Something happened these past few years
   that has caused me to shed quite a few tears…
The things I knew and always trusted
   got so very old and rusted!

It seems that overnight my camera had become
   some thing dated and really quite dumb.
Photo greeting cards had become the rage
   and digital cameras were space age.

I was now forced to learn this new technique
   because Christmas photo cards were really quite neat!
I considered my options and decided to jump in;
   otherwise this just wasn’t going to happen.

Off I went to the internet to buy me a camera,
   but I didn’t realize I’d need so much stamina!
Different sizes, different shapes, dpi? – oy vey!
   What would be my fate?

It took some time for me to decipher,
   but I finally got it done and mastered.
Now I can take pictures of my beautiful grandkids,
   and order photo cards to show off my talents!

Andy Warhol once said, “My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person.” I’m sorry Andy, but I have to differ. My idea of a good picture is one that draws you in. If a photograph makes you curious enough to want to look all around and not just at the main subject, then that’s a remarkable shot and certainly good enough to be used for your photo greeting cards.

Most times this holds true when photographing nature. You can be as artistic as you want, and you don’t have to focus on a main object or person. Some ideas are taking pictures of a sunrise (if you’re up early enough!), a sunset, the ocean waves crashing along the shore, a beautiful flower growing in the park, or anything else your heart desires. These shots tend to be so much more colorful and vivid then you could ever imagine!

Whether you take one breathtaking picture or you have an extensive digital library of images, a great thing to do is make photo greeting cards out of them. In the past, I’ve made impressive birthday photo cards of a boat sailing across the ocean, sympathy cards out of a serene sunset, adorable photo Christmas cards with my puppy in the snow, and digital thinking of you cards with a delicate flower taken from my backyard. Photography is the perfect way to capture a moment in time, and then making digital photo cards allows you to share that moment with your family and friends.

So I guess at the end of the day I agree and disagree with Mr. Warhol. Sure a good picture should be in focus so you know what you’re looking at. However, a famous person does not make or break an excellent shot!

Several years ago (I won’t say exactly how many in order to protect the innocent), my uncle celebrated his 60th birthday. My aunt created a very unique and special invitation for his surprise party. The photo greeting cards that my aunt selected to use for his invitation featured space for three different pictures. The photo montage she chose to use included three pictures from various stages throughout my uncle’s life. In the first picture (black and white, of course), Uncle Bob was an apple-cheeked baby with a full head of blonde curly hair. In the middle picture, he was a teenager with enormous awkward glasses and dark brown hair. The third picture was from my cousin’s wedding last year, and you guessed it – Uncle Bob was all smiles but had even less hair and it was yet another color – silver! Seeing the pictures of my uncle throughout the years definitely brought back fond memories for everyone who was invited to the party.

The surprise party went off without a hitch and my uncle was truly touched that we had all gathered together to celebrate him. My aunt received rave reviews on her invitation and as a result, the photo invitation cards she chose started a new family tradition. Over the years my family has spread out and moved to different areas all over United States – Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, and even a few in different countries! We have all started sending out Christmas photo cards at the holiday season to keep in touch with each other. I am always eager to receive new pictures and photo cards from my relatives – these photo cards hang on my refrigerator all year long in anticipation for the next holiday season!

The loss of a family member or friend is an emotionally wrenching experience. We all know that. We search for words and gestures to help soothe this grieving period. Using digital photo cards to create a memorial keepsake can be an aid in healing the acute initial response to such a loss.

Start the process by selecting the loved one’s photo for the front of the photo greeting card. Deciding on which photo to use is also a way of giving yourself time and permission to look back over years of personal memories at your own pace. For the text inside the photo card, you may choose to write a brief biography, a description of the deceased’s personality traits, a favorite poem or verse or scripture or simply a heartfelt expression of how this dear person will be missed.

There is no prescribed time frame for sending out such a memorial, but anywhere within the first year following the death would be understandable. You should allow yourself all the time you need, so that the preparation process can have a palliative effect for you. The sharing of these memorial keepsake photo cards, with others who knew and loved your loved one, can be a kind and gentle comfort to all.

Everyone has them filed away in their closet, under their bed, or stored in the basement. They are there, you know they are there, but you just never find the time to do anything with them. You dread the thought of having to go through them; You hate the notion of having to spend hours doing it.

What is this dreaded evil that is taking up space in your house and in the back of your mind? It’s your family photos! Yes, they can make you scream louder then any horror screenplay by Stephen King. The picture taking was easy. Now organizing that picture taking and putting it in a place you can easily get to…that’s the hard part.

There’s no easy way to do this other then to sit down at a PC and scan your images onto your computer. Yes it takes time, but you also save your photos FOREVER! I have my 30th birthday coming up and had all those photos staring at me. They were mocking me, laughing at the mere thought of me having to get this done.

I took the time, scanned my photos into the PC, and now I have an extensive library of photos that the whole family can easily get to and enjoy. It was so easy that my mother, who can barely use the computer, hopped on to a photo greetings cards site and made one of our family photos into an awesome photo Christmas card.

The only tools you need for this task is a PC, a scanner, and previous pictures you have taken. If you have all that, then sit down and get the job done. It’s worth it! Put the TV on in the background (I like wrestling myself) but if you want to watch reruns of Who’s The Boss…go ahead!

What makes you choose a photo for photo greeting cards?  There seem to be lots of occasions for which, looking back, I realize that I’d forgotten to bring the camera or (I sincerely hope I’m not the only one who has done this) actually did bring the camera, carried it around all day, and never once remembered to take a picture!  The most extreme case of all (please don’t tell anyone I did something so empty-headed) was when I was snapping away while my visiting relatives posed, only to discover later that there was no film in the camera and no photos to mail to them.  Mortified?  Believe it!

So, what can you do with all the photos you do have, besides (if you’re organized) putting them in albums or (if you’re me) putting them in boxes until you “find time” to organize them?  With birthday photos, I’m thinking you could make a neat collage, something along the lines of those “school days” frames where you install the child’s school photo from each grade, with their high school graduation photo in the middle.  No reason you couldn’t do that at home with birthday photos, right?

With more than one child in the family, you could do a wildly immense collage, and throw in some photos of the old folks from their childhood birthdays.  (Got any old photos at your house with someone seated atop a pony?)  By the way, making a collage is a great way to save and display photo Christmas cards, whether for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

One way to treasure, save, share and display your favorite photos is to have them made into photo cards.  It’s so easy now to upload or scan photos for the face of your photo cards, made to say whatever you want inside of them (for instance as birthday cards or birthday party invitations), or to be blank inside for multi-purpose note cards.  Let your imagination run free and think of all the photo ops you have seized and how the resultant photos would make great thank you cards, anniversary cards, get well cards, and definitely some cool welcome cards or congratulations cards!  The possibilities are endless when it comes to photo cards!

Anyone out there have kids who make it a challenge when taking pictures?  Am I alone in this?  You know the daunting task of taking a young child to have digital photos shot professionally at one of those photo studios that specialize in such things?

Each year, I bring my son to have digital photos taken to ensure that I have great photos of him at every age.  Sometimes I also brave the trip to a photo studio to take digital photos for the photo Christmas cards I send out at the end of the year.  If I were any kind of photographer, I’d skip the whole process and just take the digital photos myself, but unfortunately a photographer I’m not.  Some people may think it’s exciting to go get portrait photos done…memories to last a lifetime, right?  Well, if you have a child over the age of six this may be the case, but for me, it’s not.

Somehow keeping them clean, stopping the crying, teaching patience while we wait on line (didn’t I make an appointment???), getting them to look at the camera (would it be too much to hope for a smile?), and praying they don’t punch the photographer while having their photos taken is not so exciting!

Then when it all settles down, I think to myself “Why would anyone choose to do this?  I don’t need to have portrait photos done, do I?”  Then I realize of course I do, and that the daunting task is worth every second once the digital photos arrive.  It’s true what they say, memories do last a lifetime and when the kids are little, it’s a memory you’ll want to keep forever.

So, maybe I should consider some photography classes for myself.  Make my own greeting cards, create beautiful portraits and photo greeting cards for friends…why not show off my portraits?  Who knows, with a little practice I might be the next Annie Leibovitz!

Birthday photos might be the one type of picture we have the most of.  On every birthday we seem to take the same poses: big birthday grin over decorated cake, blowing out the candles on said cake, and face smeared with frosting from said cake.  So it makes sense that birthday photos would be a good resource for fashioning photo greeting cards.

Making photo greeting cards from birthday photos could be a practical way to share a favorite and memorable birthday photo.  You probably see greeting cards of cute kids in greeting card stores, costing a big chunk per card, and you don’t even know those children!  Why not choose to put a face you love on the face of your thank you cards, birthday cards or note cards?  Picture engagement party invitations with birthday-cake-smeared photos of the future bride and groom.  Even adult birthday photos make nifty birthday photo greeting cards for like-aged friends, not to mention splendid photo invitations for birthday parties, retirement parties and award ceremonies.  If you go through your old photos, you may find one that would make creative and amusing get well cards or thinking of you cards.

Just looking through your old birthday photos could lead you on a pleasant trip down memory lane.  Using the birthday photos to create unique and clever photo greeting cards will give your good wishes stand-out attention.

I visited a friend in the hospital last night and her seven-year-old son was holding his newborn baby brother for the first time.  Another visitor was taking pictures and asked Jack to look up and smile.  I am sure the family photo will be beautiful but what was lost was the look of wonder on Jack’s face as he gazed down on his new best friend.

Photography is wonderful in that it can capture precious moments, especially when photographing people.  The way to take an artistic photo is to focus on the moment in time.  By not disturbing the thoughts or actions of the subject while taking pictures, you could end up with a photo that would be just the right one to use for photo greeting cards announcing the birth of the new baby.

We are lucky to be able to view examples of artistic photography every day at work because our co-worker, Damien, is a talented photographer.  He has produced many artistic photos by capturing the intensity of high school soccer players as they follow the ball into the net, the beauty of a butterfly settled on a flower or the marvel of a bird in flight.  He recently shared his portfolio with me and there is no way to view the digital pictures without seeing the artist at work.  Blocks of melting ice and food coloring became works of art.  In each of these artistic photos, you see the colors floating in the melting ice but also like viewing a Rorschach test you see what is in the mind of the beholder.  My thoughts must have been on wolves that day because in some of the digital photos I could see stalking and howling wolves.

In this age of digital cameras, you can take an artistic photo by focusing on the moment in time before asking the subject to “Smile…look at the camera.”  When taking photos, you can always go for the posed shot after first trying an artistic shot.  That way you have both and may end up with perfect pictures for different situations.  Maybe you’ll capture a photo for your photo Christmas cards or instead create a work of art that can be enlarged and framed to be hung in your home or office.

I love receiving photo cards of my friends and family. Really, I do. I love that more and more people are sending photo cards as the way they say Happy Holidays or as invitations and other imaginative uses. Really, I do. It’s great to see photo Christmas cards of the little ones and how they grow so much from year to year. Often times, with friends and family that you aren’t as close with, it’s the one chance you have to actually see them. Photo cards of babies are especially cute to see when they are first announced to the world or used as party invites. It’s even become standard practice to send photo thank you cards for weddings and other occasions in which gifts are given.

But as with most things, there is a line that can be crossed and my friends and family seem to be oblivious of the line, let alone the fact that they have crossed it, leaped over it, in fact! I know pets are like children to some but do I really need to see a photo card of your pet snake “Rattles” wishing me a Merry Christmas? Or a photo card with a picture of your house? Not the house you just purchased (which would make more sense) but the house that you have lived in for 20 years and I have been to 1,000 times! And if you are going to do that, at least clean up the toys on your front lawn and maybe take some time for a little power-washing on your siding to make it look a little more put together when you’re taking pictures for your photo greeting cards

Oh and please, take a good long look at your photo before you decide to send it out as photo greeting cards to hundreds of people. In fact, have someone else look at the photo card just to make sure. Some of you may recall the Seinfeld episode with the photo card Elaine sent out? I have received photo cards of children with fireplaces in the backdrop that made it look as if the child was on fire. And how about photo cards with so many people in the shot that I can’t even tell who they are. This photo was actually posted up on my fridge for a few days before I realized that the photo card was sent to us in error and we actually didn’t know anyone in the photo! One birth announcement that I received had such a strange cut-out of the baby’s photo that it appeared as if the baby was suspended in air. This may not sound that strange but it was really eerie!

In closing, don’t stop sending me your photo greeting cards, just pay attention to “the line” and try to stay on the safe side. Check back for my next installment when I talk about crossing the line with your “informative” Christmas newsletters…