Photo tip-catchlights and focus points.

If you want to bring more oomph into your portrait shots try getting catchlights. This is the reflection of light in the eyes that makes them appear alive. Many artists use catchlights in there portraits to give life to their painting, next time you look at a portrait check out the eyes for catchlights. They can be created using daylight/natural light either directly into the eye or reflected off surfaces such as snow, water, photographers reflectors etc. It can also come from off camera flashes and other manmade lighting sources. I personally like natural light best. A marble is one of the easiest ways of detecting the position to get your best catchlights, make a fist and pop the marble into the little groove in your pointer finger, now simply move your hand and marble around until you get a good reflection, at around the positions, not the time, of 2 or 10 O'clock are best, but any position were you get reflections, are fine. Now that you have the right direction place your model here and take your photo. Whenever shooting people, with the odd exception, always focus on the eyes. If you have an slr type camera you can generally do this by changing your focus points on board the camera or focusing manually. With a point and shoot type camera you can use your central focus. To do this position the little red dot in the centre of your camera on the eyes, half depress your shutter release button to lock it on this position, holding it half way down, then reframe your photo as you wish and fully depress the shutter. This will make sure the eyes are nice and crisp. You can also use this method to get different effects as I did for the photo of S. below holding out the lolly pop. Using a shallow Depth Of Field or the portrait setting on your camera put the focus on the object you want sharp and depending on the capabilities of your camera the other object on different plains should blur either slightly or a lot depending on you settings.

I have included some examples below.

The catchlights are in the right of his eyes

The focus was placed on the lolly pop here, creating a soft blur on everything not in the same plain or level.Again the catchlights are on the right side
Even pets look better with catchlights too.

Calendar tin

This practical little off the page project is ideal for use as a birthday/anniversary book or could even be used as a diary. It can be made in a choice of 3 colours, it would be a good idea to pick out your papers when you book in.

Class requirements- distress ink, glue stick, some really strong adhesive for the ribbon, buttons etc such as pritt power glue and your basic kit.

Newsletter.

Our latest newsletter is now out, if you do not already receive it and wish to, simply email us at scrapnpatch@internode.on.net to be added to the list.

Drum roll please...

The winner of the great snap swap challenge is... Maria,

she has scrapped Tanya's photo and won herself the wonderful cropodile and two eyelet packs valued at over $60.00

New stock in for May

New arrivals and top ups of the popular paper shaper punches and gorgeous chipboard Bikkies kits from Delish, these contain 75 different letters and numbers in an 8 cm high font for only $15.70, great value but hurry these are moving very fast. There are also top ups of the very popular timber ribbon boxes. Coming in within the next week or two are some of the new artiology stamps from stampit and finally some of the 2007 hero arts stamps, unfortunately Aussiescrapsource http://aussiescrapsource.com/ , our supplier do not have the entire range in as yet but the ones that are here are simply gorgeous, pop in and check them out under the hero arts section. I will be placing this order on Wednesday or Thursday so if anyone has any stamps that you specifically want to order and they are in stock let us know before then, drop in, ring or email us at scrapnpatch@internode.on.net

What colour are you???

I'm blue (personally I think I have a tinge of green)
(It's Sue BTW)

BLUE

You give your love and friendship unconditionally. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

Class requirements for trinket box on the 23rd May

Basic kit, distress or brown ink and either pritt power gel or glue stick.

'Vintage' class requirements

I don't have a photo to post as yet,it will be up in the next couple of days The class requirements will be as follows; basic tool kit, brown distress ink, craft knife and cutting mat,and a strong glue stick eg pritt power glue stick. Your photo will need to be 5 x 7" or similar size, black and white or sepia tones will work best.
Cheers,
S.

New thread range

To all you sewing ladies we now have in store the mettler range of sewing threads, check out the gorgeous colour range.

For some reason these photos have some up twice, sorry.

Restock of hero arts stamps

For those of you waiting for the hero arts order it has arrived. We are still waiting for the 2007 range to arrive in Australia, hopefully soon.

Adelaide

A quick shot of Tanya and Donna at the kids section at Ikea from our trip to Adelaide a few weeks ago, it couldn't be all work now could it? (The things these girls will do for me (giggle) )

Paper bag album

Not just for lunches paper bags can used for many different things including this little album.

There will be a choice of blue 'friends' themed paper (shown here) or pink girly themed papers with words such as me, artist, sensitive, hip,dreamer,energetic etc

Class requirements-basic kit, distress or brown ink and six or more small photo measuring no more than 8cm at their widest point that relate to the above themes(these can be added at a later date)

Coluzzle

Recreate this gorgeous layout using the coluzzle tool and the newest papers from Scrapbooking Australia.

Class requirements-basic kit(don't forget to include your scissors, you will need a small sharp pair) and a distress or brown ink.

Coming soon

We've heard from our distributor that the 2007 hero arts stamps are due to arrive in Australia with in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for more info on these. We're very excited to be getting them as we think they are one of the nicest releases yet.

Photography tip for March-light

The word photography comes form the Latin words meaning to paint with light.
Light is the single most influential thing when taking photographs, whether it be too much light or not enough. The best photographs are the ones taken in even diffused light. Try to avoid bright sunlight if possible, it can create harsh shadows, and dappled light as through tree branches can leave 'hot spots' or area which are over exposed. The best light for great color saturation is outdoors on an overcast day, especially just after rain, in the shade of a large building or trees that have even shade or indoors near a large north facing window(you can hang a sheer white curtain over a window to soften the light coming through it) If it is unavoidable to take photos in bright sun try using the fill flash feature that most cameras have these days, it will give a soft burst of light that can even out any harsh shadows, and is particularly good for anyone wearing a hat. Just remember to check your manual for your flashes range, many people get caught out both indoors and out by trying to take a photo farther away than their flash will allow. When photographing indoors again check your flash range, it is no use sitting at the back of a concert hall photographing the stage if your flash only reaches a distance of a few metres, all you will get is dark photos. It is a better idea to turn your flash off and use a tripod if the area is brightly lit enough. Those of you with an SLR can use a faster lens and set your fstop and shutter speed to allow for the low light. Also remember that almost all digital cameras now allow you to set the ISO (the equivalent of film speed) the low numbers eg ISO 100 to 200 are for brightly lit situations whereas your higher numbers eg ISO 800-1600 are for low light situations but you will also get more noise (the same as film grain) at these high speeds but sometimes these are the trade offs for capturing those special memories, this can be made less noticeable using some of the features that come with your photo editing program (generally packaged with your camera). Also adjusting your WB (white balance) will make a huge difference to how the end result will look, check your manual for more information on what settings to use in what situations.

Mini memories

This little timber album would be the perfect edition to a side board or coffee table.

The colors are a little different in real life and it is quite dimensional.

Chip chatter

Altered chipboard is still all the rage, in this class you will learn how to do this with methods including paint, crackle medium and embossing powder.

Wednesday March the 7th

{CREATE}

Check out the new gorgeous wall word kits just for your creative space, whether it be scrapbooking, card making, sewing, beading, whatever your creative thing is. Measuring 8 inches high they are the perfect embellishment to personalise your wall and can be decorated in any way you desire.

New stock just in...

Sweet little wooden coaster albums for you to decorate
Loads and loads of new rubons covering a large range of subjects
New watercolor pencils at the unbelievable price of $12.45 for a set of 24
Foil stickers, we have finally found a supplier, these include alphabets, hand made by, borders and words in silver and gold

Tag, you're it.

This fun filled page not only includes lots of groovy ways to include tags on your layout but also has some great ideas for pockets to put them into.

The actual page has not got the blue cast to it, that was me foreting to adjust my white balance, sorry.