Kids Capture the Colour

Travelsupermarket.com's Kids Capture the Colour competition allows children to get creative with photography, taking pictures that capture the colours green, blue, red, yellow and white.  10 year old Kizzy is developing a real love for photography (enjoying being both sides of the camera) and embarked on the project with some very creative ideas.  Throughout the summer she used the camera, which she was sent to use, (as well as occasionally pinching my DLR!) to record precious memories and try out some arty shots.  Here are her favourite summer photos and the story behind each image in her own words.

Green

"This is taken at Beeston Castle and is in the woodland walk.  It is a really magical place to walk through.  I loved this tree which looks green because it is covered in mossy stuff.  I think it could be a place where fairies lived.  I love the roots."

Blue

"This is taken in Salford after we went to The Lowry.  Freddy was enjoying running and climbing on all the play equipment and on the walls.  He jumped off this bench loads of times and I caught this action shot of him mid air.  I love how his bright blue outfit stands out against the grey path. He's like Little Boy Blue."

Red

"This plant is outside our house and I love the red leaves and the flower-type thing which feels furry.  I love the colours of nature.  The red is really pretty."

Yellow

"I grew sunflowers this year from seed.  I was really excited when they grew into big yellow flowers.  Bees kept coming to visit them which made me really happy.  I was so happy to capture a picture of a bee on one of the sunflowers.  I tried lots of times but this is the best because you can actually see its eyes and the details on its wings. I cropped it down to get a good close-up and it's my favourite shot."

White

"We've had some lovely blue skies this summer with fluffy white clouds. I really liked this photo because it looks like a scan photo with a baby sucking his thumb.  Can you see it?"

This is Kizzy's entry into the Kids Capture the Colour Photography competition.

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I will be posting some more of Kizzy's photos on my blog shortly as she has some lovely arty, close up shots of the colour themes featuring sweets, clothing and make-up (some of her favorite things!)

January In Pictures

January in Pictures

Blue Friesian Personalised Glossy Magazine Cover Review

Blue Friesian is a new company that specialises in producing personalised 8 or 12 page glossy magazines and glossy magazine front covers for any occasion.  The website offers a host of themes from celebrity gossip magazines to sporting magazines...you name it they have it! You can personalise the templates with your own photographs and text to produce a unique, individual piece of artwork.  Perfect as a thoughtful gift for a loved one, they would also be excellent for weddings, family parties, birthdays, new babies or christenings. They are a beautiful keepsake that would certainly bring a smile to the recipient's face!  Sports teams or corporate events could benefit from having their own bespoke glossy mag.  A wonderfully original and unique idea with the potential to impress and entertain.

Today I was thrilled to learn that I had won a prize from Blue Friesian's Facebook Page.  They are running a fabulous prize draw everyday until Valentine's Day to win a personalised glossy magazine cover. So pop across, check out their competition tab and see if you can get lucky too!

I approached Blue Friesian to ask if they would like me to write a review of my prize and was very happy to be offered an upgrade so I could create two different magazine covers for the purpose of my review.  Without hesitation, I headed to the website. I am a bit geeky.  I love using the computer to produce photo gifts so I was quite excited to check out the Blue Friesian site and have a 'play'!

The site is really user friendly and appealing.  The covers and magazines are displayed so you can see exactly what you can create with a just little time and effort.  The designs are stylish and authentic looking and there is a theme to suit anyone young or old.  Pet lovers, parents, sportsmen, boys, girls, music fans or newly weds can find something to suit them.  You can make your friends, family or loved ones the stars of the show and create your story instantly.

The software allows you to overwrite text and upload photographs into the templates. The number of images and amount of text you can add varies, but the scope to personalise is very generous. You can see exactly how your changes look as you go along by updating your creation, so you can rework the cover or magazine to get it just right.  You have to make sure your photos fit into the spaces as there is no cropping or resizing option on the templates themselves, but this didn't pose any problems.  You can crop your pictures and save them onto your PC before starting the project.  There is flexibility in choices of colour on some of the covers so you can create the perfect piece to suit your needs.

There is helpful advice and prompts at every stage of the process.  I really enjoyed making my covers, it was a fun process that I found quite straightforward.

The first cover I made was a music magazine 'EMN'.  It was a simple template using one large photograph and overlaid text. It was very simple to create. The second cover was 'Girl Alert' which was slightly more complicated as it had four smaller photographs each with captions, on top of the main picture.  This took a little longer as I had to try a few pictures to find which ones fitted best.  I was delighted with both finished results.

You can opt for a digital version of your artwork to print yourself at home, or you can order a high quality printed version from Blue Friesian using their state-of-the-art digital printing presses.  If you want multiple copies, there are great value reductions to be had.  Turnover is between 5 and 7 days.

As part of the package, you are sent an email with an image of your finished magazine cover artwork or a link to a digital version of your magazine.  You can share these on Facebook or email them to your friends so they can share your creation.  I think this is a very thoughtful extra.  I'm looking forward to receiving my covers which I intend to frame and put into my daughters' bedrooms.  They are going to love them.  When they arrive I'll let you know what I think of the finished product.  I'm sure they are going to be wonderful...I can't wait to find out!

I've got a new camera!!!

Fabulous, gadget mad husband could not bear the fact that I was struggling with an automatic digital camera any more.  For ages the creative side of me has been frustrated with the lack of control regarding taking photographs.  Many a beautiful photographic opportunity has been wasted because my camera decided to focus on the background instead of on Freddy's smile. The slightly blurred pictures on the LCD viewing screen becomes a horrible smudged mess when uploaded onto the PC.

Littlest son is also not the greatest model in the world...his big sister Ella was one of those babies who understood her mother's need to capture every moment in photo form.  She would beam effortlessly at the slightest suggestion of a camera moment.  Freddy on the other hand is a far trickier model to capture.  He'll be all grins and little teeth until the camera shutter button is depressed.  My old camera has a noticeable delay that is just long enough for Fred to turn away.  I have so many photos of the back of his head it's untrue!  Other favourite avoidance techniques include the look down or the lunge, which are illustrated below! 

I have felt for a while that I am missing out on the photos I want, the ones I create in my mind but just can not translate into the end result.  However, I am not someone who finds it easy to spend money on myself.  You just have to look into my wardrobe to get evidence of my lack of personal spending (some of the contents are circa 1991...and not in a good retro way either)!  I do not own a handbag (I bung everything in Fred's changing bag)!  I am still wearing last year's mis-shapen fake Uggs (even though I desperately covet a pair of buckle-up DM ankle boots)!  So the idea of spending the best part of £500 on a non-necessity is something I could not even contemplate.

However, my wonderful husband felt differently.  He wants me to exercise my creativity, capturing those fleeting moments in Freddy's childhood forever.  He wants me to capture the sort of picture that we'll want blown up into a huge canvas for the living room wall.  He knows that I love competitions but simply can't compete in terms of quality (although blurred offerings are not uncommon I personally couldn't put my name to anything I didn't think was worthy of winning). So, to these ends he came home from work today having bought me a Lumix G2. 

He'd done his homework, read the reviews and decided that this was the answer.  I used to love my SLR camera from the pre-digital days, and this seems to combine elements from both old school SLR and uber modern digital photography.  He is excited about it!  Me on the other hand have my usual fear and trepidation regarding change...but I'm looking forward to overcoming that and exploring the potential that this camera has to offer.  Hopefully I'll have some nice piccies to post soon!!