Photo Albums
I have a quandary. (Or am I *in* a quandary? Is there a difference)? I'm trying to figure out what to do with all my photos, in terms of presentation. The traditional solution would be to put them in a photo album, and I've done some of that over the years. (In fact, I have a lot of half-finished photo albums, which is really quite annoying, but let's ignore that for now). I've always sort of thought that a physical album that you can hold in your hands, and sit on the couch to flip through the pages, is the best. The trouble is, I don't really want to do the sort of scrapbooking those albums require. (Which is part of the reason I've got all those half-finished albums haunting me). It's a lot of work (fun, yes! And loads of opportunities for creativity, but it takes a lot of time, and space to lay out the work). In any case, I'm at the tail end of the process of getting rid of all my scrapbooking supplies, so I don't intend to do albums that way anymore.
The other option for physical albums is to format pages on the computer, and have them printed professionally. On the surface, this seems to be the best solution. I've done a few books this way, and liked the results - but didn't *love* the results. Some of the photos which looked fine on the computer screen turned out too dark when printed, when I used Blurb.com to print the books. I've looked at other options, a bit, but haven't found one that seems really great yet. They're either too limited in terms of layouts, or don't have the variety of sizes I'd like. Or, in the case of Apple, the prices are WAY more than I'm willing to pay.
A few days ago, another thought occurred to me. What about just having all my photos in digital presentations, instead of physical books? In the past, that seemed really lame for some reason. I just like the idea of books. But maybe I'm ready to rethink that. Sure, it's nice to sit on the couch and look through an album with a couple of friends or family. But . . . maybe it could be just as nice to sit in front of a computer or television, and watch digital albums with friends and family. My current monitor actually allows me to display photos at a much larger size than I could on paper. And more people could view simultaneously. Plus, the perfect digital solution would allow me to put my albums on discs that could be viewed on any computer. (I have a program that will do that, in fact - here's an album made with Shutterbug). In theory, it sounds nice. I'm not sure yet, though, if I'd like the idea in practice. I think I still have a bit of a love-affair with books that I can hold in my hands.
So, I thought I'd put the question to the lovely folks on my f-list, with a poll. (Because who doesn't love filling out a poll, right)? So, are paper albums superior, or am I a dinosaur for resisting the digital age?
Poll Photo Albums
Please comment with any additional thoughts. I need a good solution, and the sooner the better. :) I've got a LOT of photos, and it's lame having them unavailable for viewing. That's not the point of taking pictures, after all.
The other option for physical albums is to format pages on the computer, and have them printed professionally. On the surface, this seems to be the best solution. I've done a few books this way, and liked the results - but didn't *love* the results. Some of the photos which looked fine on the computer screen turned out too dark when printed, when I used Blurb.com to print the books. I've looked at other options, a bit, but haven't found one that seems really great yet. They're either too limited in terms of layouts, or don't have the variety of sizes I'd like. Or, in the case of Apple, the prices are WAY more than I'm willing to pay.
A few days ago, another thought occurred to me. What about just having all my photos in digital presentations, instead of physical books? In the past, that seemed really lame for some reason. I just like the idea of books. But maybe I'm ready to rethink that. Sure, it's nice to sit on the couch and look through an album with a couple of friends or family. But . . . maybe it could be just as nice to sit in front of a computer or television, and watch digital albums with friends and family. My current monitor actually allows me to display photos at a much larger size than I could on paper. And more people could view simultaneously. Plus, the perfect digital solution would allow me to put my albums on discs that could be viewed on any computer. (I have a program that will do that, in fact - here's an album made with Shutterbug). In theory, it sounds nice. I'm not sure yet, though, if I'd like the idea in practice. I think I still have a bit of a love-affair with books that I can hold in my hands.
So, I thought I'd put the question to the lovely folks on my f-list, with a poll. (Because who doesn't love filling out a poll, right)? So, are paper albums superior, or am I a dinosaur for resisting the digital age?
Poll Photo Albums
Please comment with any additional thoughts. I need a good solution, and the sooner the better. :) I've got a LOT of photos, and it's lame having them unavailable for viewing. That's not the point of taking pictures, after all.