Creative Photo Projects

Taking, organizing and perfecting your images is a good start, but the best part of photography is getting the “Wow!” from friends and family when you share your shots. Online services and software are making it easier than ever for even casual photographers to create polished, pro-quality slideshows, greeting cards, Web-based projects and more.

Part of the fun of photography is putting those finishing touches on an image and then putting it to good use. Here are a few of our favorite ways to be creative with photography. 

Publish a Photo Book
by Wes Pitts

Forget photo albums with their yellowing tacky adhesive and delicate cellophane. There’s something about seeing your photographs in a professionally bound photo book that’s especially exciting. There’s a sense of accomplishment. We spend hours behind the camera, then in front of the computer, working on our technique to make the best possible images, and seeing the end result in a beautiful book is exceptionally gratifying.

Getting published—once only possible for professional photographers or wealthy hobbyists—is now affordable and easy for everybody. A typical hardcover book of your own photos will cost you less than $50, with paperback editions priced at less than $20.

Designing a custom book is actually easy. You don’t need desktop publishing software or any special expertise. Mac users can get started with iPhoto, which is part of the iLife suite of software that’s included on all new Macs (www.apple.com). iPhoto lets you drag and drop images from your image library right into a book template, add text, and preview and order the book, all from within the iPhoto interface.

Online publishing services are also easy to use, and available to everybody, regardless of operating system. One of the best offerings is from MpixPRESS (www.mpix.com). Download their free software (Windows or Mac), and you’re off and running. First, you’ll pick the type of book and size of book you want to make, then import your photos into the software. You can automatically add an entire folder of images or import one by one.

After your files are loaded, just drag and drop images into the book. An assortment of page templates makes it easy to add variety to page layouts. You also can add artistic frames and text to your pages for a pro-quality, coffee-table-worthy conversation piece.

When you’re done, the Mpix software automatically checks your document for possible problems, such as blank pages, then uploads your book for easy ordering.

The hardest part of making a photo book may be the selection of images. Spend some time with this, and edit out shots that don’t add to the group as a whole. Try to have a concept for the book before you start, and carefully choose and order the images in the book to tell a story or otherwise complement one another.

Also, we recommend that you use type and special effects, such as frames and ornaments, sparingly. While these extra elements can add punch and interest to a page, too much only detracts from your photographs, which you want to take center stage. Use these elements conservatively, and you can enhance the presentation without overloading the visual experience. Take a cue from your local museum or art gallery—white space is good.