Using Your Photos

Here's a common scenario: you get a digital camera that holds a LOT of photos, you take tons of pictures everywhere you go, you load them onto your computer, after a few years you buy a new hardrive to accommodate all the pictures, several years later as you are loading pictures a little window pops up and says that your hardrive is now full. As you browse online for a newer, bigger, hardrive you think to yourself "I sure have a lot of photos maybe I should put them to use"!

Putting your hundreds (or thousands) of photos to good use can be one of the most arduous, fundamental, and rewarding things a photographer will ever do. I have comprised a list of some suggestions and tips for using your photos:

Digital Scrap-booking

Within the last year I've begun to make Digital scrap-book pages with my photos and have really enjoyed making them. I use Adobe Photoshop and select the "Collage" function. import my photos and then add a background, frames, and embellishments.

This has been useful in helping my family chronicle our educational projects.

Here is a sample of some scrapbook pages I have made: (Click to Enlarge Photos)

Stock Photography

There is also the option of selling your photos as stock, this requires very little labor on your part since it is with photos you have already taken. I have signed up with I-Stock Photo though I have not yet posted any photos I hope to be able to sell some of my photos.

Photo Slide-shows

Another thing I have loved doing of late is making slide-shows, now I have mainly worked with video, but you could also make a photo slide-show. I have used Adobe Premiere Elements, however there is a wide range of software you could use.

It is relatively easy to do, you simply import your photos into your choice program (whether it's Adobe or Windows Movie Maker or something else) add your transitions, some music (classical is nice) and burn to DVD or a format such as AVI or MPEG. Here is an example I did for my family's blog; An Introspection: Interview with Andrew and Kathlena .

Greeting Cards

Also, you can create nice greeting cards for friends and family. Once again, I use Adobe Photoshop, but you can also use a wide range of programs already on your computer. In Photoshop I select "Greeting Card" import my photo (or photos) add a background and text, then print it out. You could also start with a blank document, adjust the size, then add your photos etc.

Here's a sample of my work:

Home Decor

One of the more common ways of using your photos is that of Home Decor. My home is filled with photos my parents have taken throughout the years. Filling your house with your photos is one of the many ways to both "make a house into a home" and use your photos.

And don't think the photos you hang on your walls have to be only of people. Pictures of flowers, landscapes, and objects can also make lovely additions to your home decor.

Collages

In the instance in which you have too many photos to make a scrapbook page you can instead make a photo collage. These are great for gifts or to hang on a wall in your home and are easier to make than scrapbook pages since it is comprised of only photos.

Here is one I did for my brother last Christmas:


Hope this was Helpful,

Emily J. Shiflet