Photo book vs. Picture book vs. Photo album: What's the Difference?

A photobook is a book whose primary content is photographic. It does not have to contain text. Many show the work of a single photographer or a collaboration between photographer(s) and a/some writer(s).

A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often but not always aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil, pen and also photos.

A photo album, is a collection of photographs, generally in a book. Some albums have compartments which the photos may be slipped into; other albums have heavy paper with a sticky surface covered with clear plastic sheets, in which photos can be put. Older style albums often were simply books of heavy paper which photos could be glued to or attached to with adhesive corners, or pages.

Now we have that all cleared up.  Thanks to Wikipedia for those decisive answers.  At Silver Street Media our job is to assist you in your creation of the first one: the photo book.  You can make your photo book look like the third one: a photo album if you want to.  Heck, if you are good with a scanner and photoshop you could even make your photo book look a lot like the second one: a picture book. 

With a little text and some good photos, you could turn your photo book into number two: a picture book.  And with some of the layout templates on Silver Street Media.com you could make your photo book look like a number three: a photo album.

Any way which you choose, Silver Street Media is there to help.  Ask us some questions if you want.  We’re just an e-mail away.

The Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Photobook: A Moment for Reflection on Getting Older

Being born in the late 70s and growing up in a home where John Denver's Greatest hits volume 2 was "rock and roll," I was not exposed to the large mouth and swinging hips of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.  Deep down though, I can't quite imagine the music and musicians that I was interested in later on in my life, triumphantly announce that they've been together for 50 years.  Actually, I was always confused by the ultimate music question that burned me for many years like "what came first the chicken or the egg?": Which came first? Bob Dylan's song "Like a Rolling Stone" or the band "The Rolling Stones"? 


Rolling Stones: 50


I can't imagine the Smashing Pumpkins celebrating their 50 year anniversary.  Their song "Today" would change to "50 years ago was the greatest time of my life."  What about Michael Bolton shuffling down the halls of an old folks home with a walker singing, "I said I loved you but I died!"  What does it mean to the older generation who grew up the same age as those in the Rolling Stones as they wrinkle, age and go on Britiain's version of Medicare doing ads about corn cream?  Perhaps it will be the same feeling when we have Britney Spears starts doing ads about osteoperosis and keeping up with grandchildren. 


John Denver Greatest Hits Vol. 2



I actually got into the Rollling Stones when I was in China 12 years ago where all the DVDs and CDs cost next to nothing and were found in a dusty market room where newspapers were put over the windows, sold by a guy with really long pinky fingernail.  My friend was into them big time.  He was a local whose English was amazing and created his own English name combining the names of two other great bands.  He knew, living in the middle of China, that the Rolling Stones were a great band and they were "classic," plus he was shocked that I didn't know much about them.  Of course I learned a lot that year, not just about Chinese culture but also about American music and movies.  Yes, I even found John Denver's CDs there too. 



The Concert for New York City


I was really exposed to the Rolling Stones after 9/11.  They were featured prominently on some of the Benefit CDs that came out after the tragic event including songs such as "Miss You" and "Salt of the Earth" which didn't make me go out and buy another CD or MP3 but they were good songs for a good cause. 

We're still waiting for John Denver's photobook about his long career but the Rolling Stones have come out with their own.  This massive volume is for the Rolling Stone fan.  Over 350 pages of photos, history and a dash of decadence.  They will start an exhibit in London coming up next month and the huge photobook is available in July too.  For all those Rolling Stones fans out there it looks like a good buy.  For those born in the 70s, our musicians are getting older by the day, we'll start to see "anniversaries" coming in the not too distant future!

(By the way, all the musical choices mentioned above are not necesarily the music that I chose to listen to growing up.  In other words, I swear I didn't listen to Michael Bolton.  EVER!)

11 Photobook Pictures from Pinterest: Fish Hat, Annual books, Mini-photobooks and Instagram Photobooks!

Pinterest is a new social media site out there that acts like a pinboard but online.  You "pin" stuff that you like from across the web into a specific pin board that you specify.  It's an interesting and somewhat new bit of social media somewhat like Tumblr, and like a photo version of Twitter.  But anyway, we thought we'd plug in a few search terms and see what we could find.  We found a ton on Photobooks so we thought we'd share it with the rest of you!  Enjoy!

Source: jengrantmorris.blogspot.com via stacydawn on Pinterest

The above photo I'm sure gives people a great idea of how Photobooks have been around for a while and also a simple way to title a photobook!

Source: blurb.com via Eunice on Pinterest

This was a great shot of a cute little one that really makes the photobook page stand out!

Source: apieceoftoastblog.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

I love the black and white shot there of a girl and her dog.

Source: paisleepress.blogspot.com via Tammy on Pinterest

This was a great simplistic way of laying out these two pages.  It's also a great way to use photos that look pretty much the same but perhaps might have a subtle difference.

Source: blog.livebooks.com via Eduardo on Pinterest

I LOVE THAT HAT!  I want a hat like that! Can I get it on Amazon?

Source: digitalhomethoughts.com via Charity on Pinterest

WOW!  This photo shows just how much the parents love their child! WOW So many books!

Source: blurb.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

You gotta love Instagram.  But check out these great Instagram photobooks. Love them!

Source: fatmumslim.com.au via Carly on Pinterest

We haven't talked much about mini photobooks but this is pretty cool.

Source: ccmphotobooks.com via Candace on Pinterest

This was also a great idea of putting your child's drawings into a book.  Love it!  A true artist!

Source: t-h-i-n-g-s.blogspot.com via Katja on Pinterest

These are quite the conversation piece that are pretty cool.  But making a book like that along with the correct weight distribution would be tough.

Source: thedailydigi.com via Connie on Pinterest

Another stack of photobooks that are probably a goldmine of memories!
You can follow our Pinterest here.

Going to a Foreign Country? Don’t forget your “Hometown Photobook!”

I’ve spent some time overseas in the last 10 years. With years at a time in a foreign country inevitably you will meet people who know nothing about your hometown. Beyond the fact that they’ve never heard of your hometown, they know nothing about your country. How do you communicate what your hometown is like? Where is it? Who is your family? What are the famous things about your hometown?

You can do all that and then some. You can make your Hometown Photo book and you’ll use it like crazy. Imagine your friend or student or teacher asks you about your hometown. You can then pull that book off your bookshelf and give them an amazing glimpse at your life and home back in your country, state, province, city, town, hamlet or whatever.

Your Hometown photo book would replace a photo album where you have to sit and explain every page. The photo book would be much lighter and thinner than any photo album in your suitcase.

What do you think? Have you ever brought a photo album of your hometown to another country to show your new friends? Do you think this would be helpful or not?

Can anyone guess what hometown I am from?

Head over to our facebook page and give us your hometown and we'll do another few pages like this about YOUR HOMETOWN!!!

7 Hiking Inspired Photobooks: Take a Hike, Get Inspired and Remember it Forever

There are so many Hiking Photobooks stuff around the internet.  Let's take a look at a few of them!


1.  Alpinist has a book review of a book that looks really great called Remote Exposure: A Guide to Hiking and Climbing by Alexandre Buisse which has some amazingshots and a great write up of the book.  From Amazon: "Though many hikers and climbers carry cameras with them, they often come away feeling disappointed because their images fail to visually translate their experiences..."

2.  Somebody once said, "I don't know what Heaven is like, but I hope it's like the John Muir Trail."  Though I've never been, there seems to be many books about this famous trail out in California's Sierra Nevada.  There's a great site that allows you to get their photobook from Blurb about the trip to the mountain range.  Follow the link to see some great photos.

3.  The same site has another post about the author's trip to the Appalachian trail.  There were long blog posts along with some great photos.  I love the one "DANGER: Bears in the area!" 

4.  On the blog 52hikes, the author has posted an entire e-book with great photos for FREE!  It's a big file and you have to be patient but overall it's a great way to get some ideas and see some great photographs.  Nice job!


5.  Over at the Honolulu Advertiser they introduce a fascinating photobook that is triumphant and depressing at the same time.  Daniel's Ocean Views: Inspirations of a Young Hiker  is a photobook put together by a loving mother and father of the hikes, views and placs their son loved.  In July 2003, Daniel was hiking on O'ahu's mountains when he tragically fell to his death.  He was 19 years old.  This is a book that remembers him and shares with the world the places that he loved. 

6.  Have you ever heard of Havasu Canyon?  If you haven't then you are definitely missing something.  Photography by Varina has a free e-book available that contains some stunning photos of Havasu falls and the canyon.  Get inspired!

7.  Along the Pacific Crest Trail: A photographic journey with music
This is an amazing set of photos that was made into a photobook of the Pacific Coast.  Truly stunning shots! 



Along the Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,638 miles in length. It runs from the Mexican/California border north up through the great State of California, on through the great States of Oregon and Washington and ends eight miles into Canada at Manning Park. The Pacific Crest Trail is one of America's eleven National Scenic Trails and considered one of the great long distance trails of the world. In 1992 and '93, Bart Smith walked and photographed the entire PCT, he returned multiple times over the next four years adding to his extensive photo archive of the trail. In 1998 Bart collaborated with adventure writer Karen Berger and her husband Dan Smith on a coffee table book titled Along The Pacific Crest Trail published by Westcliffe Publishers. Karen provides a boots on the ground narrative of her and Dan's thru hike which is complemented with Bart's photography.

Some of the photographs in this video were from side trips along the PCT, though usually within a mile or two. The image of Mt St Helens erupting was taken from the PCT in 2003.

Photobooks and Republican Politics: A perfect way to capture the feel of the campaign *

No no no. We aren't going to start getting political. But we will support politicians who take their photos and put them together into a photobook as a great way to remember their staff, opponents and supporters.

The first page is the candidate speaking at their acceptance speech. The next page is the campaign organizer in action talking to people and getting things done. Next is the family of the candidate as they were on location at a speech. The next couple pages are the staff , the callers, the drivers, the security, the gophers, the press people and all the way down to the campaign’s mascot. You could even put some of the newspaper clippings into the book. Grab a scanner and the article and you’re done.

The end of the book is the best one of all. The Candid Page! Everybody is there. People yelling. People calling. People spilling coffee. People tripping. People sleeping. People chatting. People strategizing. People planning. People pointing. People pontificating. People arguing. People picking their nose. People eating. Those will be the best shots!

The back cover though would be the best of all. It would have the red, white and the blue ticker tape and balloons coming down from the ceiling at the acceptance speech. It would be hard to see but if you look carefully through the ticker tape you can see the smiling face of the candidate, proud to be an American!

Best of all the candidate can sign each one after they receive the books! They could sign the book: THANKS! And their name. What a memory of a whirlwind of fun, stress and a glimpse into the American political process.

Are you or have you been part of a political campaign? Do you think this is a good idea for a photobook?

*We'll do a Democrat Photobook post later when the Republican's choose someone and the Presidential race gets really underway.

Emotions in your Photobook: From Anger to Joy, Elation to Zeal

“Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation. Motivations direct and energize behavior, while emotions provide the affective component to motivation, positive or negative.”

                                                                              -Steven Gaulin Evolutionary Psychology 2003

If what Mr. Gaulin said is true, this can explain photography as well. Photography has mood. Photographs have temperament. Photos have your personality. Pictures have motivation. If that is true, then photobooks, collections of those photos, have amazing potential and a powerful medium to spur emotions, show moods, portray personality and motivate the viewers, positively and negatively.
When making your photobook, whether it’s one of your child, your best friend, your vacation from last summer or your professionally photographed people from your latest assignment in Myanmar, you have to decide first and foremost what emotion you want to give to the viewer. Before you start, decide the theme and think of an emotion that you want to give those who look at the book. If it’s of your child, the emotion could be “child like.” If your photobook is of your best friend, the emotion could be “joy” or “excitement!” If its your assignment in Myanmar, your photobook emotion could be “hope” or possibly “despair.”

Your emotion also can depend on what theme you choose. Many photobook companies provide themes for their users and they choose certain colors, combinations of colors or simple drawings to convey an emotion. It’s important to choose wisely a theme that conveys the emotion that you’ve already chosen. Perhaps you want an edgy theme to convey your crazy summer photobook, that’s great. Maybe you want doves on branches for your wedding photobook to give the viewers an idea of purity, peace and love, that’s great too.

Emotions can be deceiving and can ultimately lead us astray, but emotions are something that is uniquely human and we cannot escape them. Let’s use them to make our photobooks better and communicate the deeper meaning of who you are!

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?

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.

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?

5 Things to remember when making a photo book from my FACEBOOK photos.

There are now approximately 50 gajillion people on Facebook now.  Most likely it’s either you or someone you know.  Some people do Facebook once a week if that, and some go on Facebook before their bathroom visit in the morning!  However you use Facebook, most likely we all have photos on Facebook.  I know I do.

I thought it would be cool to make a photo book from all my photos on FACEBOOK.  Keyword: THOUGHT.  I was half right and half wrong.  A couple months ago I made a PhotoFaceBook of the shots on my facebook and it totally stunk.  It wasn't the fault of the photo book company (full disclosure: Silver Street Media) but it was my fault for not knowing these things ahead of time.

I suffered so you don't have to!  Before you go through the pain make sure you look at my list of things to remember when you are ready to make a photo book from Facebook.

1.  The photos on Facebook are just that, photos on Facebook.  These photos are meant to be seen on Facebook.  That’s why I tag people in the picture with funny names to annoy my friends.

2.  Photos on Facebook are not good quality.  This is NOT an insult.  My photos ROCK and your photos are awesome of course.  But when you upload photos to Facebook the quality drops.  I had to learn this the hard way.  My PhotoFaceBook came out all pixillated.  UGH!  Remember: If everyone had high quality photos on their Facebook it would take up WAAAY too much real estate at Mark Zuckerburg’s house!

3.  If you are going to use photos from your Facebook you won’t be able to make those photos FULL size in your photo book.  That’s just a fact.  After I made the ugly PhotoFaceBook I learned my lesson and if the photo came from Facebook, no matter how awesome it was, the photo had to be small.  If a photo book company isn’t telling you that they are very very bad. 

4.  If you have many photos on your Facebook page that will be better since your photos will be on the smaller side, perhaps 4 to 6 photos per page.  So if there are many photos then you can fill up a good size book.  If you have only a few photos, perhaps wait till there are more.  I have tons of photos so I filled up the normal size book.  Sometimes those books are fun to look at because they are so busy.

5.  Another idea before making a PhotoFacebook, you can ask those people who have uploaded the photos you love to send you the original photo via e-mail so that you can get a possible better quality photo.  Then intersperse the better quality photos with the other pictures so that there is variety in your book.  This only works if you have friends who know how to send photos on e-mail.  Some of my friends don't know how.  I don't know how they are on Facebook but they are.

Any other thoughts about a PhotoFaceBook?

Photo book ideas: My best friend.

Dig up the photos of you and your best friend from those many years ago.

Scan those in.

Search through your years of photos of you and your best friend through college.

Collect those in the same folder.

Get the photos from last summer of you and your best friend and the family.

Contact your best friend and ask them to put their own photos into the folder.

Also make sure you both collaborate on the captions.  Make sure the dates are correct and the locations are all agreed on.

Upload the photos onto Silver Street Media and create the photo book. 

If the person is your best friend this will be a memento that will never grow old.

Keep in mind though that in a few more years many things will change and version 2.0 will need to be made again!

Have you made a photo book of you and your best friend?  Did you keep it a secret or did you collaborate?

Libraries and Photo books. A match made in heaven.

I was at the library today with my little boy and I came across a book about opposites.  I picked it up and noticed that on the cover there were photos.  It piqued my interest and decided to look at it further while the boy was diving into the animals over in the play area. 

To my surprise, the book contained all photos.  Photos of a little girl and what I would suspect is her little brother.  The theme of the book was opposites and so the little girl showed everyone her bed which was big and the little boy showed his bed which was small.  You get the point.

Then it dawned on me.  This is a photo book.  Then I looked around and remembered that I was in a library.  And the environmentally friendly light bulb went on above my head using as little energy as possible! 

Imagine this in the future: you make an awesome photo book of your kids.  You personalize it yes, but it’s universally understandable with its subject.  A couple of weeks after you get the book printed at Silver Street Media, your local library calls and asks about your photo book.  The library decides to purchase your photo book and have it available in their ever growing “PHOTO BOOK” section of the library.  You are delighted and thus start to create more and more.

Could this happen?  Why not? 

5 Photos of Fall Foliage that would be AWESOME in a Photobook!

Fall is here in Western Mass!  The trees are ablaze and we are having a blast taking photos and doing our best to capture this unique part of the year.

Here are our top 5 photos of Fall foliage from Flickr that would be awesome in a photobook!

1.  Ah yes, raking the leaves.  The worst part of this time of year.

Link.


2.  This is from Ontario Canada.  A nice shot of this red shrubbery.

Link.


3.  Fall in New England

Link.


4.  The photographer who took this shot called this "Nature's paintbrush."

Link.


5.  Fall colors in Michigan.

Link.

Back to School with Photobooks! 5 photobook ideas for your classroom

It's back to school time in America and kids look really good in their new clothes and new books and new pencils.  Teachers are looking good too because of their new classrooms and clean boards and new everything.  Parents might be relieved now that they have a bit more time at home compared to the summer!  So for the teachers out there (and parents too) where are some ideas we put together that use photobooks for your classroom!

1.  Before and after:  You can take some photos of your classroom during the first week of class and then during the last week of class next May or June.  That would be quite the differnce!  Or you could take a photo of each student with their nice clothes on the first day of classes, then follow up each month or then at the end of the year.  Those would be great photobooks that woud be remembered for all time. 

2.  Yearbooks:  This is a huge area of photobooks that many people don't realize yet.  Essentially, the photobook of today is yesterday's yearbook.  Just cheaper and easier to make.  The teacher who gets burdened with the yearbook this year will have a lot more time on their hands when they realize how easy it is to make a yearbook with a photobook!

3.  Rules book:  Sometimes the sizes of photobooks can surprise people.  At Silver Street Media there is a 12"x12" square book that is actually quite large.  For elementary school teachers perhaps a photobook of rules could be a nice change of pace.  Get some good photos (or funny ones) and make rule time actually a lot of fun!

4.  Career Day photobook: These were always so much fun at school and when the kids come dressed up in their career clothes it's really fun.  With a scanner the teacher can easily scan what the students write up about their chosen career.  Their paper could be one page and their photo could be another page.  Imagine seeing that 10 or 20 years later.  Amazing!

5.  Art Book: Similar to number 4 but if the teacher could get ahold of a scanner and scan in the student's art that would be awesome!  One page is the art antoher page is the photo of the student!  That would be a keepsake let me tell you!

There you go!  We all hope that the new school year is a good year for all students, young and old.

"China is..." a Photobook from my First Year in China

Wow! What a summer!  I've been busy making photobooks and reminiscing about my first year in China.  I took so many photos!  It was hard to consolidate them all and choose the best ones for a couple of these photo books.  I made a few this summer but I'm going to highlight one of them that I did.

This was a 5x5, paper back, full color photobook ordered from Silver Street Media.  It came out really well and 5"x5" is so small that I can throw it in my carry on or my wife can throw it in her purse!  I decided to add to the photos by writing a caption on the opposite side.

If you are interested in the book contact me here.  Enjoy the photos!

 So many cute kids in China.  This was 10 years ago so these kids are probably all on the internet!

 With a sink full of dishes I would still be washing them 10 years later!

 I love the spring in China.  So beautiful.

 This was the school's cafeteria.  Rice for everyone.

 These are hard to take photos of because they are FAST!!

 I would explain what I was doing here...but it would take me 10 minutes!

Cross Posted at http://www.mandmx.com/

and at Chinese Comics Online.com