Our tips for great photos

We want you to have beautiful announcements that showcase your beautiful photos! We hope that these tips will help you to capture great photos. Our first, and best tip would be to keep it simple. Avoid busy backgrounds, including clothing, blankets behind your baby and distracting items in the background. Be sure to keep the focus on baby! Our second most important tip would be to keep shooting! In the age of digital cameras, it can never hurt to take MANY photos. Sometimes it takes a hundred shots to get two or three perfect pictures. Dont stop until you're happy! It will be worth it when you see the final announcement.

: : Photo Requirements : :

Your images should be 1200x1800 pixels at 300dpi to print out clearly. The higher the resolution, the better. If you are using a digital camera, please be sure that it is set on the highest resolution possible. Also be sure that your date stamp is turned off. We can remove the date stamp in most cases, but it is best if the photos are taken without it. When sending your photos to us, please do not crop them. It is best if we have the unaltered original files from your camera. Feel free to send both the original file, and a cropped file so that we can see what you have in mind as far as cropping. If you are unsure about the size and quality of your photos, please send them to us and we can review them and let you know if there will be any problems with the images.

: : Lighting : :

We have found that natural light produces some of the best photos that we've seen. The best natural light would be either outdoors or inside your house near a bright window. Direct sunlight will end up being too bright, and will cause shadows. Some of the best natufal light can be taken outdoors on a cloudy, overcast day. This reduces any harsh shadows and gives a very soft light. Be careful though not to end up with grainy photos, which can be caused by not having enough light. If you provide us with grainy photos, you will not be happy with the outcome. Grainy photos cannot be corrected. If you do decide to use a flash, try to combine the flash with natural light. Flash can sometimes cause an overexposed photo, so watch out for that!

: : Simple Background : :

So that your baby remains the focus of your photos, be sure that you keep background distractions to a minimum. It is best to use solid backgrounds, such as a solid colored blanket. Avoid clothes with busy prints and busy backgrounds. Keep your baby dressed simply as well. Just a diaper sometimes will even do.

: : Keep things in Focus : :

One problem that we have come across a lot with photo submissions, is blurry photos. We cannot correct a blurry photo. Blurry photos are often caused by your movement or movement by the baby during your photo shoot. Be sure to use your camera user manual to learn how to focus on your subject. Before sending photos to us, you may want to open them on your computer and zoom in on them to see if they are sharp or blurry.

: : Getting the right Positioning : :

There is no right way to take photos as far as positioning. So its a great idea to experiment. Try both landscape and portrait layouts. Try to get down to baby's level and shoot from that direction. Use props such as pillows, covering the pillows with a solid blanket. Make sure that your baby is well rested and happy, and experiment!