Greetings!

Happy Fall! My sister just had a baby, an adorable little girl named Madison, and I want to put together a photo book for the proud parents. I want this book to be special; with babies you tend to take tons of photos so when it comes time to make a book, it can be hard to decide what to include. I came up with these tips that will help me put my book together, and hopefully they will help you, whether you are making a photo book of your baby or kids, vacation, wedding, or other occasion.

How to Create a Photo Book for Babies, Weddings and Other Special Events

1. It's not necessary to throw in the kitchen sink. Just because you have a dozen photos of your child's first day of school or first day on earth, or of a fabulous Hawaiian sunset, sometimes one great photo per page tells the story the best. Sometimes using one photo with a simple background works best.

2. There are times when you do need more than one photo to tell the story, and it can be done to great effect. For example, a two-page spread with a sequence of photos of your child playing soccer can be quite a fun display, especially if you can see the progression of the play.

3. If there are too many distracting, irrelevant colors or objects in your photo's background, try converting the image to black and white. It can be a great way to zero in on your important subject.

4. Don't overwhelm the page with distracting backgrounds or embellishments that take away from the subject. Use subtle backgrounds that enhance the colors in your images. I like to pull a color from my photo to use in the background, especially for beach and vacation photos. Don't forget that a white or black background is timeless.

New Photo Software Reviews

I have posted new reviews of the latest releases of photo editing and multimedia software. You can get the full scoop and free 30-day trials:

• The newly released Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 is not a big overhaul of their excellent version 9, but there are some helpful new features, mostly in the Organizer, and it still delivers amazingly robust editing power. It is still our top choice for non-pros. Read full Photoshop Elements 10 review and get link to 30-day free trial
• Corel Paintshop Pro X4 - Affordable, powerful editing tools, new HDR merge and Photo Blend features, improved interface with easier navigation. Get the full review of Corel Paintshop Pro 4 and link to 30-day trial here.
• ACDSee 14 - I have always been a fan of ACDSee because their photo software is easy to use and they have a great organizer. ACDSee 14, designed for beginning photo enthusiasts, combines their image editor and powerful organizer into one package with a number of new features and special effect tools. Read my ACDSee 14 review and get a link to 30-day trial.

Photo Deals

I have tons of outstanding deals listed on my photo deals and coupon codes page. Also, check out my new blog, which lists the very latest coupon codes for October, including 15% off photo scanning service.

Have a wonderful week!

Valerie
www.digitalphotos101.com
How to get the best from your digital camera

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