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12/21/2009 10:35:20 AM · #1 |
Every year for Christmas my wife and I give home made photo calendars to our parents. But I'm not always motivated for it throughout the year and so it gets to be a bit of panic work towards the end of the year with finding appropriate images.
I need something to motivate me to conscientiously shoot and select a picture every month and save them in a calendar 2010 folder. I'm hoping a side challenge will do just that. Besides, it would be nice to see what others choose for their calendars whether it's for own use, the office or to give to parents/grand parents.
Open for anyone who wants to participate; each month starting in January (or December like me) submit one image each to this thread appropriate for the month in your part of the world. No ranking or voting or lists of participants. Just comment on each others when or if you feel like it. Simple as that.
I personally like to start at Christmas the year prior to make our family Christmas portrait the calendar cover since that's when we give it away. The annual calendars are my moms favorite gift since they give all year and I hope my kids will do the same when they get families of their own. |
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12/21/2009 10:40:47 AM · #2 |
my biggest lesson this year about this was that my saved sizes (Pictures) weren't big enough...so I have created a Calendar Project 2010 file so that I save the calendars 1)JPEG 2)full size (I can always size down later). This is what took me hours and hours to re-do and re-think...loads of re-edits...all my fault I might add as I wasn't thinking things through to the end project.
Message edited by author 2009-12-21 10:41:12. |
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12/21/2009 11:01:39 AM · #3 |
Thanks for info  Ja-9.
I was of course also hoping this could be a learning thread for calendar making so if anyone has good advice/hints/tips please share.
Message edited by author 2009-12-21 11:02:07. |
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12/21/2009 10:32:25 PM · #4 |
I've done several calanders using lulu.com - they're a tad expensive, but the quality is very good. You can see them (and previews) at lulu.com/tremain
Your cost from lulu is around $13 for a 12 month calendar + s/h. They have a nice template selection and tool to help you build you calendar - can do custom dates (for like birthdays and such).
For them, you want a 300 dpi image that is close to the full size (depends on style selected, but 8 1/2 x 11 for the basic calendar), plus a bit extra for bleed on each side. So, you're looking at roughly landscape pictures at 3300 (horizontal) by 2550 (vertical) pixels (plus some extra for the bleed).
BTW - if anyone wants to buy one of my calendars, you can order through the web site, or contact me directly & I'll work with you on price. Too late for Christmas delivery, but might make it by New Years. Doing calendars for money is a tough go - your sell price to make any money is nearly $20, and you are competing with Wal-Mart at $3 - $5 per calendar. Plus, on Jan 1, your inventory value goes immediately to $0, and people don't tend to buy next year's calendars in Sept. - Nov.
I think one of the most important criteria I try to keep in mind is: Would I want to look at that picture for a whole month?
For the calendars in my "store front", I did a theme shoot - car show, etc. and then selected pictures for the appropriate months. Yeah, it kind-of looks funny to have green grass for January...
I'm not an expert, but if I can help, ask... |
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12/21/2009 10:39:27 PM · #5 |
I'm in.
In the past, I've done a couple of different things for my mom and my in-laws. For my mom, I try to get a picture of each grandkid in their "birth month." Then, next year, that is the picture that is displayed for each month.
For my in-laws, I try to get a picture of my two kids (the only grandkids) each month and use that.
I may try something more generic this year, though. who knows? |
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12/27/2009 10:19:49 AM · #6 |
| I would like to give this a try. Thanks for coming up with this side challenge. |
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12/27/2009 10:25:44 AM · #7 |
| My wife loves monochrome flower shots, Hmmmmm. |
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12/27/2009 06:40:09 PM · #8 |
| I'd like to give this a go too, as I've always been going to do it but never have (and this intention goes wayyy back, to when I was doing a lot of drawing - the commercial support to make presentable calendars wasn't there then, so I think I developed a 'one day' dream and never got past it.) |
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12/28/2009 12:49:00 PM · #9 |
I wanted to add this to this post while this was still fresh in my mind (next December it will be a fog). I might look into the Mpix Calendar Software for next year as I have heard that they have more options and flexibility. Mmaybe this could be a good thing for us to do really explore what company to use and why you chose that company.
I too recently did an calendar and I had several things that I wanted for the elements in the calendar. I cked out about a 1/2 dozen or more sites that printed calendars. I settled on Costco.com for their price, ease of software and how much of the criteria that they met (below)
1) Solid color on the bottom of the page to coordinate with the top of the page.
2) Choice in what I wanted on what page (from the various themes of calendar pages). Either one color or multiple colors...this was a big plus for me. (but I could not mix up themes).
2) Ability to put pictures of the people on the date(s) of their event(s).
3) I liked that I could choose the font size and different color for these events.
4) Ease of software.
Downside:
1) Sizing requirements of how big to make the pictures they weren't readily available or easy to find. And varied according to the size of photo you wanted to use (collage of 4, portrait/landscape or a single shot).
2) "Master" choice of font choice/size through out the calendar (front to back), I had to change this on each and every page/event...it was easy to miss something in the editing of this.
3) Placement of name/events on the date...would have liked a little more flexibility in the choice of placement of the event(s). Top/bottom of the calendar date (when not in conflict with a Holiday).
4) Ability to copy and alter a set-up calendar with a different set dates/events without losing "My Master Set" or combination of pictures (Shutterfly is good with this if I remember right). Every time I went to make a new calender for a different relative, I could choose the dates but not keep the pictures...I would have to start all over again and re-do page layout (pictures)...sigh. There is no option to "save" as a master calender and make copies for additional calendars/presents to other family members.
I haven't gotten the calendars yet...I expect them today...but they should turn out good. I will let you know.
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12/28/2009 12:53:37 PM · #10 |
Not to be redundent but I found this site and found it quite informative...that was where I did the above post....
Link
Message edited by author 2009-12-28 12:56:02. |
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12/28/2009 01:14:46 PM · #11 |
Sounds like a cool side challenge...I'd be up for it.
I did a 2010 Brolly Calendar this year and have 3 ideas circulating for the next year. Heh, with a recent trip I already have a boat load just for one calendar:-) |
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12/28/2009 01:18:59 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by CNovack:
Sounds like a cool side challenge...I'd be up for it.
I did a 2010 Brolly Calendar this year and have 3 ideas circulating for the next year. Heh, with a recent trip I already have a boat load just for one calendar:-) |
can I ask you why you chose Brolly vs. anyone else...will you share your pros/cons about them? I have a whole year to contemplate this so that's why I'm asking.... |
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12/28/2009 09:14:57 PM · #13 |
| Well, my calenders came today...and guess what they are really really dark and over saturated...sooooo after talking to Costco, she suggested that I re-order and re-edit some of the dark pictures even though they aren't dark on the computer...sigh. Maybe I should just struggle through the Mpix program and see what I come up with that....this is disappointing...so many hours |
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12/28/2009 09:20:16 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by TrollMan:
Every year for Christmas my wife and I give home made photo calendars to our parents. But I'm not always motivated for it throughout the year and so it gets to be a bit of panic work towards the end of the year with finding appropriate images.
I need something to motivate me to conscientiously shoot and select a picture every month and save them in a calendar 2010 folder. I'm hoping a side challenge will do just that. Besides, it would be nice to see what others choose for their calendars whether it's for own use, the office or to give to parents/grand parents.
Open for anyone who wants to participate; each month starting in January (or December like me) submit one image each to this thread appropriate for the month in your part of the world. No ranking or voting or lists of participants. Just comment on each others when or if you feel like it. Simple as that.
I personally like to start at Christmas the year prior to make our family Christmas portrait the calendar cover since that's when we give it away. The annual calendars are my moms favorite gift since they give all year and I hope my kids will do the same when they get families of their own. |
Nothing quite like the Free Study Marathon to get you out and motivate you to shoot great stuff every, single, month. |
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12/29/2009 12:02:13 AM · #15 |
Sounds like a great idea! My mom is always wishing I would send her more pictures from Alaska since she is in Michigan (not much scenery in her area). This would make for a perfect gift to give her next Christmas...so my pic will be for a 2011 calendar to be compiled at the end of 2010. I'll post each photo here for feedback.
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12/30/2009 09:21:50 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Ja-9:
Originally posted by CNovack:
Sounds like a cool side challenge...I'd be up for it.
I did a 2010 Brolly Calendar this year and have 3 ideas circulating for the next year. Heh, with a recent trip I already have a boat load just for one calendar:-) |
can I ask you why you chose Brolly vs. anyone else...will you share your pros/cons about them? I have a whole year to contemplate this so that's why I'm asking.... |
Well I did the Brollys/Umbrellas for this year's calendar. Reason is that I love umbrellas - have 9:-) (yeah I'm weird:-) )It's an everyday object that offers one shelter but like anything it can become something extraordinary. Some of the shots in there are a little Magritte.
Description of calendar: Umbrellas or Brollies come in different colors & patterns. They offer shelter, but they can reflect a mood or a way to open up a magical world. Come explore this quirky & whimsy world!
This year or rather the one that will be coming for 2011 will more likely have a nature theme:-) |
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12/30/2009 09:26:47 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by Ja-9:
Well, my calenders came today...and guess what they are really really dark and over saturated...sooooo after talking to Costco, she suggested that I re-order and re-edit some of the dark pictures even though they aren't dark on the computer...sigh. Maybe I should just struggle through the Mpix program and see what I come up with that....this is disappointing...so many hours |
Bummer:-( Not all screens are the same - I ran into the problem of too dark awhile back. When it comes to calendars - I generally order one just to see what the quality is. One thing I did start doing is take one or several of the photos that I think might come out dark or oversaturated and have it printed as an 8X10 at Kinkos or CVS just so I can see what it comes out looking like on paper. Once I saw what it was (one in question was a tad dark and oversaturated) I adjusted it then send it to the calendar company.
Hope things work out for you - after so much work tis frustrating for it to come out not right. |
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12/31/2009 08:40:36 AM · #18 |
I did four different calendars overall this year, and personalized about 15 copies of some of them for gift recipients. I still don't have the ones I need to pass out to my coworkers as Christmas gifts - don't use Shutterfly if you have an APO address!!
I need to probably decide on themes earlier in the year, and to work a bit more on getting shots consistently throughout the year, and keeping full-sized edits of those shots. From Janine's woes, perhaps I'll also consider doing a test print of a shot or two to make sure they'll turn out OK. This year I did order a copy of each of my calendars to proof them before ordering as gifts, but I never got them, so I had to order without knowing how they would look. Sigh. Did I mention not to use Shutterfly if you have an APO address? They never did respond to my concerns that they do not indicate in any way that shipping to an APO will be a problem.... sigh.
Anyway, sign me up for the side challenge.
And this year's calendars were "Simply Pigeons", "Mostly Monochrome", "Tourist Shots", and "Keukenhof Gardens". Anyone who wants to see them can PM me and I'll email you the links. Shutterfly is also not conducive to easily showing your work to others - I have to send you an email to let you see the calendars. |
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12/31/2009 09:31:11 AM · #19 |
I didn't get a yearly calendar together this year and I definitely heard about it at Christmas... so I'm in! Hopefully I can get some motivation to get out and shoot more this year. I don't use one photo per month though, but more of a collage with one photo in the background. Some years I have added quotes to each page too. Here is an example of a page from a previous year:
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12/31/2009 10:07:05 AM · #20 |
Originally posted by CNovack:
Originally posted by Ja-9:
Well, my calenders came today...and guess what they are really really dark and over saturated...sooooo after talking to Costco, she suggested that I re-order and re-edit some of the dark pictures even though they aren't dark on the computer...sigh. Maybe I should just struggle through the Mpix program and see what I come up with that....this is disappointing...so many hours |
Bummer:-( Not all screens are the same - I ran into the problem of too dark awhile back. When it comes to calendars - I generally order one just to see what the quality is. One thing I did start doing is take one or several of the photos that I think might come out dark or oversaturated and have it printed as an 8X10 at Kinkos or CVS just so I can see what it comes out looking like on paper. Once I saw what it was (one in question was a tad dark and oversaturated) I adjusted it then send it to the calendar company.
Hope things work out for you - after so much work tis frustrating for it to come out not right. |
Everything I print is too dark, yet no one's told me that the images I post here are too dark, so it confuses me. I just up the brightness by ~15 and the contrast by ~9 before I print. I'm not sure why this happens. |
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01/07/2010 03:11:21 PM · #21 |
| Well, I will tell you I just got my calendar from Mpix last night...and talk about a world of difference...This is so totally professional and the colors on everything are perfect...I really have no complaints at all...Lesson learned. I wish there was a way for me to load a sample of what I did but I haven't been able to figure that out...if anyone knows how to do it please let me know... |
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01/13/2010 09:44:00 AM · #22 |
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