First off, let me explain what I mean when I say “Replaceable Art”.  This is a term I just created out of thin air that means any art that is changed out monthly, seasonally or every couple of years.  I ask this question because I have personally seen many friends and people in my social network talk about how they like changing up their house decoration every so often…including the artwork or personal photos that hang on their walls.  My wife and I are guilty of the same act of recycling and changing our home decor.  We find ourselves constantly changing what is hanging on on our walls based on the season.  We go all out for pretty much every season and then we take it all down and start again.  It is kind of nice to have a stockpile of photos and art that are stored when you don’t need them but we can always break them out when the season…or our taste requires.  That is what brought up this question that I posed in the title.  Is replaceable art just a fad?  Well, I have some thoughts on the matter.  I also have a few ideas for folks who don’t think it’s a fad and think of it more as a lifestyle choice.

I think there are a couple of factors at play for people who like to change things up in their abode rather than investing in one or two expensive pieces of art to hang on their walls.  I think the economy over the past couple of years have gotten people thinking about thrifty ways to decorate their walls which has lead to this huge surge in a DIY (Do It Yourself) movement.  Another reason is personal taste.  Some folks would rather have family photos adorn their walls than expensive art.  But photos can go out of date rather quickly so new ones will pop up each year.  And at last you have folks (like my wife and I) who just simply get bored at looking at the same stuff on our walls for more than a couple of months.  I am sure there are a bunch of other factors too like the difference between the Baby Boomer generation and Generation X…and Y but I don’t want to get too cerebral here.  This is just an opinion but I think that people will continue to gravitate toward having art that is easily replaceable on their walls than invest in something that will stay on their walls for 10 or 20 years.  Arguments are welcome.

This opens the door to all kinds of fantastic ideas that you can use to keep the art or photos on your wall fresh and exciting.  I have some ideas about using a mixture of photos on canvas, photo paper, and art canvas prints that can be used throughout the year and is a relatively smaller investment than a one of a kind piece of art…And who is to say that the stuff you create isn’t one of a kind…of course it is.  And that is what makes it even better.  I am going to use the example of decorating by season.  Here are a few ideas that you can use to decorate your walls throughout the year (and please add your own in the comments).

Spring

• Go grab some photos of some wildflowers or go to a field and take photos of your kids flying a kite.  Those could make beautiful canvas prints or go smaller and just print them as photos to put in smaller frames…You don’t always have to go big.
• Photos of your family in your Easter Sunday clothes.  I can see great wall collage of the photos from the Easter Egg hunt.  Be sure to photograph the details…that is what makes a great photo canvas collage work.
• Spring is a time of fresh greens.  Have your kids do an art project of all different shades of green.  Now this is something you can have forever and display each Spring.

Summer

• Take some photos of your kids at the pool or at the beach and display some on photo frames that you can rotate the photo in and out of and print one as a photo canvas to be the centerpiece
• Think about 4th of July and doing a few pieces of word art as a wall collage – great sayings like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and maybe include a line from the Star Spangled Banner.  Use different tones of Red, White, and Blue in your art.
• Think about what color Summer makes you think of.  Go to a local hobby shop, grab a canvas and that color and paint something…anything.  Use a stencil or paint by numbers or trace it on the canvas first then paint it.  Just try it…it’s fun.

Fall

• Of course you can have a ton of fun with Halloween.  You can even do a few online searches for creepy images and get those printed as canvas prints or have them sprinkled around your house in photo frames.
• Take pics of your kids in their Halloween costumes and display those as desktop photos to add the the fright fest.
• Thanksgiving conjures up images of fall leaves and cooler days.  Go out and find those changing leaves and take some close up photos of them.  A single orange or red leaf or collection of leaves can have a bold but playful impact as photos on canvas.  You could even just dry out the leaves and frame them for a unique piece of natural art.
• There are a ton of craft activities that you and your kids can do together…One of the best is the painted hand print turned into a turkey…classic.  You can do that on a nice cardstock or water color paper that you can buy at a hobby store then frame it and have it for Thanksgivings to come.

Winter

• Of course there is the big obvious Christmas.  Christmas photos, Christmas crafts, and even lyrics to Christmas carols are things you can print on canvas and enjoy around your house for the season.
• Or you could go with the less obvious and decorate in the icy blues or new funky colors you see for the Christmas holiday.  Take a cue from department store ornament colors to help you create your color palette.  Bright fun colors are great to decorate with…especially if you have young kids.
• Start a tradition each year by taking a family photo in front of the tree or on your vacation and display it somewhere in the house during Christmas.
• Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day (That is still in the Winter season…right).  Remember when you were in grade school and your art project was to make paper hearts.  Do it again.  Make big ones and small ones and have your kids make them too.  Make paper heart garland and frame a few of your favorites.  You could also Modpodge a heart onto a blank canvas (or embellish a canvas print you already have).

These are just a few ideas that are floating around in this noggin’ of mine.  I would love to hear more ideas on transitional and replaceable art that you have going on in your house.

We are back from New Orleans, and oh what a trip it was.  I think the only bad part about the trip was the traffic that we hit getting into New Orleans…the 8 hour trip turned into a 10 and a half hour trip.  But after that it was smooth sailing.  We met a ton of terrific photographers and everyone was so nice.  We answered a lot of questions about our photo canvas prints, our aluminum prints, and where the bathroom was (kidding).  It was a very large trade show with some very large printing companies…but I think we did a great job of standing out from the crowd.  People could come up and touch the canvas prints and ask us specific questions about the best ways to produce a photo to canvas or photo to metal print.  We did get to have some great New Orleans food and checked out a few of the local flavors.  Here is a taste of what I caught from just my iphone during the trip.  Next week I will share what we caught on our regular cameras…you can tell us which you like better.

A few from the trip there.

Here is what our booth looked like.  Very nice.

Here is our owner (Doak) enjoying a fruity cocktail…he is a man’s man.

Had to include some food shots…this is the double cut pork chop I ordered from Emeril’s…possibly one of the best things I have ever eaten.  I am still dreaming about it.

A few shots from the actual trade show.  Canon had a cool graphic wall behind their booth.

This was part of another booth…I can’t remember which company it was though.

The is the view from La Bayou restaurant on Bourbon Street.  Excellent view, excellent food.

This is the Leica M9.  This little camera retails for…hold your breath…$7,000.00.  You can pass out now.

Yup, you could even get your photo taken with an albino alligator…or is it a croc?

Part of an exhibitor’s booth.

These are the buttons we were passing out.  There is only a few left if you want one.

We’ll end it with a few night time shots of downtown New Orleans.

Oh, and this is the inside of Mother’s.  You have to eat here if you are going to New Orleans.  It’s a dive, but the sandwiches are amazing…and huge.

Doak and Caroline patiently waiting for me…and Doak’s mom Diane to finish taking photographs.

One of the up and coming trends we are seeing in photography is called iphoneography.  That is the term used for the phenomenon of people using their iPhones (and other smart phones) to capture the world around them.  Two of the most popular camera apps for the iPhone that can add a little extra flavor to your photos are Instagram and Hipstamatic.  They each have a variety of film “looks” that will alter your photo.  With Instagram you take the photo first (or choose an existing photo from your camera roll) then pick which film effect to apply to the image.  If you don’t like it you can always change the filter.  Hipstamatic is a little more like having a traditional film camera.  The app comes with a variety of lenses and film types.  Each combination will give you a different look to you photos.  They are both equally fun to play with to create some amazing photos.  One other large difference between the two is Instagram is built as a social community of people sharing their photos.  Like Facebook, you can follow people…like their photos and make comments.  It is fun because it is all visual based.

If you have played with either of these apps you know how cool you can make ordinary things look.  They are both perfect for taking photos of everyday experiences, but they can also challeng your creativity by trying to create cool little art photos.  This new trend called iphoneography is definitely proof that the best camera you can own is the one that is in your hands.

Ok, so you have taken some photos with Instagram and Hipstamatic.  What now?  Rather than having those photos (that are just oozing with awesomeness) get stale on your camera, let me show you how to make a simple photo collage that you will love forever…and will probably make your friends want one too. This is a super easy to create the collage because both camera apps make your photos square…so there won’t be any hard math involved.  The hardest decision will be how large of a collage you want to do.

I have organized about 25 photos from a beach trip my family took this past summer.  It was the only time during the year that the whole family was all together so it was extra special (Mom, Dad, 4 adult kids, their spouses, 6 little ones, an Aunt, and 2 family friends for a total of 19 people..whew).

Here are the steps I took to create this one of a kind canvas print collage:

1. I sized each of my photos to 5″x5″
2. After sizing my images, I created a new file in Photoshop (25″x25″ at 180 dpi).  One of the nice things that we offer is custom sizing for our canvas prints.  You don’t have to worry about sticking with a certain size.  Feel free to experiment.
3. Now I just need to do copy each of my photos into the 25″x25″ file I created and arrange them however I like them (Each photo will be on a separate layer).  I went ahead and did mine in chronological order…that will help jog my rusty memory on what happened when.  After I have them all arranged I am pretty much finished.  I just need to flatten my image in Photoshop, save it as a JPG, and upload it to Canvas Press.
4. Once I have uploaded it to Canvas Press.  I am going to choose the 1.5″ depth canvas.  I am also going change the border style from image to COLOR.  With the color border option selected I will ensure that my entire image will stay put on the front of my canvas.  I think I will choose Black as my border color to give it a “framed” look.  Then, I just choose my size from the drop down menu – 25″x25″ and I can add it to my cart.

Here are a few of my Instagram and Hipstamatic photos that I used and also the final version of my project.  This is just one idea you can do with your iPhone photos.  And don’t think you are limited to doing this with JUST your smart phone photos.  You can try this with your any photos you take.  There are endless possibilities of arranging your photos on canvas and making fun photo collages that commemorate an event, a person, or even a series of art photos.  We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

We are getting a severe headache from Gmail.  For some reason most of our customers who have a Gmail account are not getting our emails.  They are ending up in the spam folder.  We haven’t quite figured out why this is happening, and our attempts at contacting Google and Gmail have not worked.  So we are turning to you all.  If you have a Gmail account and have tried to contact us or are waiting on an email from us…or if you are missing out on all of our great sales (and soon to be upcoming awesome newsletter) then please do us a huge favor.

Check your spam folder…to find your spam folder:

1. hover over the left sidebar where it says “compose” and has all your folders.
2. Toward the bottom it will say “More”…click that and then you will see your Spam folder.
3. Click on that and do a search for “canvaspress”.
4. Then click on the box next to that message and click on the “Not Spam” button toward the top  of the page.

There you go.  You can now resume normal contact with us.  We know it is especially frustrating for those of you who have ordered a photo on canvas or multiple canvas prints and are waiting for a proof.  Or if you have signed up for an image consultation and you haven’t heard anything back from us.  Please check that spam folder.  That is probably where the email landed.  We are continuing our efforts to get some feedback from gmail.  For now, you (our amazing customers), will help us out a great deal.

You didn’t think we were done with the Don’t Say Cheese! series…did you.  Absolutely not.  You know how it goes…you get busy with Christmas…then New Year’s.  Well, with the holidays now over we can get back down to business and hopefully learn something new about taking photos of your kids.  In part 7 of this series, I want to tell you about the fantastic benefits of Window Light.  Window light can be an amazing tool in your photo arsenal if you learn how to use it properly.  The best natural light you can photograph in are the sunrise and sunset magic hours.  After the magic hour in the morning is past (usually happens right after the sun pops up…early in the am) and before the magic hour in the evening you can be left with some really unflattering light from direct overhead sun.  But if you go inside and use window light to use as your main light source you will get beautiful soft directional light that will make you look like a pro.

Now not all window light is equal.  This is according to most artists who paint.  Have you ever heard of an artist who insisted on having a north facing room to paint in?  Most artists will tell you that north facing windows give you the most consistent prettiest light.  Not sure what they have against south facing light, but anywho.  All YOU need to worry about is finding the a window in your house and as long as there isn’t direct sunlight streaming though it, the window will give you that soft directional light that portrait photographers crave.  In fact photographers use a lighting tool to mimic window light.  It is called a soft box and they come in all different sizes from 1 foot square to over 6 feet tall.  These soft boxes give photographers that same directional soft light as window light does.

Here is what a softbox looks like.

You might be asking, “Ok, so how do I use this window light to take photos of my kids when they are going 100 miles per hour?”  Great question…I’m not sure.  Hey, I didn’t say this was fool proof ;-D.  Taking photos with the window light might require a little cooperation from the kids or maybe during a time when they are quietly playing or resting.  One good little trick that I have used is to tell them to look at the kangaroo outside (insert whatever you want…just get them to look outside).  Then they usually look pretty intently out the window.  This is a great photo op for a natural expression of them.  Then they will look at you because you are taking a picture of them.  If you time it right and use your sense of humor you can get them to laugh and bingo!  There is your chance to get that candid, beautifully lit, perfectly timed portrait.  Just be fast.

I invite you to start noticing how the light that is coming through your windows shapes the objects in your house.  Now insert a small child in and see what you can create.

Here are a few examples to illustrate how beautiful window light can be!

Thanks to Travis Atwood Design - http://travisatwooddesign.com

Thanks to Stacey Woods Photography - http://www.staceywoodsphoto.com/

Thanks to Artem Loshak for the beautiful photo

Christmas lights are beautiful, but it can be very hard to get nice photos of a lit tree or decorations.  On Tuesday night I went down to partake in an Austin tradition…the Zilker Christmas tree.  Which isn’t so much a tree but lights strung from a large radio tower to make a tree of lights.  If you are not from Austin you are probably thinking…”hmmm, that’s odd”.  Hence the city’s slogan, “Keep Austin Weird”.  Actually, it is a lot of fun, people go every year to spin under the lights, get dizzy, eat some kettle corn and drink hot chocolate.  So, I was just playing around with my camera and was thinking of some interesting ways to capture the Zilker Tree and the experience of being there…plus make some cool art that later I might put on our walls.  One thing that is fairly easy to do with your DSLR camera (or any camera you can manually focus the lens with) is to take photos of the lights out of focus.  By taking them out of focus the little lights become large balls of light.  Kind of a cool abstract color study.  Another trick is camera movement.  Especially in a dark setting when your shutter speed is going to be really slow you can do a form of “light writing” or making designs with the available light.  In this case the available light is the Christmas lights and by moving the camera (spinning, zooming, panning) you can create very interesting patterns with your photo.  Here are some examples of what I came up with.  Try some of these tricks with your own Christmas tree and presto you have some new art to hang next Christmas.  Remember you can always count on us to put those art photos on canvas for you!

Here is the Zilker Tree to give you an idea of what I was talking about.

The is what a normal photo might look like of Christmas lights. Kind of dull. We need to spice it up a bit.

This is spinning and taking a photo at the same time...It's a high degree of difficulty...for me.

More spinning, this is a form of Light Writing.

 

The more out of focus the lights are, the bigger they get (depending on what lens you are using)

I like that you can still see the star at the top of the tree.

Love how the lights blend into the dots.

The lights still take on the form of a tree but it isn't so literal

Inspiration can come from almost anywhere.  Rather than choosing one particular photographer’s work to inspire you this week I want to show you hundreds of photographers’ work.  You all have heard of Flickr.  It is the dominating photo sharing site on the net.  But lately I have been drawn to 500px.com.  I have been continually amazed by the images I am seeing on there.  I keep hitting the next page just to see more.  Fair warning, there are nude photos on there, so probably not a site you want to look at with the kids (although most of them are tastefully and artistically done).  I have been a photographer for over a decade and I have always said that I would rarely hang other people’s art photography on the wall…but I have been having serious second thoughts about that after seeing some of the amazing work I have seen on 500px.  I wouldn’t mind having several of the photos on canvas.

It’s a cool website too.  The images really pop off the background and you can rate photos as well with a like or dislike.  And I think one of the most beneficial things on there…especially to photographers eager to learn…is the photographer who took the photo will often list the camera settings used to capture the image.  There is something for everyone on this site: landscapes, portraits, wildlife, abstracts you name it.  Many of the photographers who post photos to 500px are pros, but many of them aren’t…they just have a good eye and aren’t afraid of snapping a few photos.  Now that is great inspiration.

Here is what the homepage looks like.  Immediately you are struck with some beautiful images.

Here are a few sample images that caught my eye.

Again, I want to reiterate that this site is probably rated ‘M’ for Mature audiences.

Let’s change gears for just a sec.  You all know that of course you can print your photos on canvas, but have you ever thought of creating graphic or word art on a canvas?  It is a lot easier than you might think, and can be a great addition to your seasonal home decorating.  Since Christmas is upon us let’s go through the steps of making a fun canvas print based on a Christmas carol.

Here is what you will need for this jolly ‘ole…project:

1. Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  You can also do this with Powerpoint or even Microsoft Word if you are in a pinch.
2. A cool font or fonts of your choosing.
3. A line from a Christmas carol that you love.

1st off I am going to pick the perfect font (sometimes this could be fonts depending on the project you want to take on).  I am a professed font-aholic so at least I have admitted it.  My favorite place to get my font fix is definitely Dafont.com…I could (and have) spent hours on there pouring over all of their fonts.  Most computers come with the standard font choices and one of those may work so be sure to check there first before venturing to free font sites.  Here is one quick rule about mixing more than one font on a page.  Normally serif and sans-serif fonts don’t play well together, but you know what, ultimately it is up to you because this will be hanging in your house.  I found a font I really like called “Pinstripe Limo” that has a little vintage flair.

2nd step is to come up with a line from a Christmas carol that you really like.  This can be kind of tough to narrow down.  So if you have 3 or 4 that you really like then think about doing multiple canvases and place them throughout your house to tie all of your decorations together or even give one as a gift

I finally landed on a line that I really like (after listening to Christmas music for 8 hours straight).  I am going to go with “Have A Holly Jolly Christmas” in my Pinstripe Limo font.

3rd step is to consider the size of the canvas piece and the color scheme.  I am a big fan of large graphic prints.  I love how they can make a bold statement, but they can so easily tie into the rest of your decoration around the house.  So they pull double duty…centerpiece or supporting role.  I am going to make my canvas art piece 20″ wide x 30″ high at 180 dpi (by the way, 180 dpi is the perfect resolution for fine art printing onto canvas).

And for my color scheme.  My wife and I have been on this kick the last few years of using non-traditional schemes for our holiday decorating.  Not that there is anything wrong with red and green, but we like to play with color.  So for this project I am going to go with a lighter blue background and my font will be brighter red (well at least one of my colors is a traditional Christmas color).  Here is the blue I chose.

My 4th step is to go ahead and start typing and formatting my text on my 20×30 file in Photoshop.  You may have to play around a little with your formatting.  The easy way around this is putting each line of type as a separate layer in Photoshop.  That way you can move it around anywhere you want.  Again, there is no wrong way to do this.  You get to use that creativity of yours to format your text however you like.  I am a big fan of crisp and clean lines so this is what I came up with.

I finished up my Christmas canvas art by adding a few snowflakes on a layer behind the text to add a little texture and depth to the photo.  This was another font I found on dafont.com called WWFlakes (did I mention I love fonts).  Here is the finished project.  Just imagine all the possibilities you could start to explore by adding text to photos and decorating with inspirational words.  We will be giving you many more ideas on this on the upcoming weeks.  I can’t wait.

Now all you have to do is log on to Canvas Press, upload your finished file (jpg), select your canvas depth and size (20×30 for me), and I am going to select the color border option and match the color on the side to the blue on the front.  Then just add it to your cart and you are ready to go.

Whether you just picked up a camera for the first time yesterday, or you are a photo enthusiast, or even a seasoned pro…there are a few things you can learn about photography from using Facebook.  Here we go…in no particular order.

1. Join a group that talks about photography in your area.  If one doesn’t exist start one and invite your local friends to join the group.  This is a great way to ask questions about gear, camera settings, etc.  You can also share your photos to the group and ask for feedback.  A great example of this is an Austin area group called Austin Photogs.  Which has over 600 members and is active every single day with new posts, questions and comments.  It is a great way to learn from a community.  Be prepared to put yourself out there.  There is not hiding behind a funny user name like there is in a photography forum.  People know who you are…but if that doesn’t scare you then by all means go for it…It’s the only way you get any better.
2. Take an informal poll.  Post a few photos and pose the question to your friends to let you know which one they like best.  You can also use the Facebook polling feature to dress it up a little.  This is good practice for putting your photos in front of other peoples eyes.  This becomes more difficult when you start asking for honest criticism.  At least right now you are just asking people which one they like better (You could always ask them why as well).
3. Create photo assignments for yourself and post them in your profile’s photo album.  The photo album feature is a perfect way to start thinking about how to tell a story with multiple photos.  The albums are easy to view and when you post them it creates a great synopsis of your photo story.  This will start you thinking down the path of developing your style.  Seeing several photos from the same event next to each other will begin to show your photographic style and point of view.
4. Speaking of Style (what a great segue)…Facebook is a great show and tell and playground all wrapped in one to help you develop your photo style.  One thing people love on Facebook is photos…but often times people will just glaze over them because the photos don’t strike them as special (minus close fam and friends…they will always comment on your photos.  As they should).  So if you want more people to take notice of your photos on Facebook then developing a style is very important.  We will talk about how exactly to develop your style in a different post.
5. Ask for constructive criticism.  Facebook is full of people who love to give their opinions so why not ask those people for honest constructive feedback about your photos.  Not everyone will take you up on it but a few might.  The best place to ask for this criticism is in an environment where people know what they are talking about when it comes to taking photos.  So this ties back to #1 on the list and joining a photography group.  Again, you will need to have some courage…be brave and put your photo out there and specifically let people know you want feedback and criticism on your work.  It is possibly the hardest thing you can do.  Let’s face it no one likes to hear that something they have done is bad, but that honesty and criticism will make you a much better photographer than if people didn’t tell you what you need to work on.

There you go.  5 ways Facebook can help you become a better photographer.  Remember that Canvas Press is always here to help you out if you need some direction.

As we are getting closer to Christmas we, at Canvas Press, wanted to take a little time out and give a huge thank you to all of our amazing customers out there who have ordered a photo canvas or even multiple photos on canvas.  We know there are several choices out there and even if you do choose one of them some other time we hope that you will see that the quality of our product and craftsmanship really shines through.

I don’t want to get all mushy on you all, but we strive to give you all the best of ourselves and the best materials out there because…well…frankly, you deserve it.  We would gladly put our canvas prints side by side with any of our competitors out there and we know that ours will shine through because the quality of our canvas and craftsmanship is something we dedicate every single day to perfect.  We totally get that we aren’t the cheapest option out there, and we probably aren’t the most expensive either but where we shine above the rest is our continuing focus is to deliver to you…quality.  Quality canvas that you can pass on to the next generation and quality (if not fanatical) customer service that goes the extra mile for each of you.

So, again, THANK YOU everyone who has made this year and this holiday season so great…that’s you by the way.  Oh, and this isn’t the last of the Christmas sentiments.  You can totally expect more of this coming your way as we count down til the 25th.  We can’t help it…we LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Here we are in the Canvas Press workshop hard at work (not to be confused with Santa’s workshop…although there are some similarities).

canvases stretched and ready to be shipped

coming hot off the printer.

John is making those corners supa-tight.

Jen is making sure the canvas is protected during shipping.

The man with the hat, Cody hard at work hand stretching your canvases.

Canvas waiting to get stretched.

...and the frames waiting for the canvas...it's like a love story.