Ahh that shiny new HD DSLR is warming up in your hands, and you know you’ll be able to shoot some killer video.
What could be so hard?
You know how to pick up a camera, suss the right exposure ( or go auto), and then let the auto focus do it’s magic and Voila!
Pulitzer prize here you come. Or Flickr.
Not so fast in the old video dept.
That twee little DSLR in your hands has some incredible capabilities, but you’ll have to learn some of the limitations also.

Hmmmm…where shall we start……….

OK, lets go easy for right now, and talk about getting a nice, sharp image. Whenever you want it.
You see, all of these magical cameras really don’t auto focus when you are in the HD movie modes.
It’ll all be on you.
Perhaps not such a daunting request when you have your camera at eye level. And you know you’ll be looking at that big ole LCD screen.
So there you are, focusing at a modified arms length, but keeping steady is easy when you are dealing with a fraction of a second.
Motion is another thing entirely.

In all of our video work, we shoot utilizing a number of devices ranging from a DSLR to a P2 Video camera.

Whenever we look at gear purchases, quite honestly, we are looking for some crossover or versatility.

Our first goal was to find a stabilization system that would work for local or travel assignments, and be able to morph a bit.
Sometimes you can bring in a big rig, sometimes just a simpler system works best.

Our company of choice was Redrock micro for a few reasons: quality and price.
We went with the deluxe shoulder mount and a shoulder brace with some extra bits to create a transformer type system.

This combination allowed us to use a DSLR and a small HD video camera on a shoulder brace unit like this,

yes, we use only 1 grip on this set-up, so the other hand can focus.

and both of those cameras, plus the much larger P2 card HD video camera on the deluxe shoulder mount,

But wait…what if your shot is not at eye level, or at a place where you won’t be looking ? You’ll be needing to use an off camera monitor to see what the shot is and and a follow focus system to make sure your are focused where you want to be.
Sorry, jumped ahead there for a second. We’ll get back to the monitor, later.

For now, we’ll assume you are framing and focusing your shoot, looking at the DSLR LCD, or a magnifier attached to it, like a HoodLoupe.

Since all of the HD DSLR’s require manual focus, AND you want a smooth transition for one focus point to another, a Follow Focus system is critical to your shoot.

The relatively small circumference of still camera lenses, as compared to cinema lenses, cause the focus to be a very critical adjustment.
Enter the Gear rings.

These fit around the lens and add gear teeth to connect to the focusing system. They also add a larger circumference to the lens to make the focus a more forgiving length. In other words, you have more of a hand turn to ease into your focus point.

The Follow Focus assembly then attaches very easily to the rod system of the rigs, whether it’s the shoulder brace of full shoulder mount.
It is then a matter of making sure the gears all mesh and the focus wheel is properly placed for your use.
One other item that is used in the DSLR system, is a special mount that raises the camera so the gear from the FF assembly aligns properly with the gear on the lens.
Looks like this:

One thing that we like about the RedRock Micro system is the “3D” feature of the Focus wheel. Instead of being flat, viewed mainly from the side, it has a beveled surface, allowing you to make focus marks visible to the you, the camera operator, from the back or at an angle.

So first you get your focus marks for each subject, then use a dry erase marker or grease pencil on the focus wheel. This way you know where your subject is in focus from one point to another. You can do it all on the fly, and focus as you go, with a lot of practice. That auto focus we’ve all been very used to on still cameras, will not be coming to your aid here.

Yep, it gets pretty involved.

No longer are you just putting you camera up to your eye and shooting.

Using HD video cameras that DO have auto focus, face recognition, and allow you to record good quality audio directly onto the video is a much easier proposition.
No, you don’t get the advantage of the good glass with all of the ranges of your DSLR.
OK, you can but you are adding a bunch of other gear. And that is actually the way it is done professionally.

One of the other things we like about our Redrock system is the ability to attach, or hang, or twist on all of the accoutrements that will make our video shoot a success, using the micromounts.
Things like a digital recorder,mic. receivers, ext. monitor, ext. hard drive, etc..
On the rigs we pictured above you can see a micro mount at one end of the rig near the grip. That is used for our external monitor, a SmallHD, since we love the critical focus on a bigger HD screen. Your LCD is not HD.

And here is a big bonus: on the Redrock microshoulder mount Deluxe Bundle, you can add a tripod plate that will let you work the whole rig on a tripod or easily move it to your shoulder. Excellent for the fast moving project.
Maybe your are doing a well lit interview, then have to move around to capture the subject doing that thing they do.
Like we said, versatility is the key.
Of course you may say ” Hey! What are the downsides? No system is perfect.”
True enough.
So here are things we felt were cons on the system:
* The blue knobs to tighten the hand grips and rod clamps, needed some extreme force to tighten for a full day of work.
* These items are not generally available off the shelf. You may have to wait to get your goods.
* Not a huge fan of bright blue on our rigs but very minor point.

Yes, there are less expensive Follow Focus systems, and waaaay more expensive systems to work with on your stabilization and follow focus.
Some folks like to mix and match within their setups.
Figure it this way, the film business has been around for over 100 years and the tools that have been perfected are varied.
Examine how you will be using the gear to help make your decisions. And then check your wallet.

Are you making an independant dramatic feature? Using an HD DSLR to save dough?
Maybe you are mainly going for photojournalistic media capture. Honestly, that was the originally intended audience for the HD DSLR’s.
Sometimes, renting gear for a weekend, if you can, will help you decide what works best.
Photo and film trade shows are great ways to see what is available, and what may be right for you by actually putting the gear in your hands.
Redrock micro has a great series of videos on their product line up so that is also a good place to look before you leap.
A big point for us was putting the rig on our shoulder, or bracing it against our chest.
The comfort and ease of operation factor was key. And like a well tailored suit, you can usually adjust these rigs pretty specifically to your body.

Overall, we are very happy with Redrock micro and feel completely comfortable recommending it to any one out there. Check the options on their site, to see what could fit you best.
And remember, your mileage may vary. In other words, only you know how best this gear will fit your needs.

Here is a shot of someone trying out the microbrace rig at a trade show:

And at the same show , here is a Canon 5D all geared up and ready to shoot video:

We did say we sometimes shoot with a P2 HD camera so here is that rig. the SmallHD monitor is positioned on the left and on the right is an electronic control for zoom,iris, and yes, focus, although we prefer the geared system.

We hope this has shed some more light on the HD DSLR wave and how you may approach it. Check out this free webinar from Createasphere for some more on good info on the HD DSLR front.

In another article we’ll discuss some of the best ways to capture sound for your HD DSLR video projects, the other 50% or your video project.

Questions? Comments? Additions?

COOL DIGITAL/SOCIAL/WEB 2.0 SITES

Thanks for coming to see us at SxSW Interactive. As promised, we’ve posted a long list of some really cool inspiration websites to get your digital brain thinking. Feel free to send us more ideas via Twitter – @sxswadpro – and we will post.
And for those of you who read, there is a cool book section once you scroll down.

THE LIST:

http://edwardboches.com/
Creativity Unbound: ” I’m Edward Boches. Chief Creative Officer and Chief Social Media Officer of Mullen. I’m also a copywriter, dad, husband, road cyclist. I’m young enough to have kids in grade school. And old enough to have fallen in love with all things media from admiring the print ads in Life magazine back in the 1960s. Somewhere in between then and now I’ve been a newspaper reporter, speech writer, account executive, public relations counsel, copywriter and creative director. I’ve been lucky enough to have helped build a full-service ad agency; work with dozens of noteworthy brands; launch high-tech and internet start-ups; collaborate with world famous directors, photographers and editors; co-write television commercials with Ellen DeGeneres; present ideas to Oprah Winfrey (she actually liked them); create award winning websites; and launch an emerging social media practice. More surprisingly, I’ve survived for 30 years in a business that typically eats its young. Woody Allen was right when he said “Ninety percent of success is just showing up.” Anyway, I’m still here. Who could leave now? The explosion of technology, the changing face of communications, and the opportunity to invent new applications make this the most exciting time ever to be in the marketing business.”

http://www.megankgreen.blogspot.com/
Social media, advetising and marketing: a millenial’s point of view

http://www.fubiz.net/
Daily dose of inspiration

http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/main.jhtml
Forbes magazine’s Best of The Web

http://usefullunacy.typepad.com/useful_lunacy/
Useful Lunacy: thinking about thinking, creativity and the power of ideas.

http://www.adverblog.com/
I started Adverblog in May 2003. It’s an hobby but also a great opportunity to keep myself always updated on the latest ideas and trends in interactive. Adverblog is the place where I share the links to the best interactive marketing campaigns I happen to see around the Web, and it has become a daily destination for those who share my same passion.

http://www.linksocial.org/
Link Social is a social network and resource for the global creative community. It enables creatives to share the little gems that go undiscovered by most-ideas, inspiration and cool stuff they created or found online.

http://www.buzzmachine.com/
JEFF JARVIS, author of What Would Google Do? (HarperCollins 2009), blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com. He is associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s new Graduate School of Journalism. He is consulting editor and a partner at Daylife, a news startup. He writes a new media column for The Guardian and is host of its Media Talk USA podcast. He consults for media companies. Until 2005, he was president and creative director of Advance.net, the online arm of Advance Publications. Prior to that, Jarvis was creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly; Sunday editor and associate publisher of the New York Daily News; TV critic for TV Guide and People; a columnist on the San Francisco Examiner; assistant city editor and reporter for the Chicago Tribune; reporter for Chicago Today.

http://www.amsterdamadblog.com/
This blog writes about Amsterdam advertising; its hotshops, its people and – of course – its great advertising. Amsterdam is one of the fastest growing creative hubs in the world. The reason is that – apart from museums, coffeeshops and red lights – the city is a cosmopolitan village that cradles an exciting mix of cultural events and original minds – all within the space of only a few square kilometers. Amsterdam Ad Blog is run by a group of independent creatives.

http://www.brainpickings.org/
Mostly, Brain Pickings is about ideas — revolutionary new ideas that no one has seen or thought of before, and old ideas that most have seen, but no one has thought of in this way before.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/
ReadWriteWeb is the second largest information technology blog in the world. ReadWriteWeb provides analysis of Web products and trends to an intelligent audience of engaged technology decision makers, Web enthusiasts and innovators.

http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/
Social Media Explorer is the online home and blog of Social Media Explorer LLC, which is my consulting company. I’ve been called all sorts of things by folks around the social media, public relations, marketing and communications industries.

http://www.adpulp.com/
AdPulp is the work of three men obsessed with making better communications and making the communications industry a better place to be.

creative is not a department http://davidgillespie.wordpress.com/about-david-gillespie/
My name is David Gillespie. I’m from Australia originally (as seen on Animal Planet) but since December ‘08 have been based out of Toronto. I currently work for McCann Erickson, where I sit and drink coffee and irritate people with extended ramblings around the subjects contained on this blog. You can call me on +1 416 643 8647 if you’d like me to irritate you too.

http://makethelogobigger.blogspot.com/
About advertising and a bunch of other stuff

http://www.thoughtgadgets.com/
Advertising, marketing and media…what works.

http://adscam.typepad.com/my_weblog/
A well intentioned rant about the current state of Advertising, with particular emphasis on Big Dumb Agencies (BDA’s) Because, no matter how bad you think it is, it’s actually a great deal worse! “Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill pail.” George Orwell.

http://persuasionism.com/
There are times you just need someone to come in and get the job done quietly and efficiently. A good percentage of our engagements are behind the scenes, away from industry press coverage. We create big, organizing brand ideas. We collaborate with marketers, designers, strategists and agencies of every stripe.
Our weapons are experience, focus, and caffeine. We hate layers. We despise inefficiency. We’re huge fans of tomorrow.

http://technorati.com/
Technorati was founded to help bloggers succeed by collecting, highlighting, and distributing the global online conversation. The leading blog search engine, Technorati.com indexes millions of blog posts in real time and surfaces them in seconds. The site has become the definitive source for the top stories, opinions, photos and videos emerging across news, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, politics and business. Technorati.com tracks not only the authority and influence of blogs, but also the most comprehensive and current index of who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere.

http://technorati.com/blogs/top100
Technorati Top 100 as ranked by Technorati Authority. The Top 100 is updated once per day.

http://www.permissiontosuck.net/107/
PermissionToSuck.com is a Blogazine about inspiration for passionate creative professionals across all disciplines of commercial arts and music.

http://www.barbariangroup.com/posts
The original. The pioneers. The Barbarian Group is a digital services and creation company that delivers the best possible experience for the consumer through the integrated and disciplined use of the best possible practices, good ideas, people and technology.

http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard
Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme’s HTML.

http://alexbogusky.posterous.com/
Posterous is the dead simple way to put anything online using email. Founding Partner of Crispin Porter + Bogusky / Chief Creative Insurgent of MDC Partners. Fear is the mortal enemy of creativity

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
Founded in September 2006, Smashing Magazine delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers. Our aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends and techniques in Web development. We try to convince you not with the quantity but with the quality of the information we present. We hope that makes us different. Smashing Magazine is, and always has been, independent.

http://www.copyblogger.com/
Copyblogger is all about helping you get traffic, attract links, gain subscribers and sell stuff.

http://www.talentzoo.com/beyond_madison_ave
The #1 site for Ad, Marketing, & Digital Pros

http://bigthink.com/
Big Think is a global forum connecting people and ideas. At Big Think, we put you in contact with the ideas of very smart people.

http://www.woostercollective.com/
woo·ster (noun) A street in the Soho section of New York City. col·lec·tive (noun) Of, relating to, characteristic of, or made by a number of people acting as a group: a collective decision. The Wooster Collective was founded in 2001. This site is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world.

http://ffffound.com/
FFFFOUND! is a web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the web, but also dynamically recommends each user’s tastes and interests for an inspirational image-bookmarking experience.

http://www.adtechblog.com/
ad:tech provides media, marketing and technology professionals with the tools and techniques they need to succeed in a changing digital world.

http://www.bitrebels.com/
Our articles are meant to give you that second perspective on any given topic, that perspective that you might have missed if not for the Rebels sites.

http://the3six5.posterous.com/
Everyday for 365 days, a different person will write an entry about their experience that day. It doesn’t have to be about a specific topic, the key is that it somehow relates to what is happening in the world that day and how it relates to them. By doing so, starting from January 1 to December 31 of 2010, we will have a snapshot of the entire year, told from the perspective of 365 individual voices.

http://www.adverblog.com
My name is Martina Zavagno, I’m an interactive marketer and I work for a premium sports brand. I started Adverblog in May 2003. It’s an hobby but also a great opportunity to keep myself always updated on the latest ideas and trends in interactive. Adverblog is the place where I share the links to the best interactive marketing campaigns I happen to see around the Web, and it has become a daily destination for those who share my same passion.

http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com
Get your daily fix of digital honey with the new Digital Buzz Blog! Featuring the latest digital ad campaigns, hot new websites, interactive marketing ideas, virals, industry news, social media, insights, and other great digital trends from all over the world.

http://www.bannerblog.com.au
Banner Blog started in June 2005 to showcase online advertising, much of which goes unnoticed. It was also seen as a good opportunity to pimp our own work too!

http://adsoftheworld.com/
Ads of the World is an advertising archive and community. The archive showcases campaigns from around the world categorized and updated daily. In the forum you can discuss your professional life and post your work for critique. The blog features advertising stories.

http://www.coloribus.com
Creativity, Technology, Innovation – Coloribus – the world’s biggest advertising archive has a collection of more than 2 million ads from around the globe – currently available and rapidly growing every single day. This unique selection brings you the best and most creative ideas in advertising – for easy downloading or browser viewing in just one click.

http://www.ted.com/
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

http://creativitycat.com/
Creativity and Technology Conference 2010

http://www.thefwa.com/
WA stands for Favorite Website Awards, an industry recognized internet award program and inspirational portal, established in May 2000. FWA is the most visited website award program in the history of the internet, with over 75 million visits as of January 2010.

http://gigaom.com/
Gigaom: Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology

http://techcrunch.com/
TechCrunch was founded on June 11, 2005, as a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. In addition to covering new companies, we profile existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space. TechCrunch has now grown into a network of technology focused sites offering a wide range of content and new media.

http://www.Abduzeedo.com
Is a great place to find design inspiration as well as articles to help improve certain skills

http://www.dafont.com
Fonts

http://stndrd.org/
An open source approach for establishing standard and practices in digital production

http://mashable.com
Great bucket for all things social media/tech/digital

http://wordpress.com
One of the best site building systems. Easy to get into and massive community support

http://odopod.com
Cool digital design company

http://bnet.com
Solid info for industry insight

http://vocomoco.typepad.com/digitalmeteor/
check in for more digital content news

http://deeplocal.com
brilliant think tank located in Pittsburgh

http://42entertainment.com
company working in the right space

http://www.contagiousmagazine.com
Get your new world of advertising mag on

http://stamen.com/
design and technology company you have to see

We asked folks what were their favorite books that got them interested in all things digital; or books that taught them a lot. Here are some of their responses. What else is out there? Let us know.

A READING LIST FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T WANNA BE DINOSAURS:

The Open Brand by Kelly Mooney
Many of the best brands today are of geek pedigree, powered by the technologies, traits and trends of the ascendant digital channel. Amidst the decline of mass marketing, push marketing tactics have been superseded by new forms of influence. These include the creating, sharing and influencing behaviors of an online population no longer content merely to consume, and the potent pairing of digital notoriety and network effects, which has given rise to the icitizenry. From these sociocultural forces emerges a radical business imperative: to open up to consumer involvement in a brand’s messages and offerings. Published under Peachpit’s New Riders imprint in partnership with AIGA Design Press, The Open Brand illuminates both the risks and immense rewards of doing so, and describes the essential consumer experiences that are requisite for cultural relevance—On-demand, Personal, Engaging, and Networked experiences, representing the chief values of the web-made world.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing withouth Organizations, by Clay Shirkey
Blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 accoutrements are revolutionizing the social order, a development that’s cause for more excitement than alarm, argues interactive telecommunications professor Shirky. He contextualizes the digital networking age with philosophical, sociological, economic and statistical theories and points to its major successes and failures. Grassroots activism stands among the winners—Belarus’s flash mobs, for example, blog their way to unprecedented antiauthoritarian demonstrations. Likewise, user/contributor-managed Wikipedia raises the bar for production efficiency by throwing traditional corporate hierarchy out the window. Print journalism falters as publishing methods are transformed through the Web. Shirky is at his best deconstructing Web failures like Wikitorial, the Los Angeles Times’s attempt to facilitate group op-ed writing. Readers will appreciate the Gladwellesque lucidity of his assessments on what makes or breaks group efforts online: Every story in this book relies on the successful fusion of a plausible promise, an effective tool, and an acceptable bargain with the users. The sum of Shirky’s incisive exploration, like the Web itself, is greater than its parts.

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, by Chris Aderson
The New York Times bestseller that introduced the business world to a future that’s already here–now in paperback with a new chapter about Long Tail Marketing and a new epilogue. Winner of the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book of the Year In the most important business book since The Tipping Point, Chris Anderson shows how the future of commerce and culture isn’t in hits, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve, but in what used to be regarded as misses–the endlessly long tail of that same curve.

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, by Charlene Li
Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites, YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals. This groundswell is global, it s unstoppable, it affects every industry and it s utterly foreign to the powerful companies running things now. When consumers you’ve never met are rating your company s products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester, Inc. explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity.

You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier.
For the most part, Web 2.0–Internet technologies that encourage interactivity, customization, and participation–is hailed as an emerging Golden Age of information sharing and collaborative achievement, the strength of democratized wisdom. Jaron Lanier isn’t buying it. In You Are Not a Gadget, the longtime tech guru/visionary/dreadlocked genius (and progenitor of virtual reality) argues the opposite: that unfettered–and anonymous–ability to comment results in cynical mob behavior, the shouting-down of reasoned argument, and the devaluation of individual accomplishment. Lanier traces the roots of today’s Web 2.0 philosophies and architectures (e.g. he posits that Web anonymity is the result of ’60s paranoia), persuasively documents their shortcomings, and provides alternate paths to “locked-in” paradigms. Though its strongly-stated opinions run against the bias of popular assumptions, You Are Not a Gadget is a manifesto, not a screed; Lanier seeks a useful, respectful dialogue about how we can shape technology to fit culture’s needs, rather than the way technology currently shapes us.

Week-end is the final chapter in a trilogy created by Alex Prager, now showing at M+B Gallery in Los Angeles, simultaneously showing at the Yancy Richardson Gallery in NYC

photographer Alex Prager with her photograph Wendy, 2009 behind her.

As in the other photographs in the trilogy, The Big Valley and Polyester, Ms. Prager has created a series of characters with a story to tell.
These may not be told in the single frame, nor are they a portrait of the person’s life, but a snippet of an incident.
You get to add the details, and she has left the canvas painted just enough so you have the elements to create that singular reality.
When you think about what kind of an image to put onto your walls,consider the time you’ll be looking at it.
Not just a decorative piece, these photographs give you a part of a story, you get to add the rest. And even as we looked at the images on the wall, the stories shifted.
How did these people get into these circumstances? What was going to happen next? And the story kept changing. Both the front end and the back
When we ask Alex about the stories she told us they were part with her and part with you.

As a self taught photographer, she has relied on her inner directing talents to bring us these cinematic snippets of stories in the lives of the female inhabitants of her worlds.

Cathy 2009 © Alex Prager
Continue Reading »

One of the biggest tech product categories at the recent Consumer Electronics Show was 3-D TV’s.
Every major manufacturer was rolling them out, and each had a slight different take on how you, the viewer, would best like to experience it.
Active shutter glasses that ensure that each eye only sees the right or left image, giving the brain the illusion of dimensionality.
Fine. That is perhaps how it will happen in your home with LCD screens.
Used to be the red/blue anaglyph glasses and now
they are primarily polarized lenses for the theatrical releases.

Still photography has been creating the 3D illusions for over 150 years, though.

Whether going in with a Stereoscope, or as simple as a View-Master, we’ve been there.
OK, not quiet as elaborate as the now, highest grossing movie of ALL time, AVATAR, but 3D none the less.

So our giveaway for you this week, is Phantograms from Nature
.
These are some of the best images we’ve seen giving you that 3D view. You’ll get 2 pairs of glasses, plus in the book, you’ll be given instructions on how to make your own 3D images.

These things will seriously jump out at you.

These days we also shoot stereo images on our digital camera using a splitter on the front of the body, like this one.
Now with this rig, you will need to print the double image photo and have a stereo viewer which can be as simple as a cardboard divider, or as ornate as a wooden and velvet viewer from the turn of the century.
Our source for most of the goods is 3D Stereo.com, the most knowledgeable , well stocked store for all things of this nature.

You may get hooked on this stuff, so be careful.

You may know that we’ve changed the way we pick the winners now, in our weekly giveaway.
First of all, you have until the Friday Eve 11:59 PST, following the Newsletter email on Weds., to get us your entry.
And the winner is chosen by Random.org from the qualified entries. Click here for giveaway details.
We feel this new format, will give all subscribers, no matter what time zone you live in, a greater opportunity to submit an entry.

And we have a special treat in the Newsletter this week, that we hope the subscribers enjoy.
Oh, lest we forget, here is where you can sign up to subscribe to the NEWSLETTER.

Well, the most emotionally charged, personal connection filled, holiday is almost here.
St. Valentine’s Day.
The pressure to express your love for another is never greater than on this day.
But what is the right way to do that?

These classic candy hearts, with their messages of love, have recently been updated to include “Text Me” and Tweet Me”, as well as “Love Me”, “Kiss Me” and who couldn’t resist saying yes to “Marry Me” printed in nearly illegible letters on a sugary candy?

Ok, there are many ways to profess your love on this day.

Now, we are not a crafty site, nor pretend to be, so, let’s see if we can get to some other gifts ways to use your photo knowledge or prowess to make Valentine’s Day a little more special.
We’ll give you some of the crafty type links at the end.

Have you and your loved one ever been in a photo booth? You know, you get into a cramped space, close a curtain and get 4 chances to make faces and have a special photographic bonding moment with someone.
If so, make a copy of your favorite image of you and your loved one, and tip it into a copy of this book.

We have been saving our photobooth pictures for many years and this book,American Photobooth encapsulates that common photo experience in our lives. Your addition of a personal photo, adds to its collection and personalizes the gift.

Elliott Erwitt is a master of the photographic art, and this,Personal Exposures, is one of our fave volumes of his work. Yes, the cover says a lot about love but it’s a rich experience inside. Not overly see-and-say as a V-day gift.

This French photographer’s book Robert Doisneau 1912-1994 (Icons) is a perfect small collection, put out by Taschen, of some of his classic Parisien street scenes. And Paris always says love, right?

For a less conventional look at couples, Ellen Von Unwerth: Couples may take care of your needs.

One of our go to gifting books, is this collection of photographs Woman: A Celebration assembled by Peter Fetterman. You may find some copies on Amazon or you can contact Mr. Fetterman, as we believe he has bought up most of the remaining stock.

You can always go through your files, make a print and find a perfect frame.
As digital as we have all become, the physical print will always give a sense of permanence to a loving relationship.

We would not recommend emailing a photo, nor blind copying a ton of recipients to make it easier on yourself. Tacky and insincere.

Remember: no matter how many times you are told, “please, don’t do anything” you should translate that into “ ok, let’s see what you do.”

It may indeed be a Hallmark manufactured holiday, created with the chocolatiers and florists to make this day a major sales day for them, but get over it.

If we have one day in the year, designated to say “ I Love You” do what you can to make sure that other person feels the love.
Not such a hard thing to do.

And adding chocolates and flowers never hurt either.

Here are some of those links for craft projects using your photos. Time to kick it into gear, if you want to make the date.
And trust us, you do.

HP, Shutterfly, and Kodak. Your online your iPhoto or Picassa stores lets you create right from your online library in a very simple way.
Of course you can combine it all and have your photo printed on roses, from this company.

Or, maybe you prefer the style from this company (below) where you can combine photos AND words:

Yes, Think Big, indeed.

You can go the other way, and have a photo printed onto edible chocolate:

perhaps a photo cookie like this:

Heck yes, with new edible ink technology you can print your photo on just about any foodstuff.
And what says love more than “Here’s a photo. I Love You. Eat it.”

OK, our tongue is firmly in our check with the last things we mentioned. Although, we are taking bets as to how many folks give one of these a try.
(we are leaning toward the chocolate lollipop deal )

So enjoy the day, honestly, and spread a little love around.