Would a photo canvas brighten up your world?
What do you do with all those photos you take? Do you carefully edit them and file them away on your hard drive? Perhaps you go to the local drugstore or use an online service and print out bazillions of 6″ x 4″s which then ultimately sit in several (perhaps well organized) shoeboxes. Are you a Facebook Fanatic and share everything with everyone?
The bigger the better
Me? I’m a print girl. Actually I’m not just a print girl. I’m a blow it up big and frame it type of girl. If it’s worth looking at, then you might as well make it big – right? I guess this comes from my background as a print lab owner. For years when I lived in Ireland I had the luxury of cheaper prints and discounted framing at my disposal. At home my walls were always adorned with beautiful 16″ x 20″ fully matted and framed images of my latest trip. These days, as you know, my subjects are just as beautiful but a little more challenging – my 1 and 3 year old. I take so many photos of these little ones but I rarely get around to enlarging, never mind framing these prints. Custom framing is not cheap and neither is making high quality prints – and I have got to be the world’s pickiest printer.
So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was approached by Canvas on Demand who offered me a complementary photo canvas in order to do an honest review of their site. Firstly, putting your photos onto canvas is like killing two birds with one stone – a beautiful enlarged photo print that doesn’t even need framing. Secondly, I absolutely love Canvas prints because they truly make your photos into pieces of artwork. I love the gallery wrapped look – the way the canvas is wrapped around the frame. It is really polished and helps to bring life to an otherwise two-dimensional piece. So I agreed to do this review only if it would be fair and honest (have I mentioned that I am picky?) so you can be assured that I put it to the test.
The procedure – How to get your Photos onto Canvas
Fist up I had to choose an image that I would like printed. I have an album of “for framing pics” so it was easy to choose the one I was going to print right away. I choose this shot of my 2 girls and my nephew that I shot this summer.
Full frame images work really well for canvas printing, so crop your picture to eliminate any unnecessary background.
Once I’ve cropped my image to get it the way I’d like it to look, I do any other necessary editing such as blemish removal and exposure adjustments in Photoshop Elements and then save it to my desktop so that I know where it is when I need to upload it.
Then it’s over to the Canvas on Demand website.
The site is clearly laid out and really easy to use. You can see from my video below how you will have your order placed in a matter of minutes.
And here is the finished Print:
I decided to get a 16″ x 20″ Canvas with a 1 1/2″ wrap and a black edge and I am super thrilled with the results.
You can see from the close up detail that it is expertly finished and the reproduction of the colors is spot on. This was my one big concern because like I said before – I am picky about my colors, but they were exactly as they were supposed to be.
The canvas shipped to me in about 3 working days after I placed my order and it arrived expertly packed via FedEx. A simple nail in the wall and voila I can now smile up up my 3 favorite little peeps all day long – definitely brightening up my world 🙂
So, if you think you’d like to give Canvas on Demand a whirl, tell ’em I sent ya and get 20% off your first order by using this link.
Let me know how you get on – I’d love to hear your experiences.
Ingrid
Disclosure: I did receive a 16″x20″ Canvas Print so that I could adequately review this website’s product quality and service. If it hadn’t have been up to scratch you can be sure I would let you guys know.
Fuji Instax Mini 25 Review
Fuji Instax Mini 25
Return of Film?
Digital is dead hoorah for the return of film! No wait. Sorry. Only kidding. Digital photography isn’t going anywhere I’m afraid but for those of you who still crave a little nostalgia, how about the convenience of the old polaroid? There is still a huge following for instant cameras and you can’t beat the thrill of watching the image appear right before your very eyes, something that us old film users miss from the darkroom days…Anyways, I digress.
Fuji is now the leader when it comes to Instant cameras and it’s latest offering is the cool Instax Mini 25 which takes credit card sized pictures. The one pictured below is a cool white color, matching perfectly with your MacBook or if you’re very trendy, you can go for the Hello Kitty version for a little extra.
Fun Fun Fun!
The camera is designed for fun usage and even has a little mirror in front to let you take the obligatory self portrait, or one of you and your favorite cuddly toy.
The Instax 25 is super easy to use with 2 chunky shutter buttons for easy picture taking either vertically or horizontally and it weighs hardly anything at all (less than 2 lbs.) It also has a Landscape setting which means you can take shots that are further away and comes with a detachable close up lens to allow you to shoot close up (of course!)
The camera uses 2 CR Lithium batteries (included) and Instax mini film which is widely available.
Vivid Pics
The pictures are really bright and vibrant and are a really fun way of capturing a party or a special event. Last week at my sister’s wedding, her friends snapped a poloroid of each couple as they entered the church and then at the reception put them in the guestbook so everyone could write their well wishes alongside their picture. It’s a wonderful momento of their big day!
Hello Kitty!
You can check out the Fuji Instax Mini here on Amazon and if you want to be the cool Auntie at Christmas this year, get your mits on the exclusive Hello Kitty version while they’re still in stock!
Happy Snapping!
PS Amazon currently has the Fuji Instax Mini 25 as $30 off the RRP (August 2010)