Spring is finally here, but you'd hardly know it with the crazy weather from Hawaii to the Midwest and beyond. The good news is that better weather should be right around the corner, along with fun spring activities like baseball and Little League, Easter, Passover and Spring Break. What a great time of year!

So there are lots of potential special moments coming up for us to photograph. If you're like me, I am always looking for ways to improve my photos. I think one thing a lot of people have trouble with is properly framing their shots. This results in a lot of cropping before printing. We'll look at some tips for better framing our photos.

Better Composition: Framing Your Photos
New Scrapbooking Software
Digital Camera & Equipment Sales
Digital Photo Software Sales/Promos
Digital Photo Printing Services Sales & Discounts

Better Composition: Framing Your Photos

Did you know that the cropping tool is probably the most widely used tool in photo editing software? While there is nothing inherently wrong with cropping your photos (aside from being time-consuming), here is a potential problem: If you do a lot of cropping on an image and want to print an enlargement at 8x10 or bigger, your photo could look jagged and lose some sharpness. This may not be as big an issue if you have a 7 or 8 megapixel camera, but it could pose a problem if you have a 4 or 5 megapixel camera.

The key is to try to compose your shots so they don't require a lot of cropping later. Here is what you can do:

• When photographing people, take a minute to look at the background to the left and right of your subjects before you tell them to "say cheese." Think about what you want to include (or exclude) from your photo. Think trash cans and other unsightly objects like telephone poles, electrical towers, etc. Try to minimize the amount of foreground and the extra space on either side of your subjects. Usually closeups are better.
  
  
• In landscape photos, watch the horizon - generally the horizon should be above the middle of the photo. If you have more sky than land in your photo it can look off balance.
  
  
• Decide what you want to focus on. Sometimes it's nice to focus on an object in the foreground such as a flower or an interesting lamppost and use the landscape as a soft background. Other times you can get a pleasing effect by focusing on the landscape and letting the foreground object be out of focus.
  
  
• Try turning your camera for a vertical shot instead of the standard horizontal. In fact, try it both ways to see what you like best. We get so used to just pointing and shooting, sometimes we forget than we can turn the camera the other direction. As a rule of thumb, you'll want to match the camera format to the subject. If you are shooting a cathedral with a tall spire, a vertical format may work better. Usually a horizontal format works best for landscapes.

New Digital Scrapbooking Software

I found some new digital scrapbooking software that looks like it could be a lot of fun for scrapbook enthusiasts. It's called SimplyReady Scrapbooking. There are five design themes available, Simply Kids, Simply Recreation, Simply School Days, Simply Vacations, and Simply Vintage (each can be purchased separately). One of the best things about it is that you can design and share personalized scrapbook pages using templates, embellishments and backgrounds, all in Microsoft Word. There are 100 different borderless and bordered page designs, 600+ embellishments and over 340 backgrounds and textures and you can choose from 8x8, 8.5x11 and 12x12 page designs. There are editable text boxes and you can move or eliminate objects and photo boxes. You can also save your scrapbook pages as a jpg photo file to share your beautiful new scrapbook pages through e-mail, or print out on any color inkjet printer. SimplyReady Digital Scrapbooking software includes a photo editor that allows you to crop, stretch, rotate, and flip photos. There is a nice online tutorial that virtually walks you through creating a scrapbook page and using the various features.

The publisher, The TemplateZone, is featuring a 50% discount on SimplyReady Scrapbooking products. The regular price is $39.95 (for each design theme), but for a limited time the cost is only $19.95. (You can buy all 5 for $79.95). If you enjoy scrapbooking, this is fun and easy software with lots of creative options. Click here for more info.

Digital Camera and Equipment Sales

>> Digital Cameras & Camcorder SALE at WOLFCAMERA.COM

- FREE Epson Printer Offer with Digital Cameras over 3 million pixels
- Nikon CoolPix P2, 5.1 MP Digital Camera, Just $199.99 + Free Printer Offer
- View Point 3MP Digital Camera, Just $59.99 + Free Printer Offer
- Kodak EasyShare C300 Digital Camera, Just $99.99 + Free Printer Offer
- Plus many more digital camera and camcorder sale offers!
- Don't forget -- FREE Shipping on orders over $100* and NO SALES TAX!

Go to WOLFCAMERA.COM

>> WAL-MART IS FEATURING A SALE ON VARIOUS DIGITAL CAMERAS:

- Canon 5.0 MP PowerShot S2 IS Digital Camera w/ 12x Optical Zoom - sale $375 (list $400)
- Kodak 5 MP EasyShare Z740 Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom - sale $265 (list $299)
- HP 4 MP Weather Resistant Photosmart M22 Digital Camera - sale $129 (list $215)

Digital Photo Software - Sales, Rebates

Here are the current sales/promos on digital photo editing and organizing software as of March 21. They can change at any time.

ACDSee 8 PHOTO MANAGER is $49.99 direct. Download a free trial

Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 is $66.99 after rebate at Amazon with free shipping.

Adobe Photoshop Album 2 is $43.95 with free shipping at Amazon. (If you are thinking about getting this, I recommend you get Photoshop Elements 4 because it includes Photoshop Album).

Corel Paintshop Pro X is $59.99 (40% off) and get free shipping at Amazon.

Corel Photo Album 6 Deluxe is $19.95 at Amazon after special rebates and free shipping.

Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 is only $59.99 after rebate with free shipping at Amazon

PhotoImpact 11 - photo editing software is $89.99. Download a free 30-day trial. This is an excellent photo editing program and easy to learn. With your purchase, get FREE Pixmantec RawShooter essentials 2005, an award-winning package that lets you preview, adjust and covert RAW image files from your high-end digital camera.

Digital Photo Printing Services - Promos and Discounts

SMUGMUG

While this is primarily a photo sharing service, Smugmug is so good it deserves a reminder to check it out. Smugmug is easy to use and offers lots of options for you as well as the people you are sharing your photos with. There is a variety of elegant templates for displaying your pictures and photo-editing capabilities. You unlimited photo storage and sharing and everything is spam-free. Sign up for a FREE Trial of Smugmug.

SNAPFISH: 12 cent prints all the time.

15% off your entire order - use coupon GOTAPEX15 Thru Apr 1

Go to Snapfish.

SHUTTERFLY: prints are 19 cents

Enjoy 20% off New Photo Gifts(Keepsake Box, Desk Organizer, Playing Cards,new Tiled Mugs and Puzzle). March 23–28, 2006

Go to Shutterfly

PHOTOWORKS: prints are 19 cents; get 25 free when you join Photoworks (membership is free).

Free shipping on 4x6 prints thru March 27. Use coupon code C556-38-5122-51

New customers get a free compact photobook valued at $12.95. Just enter C440-38-5161-81 during checkout. Expires 3/31/06.

Go to PhotoWorks.com

KODAK EASYSHARE GALLERY: has 15 cent 4 x 6 prints every day.

Save 20% on photo collages, photo greeting cards, mini photo books and more (excluding prints and cameras) when you spend $10. Through April 3. Enter coupon code: SAVE4BABY at checkout.

Go to Kodak EasyShare Gallery

That's it for now. Happy Passover and Easter!

Valerie Goettsch
www.digitalphotos101.com
How to get the best from your digital camera

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