I often add text to my pictures in Photoshop before printing. A couple of recent examples:

Adding text in Photoshop is really simple. I’ll show you what it looks like in my CS version. Not sure if it will be much different with the other versions of Photoshop, but if it is, I’m sure some of you will comment and share your own tips. : )

1. Open up your picture. Look down the left column in Photoshop.

2. Find the “T” icon (for Text). Select that.

3. Click anywhere on your picture. Start typing. There’s your text! At the top of Photoshop, you’ll see where you can change your font, size, color, and all that good stuff. Simply highlight your text (or the section of text you want to tweak) and make the changes. Add text in several places on your picture by clicking in a new spot and typing more.

Give it a try!

A couple of things worth checking out today.

Once in a while I will notice your questions that are Photoshop-related. Digital topics. I know a little about Photoshop and love the little that I know (and use it daily), but I keep thinking that you really need to turn to the expert digital teacher, my friend Jessica Sprague. So just in case you’re not familiar with her (I know many of you are) … check her out at jessicasprague.com and you’ll get to know what’s she’s all about. You’ll love her.

One thing that will be of interest to many of you is that she’s offering a free two-week photo editing class right now (along with daily free downloads). Go here for the information, and to register for free. I am totally signing up! Free registration ends on June 28. Class begins on July 6.

How great is this? I know you can benefit from this class and you’ll love doing some cool things with your photos.

Speaking of great things … my friend Karlee Fuchs has stocked up her online store, so if it’s been a while since you’ve looked at her homemade bags & purses, go check it out. She still has the Becky Bag in pink too. SO cute.

Here’s the cherry on top: Karlee’s offering a 25% off coupon for her store. This is likely the only time that she’s doing this, so if you’re interested, now’s the time to go for it! Here’s the catch: This coupon is only in effect for a day or two. The coupon code is: CRAFTING.

This is my everyday Karlee purse. And my picture of the day back on May 8th. A shot of what I see beside me when I’m driving around running errands.

Next time you’re in your car to drive somewhere, look beside you. What do you see? Perhaps you’ll find this everyday sight worthy of a picture.

Wanted to share this e-mail with you (with Lisa’s permission):

Hi Becky,

I thought I would share one of my POTD’s from last week – your last blog post talks about the big and the little things.

The photo is the weekly rubbish truck collecting our rubbish. My boys love the rubbish truck and get so excited when they hear it coming, they race to the front window to see it – that was what I did the journalling about.

This is a photo I would NEVER have taken if it were not for Project 365, rubbish collection – a part of our life every week.

Thanks for the inspiration. Bye for now.

Lisa
(from Australia)

That’s exactly the frame of mind I have been developing over the course of the past 6 months myself, because of taking a picture every day. I constantly see opportunities for capturing life in such a different way than years past. Obviously I’m not taking pictures all day, every day. Usually it’s just the one time per day (to get my POTD – picture of the day).

But this is what’s interesting.

I’ve always thought I had a less-than-stellar memory. And that’s always bothered me. But pictures (and scrapbooking) have been a huge influence on improving my memory. And I’m not talking about looking at pictures, because that’s obviously going to jog my memory. I’m talking about the act of taking a picture and then seeing that image, even if I rarely go back and look at it.

That right there, improves my memory. There’s some little special place in my brain for memory based on the act of taking a picture. For me. Maybe even for you?

Either way, I am just so grateful for photography. Even taking pictures of garbage collection day.

Perhaps I should be putting this in my Recipe section, but really — it’s not really a recipe. Just a combination of a few things. This is my favorite between-meals snack that I’ve been eating a lot lately.

It’s also my POTD. Remember that Project 365 (and all picture-taking, in general) is a visual time capsule. What I’m doing, eating, thinking about, worrying about, seeing, liking, not liking this week may be different than next week. And certainly next year.

So whatever snack you’ve been reaching for lately, whether it’s store-bought, homemade, or a little of both — take a picture.

Oh, back to my current fave. It has just 3 simple things:

1. vanilla yogurt
2. fresh raspberries (SO into these right now)
3. granola

Those of you who stay in touch with my blog once in a while know that I’ll occasionally post some pictures from our family’s Project 365. A picture a day. Sometimes it’s a picture of the highlight of the day or a funny happening of the day. Sometimes it’s something not so funny at all. And sometimes, it’s really little. But I like to mix in the little stuff with the big stuff. For me, it’s about trying the capture the whole essence of our family’s existence. I try to get a variety of shots like that.

So here are a couple of the “little things” from just this week: Like the tomatoes we pulled from our own little garden. I journaled about how delicious they taste and how I’ve been eating a tomato sandwich every single day this week for lunch. A childhood favorite. Mmm. I think I need to photograph a tomato sandwich next time.

And I just hit the big semi-annual sale at Bath & Body, which is when I stock up on our favorite hand soaps. Just snapped the picture after I loaded them all in a bathroom closet for storage.

Soap. Little stuff. And it’s a part of our life.

I try to get a variety of angles with my pictures. Like standing above the tomato bowl. Or getting down on the floor when I photograph the kids. (Crew is totally Mr. Army-crawl Baby now!)

I also aim for a balance of both close-up shots (such as the first 2 photos above) as well as shots that I don’t zoom in at all. Like this. Because I had my point & shoot really accessible in my bag, I was able to easily grab it to take this wide-angle shot at the airport last week:

I love that I can see Porter being a trooper and taking a piece of luggage under his wing … and how David (a.k.a. the best dad ever) was kind enough to put a very tired little 3-year-old on his shoulders while hauling some luggage.

And don’t forget to make the effort to get out from behind the camera once in a while! Let someone else take the picture …

Or give your arm a good stretch and take a good-ol’-fashioned self portrait. I did this one day while snuggling in the grass with Claire (we were waiting for Porter to finish a lesson).

I’m telling you … it pays to have a little point & shoot handy at all times.

Anyway, hope this gets you thinking a little more about the pictures you’re taking (whether or not you’re doing Project 365).

PS – A few of you wanted to get in touch with my parents. If you are in Finland, e-mail me (bhiggins@ckmedia.com) and I’ll put you in touch with them.

Some of you expressed interest in a template for that Kindergarten scrapbook I did with Porter’s class (see May 18th post below). I created it in Pages (not Word), which is part of any Mac computer. So if you have a Mac, here you go. The title page is ready to add your specific info and the February page is just an example of one of the months. There’s no point to sharing them all because each one was specific to Porter’s class and what they did that month.

title.pages

february.pages

These fine people are my parents.

Some of you reading this have met my mom. She has traveled with me to CKUs and conventions many times “back in the day” (I have been taking a break from work travel). This week, we bid farewell to my folks as they embarked on a new chapter in their lives together. They are off to Finland to serve a mission for our Church.

They’ll be there for 18 months. I’m so proud of them (Finnish does NOT look easy to learn!), so pleased that they are doing this, and so grateful for the modern technology we have today, which will make it super easy to stay in touch just as much as we do already.

Aiti & Isa, rakastan sinua niin paljon!