If you are thinking about buying a DSLR camera or maybe you just bought one to take better photos of your family, kids, or you just got bitten by the photography bug then this is a great post for you to read.  For those who don’t know what DSLR means that stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.  They look like this…you know the ones that have all the dials, buttons, and you can switch the lenses.

They can range in price anywhere from $600 to over $5000 for the camera bodies.  If you are just starting out I would go closer to the $600 end of the range.  But this post isn’t about what kind of camera to buy.  I am going to tell you the one and only lens you will ever need in your bag in case you DO buy a camera.  When you buy a camera, the salesman will usually try to “package deal” you.  They will include a kit lens that in my opinion are the cheapest lenses the camera maker puts out.  When you go in to buy the camera body you will want to ask for a…are you ready…a 50mm lens.  That’s it.  That is the only lens you will need…for a while.  I bet you are wondering, “What is his reasoning behind this claim?”  Let me lay it down for you.

1. They are super inexpensive so you aren’t going to break the bank with some super expensive pro caliber lens.  They run about $120…the cheapest BEST lens you can buy.

2.  Most pros have this very lens in their bag.  So that should tell you something.

3. It is a super fast lens.  A fast lens means that you have the ability to shoot in low light situations.  It does not mean that it will make you run faster.  With a maximum aperture of 1.8 – this means it can let a lot of light in to have higher shutter speeds in darker situations, and higher shutter speeds equals less blurry photos.

4. The 50mm f1.8 lens has fantastic bokeh.  This may be a new vocab word for you.  Bokeh is the portion of the photo that goes out of focus while leaving your subject sharp and in focus.  I have also heard it been referred to as “that fuzzy part of the photo.”  Whatever you want to call it, this lens will make your portraits look more interesting and professional.

5. It is small and light so you aren’t clunking around with some big lens on your shoulder (saves in chiropractor bills).

6. This lens is the absolute best lens to train your eye with (in my humble opinion).  If you are just starting out then grab this lens and use it…use it all the time and you learn composition and lighting faster.

I know what you are thinking.  But I want a zoom lens so I can take wide photos and close-ups with one lens.  That is exactly what the 50mm is…you just have use your manual zoom feature (your feet) to zoom in and out.  You are just going to have to trust me.  I have been a professional photographer for 11 years and it is by far my favorite lens of all time.  Here is what they look like so you know what to look for.  I included both the Nikon (my brand) and the Canon as not to play favorites.  I hope that you found this helpful.  We love to talk photography and anything creative for that matter here at Canvas Press.  Give us a shout if you ever have questions about photography.  Especially if you want to turn one of your stellar photos you just took with your 50mm into a canvas print.

It’s that time of year again, our annual Summer Facebook Photo Contest! One lucky person will receive a free 16″x20″ 1.5 Gallery Wrap from Canvas Press. Here’s how to enter:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Post your favorite summer time photo on our Wall
3. Get all of your family and friends to Like your photo

Whichever image has the most “Likes” by June 27th, 2011 at midnight CST wins a free 16″x20″ Gallery Wrap canvas!

Fans are posting their photos now, so hurry over to Facebook and post your photo to see if you win. Good Luck!

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Everyone needs a little learning once in a while. So, here’s a quick video tutorial on how to size and crop your images properly when ordering your 1.5″ Gallery Wrap canvas with an Image Border from Canvas Press.

Feel free to post your questions in the Comments section below. Thanks!

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Summer is in full swing, and most of you by now are snapping away on your mobile devices. At Canvas Press, we like to think it’s one’s duty to document life with photography. Most of us now have mobile phones. In many ways, it’s become far more convenient to take a picture with your phone instead of your point and shoot camera. Plus with social media like Facebook and Twitter, many of us are spreading our summer-loving photos all over the internet, sharing them with family and friends instantly. But with all the mobile apps out there, which one should you choose?

Enter Instagram. A fun-loving, easy way to snap photos, apply cool effects, and see images of other people you follow. Plus, you can geotag your images as well as post them to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. All from within one cool photo app. 

For those of you who are social media savvy, Instagram offers an entire online community of photo enthusiasts who can view your photo stream, as well as “Like” and comment on your images.

If you’re familiar with Twitter, then you’ll feel right at home using mentions and hashtags from right inside the app, allowing you to tag people in your images or categorize them. There’s even a stream for popular photos, allowing you to browse some of the most interesting and inspiring images created by other Instagram users.

And the best part about Instagram is that it’s free! Yup, you heard right. It doesn’t cost a dime. The only shortcoming is that currently it’s only available for the iPhone. But there are rumors that an Android version might be in the works.

Customers of ours are already sending in their Instagram photos to create square Gallery Wraps of their favorite candid moments. Everything from snapshots of friends to cool vacation photos.

What better way to document your summer than by snapping away and sharing your retro candid photos than with Instagram?

Do you have any Instagram photos you would like to share? Post the link to it in the comments section below along with the title of your image. Happy Summer!

You can follow us on Instagram by searching for username “canvaspress”. Here are some of our favorite Instagram photos:

Father’s Day is what some of us would refer to as the followup holiday for Mother’s Day. However, at Canvas Press, we like to look at it as a day to celebrate everything different from Mother’s Day.

Instead of celebrating baking cookies, or flowers, or making lovely greeting cards, Father’s Day is a day to celebrate cookouts, fishing, and doing absolutely nothing. Who else is better at shrugging off doing the laundry? Or who is usually guilty for eating the last Girl Scout cookie but still placing the empty cookie box back in the pantry? Or better yet, dads are the best at acting like they had no idea the family dog had an accident in the living room carpet in order to avoid cleaning up the mess.

But before we dump on Dad for his supposed shortcomings when it comes to housework, his fatherly qualities outshine all else. Who’s better at teaching you how to clean out the exhaust port on a Lawn-Boy mower? Dad. Who’s always the first to vanquish even the ugliest of spiders? Dad. And who can develop some of the most unorthodox uses for duct tape? Dad.

So, for this Father’s Day, we challenge you to go beyond the safe zone of getting Dad a new tie. Forget the golf supplies and tacky shirts. Get Dad something that is just for him, maybe even something that Mom would never approve of hanging on the wall. Whether it’s a Gallery Wrap canvas of his favorite longhorn bull, or an Alumiprint of his latest hotrod addiction, Dad deserves a gift that makes him smile every time he walks past it in the man cave.

Dads, this one’s for you. From all of us at Canvas Press, we appreciate all the dads out there keeping it real. Happy Father’s Day!

*photo credit above: courtesy of Dustin Meyer

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Penelope’s Oasis is a popular blog focused on moms and babies where Penelope reviews all kinds of related products and offers giveaways to her readers. Check out some of her thoughts about the canvas she received from us…

I had the opporunity to have an image enlarged to a 16×20 inch piece for review, and used this photo of my sweet goddaughter and received a vertical print, on 1.5″ gallery-wrapped canvas with Image Border. I was very happy when I received it. I’m not sure what exactly they do in those image labs, but the Canvas Press canvas print is incredibly sharp, and she looks absolutely beautiful (my camera and home lighting may not do it justice). Everyone who has seen it has gasped, and it’s a real treat for her.

Do you have a popular blog and like to write reviews and offer giveaways? Contact us for more details!

This summer I ordered 10, 8×8 canvases of different locations all around the world. Each of the places was one of the destinations that my husband (at the time I ordered everything fiance) and I visited. Instead of numbering the tables at our wedding, we used the canvases set up on easels as table names. With the left-over canvases, James and I made a collage on our kitchen wall, and it is the first thing everyone notices when they walk in. We love it! Thanks for always making great products, and being part of our special day. -Natalie

This was a great idea Natalie! We love to see how our canvases end up being used. Thanks also to Whitney Lee Photography for the amazing shots and sharing the images with us.

Through the LifeWorks Home Improvement Challenge (HIC), corporate and community teams partner with a decorator to design the space of a LifeWorks client. LifeWorks clients live in Supportive Housing – a program offering subsidized housing to kids who need a “getting on your feet period.” LifeWorks clients are former foster care children, former homeless youth and teen parents who may have never before received the help they need for a fresh start.

November Design Group of Austin, Texas contacted us about working with them to create a special canvas artwork piece to be featured in the living room of the makeover apartment. The girl living there was not able to bring her cat there with her, so we made a beautiful sepia-toned 30×30 gallery wrap canvas of her cat so she would always be there with her.

For more information on LifeWorks and how you can get involved visit www.lifeworksweb.org

There is a lot to do when getting ready for a new baby, and one of the most daunting tasks can be putting the nursery together. A customer in Houston, TX is putting the finishing touches on the nursery for her baby girl, due in June. Above the crib are two 14×11 gallery wrap canvases, pictures of the soon-to-be Mommy and Daddy when they were adorable little kids. Pink and blue boxes painted on the wall enlarge the pieces and tie them into the style of the rest of the room.

The rest of the nursery is filled with special toys and items both new and old, making this a very meaningful and happy place for the new little girl.

Having fun in the office on April Fools.