They Oughta Make a Photobook: Weddings, Hot Dogs and iPhoneography



Photo Courtesy of NewsLeader

We just wanted to highlight a few photos from around the web that people should be making photobooks with! 
The photobook industry is dominated by wedding books, big ones, expensive ones, guest books, cheap ones and extravagant ones.  It's your special day (or week depending on what country you are from!) and you should want to look back on those few hours of joy and enjoyment.

Over at the NewsLeader they have a good article about how wedding photography has changed over the years.  With photos like this one though, they oughta make a photobook!  They write:

"Today's couple has myriad options available to preserve the memories of their special day. Starting with, unlike the old days, the groom is often a participant in planning the wedding. However, having so many options of photo styles and price ranges can be confusing. There's traditional style and documentary style. There's also a fine arts/high fashion style and then there is color, black and white and spot color."

Then we have this gem that I found on Wired.com.  This photographer is ingenious and there are actually quite a few of them on that site.  Please go check out these hilarious photographs.  I chose this one because I thought it had so much meaning to it.  It's a hot dog yes, but dogs often "go" on newspapers.  Baked beans are perfect but also, the newspaper I think, has an article about the artist himself!  Hilarious!  This artist oughta make a photobook!

Photo Courtesy of Wired

The other day I was introduced to the new concept of "iPhoneography."  I found this iPhone attached lense over at AppAdvice and it looks really cool.  Apparently the new lens will allow you to take wide angle shots and also fisheye shots.  Here are more details:

"The wide-angle subtly brings a little more into your photo, making it effective for landscapes, or even normal group photos. The macro lens let’s you get up close and personal with just about anything. The lenses don’t decrease the clarity of your pictures the slightest bit. Colors are still as vibrant and sharp as they would be without the Olloclip attached."

So for everyone out there with an iphone, get this clip and you oughta make a photobook!


Photo courtesy of App Advice



Mitt Romney isn't the only wealthy Mormon: 6 Inspiring (extremely wealthy) Mormons and the History of the Mormon Church

Utah and the Mormons: The History, Government, Doctrines, Customs, and Prospects of the Latter-Day Saints
by Benjamin G. Ferris

"The aim has been to give a strictly impartial account of the Mormons as they have been and as they are..." Having accepted the responsibilities of Secretary of the Territory of Utah, the author, Benjamin Ferris, spent 6 months during the severe winter of 1852-53 in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, center of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. The results were his written observations of the practical workings of the Mormon institutions. In this volume, he combines historical facts, his personal observations and voices from the Mormon community to present the history, government, doctrines, customs, and prospects of the Latter-day Saints. Originally published in 1854, this work includes an appendix plus over 25 black & white line drawings.

Utah and the Mormons: The History, Government, Doctrines, Customs, and Prospects of the Latter-Day Saints

6 Inspiring (Extremely Wealthy) Mormons
 
1.  Jon Huntsman Sr. - The father of the Governor of Utah who made millions from creating a McDonald's Big Mac container has given away $1.2 billion to charity.  Because of that he's now off the Forbes 400 richest! WOW!
 
2.  James LeVoy Sorenson - Mr. Disposable has made millions on over 60 patents including a disposable surgical mask and disposable venous catheter.  One of his companies was able to identify bodies found in the Thailand Tsunami back in 2004 which could not be identified. WOW!  Mr. Sorenson has 47 grandchildren!
 
3.  James Jannard - Did you see Spider-Man?  How about The Hobbit?  The Social Network?  Well, thank Mr. Jannard's RED Digital Cinema Camera company.  Mr. Jannard is also the founder of Oakley Eyewear which he sold in 2007 for $2 billion!  WOW!  He even has his own personal website!
 
4.  Richard Peery - He started in the 1960s buying land in California and converting them into office buildings and office spaces.  He leases 15 buildings to Google!  WOW!  He owns 3 million square feet in Silicon Valley!
 
5.  David Huber - Mr. Huber made his millions with fiber optics and has a Electric Engineering PhD from BYU.  He constantly invents and has 41 patents.
 
6.  Mitt Romney - Mr. Romney made his million as part of Bain Capital, a private equity company, by investing in many notable companies such as Dunkin' Donuts, Sports Authority and Staples.
 
Sources article: Who is the World’s Wealthiest Mormon? Should We Care?


All Silver Street Media books are reprinted from digital scans of the original printed edition We strive to only offer books with all the pages and information intact. Covers are designed by Silver Street Media's graphic designers. Our goal is to offer high quality reproduced material at afforable prices.

For the Love of Books: "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)

http://youtu.be/Adzywe9xeIU

From the Huffington Post:

Books have the power to transfix a reader. A turn of the page provides an alternate story to live, be it a line prose or a hefty epic. Moonbot Studios' animated short "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" highlights the delight of literature through its very own story.
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" was one of five nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards' Best Animated Short category, announced Jan. 24. The Shreveport, Louisiana-based studio released the short as its first animation project.

 From the Oscar site:

Film Synopsis
A storm transports a young man to a place where books are living entities.

From Oscar Shorts:

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) co-directors William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

The best part about this is that to have an animated short called "The Fantastic Flying iPads of Mr. Morris Lessmore" would be really really weird! 

What did you think about the animated short??

You Don't Understand the Concept of a Photobook -- The Internet's First Photobook Comic

A bunch more photobook comics on our site! Click here!

Hiking and Photobooks: Lots of Work and Rich Rewards

It's February, and only the insane are out doing winter hiking. But Spring and Summer is around the corner and that means hiking season is coming up.  I have to get rid of the Holiday extra pounds and also do a bit of walking to get back into shape.  Where will I go this summer?  Where will hike? 

No matter where I go I will most definitely bring my camera.  But what else should we bring?

7 Things to remember on your next hike: A Photobook Hiking Checklist

1.  Camera
2.  Batteries
3.  Lunch
4.  Water
5.  Lenses
6.  Camera remote control
7.  Tripod

Now that you wrote down your list let's get down to brass tax.  After you come back from your day out on the trail you'll want to start making your photobook. 

First, you've got to get the cover image that will really shock people or bring people in.  Either a blue sky shot with mountains in the distance or a close up of a small sapling next to your muddy boot. 

Second, tell your story of that day or trip.  Start from the first couple photos that you took from the beginning of the trail.  A sign might be good or the mileage you are about to walk. 

WAIT! First make a decision if you want the book to be more of YOU and your trip or NATURE and your trip.  Both would be fine but nature doesn't always need an explanation but a picture of you sometimes does need an explanation.

Third, decide if you will add captions or not.  You don't want your mom asking you constantly, "Where were you?" or your friend asking, "What peak was this?"  Also, if your hike is more than a day, make sure to write a journal which can be scanned in or rewritten as a caption for the photos.

Fourth, wide shots are good but close up shots are good too.  While on the way up the mountain you stopped often to take photos (not to rest and drink water) and those images I am sure nobody has ever taken before.  It's rare that people will take their time up a mountain, naturally when you are close enough to the top you will just keep going and not stop. 

Fifth, you have your tripod and remote control and set the camera up on the trail and then go back down a ways and while you hike up towards the camera take numerous photos.  Then turn the camera around and do the same as you hike up the mountain or into the distance.  This can be all on one page of your photobook or a two page spread showing movement, your exhaustion and the beauty of where you are.

Sixth, take the fifth idea and move the tripod out into the woods and take a few shots as you pass by the camera.  This will give a cool view of an animal in the woods.

Seventh, make sure that you include a photo in your book of your view of the hike.  Take the camera and take a picture of what your eyes see when they look down on the ground.  Your leg and or knee should be in the photo.

Eighth, make sure all the animals, birds, leaves, strange things, mushrooms, trees, ruins WHATEVER are in your photobook which will make the book more interesting!

What was the best hike you've been on?  Do you bring your camera along on the hike?

When Getting Your Beekeeping Supplies, Don't Forget "The First Lessons of Beekeeping"

Now available on Amazon from Silver Street Media!!
First Lessons in Beekeeping

"A single bee, with all its energy, collects but a tiny drop of honey at each trip to the field, in the best season, yet the colony to which it belongs may harvest hundreds of pounds of surplus for its owner, in a single year." Charles Dadant, father of the author of First Lessons in Beekeeping, C.P. Dadant was widely known as a preeminent force in beekeeping throughout Europe. "In France, "Dadant" and "Dadant hive" are household words among beekeepers." When C.P. Dadant published First Lessons in Beekeeping in 1917, he was the Editor of the American Bee Journal. Many of the articles published by the journal were practical guides which blend well with this work; in it Dadant combines numerous photos with hundreds of illustrations to tell the story of the bee, the hive and the honey produced inside as well as explaining the methodology behind creating and tending the hive professionally. With extensive content on varieties of bees, establishing your apiary, production and even marketing of the honey, First Lessons in Beekeeping blends fact, observation and know-how gleaned from nearly one hundred years of experience into an easy to understand volume. The tenth edition was published by American Bee Journal in 1934.

The book is available in paperback and hardcover.  Click on the link above or below!

Excerpt from First Lessons in Beekeeping

Who Should Keep Bees?

The care of an apiary is well adapted to furnish recreation to men of sedentary professions, lawyers, ministers, doctors and teachers especially, who are often at leisure during the summer months when the bees require the greatest amount of attention, and who may thus add quite a little to their income. Ladies may keep bees, and often succeed better than men, because they pay more attention to details. “The bee-business is a business of details.” It has been stated that the handling of heavy hives or supers full of honey is too hard for women but it is easy to secure occasional help to do the heavy lifting required only when the honey crop is good.

Patience, persistence before discouragements, neatness and foresight are the requirements of an apiarist. You must also learn to handle bees without fear, if you expect to enjoy the work. This is not difficult and directions will be found in another chapter (74). Very little capital is required, for the business must be learned on a small scale.

All Silver Street Media books are reprinted from digital scans of the original printed edition We strive to only offer books with all the pages and information intact. Covers are designed by Silver Street Media's graphic designers. Our goal is to offer high quality reproduced material at afforable prices.


3 Websites out there for Beekeeping and 1 cool video from a guy in Nebraska!

1.  Basic Beekeeping

2.  Discover Beekeeping

3.  Bee Class

Beekeeping 101

A central Nebraska beekeeper discusses his operation and efforts to raise bees in ways, which are dictated by the needs of the bees and not our own
http://youtu.be/AXfW14n-JYM

Sleeping Family Members Make Great Photos -- The Internet's First Photobook Comic

Do you have any good photos of your family member sleeping?
A bunch more photobook comics on our site! Click here!

Photobooks in the News: Reversing the Chicago River in Panoramas

Photo courtesy of http://sahchicagochapter.blogspot.com/2011/10/nov-8th-book-presentation-at-aia.html
The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed its River and the Land Beyond

The Chicago Tribune recently wrote about a fascinating photobook that is available on Amazon about a fascinating event in Chicago history. Back in the 1800s Chicagoans considered their river to be “the stinking river” where garbage and sewage flowed down the river and into Lake Michigan which was the city’s main water source. It was decided then to attempt to reverse the flow of the river and to dump it into the Illinois Michigan canal system. This only worked for a season and then in 1900 William Boldenweck pulled off the Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium when he successfully reversed the course of the river using locks and more water from Lake Michigan.

Photo courtesy of http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2011/12/visualizing-chicago-river-reversal/714/
What does this have to do with a photobook? Well when the project started in 1894, photographers (which were new in those days) decided to take some photos of the process of reversing the river. About 22,000 images to be exact. Apparently according to the article in the Chicago Tribune, most of those images had never been seen, they were put away and subsequently lost. Until one day in Des Plaines, Illinois, in the basement of a Water Reclamation Plant, somebody found a box of negatives.

Photo courtesy of http://www.choosechicago.com/event/The-Lost-Panoramas-When-Chicago-Changed-its-River-and-the-Land-Beyond/18478/
Now, a piece of Chicagoland history is coming to life again and thanks to some intrepid photographers and the advent of photobooks, we present to you The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed its River and the Land Beyond

There's also a video report about the book from Chicago's WGN.tv

"We won't name our baby 'Apple Cider'" and Many More Things About Apple Cider That You Never Knew

The Cider Maker's Manual: A practical Handbook 

Hard apple cider brings with it the character of where it’s grown, and the personality of its grower.  The history of early America is drenched with cider, and by 1767 its per capita usage in Massachusetts alone stood at over 35 gallons a year.

Primarily a farmer’s drink, “every plantation owner made cider, drank cider, and bragged about his cider” wrote U.P. Hedrick in his book, A History of Horticulture in America.  In the 18th century, cider was a part of everyone’s daily life, from the provisions of our Revolutionary soldiers to our elder statesmen.  Of these, it was most notably at the table of John Adams, who drank a tankard every morning to settle his stomach.  By 1840, cider had even become so ubiquitous that William Henry Harrison used it to win his presidential campaign over incumbent Martin Van Buren, giving it away at his rallies and on polling day.

When J.S. Buell published The Cider-Maker's Manual in 1868, there was little reason to believe that anything would unseat it as this country's drink of choice.  But, just a few decades into the 1900s, it would be all but forgotten.  The reasons for its swift decline can be traced to a steady barrage of events culminating on January 17th, 1920, with the Volstead Act prohibiting the sale of alcoholic drinks; with one stroke of the pen the U.S. government thrust hard cider and with it, The Cider Maker’s Manual into obscurity.

For nearly 60 years, cider would be kept alive in America by small farmers, many of whom resided in upstate New York and New England.  Finally, an act of Congress in 1978 would mark the beginning of a home-brewing Renaissance that would yield thousands of new craft breweries.  The population’s increased vigor for the creation of artisan beers brought with it a renewed desire to produce hard cider.  With only a few original copies remaining, “The Cider Maker’s Manual” was unknown to all but the most savvy in cider world.  This reprint edition confers the information J.S. Buell imparted to help today’s home cider makers in creating their very own exceptional, traditional cider.

Available in both hardcover and paperback.
The Cider Maker's Manual: A Practical Handbook

Quotations about Apple Cider:

"I'll squeeze the cider out of your adam's apple!" -Mo (one of the 3 Stooges)

"We won't name her Apple Cider or Salami..."  -Dancing with the stars champ, J.R. Martinez recently revealed that his wife Diana Gonzalez-Jones is pregnant. Reported by PEOPLE Magazine


Making Apple Cider. Woods Cider Mill is located in Weathersfield, VT and online at: www.woodscidermill.com This Video was produced by McNaudio Media Solutions LLC at www.mcnaudio.com Music for this video is credited to: The Skillet Lickers from Goergia Recorded in the 1920's Roots of American Fiddle V.1 - This Cider Mill was Featured during the knife fight scene in the movie "The Cider House Rules"

Apple Cider on Wikipedia

Cooks.com have tons of recipes for Apple Cider. 

Apple Cider.org is a collection of all kinds of info about Apple Cider and their annual meeting was on February 8, 2012!

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All Silver Street Media books are reprinted from digital scans of the original printed edition We strive to only offer books with all the pages and information intact. Covers are designed by Silver Street Media's graphic designers. Our goal is to offer high quality reproduced material at afforable prices.

My Purse was Stolen Yesterday! I caught the thief but he wanted to keep WHAT?? -- The Internet's First Photobook Comic

A bunch more photobook comics on our site! Click here!

Making photobooks on a budget

The economic downturn has turned us all into penny pinchers and bargain hunters.
That’s a good thing.
Digital cameras, whether they are your phone or an actual camera, doesn’t need film now which makes it easier and cheaper to take as many photos as you want!
That’s a good thing.
There are many ways nowadays to save those photos in an economical way.
That’s a good thing but also a bad thing.
When it comes to saving money, most of the time we overlook one aspect: quality. You want to make a good photobook that will last for a long time but you don’t want to break the bank. You want to make a photobook that you can pass down to your children and you don’t want it to fall apart in 3 years of heavy use. One could make all the photobooks one wants, only to have them waste away in a few years.
That would be a bad thing.

So you have to think twice at the price and ask around to see what people think the quality is like. You could walk into your local CVS or Walgreen’s or even Costco and print out photos or make a photobook right there. But the quality is not going to be good. You could call up a local hand bookbinder and printer and have them do it for you and it will last you 100+ years but you might have to take a second mortgage out on the house!

The Happy Medium

There are companies out there now that allow you to make photobooks that will stand the test of time and the test of the budget. Some provide more guidance than others. For example, Blurb provides great software that gives you a great layout with page numbers and plenty of margins. They also provide you with a preview so you can see what your book would look like. With LuLu, another self publishing/photobook company, they allow you to upload your photobook that you’ve already made on your computer. Making a photobook with SnapFish works well since your photos are already on SnapFish but the quality is not the greatest. Dabblebooks has provided a great idea on “lite” photobooks which are 20 or so pages that you can fill with however many photos you want. The price is fixed and very affordable and they are of good size.

Research and Relish

Just like buying that new kitchen appliance or item that you need, in these economic times we have to do our research. Same thing with photobooks. Do your research, find the best quality at the price you think is right. And when the box comes in the mail, sit back and relish your creation of memories.

Who was Otto Von Bismarck? 124th Anniversary of Bismarck's Reichstag Speech

"Bismarck" by C. Grant Robertson

“It is a study of Bismarck as one of the Makers of Modern Europe and of the German nation and Empire”

Otto von Bismarck, born to a wealthy family in Schoenhausen on April 1, 1815, is recognized as the founder of the German Empire. After his death, German nationalists would erect hundreds of monuments memorializing his strong leadership style, while many historians would praise him for his moderate approach to the unification process.

This biography, one of the first works written by esteemed historian Sir Charles Grant Robertson, presents an in-depth look at the many facets of the man who united Germany “by iron and blood”. Here is Bismarck the military strategist, the master of foreign affairs and equally importantly, the major force in social and economic reform.

This book was originally published as part of the series, “The Makers of the Nineteenth Century”, by Henry Holt and Company in 1919.

"Bismarck" by C. Grant Robertson

4 quotes from Mr. Bismarck:

"I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring."

"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." 

"Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied."

"We Germans fear God and nothing else in the world!" -Bismarck Addresses the Reichstag (February 6, 1888)

Here's a great video probably done by a student for class, but it does show you the reach of Bismarck and some amazing art with some great music too (probably German.) Enjoy learning more about Mr. Bismarck!

Wikipedia about Otto Von Bismarck

BBC History page for Otto Von Bismarck

Telegraph UK January 31, 2012 has an article about an actual recording of Otto Van Bismarck from Thomas Edison's collection "Otto von Bismarck brought back to life thanks to Thomas Edison recording"


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All Silver Street Media books are reprinted from digital scans of the original printed edition We strive to only offer books with all the pages and information intact. Covers are designed by Silver Street Media's graphic designers. Our goal is to offer high quality reproduced material at afforable prices.

"Have a Seat: The Chairs that I've Sat In" and other silly photobooks -- The Internet's First Photobook Comic

Some people make a photobook of their family, pets, children or a trip.  But have you ever seen a photobook that is of something ordinary?  Can you think of something used daily that you could make into a photobook?
A bunch more photobook comics on our site! Click here!

12 Photobook resolutions for 2012

1. Make more photobooks this year.

2. Make more photobooks for others this year.

3. Make more photobooks of my grandparents for posterity.

4. Make more photobooks of my son from this past year.

5. Make more photobooks of “a day in a life”

6. Make a calendar with my stunning photos! (not)

7. Make more photobooks about my beautiful wife.

8. Make more photobooks about my parents.

9. Make a photobook with all those “Made in China” photos I keep taking.

10. Make more photobooks from scanned photos from yesteryear. (high school)

11. Teach my mother how to make a photobook.

12. Show my most recent photobook to 12 people.

What were your photobook resolutions for 2012?