Camera talk.

Had a lot of questions in regards to the new borders at ScrapbookPictures.com (which I'll talk about in a minute) and also about the post-processing on the photo below.

The image on the left is straight out of the camera (no editing).

I turned off all the processing parameters on my camera about 6 months ago. 

When you purchase a camera, it comes with processing parameters already set, meaning that the camera is set to automatically  increase the contrast, sharpness, saturation and color tone of your photos (which is nice because it automatically improves the appearance of your pictures without any photo editing).

You can adjust the processing parameters on your camera to your own preferences (so you decide the contrast, sharpness, saturation and color tone of your photos) or you can turn it off completely so that it doesn't make any adjustments.

It was hard for me to turn off the processing parameters because it meant that my photos wouldn't look as good coming straight out of the camera, but I finally decided to turn it off because I didn't want my camera making processing adjustments straight across the board on all of my photos (I want to make those adjustments myself).

That said, I don't advocate turning off all of the processing parameters on your camera unless you are shooting RAW and are really committed to post processing (and if you can bear for your photos to not look as good straight out of camera).

The photo on the right is a combination of things.

1. I shot RAW and adjusted the white balance, exposure, brightness, contrast and clarity in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw)

2. I ran an action on it called Old School from totallyradactions.com.

Ok, and on to the new borders at ScrapbookPictures.com...

You can view the borders from your shopping cart, so here's the steps:

1. Set up an account (if you don't have one already)

2. Add a photo(s) to your shopping cart

3. Go to the shopping cart

4. To the right of your photo(s), under the "options" category, click on the text that says "view border".

5. It will open a box that shows your photo and to the right of your photo, you will see a place where you can choose an inner or an outer border (you can add up to two borders on the same photo).  If you are only adding one border, it doesn't matter if you select "Inner Borders" or "Outer Borders", they will look the same (if you are adding two borders, just experiment with which one looks better as the "Inner Border" and which one looks better as the "Outer border".

6. If you click on the icon that says "click here for Narratives", it will take you to all the borders I have designed (new and old).  The borders beneath the Narratives icon are free borders designed by ScrapbookPictures.com.  The Narratives borders are on sale right now for $.29 each.

7. You can scroll through all the borders and click on any of them to see what they look like on your photo.

8. If you want to change the color of the border, click on the "Pick Color" text (below where it says "Inner Borders" and "Outer Borders" and click on the color of your choice to see what it will look like.

9. Then click on the button that says "Save Crop & Border" (you can crop your photo here too) and you're set.

I know the site can seem a little difficult to navigate at first, but once you get used to it, it's a breeze.

My hope is to keep adding new borders on a regular basis now (I'll post here anytime I have new ones).

Hope that's a help.

Comments

[Michelle Gauthier]

The new borders are fantastic Karen! I love that I can add color to them. I've been working on a nice, hefty order and can't wait to see them in real life. :)

[Rachael C.]

I love ScrapbookPictures.com and I love your new borders!! I just ordered some pics with your new borders. I have been using ScrapbookPictures.com for awhile now and love the convenience and quality. Once you get the hang of the site, it is a breeze. It sure beats the heck out of standing in line somewhere to order my pictures. THANK YOU so much for recommending them!!

[Davean]

I too just placed an order with some of your new borders. LOVE THEM!! If you are working on new ones, would love to see something with pets, like dictionary text with cat, dog, etc..

[Ann]

I just checked out your borders yesterday, lots of great ones in there! As for committing to processing my RAW photos, that's something I need to do. I'm a lazy photographer, I shoot & shoot & shoot, but when it comes to processing, they sit on my computer for a long time (read: I still have photos from last Feb I need to process). I have to say though that Lightroom is making my work flow a lot easier. I hardly ever open CS2 anymore.

[Ali]

You are so great karen - thanks for talking about all of this.

[Kimberly]

My order should be arriving to me today or tomorrow, I can't wait to see the actual prints! Have fun at CHA!

[JENN RICHARDSON]

Would love to see Girlfriends, Friends, Nana, Papa.... baby boy...baby girl...on your next round of borders.. just a thought... My order of pictures with some of the new overlays were shipped today !!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM !!!! Thank you !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andrea]

Karen, I just ordered from scrapbookpictures.com for the first time... I cannot WAIT for my order to come!! I love all your borders, I had so much fun picking them out. Keep up the great work!

[Tanya Webster]

do you even know how excited i am your new borders are up??? i just looked through all of them again today....and they are AWESOME!! so so so lucky to benefit from all of your beautiful talent girlie! :)

[Peggy Lucas]

Thanks, Karen. I can't wait to start using SBP - I am thrilled to get some great borders until I can plunge into PS3. I also bought a D30 with the 2 lenses you suggested - Tamron zoom and the Canon 50. Lots to learn!

[Kris with a K]

I love your borders! and the service from scrapbookpictures.com is amazing. I've been very happy with them. Getting 4x4 shots with borders sure does make 6x6 albums go quickly!!

[photocat]

RAW and turning off parameters... If you shoot raw the parameters don't count. Shooting raw means that camera will only give you the actual shot data of the file.
Set up Parameters only work when you shoot jpeg, at this point the camera will listen to the set up parameters.

That is why jpeg look as if they are shot better when coming out of the camera. They are in fact not, they are just worked on by the camera.

Plus, if you leave the camera on factory settings, the presets don't come in either...
Just my two cents...

[Jacque Green]

I LOVE the new borders....and am STILL working on my order. I am having trouble turning a pic so that the border will fall on the bottom of a pic and not the side (because I took the pic vertcally...if you can understand that). I keep trying to turn it in the "crop" place, in the cart! I am going to email Doug about it, too, and maybe together you can help! I may need you to email me.......