The crew here at Per Annum hopes you have a spooktacular day. Yes, I said spooktacular.
A couple of reminders:
1. Today is the last day of our Per Annum Starter Pack Giveaway - simply leave a comment on any post (yup, any) to be entered.
2. Don’t forget to submit your best Halloween photos for our Halloween Photo Contest! The winner gets two Kolo Vineyard Mini Albums (1 orange, 1 black). Voting will start next week, and the winner will be announced on November 11th.
The scariest night of the year is fast approaching. Got your costumes ready? Candy bowls loaded?
Parents, you know that Halloween is the perfect time for you to capture precious pictures of your little ones parading around as pirates, princesses, frogs, and fairies. Check out Monday’s post by Lisa for tips on taking the best pictures of your kids in action. They’ll thank you for it later.
To perfectly preserve the fun-filled, sugar-laden night, you can store your awesome photos in a season-appropriate colored scrapbook or photo album - the Newport Scrapbook from Kolo comes in a great fall orange, or make a mini album for each kid using the black and orange Vineyard Mini Albums.
Because I love Halloween, I’m holding a Halloween photo contest! Hurray!
Details: Send your favorite Halloween photos, past or present, to amy@perannum.com; we’ll pick our top 3, then our readers will get to vote for the best. The winner will receive the aforementioned Vineyard Mini albums – 1 black, 1 orange.
Submission deadline: November 5th
Voting: November 6th through 10th
Winners announced: November 11th
For some inspiration, have a peek at some of our staff from Halloweens gone by:
And don't forget, any comment you leave on any post by THIS Friday enters you into the Per Annum Start Pack Giveaway!
I know a lot of people who say they can’t take good pictures. By observing them, I’ve noticed two things. One, they seem to be intimidated by their cameras and two, they snap without thinking.
My first advice is to read the manual. This might sound oversimplified, but many skim through the quick start-up guides that come with the camera, but they never get to know what all the buttons do. This leaves them holding their camera almost at arms length and afraid of pressing anything but the shutter button. By getting to know your camera, you will feel more comfortable holding and using it.
The next thing I tell them is to slow down and really see what is in the viewfinder. Don’t aimlessly press the shutter button. By taking a few extra moments and thinking about the composition of the photo, your shots will be better without doing much else.
Here are a dozen suggestions for taking your snap shots to the next level!
1.) Get a little closer
Use your zoom or take a step or 2 closer to the action. This helps bring the focus
to your subject by eliminating distracting background action.
2.) Get down, Get Vertical
Change your perspective. Shooting kids? Get down to their level. Have a large
group? Try shooting from above. Don’t forget to turn your camera now and then
for a different composition. Take vertical shots and even a few at a slight angle
for interest.
3.) Look before clicking
Check the background for distracting elements. Is there a tree coming out of your
subject’s head? Is that a laundry basket sitting on the counter in the background?
4.) Think ‘Tic Tac Toe’
When composing your shot, don’t automatically put your subject in the center of the view finder – this can lead to a boring or flat composition. Imagine a tic tac toe board and position your subject at one of the intersecting points. Think “upper left, lower right, etc.” This will add more interest to your shots.
5.) Get out of the shadows – use your flash outdoors
Shooting on a bright sunny day? Take a moment to look at your subjects before clicking. Are there any dark shadows falling on their faces? Reposition yourself or your subject. Also, if you have a lot of bright, direct sunlight, using your fill-flash will help even out the lighting.
6.) Know your flash
On camera flashes can be most unflattering and not very useful if used at the wrong time. Know the limits of your flash. If you’re too far outside the limits, your subject will be too dark. Too close, then your subject will be too washed out.
7.) Let there be natural light – turn off the flash!
When at all possible, turn off the flash. Natural lighting is much more flattering. Shoot in the “golden light” of early morning or late in the day. Avoid the direct light of mid-day. Overcast days are great for getting the perfect portraits. Position your subjects near a window, shoot on a porch with an overhang or even in the garage near the entrance. Turn on all light in a room and try shooting without flash. If you can slow your shutter speed, try that, but you may need a tripod to avoid blur.
8.) Get in the ‘creative zone’
Many cameras come with several “creative” shooting modes such as action, night, close-up, landscape and portrait. Try them out – as they remove much of the guesswork! With night mode, you may want a tri-pod. Slower shutter speeds can equal blurry photos if the camera isn’t perfectly still.
9.) Size matters
Take the largest file size that your camera allows. While you can always shrink the file size later, you can’t go the other way.
10.) Walk the line, be a framer
When composing photos, look for interesting lines (a road, stream, etc.), textures and interesting frames (doorways, windows, etc.) for your subject. This will result in visually pleasing compositions and may assist in leading the eye through the photo.
11.) Take more photos, risks and experiment
In today’s digital photo age, there is nothing to lose. You can preview your
results without paying for prints and you can always delete your bad shots as you
go!
12.) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
Learn from the pros. Read photography books and blogs for tips, composition ideas and more. You can also take classes online! Here are some of my favorite books:
• The Joy of Digital Photography – Jeff Wignall
• Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera – Bryan Peterson
• Photographing Children Photo Workshop: Develop Your Digital Photography Talent (Photo Workshop) - Ginny Felch and Allison Tyler Jones
• Expressions: Your Behind the Camera Guide to Taking Extraordinary Photos of Ordinary Life – Donna Smylie and Allison Tyler Jones
• How to Photograph Your Baby – Nick Kelsh
• National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures – Peter Burian and Bob Caputo
Web sites
• www.betterphoto.com
• www.photo.net
• www.flickr.com
• www.photojojo.com
Photo Challenge - try taking a photo a day for a month. Using your camera daily is a sure way to help you get familiar with it. The more photos you take with the above tips in mind the more likely you will be able to take your photos from ordinary to something more!
Summer is over so is the fun right? Wrong!
Fall is a wonderful season packed with things to do - I have to remind myself that we don’t have to hibernate after the summer. The new line of sports specs we added helped me love fall even more. I tried a pair that was perfect for hitting the trails and my outfit! Check it out.
I consider myself an athletic person but I’ve never hiked. In recent conversations, I’ve discovered that hiking isn’t just something to do, it is a lifestyle. I always hear my friends tell me that they feel stripped of all technological distractions, putting them smack in the middle of nature and bringing balance into their lives when they go hiking. I could REALLY get used to that!
Having the right gear is important. My friend Kim, an avid hiker, said she wouldn’t fully be able to see where she was going, gauge a dangerous situation, or even fully see the reward for her efforts at the peak if she didn’t have the proper eyewear. High altitudes, sun damage, things falling into her eyes like dust from the desert or splinters from trees are all reasons why you should protect yourself.
Here is a great link from National Geographic to help you find good hiking destinations near you.
I would love to hear from anyone who has hiked or is willing to try it.
So go play and have fun, you deserve it!
As the world observes Breast Cancer Awareness Month, why not celebrate the women in your life? Using a Pink Ribbon MyBook Journal, I recently created a special journal that gave me a new appreciation for the women who have and continue to make an impact on my life. Some have gone through the fight against cancer; others fortunately have not – and I hope never will. I wanted to take time to reflect on these ladies and what they mean/have meant to me. So with the MyBook Journal, I dedicated each of its 12 sections to an important woman in my life. First, I created a background collage with many years of photos of women I know/have known. Then I centered a large photo of each featured lady in her respective section. I made a tab for each and took time reflecting and journaling about each one.From my Great Grandmother to my sisters and friends, I thought and wrote feelings and memories of each that I had never before recorded or even put into words. I feel closer to each of these Amazing women and am so happy to have this important memento to pass along to my own children someday.
If you want to make one of these special journals yourself or give a gift of the Pink Ribbon MyBook to someone you love, you can purchase yours here. We are donating 10% of the proceeds to Breast Cancer Related Charities.
One of the best parts about working in customer service here at Per Annum is getting to hear words of praise from happy customers. Now that we have this blog up and running, I thought it'd be fun to periodically share some of these tidbits with you readers.
Here's one from Janice from Sunnyside, NY, who tells us how she came across the Manhattan Diary and quickly became a fan:
"The colors got me to pick up the planner and look through it at the store. It really makes a difference to young, hip, artistic professionals to not carry around a stockbroker-lookalike, boring planner. The colors really got me in your door. I was going to buy a Moleskin because they're so trendy right now but this is so much better. The one thing that was holding me back was that I didn't think it had an inside pocket. Upon further inspection, I saw that it did, and voila! I was completely sold from that moment on...."
Janice goes on to discuss some of ways in which the Manhattan Diary has come in handy for her:
"I had already used it to find a new movie theater with my grandfather when our movie was sold out. Used it again to locate an arts & crafts store to buy gift supplies. It was actually better than Yahoo Yellow Pages, which stinks at listing art stores in NYC. I have friends in CT and take the train all the time. Having the map of Metro North in a Manhattan planner -- ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!"
Thanks, Janice! It feels good knowing that our diaries and other products are making a difference in people's lives -- and we want to hear more! If you love your City Diaries and want to share your experiences, feel free to drop us a line or post them right here! (And incidentally, if you have a negative experience or criticism, we'd like to hear that, too -- what better way for us to find out what's working and what isn't!)
I’m pretty new to Manhattan. I moved here after in May, a new college grad optimistically jumping into my adult life in the city. My first couple of weeks here I was a total failure at public transportation, but with my Manhattan City Diary I quickly became a pro. The diary’s small and inconspicuous nature make it perfect for a newcomer like me, who is trying in vain to make sure she doesn’t appear like a tourist. This little diary has handy maps that are super accessible (the subway map that I use all the time is on the inside back cover) and to hide the fact that I’m looking at the transit map, I can quickly flip to the calendar pages at the front of the book and pretend to check out my appointments for the next week (or I can actually check out my appointments for the next week. Planners are useful like that). And it takes up a miniscule amount of room in my bag. I hate carrying bags – the smaller, the better – so this is a definite plus in my book.
The diaries are great when you’re on the go, but if you need a little more help, or want to know if the A is faster than the 2, my favorite online resource is HopStop - HopStop lets you enter your originating and destination points, which is great if you know specific addresses, but also lets you point to a place on a map if you just need to get to a general area. Plus, it lets you choose whether you’d prefer to walk more or switch lines more often, and it takes into account the diversions that happen every weekend. You can also calculate taxi costs, if you’re feeling a little more spendy.
While HopStop has helped me out a bunch, the diaries are really where it’s at – you can take them everywhere. If you’re an explorer like me, portability is really, really important. 2009 Diaries are shipping now, so you can get your own. Get one for a friend too, while you’re at it. For a little extra dough, they can be engraved with your name or initials. Fancy.
Albums come in all shapes, colors, sizes and binding styles – often leaving customers somewhat overwhelmed by the choices before them. To make your choices a little clearer, I thought I’d offer up a little primer on popular binding styles.
Post Bound – this style of album features small metal posts that screw together to secure the cover and pages of the album together. In most cases the screw is hidden from view behind an extra flap on the inside front and back cover.
Additional “refill” pages are usually available with extender posts that lengthen or replace the original posts for added room. One benefit of a post album is that it can be expanded.
Options:
Ring Binder – similar to the standard 3-ring binder from an office supply store, but more presentation friendly.
Options:
Binders are the easiest style of album if you add and rearrange your pages often.
Ribbon Tied – these albums are held together with a ribbon. Some are removable others are not.
Options:
These albums make nice gifts, but tend to be more on the feminine side.
Book Bound – this style looks like a traditional hard cover book. Its pages are sewn and glued permanently into the binding, so you cannot add or remove pages
These are wonderfully traditional and look great on a bookshelf, but are a bit more limiting. If you need to add or subtract pages or even change the page order, this style of album would not be for you.
We are fortunate to have a loyal and interested fan base that isn't afraid to express their needs, wants and criticisms about our products. Sometimes we are able to implement these suggestions, and sometimes we are not, for whatever reason -- but we always take them very seriously. Let's take a look at some recent comments.
Denise P. from Brooklyn, NY, believes that, "It would be nice if the maps had a slightly larger font." Indeed, we've gotten several comments along these lines -- fortunately, I have caught a glimpse of our 2009 editions, and it looks like the street names are noticeably bolder than last year, so hopefully everyone will find them easier to read!
Another request comes from Diana G. from Brooklyn, who would like to see "a month view at the beginning of each month, so as to get a better snapshot of the entire month." This viewpoint is echoed by Jennifer P. from Chicago: "Without the month view, it is somewhat difficult to project upcoming events quickly." We have been looking into a way to do this for some time, but due to the way our calendar is laid out, it would be a tough fit. However, notice that at the bottom of every page, there are mini-calendars for the previous, current and next months -- perhaps one solution would be to circle or highlight any upcoming important dates, so you can easily check forward if necessary.
Finally, two opposing viewpoints: Jessica B. from New York City says, "The diary should be a little bigger!" Whereas Mary P. from Washington D.C. says, "I wish it were thinner!"
Sometimes you just can't please everyone! :)
Thanks so much to everyone who has been commenting! We’ve gotten some great suggestions and words of encouragement – keep ‘em coming, we love hearing what you have to say.
Last weekend I went to Holy Basil, a Thai restaurant listed in our Manhattan Diary. Located on 9th and 2nd, it’s in the heart of the East Village on a piece of road that’s full of restaurants, bars, and a yummy frozen yogurt place. It’s tucked between two pubs, and from the outside looks pretty nondescript – deceiving, as the inside is anything but.
I went with a couple of friends; we showed up around 8:30, and the wait for a table for three was about 30 minutes. Not bad for a Saturday night. They took my cell number, which meant that we were free to hop next door for a quick drink – the bar at Holy Basil was pretty crowded. The wait was shorter than expected, and by 8:50 or so we were seated with menus.
As newly working young adults we tried to be thrifty, and shared a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon rather than indulging in some of the pricier cocktails, but I’ll definitely be going back and will be trying something more exciting (Lychee Martini, please) next time. We each got a different dish – Chicken Pad Thai, Bangkok Duck, and Pad Khing Puk. I tried them all, and all were delicious. Just enough spice to really let the Thai flavors shine through. While my favorite Thai food comes from a tiny hole in the wall in Maine, this place came pretty close to beating that – not an easy feat.
The atmosphere is a little hip, a little fancy, but the prices are very budget-friendly. Holy Basil is definitely a steal – we each ended up paying about $20, and it would have been much less without the wine. It’s nice enough to impress someone on a date, but casual enough to wear (nice) jeans – a perfect balance. With high ceilings, dripping black chandeliers, loud music and conversation, and low, low lights, it doesn’t feel exactly Thai but still delivers on the classic Thai dishes, with a friendly host and wait staff.
Well done, Holy Basil. You’ve made it into my book.
What are some of your favorite local haunts?
Hello readers, and welcome to The Forward Thinker, Per Annum’s company blog!
We’re really excited about this. We’ve been working on it for awhile now, and we have a whole slew of things that we want to share with you. I don’t want to ruin all of the surprises, but starting next week we’ll be bringing you things like product reviews, company news, how-to articles and frequently asked questions, customer testimonials… you get the idea. We’ll also give you a little glimpse into parts of our non-working lives as we review restaurants, hotels, and shops listed in our City Diaries, point out links to some of our favorite sites, and share some of our hobbies and adventures.
Because we’re so thrilled to have our very own blog up and running, we’re kicking things off with a giveaway! Just comment on any post between now and midnight on October 31st and you’ll be entered to win a Per Annum starter pack - one 2009 City Diary, one pair of FlatSpecs, and one photo album.
Disclaimers: While you don’t get to pick your own album, you can choose any of our simulated pocket diaries for any city that we carry, and you can pick your pair of FlatSpecs too. One entry per person will be counted, though feel free to comment as much as you want on any post that sparks your interest!
Check back on Friday – that’s when we’ll really get the ball rolling.
