Spruce Up Your Pages with Scrapbooking Embellishments

Written by Fion Lim


Having this nagging doubt that you may upstage your precious photos or clutter your pages with scrapbooking embellishments?

One moment you're just so tempted to pasterepparttar embellishment onto your page, andrepparttar 135490 next moment you're questioning yourself, "Should I? Should I not?” You even wonder if you're just trying to force that simply irresistible page accent onto your page to satisfy your craving for… more embellishments.

Well, you're in good company. I still rememberrepparttar 135491 first time I encountered packets and packets of wondrous embellishments. My eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, and my heart fluttered in excitement andrepparttar 135492 truth was, I simply can't decide. What a rush!

So for anyone who loves scrapbooking embellishments, we have to learn some balancing acts and avoid falling intorepparttar 135493 trap of overwhelmingrepparttar 135494 pages with loads of such page accents.

Here's some tips for you to consider when you're holding that simply irresistible piece of embellishment in your hand, and pausing for that momentous decision.

TIPS:

  • If it distracts people from your photos, you might be better off saving that piece of embellishment for another page. Let's remind ourselves that photos formrepparttar 135495 essence of scrapbooking, not embellishments.

  • Ifrepparttar 135496 reason to userepparttar 135497 page accent is because it'srepparttar 135498 coolest or hottest trend right now, upon reflection this may not be so inrepparttar 135499 long run. Remember how you flinched in horror as you looked back at your biggest fashion mistakes? It can happen to your scrapbooking layouts too.
  • If there's only a single photo especially with close-ups, by all means launch into your most daring mode and spark up your page with embellishments. But keeprepparttar 135500 scrapbooking embellishments torepparttar 135501 minimal, when there's multiple photos on a single page.

Buying a new digital camera

Written by Nick Stubbs


I feel, after visiting so many websites and reading so much advice, and also by frequently visiting photography forums, that I have to speak on this subject.

Forrepparttar majority ofrepparttar 135489 buying public, there are 2 categories that we fall into when getting started or upgrading in digital photography,repparttar 135490 "Absolute Beginner" orrepparttar 135491 "Amateur" (or serious amateur sometimes labelled as semi pro).

Now forrepparttar 135492 beginner, or someone getting started in photography itself (not just digital),repparttar 135493 choice of cameras nowadays is quite overwhelming! Everywhere you look there are cameras, not just in camera shops likerepparttar 135494 good old days. You even get given a cheap digital camera as a gift for buying something else in some places. There are reasonably powerful digital cameras inrepparttar 135495 more expensive mobile phones now and they come in all shapes and sizes.

So where do you possibly start and how do you make that choice for buying a camera for yourself or someone else. Really it is quite simple and there are 3 criteria you should look at:

1.Quality - If you wantrepparttar 135496 camera to last at least a few years and not get bothered by a bit of bashing about, go for quality. A titanium body, not plastic, something that is fairly heavy and robust in your hands, you can feel quality!
2.Features - Do you want quality video capabilities? How big do you want to printrepparttar 135497 pictures that come fromrepparttar 135498 cameras files (how many mega pixels)? Do you want to have at least some manual features so you can get a bit creative? Or do you just want a "Point-and-shoot" digital camera?
3.Price - You will have a budget in mind of how much you want to spend. Getrepparttar 135499 best camera and memory you can for your budget, worry about extras later! Don't be cheap; if you want reasonably good quality prints, by spending too little on a very cheap camera, you will waste paper, printer ink and/or good money at your local lab. Get a good make and model of digital camera now and it will outlast a cheapie 4 or 5 times.

DO NOT be swayed by digital cameras that have "Non-Photographic" features, gadgets and gizmos. Any of these unnecessary features added means that some quality has been sacrificed elsewhere. Buy a camera to be a camera, and nothing else. I would also suggest buying one ofrepparttar 135500 top brands such as Canon, Nikon, Konica-Minolta, Olympus etc., they may cost a little more, butrepparttar 135501 difference in quality is worth it. They all make cheaper end cameras too.

Look for decent features such as a good optical zoom, NOT digital zoom. Digital zoom is an unnecessary marketing tool; it isrepparttar 135502 same as zooming in onrepparttar 135503 photo once you get it onto your PC. 10-20X digital zoom is acceptable but I have seen video cameras with 1000X digital zoom, have you ever tried holdingrepparttar 135504 camera steady at these kind of magnifications, even with a tripod?!!

Basically, write down exactly what you want and need fromrepparttar 135505 camera, go to a reputable dealer and buy a good branded camera that has what you need for your requirements and budget, don't be swayed byrepparttar 135506 salesperson into buying more than you need.

Now,repparttar 135507 Amateur or Semi Pro. When you start to look at Semi professional Digital SLR's or Advanced digital compact cameras,repparttar 135508 choice is a little less but no less confusing. The same advice goes here as inrepparttar 135509 previous section, think about what you needrepparttar 135510 camera for, how you think you may progress in this hobby and your budget.

The "prosumer" advanced digital compact cameras available today are steadily encroaching onrepparttar 135511 quality ofrepparttar 135512 DSLR, although in my opinion, they will never catch them. The optical zooms are fantastic,repparttar 135513 sensors, albeit smaller thanrepparttar 135514 DSLR are powerful and produce stunning images, and some even have "built-in" image stabilisers…Great!

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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