31. Make a Year in Review Photo Book
This is a perfect opportunity to make a Year in Review photo book! You will not have all the photos for a 2020 book yet so begin with 2019 or any earlier year. Here are some steps to follow:
- Select your publisher – this will determine the size, format and price of your book
- Gather all your photos from the year to one place
- As you look through your photos create a loose outline of your book
- Add any notes to your outline about the stories you want to capture in your book
- Select the photos to use
- Clean up the photos you will use – get rid of any red eye, brighten up dark photos
- Upload your pictures to the publisher’s website
- Begin building your pages in the publisher’s software
- Create your cover – choose a great picture and be sure to put the year on there
- Create the back cover if you publisher allows
- Add text to the spine of the book if our publisher allows
- Save your project and walk away for a few days
- Edit your project with fresh eyes. Look for spelling errors, check your pictures look OK, make sure important parts of your page are not lost in the gutter or margins.
- Preview your book
- And when everything is perfect send it to print
I offer a 4-lesson course called Create an Annual Family Photo Book which lays out all the steps to create a beautiful book. The course is a series of emails sent directly to your in-box. Please let me know if you are interested in reviewing this class by sending an email to [email protected]
32. Practice your Photography Skills
Take advantage of this extra time to practice your photography skills. Google for lessons and ideas. Take a course to improve your overall skills or focus on a certain type of photo – action shots, pets, kids, portraits, composition, lighting, focus, bokeh, f stops. Make time to learn to use your camera like you’ve always wished you could. I like Nick Kelsh’s How To Photograph Your Life courses – and they’re all on sale right now!
33. Share your Photo Albums
Looking at pictures of our friends and family helps us feel loved and connected. Visiting with our photos often makes us happier! Share you photo albums with your partner and children. Tell them the stories that go with the pictures. Children who interact with family photos feel more connected, better rooted, less stressed and more resilient. Sharing photos and stories from some of the harder times in your family history show them your family is strong and can persevere through hardship.
34. Create a Canvas for your Home
Find a favourite photo, have it printed on canvas and hang it in your home. You can create canvases in a wide variety of sizes to fill any spot. Edit your photo to polish it up. Try converting some photos to black & white. Crop out anything distracting. Upload your photo to the printer’s site and select your canvas size. If you get a warning that your photo is too small be sure to select a smaller canvas or choose another photo. Google canvas prints for printing options. I have used Best Canvas with great results!
35. 50 Steps
This is a fun way to find interesting photos in your neighbourhood. Take a picture of the front of your house. Walk 50 steps and take another picture of the things around you. Walk another 50 steps and repeat.
36. Take a Family Portrait
Set up your camera on a tripod on somewhere it’s securely balanced. Gather your family together for a family photo. Everyone wearing their jammies? Great! See if you can capture your Christmas card photo for the year. Saying “cheese” gives you cheesy grins. Try saying something that ends in the letter “a” for more natural smiles. So set up your camera, set the timer, gather your family and say “Ninja”!
37. Make a Year in Review Video
This can be a very simple project, or as complex and involved as you’re comfortable with. To make a simple Year in Review video create a folder in your camera roll called Year in Review Video. Move all the videos from the year to this folder. Open iMovie and load all the videos in this file. Create your movie, pop the popcorn and enjoy! For a more polished looking video select the video clips you want to include. Load them to a video editing app or software. Clip them, move them around, add music, add titles, overwrite the video with text, insert some photos, create your masterpiece then pop the popcorn and enjoy!
38. Details, Details, Details
Try taking some photos very close to your subject. Collect a few macro photos and have your family try to guess what the subjects are. Let you kids take some close up photos and see if you can guess what they are.
39. Photograph a Concept
Try to capture a photograph of beauty, happiness or joy. You can focus on your own emotional response or that of your subject. Either way its an exercise sure to brighten your day!
40. Chalk Art Photos
Get busy creating some chalk art on your driveway or patio. Get your family involved in the picture then position them with your art so you can take a picture. Perhaps draw a parachute on the driveway and have your subject lie down as if they are holding the parachute. Position a step ladder so you can photograph them from above. How creative can you get? Can you get this year’s Christmas card picture done? Google chalk art on driveways for lots of ideas!