together to create your own literary works of art.Word Fetti is acid and lignin free. Words sizes vary from 1/4 in. to 2 in. long. Each sheet is 4 3/4 in. x 6 3/4 in.

Time & Again Family Tree Kit


Time & Again Family Tree Kit


$3.99


12" x 12" Acid-free Parchment Style cardstock featuring a beautifully painted tree print24 Oval acid-free name labels to customize your treeIncludes Acid and Lignin Free PaperFinally some answers to the age-old existential questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? This Time & Again Family Tree Kit beautifully identifies a person’s lineage tracing it back for generations. What a pefect way to organize and showcase your family genealogy.


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