But it's so cold and I haven't heard from any of my apps yet. I mean, I might be rejected from all of them, so why bother? Right? I look outside and can't even imagine that in a matter of about 10 weeks or so, it will be show time and I will be pitching my little white tent in a neighborhood near you. Well, unless they all reject me of course.
I needed a boost, a kick in the patootie. So, I played. My hobby is photography. I have what they call a "good eye" but over the years the math component, the science of the art eluded me. I have no brain for numbers. The smaller number, bigger lens F-stop thing stopped me every time. Huh? I just want to have a photo that looked like what I saw, what I wanted. Don't make me do math.
Digital cameras changed my life. Now I could take 40 shots of the same thing and one was bound to come out. There was no cost or shame in putting 39 pictures in the "trash". It made me giddy. And I ended up with a few really lovely photos. What to do with them? I made another blog, just to post the rare "keepers". Otherwise, they sat in my laptop, in iPhoto, doing nothing.
Then, while looking for ideas for making a better photo album, Google gave me a video of a woman using photos as covers for a journal. I got giddy again.
I ran with it. She just glued photos to a text block, which I guess is OK if you are making one for yourself, just for kicks and giggles. Not good enough for an art show or to sell, though. My experiments began.
Next time you are browsing at an art/craft show, thinking "I could do that", I want you to ponder, instead, how that widget came to be. For instance:
#1-I glued a glossy photo to a coordinated card stock, left a border to compliment the colors, used polyester/cotton quilt binding as the binding overlay. The exposed cardstock cheapened the photo, the cotton buckled under the weight of the glue, the adhesive from the text block oozed out onto the 1st page.
#2-Glued photo to cardstock, still left the edge showing as it was a softer color, used coordinated color paper for binding edge. Nope. Need to use a more distinctive color for the binding, stop letting card edge show.
#3-Cardstock under the photo, not showing, cotton binding glued differently...
OK, I'll stop now since you are most likely snoozing. I've made a half dozen of these things and I am almost there.
The covers will be borderless photos printed matte not glossy, mounted on card, sprayed with acrylic, the binding edge will be silk paper..a compromise between fabric and paper. The front and back cover will be different scenes of the same shoot. Are ya still with me? Here's a group shot:
This book has the Newport, Oregon Yaquina Lighhouse on the front cover. The back is the interior staricase. Cute, huh?
Yes, these photos I just took of the books as they sat on my chair this morning are not among those of which I am proud. They will not be book covers.
Flower beds at the Chautauqua Institution...a long shot and a closeup:
There you have it. The evolution of an idea. Still has a way to go, but almost ready. Each book will have a notation of what the photo is and I will credit myself as the "photographer". I think that out of the 2000+ pictures in my iPhoto library, I should have a dozen that are good enough to use. I guess that makes me a photographer. Not.
( I know a couple of amazing photographers that run in my carnie circle. I have great respect for what they do. I can't do that. But I may do enough to make some books.)
And I'm still trying to come up with a good design for a photo album.
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