You need an ipod for your ten-year-old, a clever trinket under $15 for the Santa-swap at work, and something for your mother. You’re not sure what that something should be, but you’re hoping inspiration will strike sometime before stores close. Last year, it struck me at grandma’s house.
“Wasn’t my father a handsome man?” Grandma asked, holding out a photo.
I nodded dutifully, though with a tear through dad’s face and an arm faded to oblivion, it took some imagination. The photo in her hands survived the blockade of St. Petersburg, immigration to the United States, and an assassination attempt by a four-year-old with a crayon – and it looked it.
Enter muse, stage left.
I scanned the photo and took it into digital surgery. Bright light and cold steel can’t compete with Photoshop. Tear repaired, limb regrown, color painted into black and white forms. To top it off, I copied a little-girl-grandma from another photo and snuggled her to her father’s side, thus creating the only portrait with him she has. A digital reunion of eighty-year-old memories. She cried when I gave it to her.
Moral of the story #1: Photos make great gifts.
Moral of the story #2: You need to do something to turn a photo in a gift.
Luckily, there are several something options, and they don’t require you learning Photoshop. First, you need a photo. When choosing, remember whom the gift is for. Parents like photos of their kids (not your kids); an athlete would value a picture of herself at peak performance; grandma, a memory of the family together. Second, you need to do something with that photo. Lets look at options:
1) Photo Mug. For under $20, many retailers and online vendors will put your photo onto a mug. Because the photo wraps around the cup, horizontal shots look better than vertical ones. I prefer panoramic, with dimensions approaching 3in x 8in. Advanced option: putting a border around a print gives the mug a professional look.
2) Magazine Cover. Put a friend onto the cover of Time, Vague, or Playboy. Online vendors like MagMyPic.com will let you try your photo on different covers for free online, but you’ll pay for the print. This is a good choice for humorous gifts that will generate attention. Be prepared to spend some time online though, finding the perfect cover and playing with the options sucks you in.
3) Restoration and Retouching. Restore grandma’s treasured heirloom or turn a good photo into a great one. Digital editing corrects background distractions, heals scratches, improves colors, gets rid of acne… I’ve even tightened up double chins. The list of possibilities is endless but unless you are proficient in Photoshop and have time on your hands, you’ll need help. Make sure to explain the significance of the photo to the retoucher. I once spent hours getting rid of a bag in the subject’s hands because I thought the shapeless white concoction distracting – only to discover that the content of that bag was very important to the client.
4) Photo Book. I’m yet to find anyone who wants to see the 1000 photos I bring back from vacation. However, picking 50-70 common theme shots and printing them in a hardcover book format creates a professional looking product will be looked at and shown to guests. The goal here is to trigger memories as opposed to show-off portraits, so snapshots work great. I’ve had good results with themes like “Holidays of Years Past” where I included photos of most assembled guests along with comments and quotes. To create the book, use online vendor like Lulu.com, Apple (for Mac users), and MyPublisher, which all have easy drag-and-drop interfaces. The quality of the final result varies. I was more pleased with Apple’s results than with Lulu’s, although the cost reflected the difference. Plan to spend $35-$50 if you’re doing it yourself.
5) Digital Keychain or Frame. Load family photos onto a digital keychain or frame, charge the battery and enjoy everyone staring as your gift plays a slideshow. Key chains can run as little as $10-15. Frames run $100+ but you get what you pay for and the gift will likely end up on display all year.
6) Photo Calendar. Create a calendar with photos, or groups of photos, decorating each month. For additional oooohhh add the recipient’s family’s birthdays and anniversaries. There are plenty of vendors both online and retail and the project can be as easy as handing twelve photos to a guy at the Kinko’s counter. But remember, garbage in, garbage out. Unless you take the time to find really good photos and/or design each page, you’ll get an amateur looking result in a spiral bind.
What experiences have you had in making or receiving photo gifts? I want to know. Please post your thoughts!
