Saturday, November 24, 2018

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.



  • Great Gifts for Photographers (and Yourself). Treat yourself or the photographer in your life with something special this holiday season. This post offers a collection of must have and super-useful photography gifts and accessories at a variety of price points. 




  • Photography Gifts for the Holidays. Now is the time to start planning for holiday gift-giving. This post offers a wide-range of ideas and possibilities for how to use your photography to create lasting, memorable gifts. Check out the post for some great ideas!
  • Where to Order Photography Gifts. Part 2 helps you answer the question of where to order those photography gifts. Read on for a detailed comparison of three popular online photography retailers: Cafe Press, Snapfish, and Shutterfly. 
  • Thankful for Food Photography. Thanksgiving got me thinking about food photography. This collection of quick tips will help you with the settings, strategies, and stylings to make a big difference in your food photography.
  • Shoot Successful Self-Portraits. Selfies may be all the range among millennials, but any one can get in on the action with these helpful tips! Strategies for self-portraits as well as some ideas and inspiration - even for the camera shy.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Preserve Your Photographs Easily: Print Custom and Automatic Photo Books with Chatbooks!

Struggling to get your photographs off your camera/phone and out into the physical world? Chatbooks offers a quick and easy way to make photo books from your images - even automatically!  Chatbooks has both an app and a web portal that you can use to make and print books. [Yes, it's a referral link, but yes, this is a company I use regularly.]

Series Books


What sets Chatbooks apart from other photo book companies (and my favorite feature) is their ability to automatically create books for you from your Instagram feed. Simply log in to Instagram via Chatbooks and every time you share a new photo, it will get added to the current book in your series. Once you hit 60 photos, you will get a reminder email and three days to make any adjustments, then presto, the book gets printed and shipped! You can also add or delete photos any time via the app or web site, as well as edit captions and choose covers.



Why I Love It


  • Automatic integration of Instagram and Chatbooks means no extra work
  • Imports your captions as well as images, adding stories and details to the memories you want to preserve
  • Inexpensive. 6x6" books start at just $10, which is a steal for a printed book
  • Makes great gifts. You can have your series sent to multiple addresses. We have ours sent to both sets of grandparents, which means surprise photo book deliveries right to their doors!

Custom Books


Chatbooks also offers a variety of options for custom books and cards, where you pick and choose the photos to include. You can easily add photos from Instagram, Facebook, Google Photos, your phone's camera roll, or your computer. Photo books come in two sizes: 6x6 or 8x8 inches, and you can choose a hard or soft cover, either your own photograph or one of their numerous cover designs.

This year I'm making a year-in-review book by simply choosing from all of the photos that I've previously printed in my Chatbooks series. The whole process took only a matter of minutes. I started the project, chose Instagram for my photo source, selected my favorites images, and then they quickly populated the book in order and with their captions included. These will be for us as well as gifts for aunts and uncles.



They also have a lot of great ideas for different types and uses for photo books. One is a custom ABC book where you add your photographs alongside each letter of the alphabet. This is a super-cute idea for kids who could be the star of their very own book. I'm planning to use this format to make an ABC book celebrating my son's first birthday. Right now I have a list going of different ideas for each letter of the alphabet ... (Ideas for X appreciated!)

What are your favorite ideas for photo books?

Quick Personal Note


I've been on a bit of hiatus from sharing new photography advice due to the birth of my son. And while I've certainly been taking many, many photos, there's been very little time to stop and write about it. But I'll get back to it eventually! If you have ideas for future topics you'd like to see covered on Boost Your Photography, leave your thoughts in a comment.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.


  • The Line: elements of visual design, part 1. This month-long series explores different elements of visual design, beginning with the most basic: the line. Read on to find out how to use lines to improve your photography.
  • Shape: elements of visual design, part 2. This post moves the conversation about visual design from the one-dimensional line to two-dimensional shapes. See examples of translating images and scenes into their component shapes.

  • Photography Collages: start a collection A collage can be a great way to display and share your photography. Think about a common topic, theme, or style that can unite your collage. This post includes further details and examples to inspire you.
  • Photography Is .... What does photography mean to you? Read my reflection on how photography is timing, patience, and luck. 


  • Find Time for Photo Books. Now is the time to get started turning all those incredible photographs into permanent, printed books! This post will help you over the hurdles of beginning, planning, and arranging to move you towards completion. Holidays gifts, here you come!

Don't Miss a Single Post from Boost Your Photography

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