Sell Your Digital Photography at Stock Photo Sites

Many of your hobbies can be turned into business ideas that can make you money. Digitally photography is a great way to make an easy profit on doing the thing that you love. Digital photography allows you to capture a variety of images in a variety of formats. With tools like online photo galleries and web photo albums you can easily save, sort and display your images for pennies.

Wondering what kind of images people want to buy? Remember when you used to visit the fair or take a family vacation to a theme park? Those family pictures might seem like something only your family would want to have but for companies who want to pair an image with an article or are looking for the perfect image for an ad campaign they are willing to pay for your images.

Stock photography is one of the best ways to take these images and start making money in the online digital photography market. Sell your photos to others who need pictures for websites, newsletters, magazines and e-zines and other media. Your photos can add a new flavor to what is currently being offered.

Working in this way is not without risk. You want to make sure you have the permission of any people in the images before you place them up for sale. You also need to understand how the stock photography business works. Customers can purchase pictures or lease them for a certain amount of time. On some sites, photos are free to use when signing an agreement of use and including a link back to the site. Make sure all of this is clear before you start to put your work out for purchase. You may also want to keep track of the places you’ve listed your pictures in case someone decides to purchase the image outright.

Making Money on Stock Image Sites

Selling stock images is a great way to make use of unused images in your online photo galleries that are just taking up space. You can make a nice chunk of money if you get your work out into the marketplace.

As a photographer, you will make more money if your photos are leased as opposed to being sold. A one-time sale can be really tempting, especially if it’s a big sum but the lease will provide a continuous source of income off of that one photograph. It can make sense to diversify your income by leasing some images and selling others through a lease arrangement. Both arrangements have positives and negatives and it will really depend on your goals and needs.

To begin making money in stock images, start researching current stock photography sites. Find one that offers the leasing option to customers and also has an easy-to-navigate site. This is an easy way to start testing the waters with your work. Don’t empty all of your web photo album images immediately. Start small, learn the ropes, and then work your way up.

To figure out what will sell, look at other stock photographs that are selling. What do they have in common? Are the pictures clear? Can you make out all of the features of the photo? What qualities are people looking for? This can be difficult because every buyer is looking for something different.

Don’t forget stock photography companies are out to make money too. Don’t be afraid to try some new ideas for pictures. You’ll receive feedback on what does or doesn’t sell either from the company you’re selling through or through your sales figures.

To better market your work create a website with links to the stock photography sites featuring your work. This will send more people to your work.

Tips for Capturing Summer Memories

There’s no better time of the year to take pictures than summer. Long, sunny days filled with lots of outdoor activities, family get togethers, vacations, and more! It makes sense that you’ll have your camera out and at the ready all season long. Don’t worry if you don’t have the newest or best DSLR camera, many of today’s smart phones have amazing image capturing ability. In fact there are some professional photographers that are making a name for themselves through their smartphone photography! Use what you have and keep in mind some of these suggestions. Enjoy some of our best tips for capturing those summer memories and how to preserve those memories once they’re taken.

Capturing the Essence of the Season

What are some of the items that scream summer? Grass, chalk, water, a cold drink - just to name a few that quickly come to mind. When you are documenting summer adventures or memories be sure to not only grab the image of the person or event but the feelings and other items that really stand out as “summer.” This is the essence of the season. Take some close up shots of a foot in the grass or a face in a water bubbler. Use lots of different angles. Zoom in on the chalk instead of the image of the child and vice versa.

Movement

Kids running down the soccer field. A group of friends sharing drinks and laughing. Capturing people in action and movement bring a static picture to life. The more feeling and movement you can bring to an image, of course without it looking too blurry or out of focus the more likely you will be to remember that scene and moment. Posed photographs are great but they don’t capture the full range of emotions.

Food

Picnics, barbeques, and other food-centered activities are a big part of summer. Whether you’re strawberry picking on a farm, enjoying hot dogs in the backyard or toasting s’more’s around the campfire these are all great opportunities to take great images to remember summer when the snow starts to fly. If there are special dishes that you really want to remember take solo shots and when you’re organizing your album later type up the recipe to go with the picture.

Preserving Memories

Now that you’ve taken dozens and possibly even hundreds or thousands of pictures how can you best remember them? One way is through printing and arranging them into a photo album. However technology has made this once time consuming and somewhat expensive process faster and less expensive. You can create a web photo album much easier than a physical photo album.  Simply upload your images and arrange into online photo galleries. You can group them by event, by child or family member, by month or some other combination that makes sense to you. Don’t forget to include descriptions in the captions so that you can remember what, when, where and why you were taking that picture. Once you’ve set up your web photo albums be sure to share with other family members so that they can relive summer memories too!

Use a Web Photo Album to Host an Online Thrift Sale

If clutter is taking over your garage or you have a big move planned you’re probably starting to wonder what to do with all your stuff. Sure there’s always the traditional way of hosting a thrift sale, by setting up tables outside and labeling all of your items but what if you’ve got more collectible things or lots of furniture that isn’t really “thrift sale” worthy priced? Host an online thrift sale!

Plenty of people look at sites like Craigslist to purchase goods. Instead of listing each of your items that are for sale create online photo galleries to share and price them all in one place. While doing a sale this way may not seem like any less work than the traditional route you may be able to get a better price for your things. Here are some tips to setting up your sale and photo galleries.

First, sort through everything you have that you are considering getting rid of. Decide what you will keep, what you will sell, and what you will give away. Designate a special place in your home or garage for all of the items that will go up for sale. Next, do some research on those items so that you can find out what the going price is. If you have antiques or items that are highly valuable consider selling them to an antique shop or private collection before putting them online in order to get the very best price. If this is not possible include them in your online sale. Save the information you find so that you can add it to your photo galleries.

Third, begin to take photographs of your items. The better the photograph the more likely your item is to sell. Use good, natural light and capture the item alone, not amongst a jumble of other things. Take a shot from multiple angles and if there are any flaws be sure to photograph them as well so that the buyer knows exactly what the condition of the item is. For bigger pieces of furniture it might make sense to take pictures of it in a room instead of your dusty garage. If people can see the piece “in action” they are better able to envision it in their homes. If this is not possible, simply take the best pictures possible.

It can take a lot of time to go through all of your items and photograph them so try and break your work into chunks. Once you have finished photographing for the day set up a web photo album for each theme of items. So have one album focused on furniture, with another on collectibles and so on. Add the images and then spend some time adding information from your research to the description boxes. Most importantly don’t forget your price! In the description of your photo galleries include your contact information and how people can pay. Finally publicize your albums on your social media accounts, on Craigslist and any other local resources that publish sales.

Summer Lake Activities for All Ages

When the temperatures start to soar there’s only one thing left to do – pack up the kids and hit the water! While not everyone lives near the ocean almost everyone has a lake within driving distance. For some people just enjoying the water is enough but if you’re looking for a little more here are some ideas to keep busy at the lake. Don’t forget your camera, you’ll want to add these memories to your photo galleries.

Have a Swimming Race

Depending on the age and swimming ability of those racing determine a course ahead of time. Make sure you have plenty of eyes on the water so that no one is hurt or struggles. Have someone in charge of time keeping and let the games begin! If there are lots of people involved you can even set it up like a round robin tournament.

Sand Castle Building Contest

Kids love to build sand castles but you might be surprised, many adults do too! There’s really no rules needed to building, but you can set some creative ones to make things interesting. Maybe it’s a height requirement or an overall size requirement. Use items found nearby to embellish the creations.

Play Beach Volleyball or Soccer

If there’s room in the sand or nearby grass put together a friendly game of volleyball or soccer. There are plenty of other “beach” games that are available. It’s an easy way to spend some time, be active, and make new friends.

Collect Rocks and Wash Ups

You may not find many seashells washed up on the shores of the lake but you might find other interest things! Bring some containers and let everyone explore to see what they can find. You might do this before the sandcastle building contest so that there are things to decorate with. Be sure not to include any living creatures. If any large things are moved like rocks or driftwood, be sure to put them back when you’re done.

Have an Aquatic Scavenger Hunt

An underwater scavenger hunt? Yes! You’ll need goggles for everyone who wants to play so that they can see both above and below water. Create a list of items to find and have everyone work in at least two person teams so that someone can be in charge of the list of items to find and someone else can be looking for them. Include things that can be seen both above and below water. Take lots of pictures because this memory is sure to be one for your web photo album.

Take a Boat Ride

A summer afternoon cruising the lake in the back of a speed boat – sounds perfect right? Whether it’s a speed boat or a canoe, spending time on the open water is fun for all ages. Many lakes have boat rentals available for a small cost. Canoes, paddle boats and kayaks are the most inexpensive but if you want to splurge a little a speed boat sure is fun!

Whatever your summer adventures have in store keep your camera close by to remember the fun times you had.

Using Photo Galleries to Help Organize Your House

When you first move into your home it seems like you have so much space.  You quickly set everything up but there’s always the inevitable box of “things” lurking in your basement or garage. Not to mention that one junk drawer, and there’s the cabinet in the laundry room.  Well let’s just say things don’t stay as organized as they once were and as time passes you accumulate more and more things.

Home organization is a step-by-step process.  It will take more than a day or even a week to get everything to a manageable level, but once you do staying organized is an easier task. Using tools like a web photo album can help you remember what is where – especially if you have a lot of things or a big home.

1. Start with the Busy Areas.  The two most used rooms in the house are typically the living room and kitchen. This is where everything gets dropped on the counters or furniture or shoved in the closet. Before you move on to less used rooms, concentrate on getting these areas in order first.

2. Use Containers and Storage Spaces. You’ll need to invest some money on the right tools to organize. There are hundreds of options on the market for storage boxes, organizing racks, and cabinets. For any boxes you plan to store in your garage, basement or attic – namely things that aren’t used that much – make a unique mark on the box and photograph it. You’ll also want to snap a picture of what is in the box and finally where you place it.  Upload these images to your web photo album.  Create a different album for each box and use labels for the items.  The next time you’re looking for something access your albums and search for the item by name. You’ll be able to see what the box looks like and where you put it. No more rifling through boxes!

3. Divide and Conquer.  Get out the bags! Sort through everything you find and place in a pile labeled: KEEP, THROW AWAY, or GIVE AWAY.  Items that will stay in that room are to keep.  Things that you don’t need like loose scraps of paper or garbage can be thrown away.  Clothes or furniture still in good condition can be donated.

4. Use the Space You have.  You know that space above your kitchen cupboards? Store extra containers or rarely used appliances there. Storage bins that slide under the bed are good for storing out of season clothes or shoes. There are plenty of ways to add storage to your garage. Take an inventory of all the space you have and think of the best ways to use it.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. By taking time and using organizing tools you can turn your house around in no time. However, once you’ve done it once the upkeep is much less stressful than fighting the daily mess!

Tips for Throwing a Neighborhood Block Party

The sun is shining and everyone wants to be outside enjoying the weather. A great idea to get your neighborhood or even just a group of friends together is to throw a block party. In large cities these are common but not as much in smaller cities and towns. It’s an easy way to share a meal, get together with old friends and make new friends. You’ll want to save all your pictures to a web photo album to share with everyone that attended!

First, ask around and get an estimated count of who is interested in attending. You’ll want to know so that you can allocate enough space. Then get a little more organized by creating a group email or even Facebook group. Let people sign up to bring food items or leave it blind and let people bring whatever they wish. A potluck is the best way to do this so that no single person or family is stuck with all the work.

You may consider having each family pitch in a set amount of money to rent tables or purchase drinks, or you can rely on everyone bringing their own. It’s up to you! No party is complete without some music or entertainment. Maybe you have a DJ or an amateur musician in your circle of friends that would take over the lead for this. Lawn games are another fun activity for kids and adults. You don’t have to add a lot of structure but having a few things to do is a good way to break the ice and get people interacting.

When the event is over send everyone a link to the online photo galleries to upload their pictures. You’ll have a great collection of images to remember the event year to year!

Make Lunch Fun This School Year

Back to school is right around the corner. For many parents this means packing a lunch every day. While some kids will eat anything without complaints others simply won’t. Before school starts create a web photo album to save your favorite ideas. You’ll have a great resource to pull up when you’re feeling less than creative. Here are some more ideas you can use to make school lunches tempting and nutritious.

Most kids would love to find chips and candy in their lunch but parents would rather their lunches to be nutritious. To make it work, find ways to make them fun and your kids will look forward to a healthy lunch each day.

Sit down with your kids ahead of time and ask them what they’d like to eat. Better yet have them help you build online photo galleries of lunch items. Sure they’ll ask for things you’d prefer them not to eat but try to allow some of their favorite things- they’ll be more likely to eat the other items as well.

Dropping a note in your child’s lunch bag or box to let them know you’re thinking of them is a nice way to remind them you care. Another motivator is choosing a lunch box they love or trying bento boxes to separate their food.

Most children love to dip their foods so try and include some dipping options with vegetables and fruit – you may find they eat more when they can dip it. Give your child rolled-up sandwiches, or wraps instead of regular sandwiches. You can cut them into easy to hold pinwheels. Or use a special cookie cutter for normal sandwiches.  All of these ideas can help you take lunch time from boring to an event that kids look forward to and you know they’re eating well.

How to Take Great Outdoor Pictures

There’s a huge trend now of photographers taking outdoor portrait images, and why not? There are so many amazing scenes to take images and showcase not only the person or people in the image but the scenery as well. Taking pictures outdoors can be much more of a challenge than indoors. Your settings will constantly be changing and the light can drastically change from one moment to the next. If you’re building up your outdoor images web photo album consider some of these tips to take better pictures.

Avoid Direct Sunlight – Not only is it hard (and hot!) on your subject but it can lead to blown out images and rough edges. You don’t’ want to avoid natural light all together buy look for partially shaded settings or shots that don’t have full on sunlight. Taking pictures in the early morning or early evening can help give you the right amount of natural light without too much.

Avoid Distractions in Your Shots – Things like power lines or road signs can get in the way of taking really good pictures. You want people to focus on your subject, so unless your subject is the sign or the picture avoid them! Though wouldn’t it be fun to have a dedicated web photo album of distraction shots?

Use a Tripod – A tripod can really help you capture images when the light is low. Low light means the camera needs more time to capture the picture. It’s hard to hold your hands completely still in that time. This is a small investment to make but it will make your pictures that much better.

Compose Your Shot – To create a really great image, especially when shooting landscapes, have a foreground, middle ground and background. Also make sure it’s clear how they relate to each other. For example you want to include the beach, the water and the rocky cliffs behind them in your shot so that whoever is viewing the image sees how they all relate to each other. This is much more powerful than just shooting the water or only shooting the cliffs.

Don’t Put the Horizon Smack in the Middle – Looking back at the ocean example if you took a shot that had a sliver of the beach and a sliver of the sky and the rest of the picture was full of the ocean it would be lacking. The picture would be much more powerful if the focus was, for example, more on the water.

Emphasize Size and Scale – There are some amazing outdoor scenes that can be captured. But photographs have a way of losing the scale of things without some way to compare them. Did you see a giant scale on a leaf during your hike? If you simply snap a picture then you have no way to know it was a giant snail, it’s just a snail. Likewise a mountain doesn’t look as big if there’s nothing included in the image to show scale. When you’re composing images this should be taken into consideration.

How to Take Better Pictures of Food

Taking pictures of food has become increasingly popular with the wide use of mobile phones that have great photography capabilities. With dozens of online photo galleries dedicated to showcasing the best food photography and recipes, it’s no surprise this has become a popular activity. But some pictures are really terrible. No one wants to see a picture of something that resembles slop. Poor lighting, generally unappealing dishes, and a shaky hand are some of the things that can lead to poor quality images.  If you want to take and share your food pictures here are some tips to help you.

Lighting

One of the most important things to consider when taking a picture of anything is the lighting. If you’re in a dimly lit restaurant at night, you may as well just put your camera away. You don’t want to be using a flash in this situation and taking a bad picture is worse than no picture at all. If you’re taking pictures at home, use as much natural light as you can find. Move your plate or bowl close to a window or a spot where there’s plenty of natural light. Adjust the white balance on your camera to indicate which type of light is in the frame. Avoid using a flash as much as possible, typically it casts a harsh light and blows out whatever is in the frame.

Composition

Chefs spend a lot of time creating not only the food that you’ll eat but arranging it in a way that makes it appealing. Remember we eat with our eyes first. At home you can do the same. Use dishes that compliment your meal, not take away from it. The same should happen with the surface the dish is on and the background that will be in the shot. You can include props to enhance the picture. Utensils, cups, and anything else that really sets the scene can make a big difference. You’ll also want to experiment with taking pictures at different angles. Shoot from above, straight on, at an angle. Don’t be afraid to take many images to capture the right one for your web photo album.

Some other ways to create really great food pictures is to include what’s around. If there’s a multi course meal spread out on the table, try to capture as much in your shot as possible. This will bring viewers into the moment so they can experience a depth to the picture. You’re telling a story and seeing a full display will be much more telling than single shots of each of the components. Don’t forget at the end of the day the food is meant to be eaten! Show people touching, eating, and interacting with the food. This will help bring it to life and again help to tell a story.

If you’re eating in a very high end restaurant or taking pictures would be inappropriate then trust your gut and keep the camera put away. Enjoy the meal before you and maybe snap a picture of your cleaned off plate when all is said and done!

How Do You Share Your Photos?

Sometimes we can take so many photos especially in the summer as we travel, hit the beach and are having fun. But how do you share those photos with those you love? Sometimes the images lie stored on an SD card or on your phone and don’t get shared.

So how do you share yours? Many of today’s smartphones and even cameras are WIFI equipped making sharing simple across online platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Using Facebook or Instagram is an easy way to share your photos but sometimes not all of them get posted. So what do you do with all those photos?

Sharing is caring, especially where family members are concerned. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and even cousins love to share in the joy of your special moments so what are the best ways to share your photos?

There are several sites that offer an online website photo album. You can always store and share your photos from one of these. If a photo is worth a thousand words you really do want to be able to collect your photos are share them.

Synching your photos to an online photo album is now simple and easy and many of them allow you to email your photo album links to family and friends and some even allow for curating from already shared photos on Instagram and Facebook, and other social sharing sites.

There are lots of ways you can share your photos. Just make sure you upload them to your photo album. Did you know you once in an album it is easy to organize them. You can have one for a vacation, another for a back to school inspiration list, another for even your favorite recipes.

So what are some of your favorite ways to share your favorite photos?

Creating Books Using Your Images

Have loads of pictures taking up your online photo galleries? Why not turn them into a book? There are many services that will help you turn your digital pictures into a printable photo album but what I’m talking about is a little different. There are many ways to take web photo album to physical book. Here are some great ways.

Alphabet Board Book

If you have a little one you can create a unique board book that will not only help them learn their alphabet but also recognizing family members or other objects. Purchase a board book, they’re often sold at craft stores or can be purchased online. Then scale and print the images you’ll be using. Use craft seal to adhere them to each page. You can either hand write or print each alphabet letter onto the picture. Try to have them correlate to something in the picture. Let the book dry and you have a unique and wonderful book!

Picture Book

Have you looked at the cost of picture books lately? A hardcover book can easily cost $20+.  Instead why not make your own? Take a series of images, maybe it was your last trip to the zoo or vacation. Sequence them together and add text onto the pictures just as you would find in a picture book. Print and have it bound or do it yourself. Your child will have a truly unique book. If your children have names that aren’t often found in books this can be a great way to give them a story that has a character with the same name!

There are lots of other ways to turn your images into books. In fact you may be able to sell your creations to publishers or others looking for something similar! A great money making opportunity to consider. 

Be Prepared For an Emergency With The Proper Tools

When an emergency or disaster strikes, people often first think about the manual labor they’ll need to do to deal with the situation.  Clearing trees, branches, dirt, snow, ice, and debris from your yard or living area may be your first chore after a disaster.  It’s impossible to prepare for every emergency imaginable, but if you know the types of possible natural disasters that can happen, you can plan and prepare wisely for those events. This preparation includes having the right tools available. This includes preparing all your documents for an emergency by putting them somewhere like a web photo album.

You may have to move around to different locations to help yourself or others, so it’s a good idea to have some lightweight, multi-use tools on hand. You'll find many styles on the market that provide several functions in a single tool.  A basic list of tools for emergency use would include:

• Shovel
• Hammer
• Handsaw
• Utility knife
• Crowbar
• Wire Cutting Pliers
• Wrench
• Flashlights

You may have many of these tools already.  However, the problem with relying on tools that you use every day, is that they may not be with your emergency preparation gear when the time comes that you need them.

Instead of having them scattered all over your property, store your tools with your emergency disaster supplies. This may make the regular use of these tools a bit frustrating, so it may be worth the investment to buy an extra set of the items.

Consider purchasing emergency specific tools to avoid the headache. In the short term, this may seem like a waste of money.  You don’t have to go out and buy everything brand new. Look at garage or estate sales to buy second hand items that are in good condition. Most people do take some time to build up their safety “bank” because to do so overnight would be too much of a financial drain.  Be frugal and fit tools into your family budget by checking out the resale and thrift shops too.

Tools may not be first and foremost on your mind when thinking about planning for an emergency. But don’t limit yourself to tools for manual labor. You also need tools to manage your documents and other important materials. Online photo galleries are a great way to save precious items that can easily be destroyed by the elements. In the event of a natural disaster, you will have all of the tools in place to help remove debris or clear paths. You’ll also have the tools in place to recover important documents like your homeowners insurance policy. If you don’t like the idea of having these document online invest in a safety deposit box to keep everything safe.

As you can see, tools are very important to survival in the short term as well as in the long term. You may think it will never happen to you but it’s simply impossible to predict what will happen. 

8 Ways for Parents to Use Online Photo Galleries

While most people think that photo albums are just a place to dump and drop all of the images saved on your camera it can be so much more! If you’re a parent (and even if you’re not) here are some other ways online photo galleries can be maximized to make the most of them.

Keep Kids Artwork

You know how your kids’ folder comes home at the end of the week crammed full with art projects, drawings, and other accomplishments. You probably wonder what you’ll do with all of those papers. It seems wrong to just throw them away but…. Now you don’t have to! Scan or photograph your favorites and upload them to an album. Title and date it so that you can remember how old your child was. You can even add other information so that when you recall it years down the road you’ll remember the story behind the project.

Keep Track of School Pictures

Every year children have their portraits taken at school. These are great gifts to hand out to grandparents, aunts and uncles. Make sure you also scan one and add it to your web photo album. Keep one album that’s just for school pictures and by the time your child graduates you’ll have every picture there at the click of a mouse.

Birthday Albums

When birthday time rolls around, don’t miss a moment. Capture the party, events during the day, and other details that make that birthday special. You might include a photo interview series with your child on their favorite things- don’t forget to include pictures of them!

Vacation Memories

Vacations often yield hundreds of pictures and left on their own they simply take up space. But if you create an album dedicated to each vacation and make sure the right images go where they belong you’ll have a nice reminder of the time you spent.

Identity 

There’s nothing more frightening than the thought of a child going missing. To be prepared have photo galleries for each child featuring a recent image (that you regularly update), scans of their finger prints, and pictures of any identifying marks they have on their body (within reason). If something ever were to happen you have the information ready immediately and can provide it to the proper authorities.

Share Special Events with those Far Away

So many families are spread all around the world so rarely is it that everyone can get together for special events. Instead build a web photo album for your special event and share it with everyone! Encourage other family members to do the same things so you can enjoy their events too.

Learning Activity for Kids

There are hundreds of ways kids can use photo galleries to learn. Whether it’s creating their own stories, researching a project, or learning to read the options are endless.

Creating Holiday and Birthday Lists

Do grandparents always struggle to find the things that your child wants for the upcoming holiday? Even if they’re given a list chances are they won’t know what half the things on the list are. Have your child find pictures of the things they would like and create a visual wish list to make shopping easier for everyone. 

4 Ways to Use Online Photo Galleries in your Office

You’re familiar with having picture frames and maybe even albums in your office, but what about web photo albums FOR your office? There are lots of web sharing options and apps available for every purpose but sometimes all you need is a simple way to share images across the office. This is why using online photo galleries can be so powerful. Today’s companies are spread over large spaces, and often include many people who telework from home. They need a way to share without having to come into the office.  Here are a few ideas.

Share Project Documents

How many times have you been working on a project with another team or even a single individual and needed a piece of information or an image that they have on their computer. Today more and more people telework making it much more difficult than just walking down the hall to retrieve the image. Create a web photo album for each project you’re working on and upload the shared documents there. This way both people have easy access to the information.

Create an Image File for Social Media Manager

Your social media manager plays a pivotal role in your organization. The role often needs input from all of the different departments, not just one. In order to provide them with stories and information to share, there needs to be a central repository to gather information. Create separate photo galleries for each department or team and be sure to keep it loaded with fresh images and information that they can pull from. This will make everyone’s job easier and keep the public and potential clients excited and interested in what is going on at your office.

Employee Directory

Do you have a large office this is spread out either on different floors, in different areas, or in different geographical locations? People don’t often have the opportunity to meet those who work with the organization. If they had a place to get to know people, or search for those with the skills they need for a project it might make the business run even better. Create an employee directory using a web photo album! Each person can share a brief biography in the comments and provide a contact email.

Integrate into Presentations

Studies have shown that more and more people gravitate to visual images instead of text. For your next project build up photo galleries to illustrate your points and highlight your findings instead of relying on a long-winded written report. Images can make any report stand out and have a bigger impact. When materials are available for everyone it makes creating these visually appealing components of a presentation easier.

These are just a few of the ways that businesses can use web photo albums to make their businesses work better. Whether you use a remote service or one that is only accessible via a private intranet connection, sharing means more than putting together photo galleries of your latest vacation. They truly can make day to day operations run more smoothly and effectively.

You’ve made a web photo album…now what?

You’ve been diligent about keeping your online galleries updated with images and descriptions and have created a wonderful gallery that you’ll be able to enjoy for years to come. But, what else can you do with these images and photo albums?

Share Them!

You may want to keep these images all to yourself but you surely have family and friends that would like to see them as well. Send them an email and share the link to your web photo album so that they too can see what you’ve been up to and how the kids have grown!

Gifts

Use your images to create personalized gifts. You can design your own photo book and have it printed – be sure to include lots of text and personalization as well so that the recipient has all of the back story of the images.  You could additionally include quotes that you like or scripture verses – whatever speaks to you and you know the recipient would love. Calendars are another great way to use photographs that you have taken. They don’t have to be of people, they could be landscapes you loved or food that you made. Select high quality images in a high resolution that will print well in a large size.

Start a Business!

Do you take excellent pictures? You could have them printed onto paper, t-shirts, key chains or other items that can then be sold at a local market or art shop. There are many places online that also offer a space to sellers who want to sell their artwork. You may need to invest some money to have items made before they’re sold but if you start small you may soon begin to see a good profit!

Whatever you do don’t let your web photo albums lay idle! Make use of them so that everyone can enjoy your hard work. 

4 Ways to Use Online Photo Galleries in your Office

You’re familiar with having picture frames and maybe even albums in your office, but what about web photo albums FOR your office? There are lots of web sharing options and apps available for every purpose but sometimes all you need is a simple way to share images across the office. This is why using online photo galleries can be so powerful. Today’s companies are spread over large spaces, and often include many people who telework from home. They need a way to share without having to come into the office.  Here are a few ideas.

Share Project Documents

How many times have you been working on a project with another team or even a single individual and needed a piece of information or an image that they have on their computer. Today more and more people telework making it much more difficult than just walking down the hall to retrieve the image. Create a web photo album for each project you’re working on and upload the shared documents there. This way both people have easy access to the information.

Create an Image File for Social Media Manager

Your social media manager plays a pivotal role in your organization. The role often needs input from all of the different departments, not just one. In order to provide them with stories and information to share, there needs to be a central repository to gather information. Create separate photo galleries for each department or team and be sure to keep it loaded with fresh images and information that they can pull from. This will make everyone’s job easier and keep the public and potential clients excited and interested in what is going on at your office.

Employee Directory

Do you have a large office this is spread out either on different floors, in different areas, or in different geographical locations? People don’t often have the opportunity to meet those who work with the organization. If they had a place to get to know people, or search for those with the skills they need for a project it might make the business run even better. Create an employee directory using a web photo album! Each person can share a brief biography in the comments and provide a contact email.

Integrate into Presentations

Studies have shown that more and more people gravitate to visual images instead of text. For your next project build up photo galleries to illustrate your points and highlight your findings instead of relying on a long-winded written report. Images can make any report stand out and have a bigger impact. When materials are available for everyone it makes creating these visually appealing components of a presentation easier.

These are just a few of the ways that businesses can use web photo albums to make their businesses work better. Whether you use a remote service or one that is only accessible via a private intranet connection, sharing means more than putting together photo galleries of your latest vacation. They truly can make day to day operations run more smoothly and effectively.

Tips for Creating a Great Senior Slideshow

Graduation time is right around the corner and a touchstone of that experience is creating a senior slideshow for the ceremony or graduate party. In the past physical photo boards were the norm but today more and more graduates and their families are opting for digital photo galleries to show their highlights. Not only is a web photo album a great way to chronicle your graduates life story, it’s easy to share with others who aren’t able to attend the party in person.

The first step to creating a great slideshow is collecting all of the material to put it together. Look through all of your digital photographs and then look back to any print images you might have. Choose the best quality images you have, especially if they’ll need to be scanned as they’ll likely lose some of the quality in transition. If you still have items from their baby days, you might take some photographs of them to be included. Did your child have a favorite TV show, musician, or other interest growing up? Look online to find pictures that you can use to represent that in the slideshow. You want to have enough material to create a comprehensive tale of your graduate.

Choosing a wide variety of images is also important. Pictures with siblings, pets, parents, on family trips, school accomplishments, or sporting feats are all ideas for pictures to include. But shy away from including a lot of images of any one thing. When it’s time to arrange the pictures take some time to think about how you’ll group them. You won’t want to randomly upload images with no thought. The most common way is to put the pictures in chronological order. However you could also group them by family pictures, friend’s pictures, images from sports, etc. There’s no right or wrong way but do put some thought into arranging them in a way that makes sense to those viewing the slideshow.

If you plan to show the images on a large screen, horizontal images appear better than vertical. If you want to include captions to describe the pictures test how this looks on screen. It may make more sense to physically add the captions to the images with a photo editing software than to rely on the captions underneath. Including title slides is an important way to tell viewers what they are about to see. Some of your guests may have only know your graduate as a small child and aren’t familiar with their high school accomplishments. Always keep in mind the viewpoint of those viewing your photo galleries.

Finally, some advanced touches to a slideshow include adding in short video clips or music. This is a nice way to break up the picture and provide more emotion. Not all programs are capable of doing this but they are becoming more and more common. After the slideshow is done you might send guests home with a thank you card including a URL for them to access the web photo album from home. 

Photo Gifts for Dad

If shopping for dad is difficult for you, and let’s face it, it is for most people, why not consider something personal such as a collection of your favorite images including him? While some dads might like a hard bound photo album to place on their shelf, many might prefer a web photo album that they can view on their computer or tablet.

Creating and sharing an online photo gallery ensures dad can always carry the memories with him. Build an album based around special memories, like a vacation that you have fond memories of, or baby pictures of you and your siblings. There are countless options!

There are plenty of websites and brick and mortar stores that can do image transfers, giving you even more options for photo gifts. You could create a t-shirt with a favorite image and one of dad’s infamous one-liners. Or, a coffee mug featuring a treasured family photo.

If you have a box full of old family pictures in a box stashed in the attic or basement, now is the time to get them out. With today’s technology you can scan the images, or take them to a photo shop that specializes in digital transfer of images.

After the images have been digitally stored, create a web photo album to share with other family members – making sure to surprise dad first! This ensures your family images and legacy are preserved for years to come and you also have created a wonderful digital archive for everyone to enjoy. A fun way to present this gift would be to have one of the images printed and framed for display and then include a card that has information on how to access the rest of the images. What a fun and unique surprise gift! 

Hosting a virtual art show through an online web photo album

Aspiring artists young and old can benefit from using an online web photo album to showcase their art work. In years past, the only way for an artist to be seen was to have their work exhibited in a public place, like an art gallery, museum, or other showcase. Today many people still aspire to have their work shown in such a way but there are more options to be discovered now than ever.

Every artist should have online photo galleries to promote their work. This creates a space for art lovers, aficionados, and others seeking artwork to discover their art. While some artists may decide to only exhibit their work online, others may use web photo albums to highlight a few of their favorite works in hopes galleries or private buyers will contact them for future work or exhibits. Web photo albums can also serve as an online resume, by creating different albums based on different accomplishments. If an artist displayed in a gallery they might choose 3-4 favorite works from that time, images from the event, or photos that show their inspiration. This tells a full visual story.

If an artist is starting out web photo albums can be a means of earning income from their work as well. Artwork can be uploaded along with images attached for digital rights to that image or prices to buy the physical piece of art. This saves an artist money as they don’t need to pay for space to physically hang their artwork and advertising to get people into the door.

There are many ways to make web photo albums help boost an artists’ resume as well as their pocketbook. With a little ingenuity and creativity the results will speak for themselves!