Journaling Ideas.
{via http://pinterest.com/}
3 Tips For A More Creative Life.
1. Allow yourself quiet time to reflect, plot, plan, devise, meditate, ponder, synthesize, and otherwise give your creative thought space to roam.
2. Don’t leave your creativity at the craft table.
3. Do Something Creative Every Day ®
{Read more: http://www.ellapublishing.com/blog/tami-morrison/three-tips-more-creative-life}
9 Productive Things To Do With 10 Minutes.
1. Organize and edit your photos.
2. Tag and organize your scrap supplies.
3. Purge your scrap supplies.
4. Open a Word Document and journal for an upcoming layout.
5. Visit a gallery for inspiration, comment on a few layouts.
6. Post a comment on one of your favorite blogs.
7. Start a layout, knowing you can come back to it later.
8. Create a new signature for the forums you frequent.
9. Send layouts and photos to be printed.
I guess, lack of time should not be my reason anymore to not be able to scrap.
~via http://www.simplescrapper.com/.
How To Create Shadows.
I have been in search of the perfect trick to create a realistic shadow on my pages to the point that I am having acne on chin already. 
Turns out, there’s no fixed formula. You have to experiment and the shadow will depend on your object, its size, thickness, etc. I came across these steps on how to EHow and so far this is the simplest I’ve seen.
1. Open your Photoshop document. Select the object you want to add the shadow to and copy it to a new layer (Command + J.) You can also drag the selection from another file.
2. Add a drop shadow. Click on the “Add Layer Style” icon in the Layers palette and choose “Drop Shadow” from the pulldown menu. Don’t accept the default settings. Soften the edges and adjust the distance to look more like a real shadow.
3. Choose “Create Layer” from the Layer menu Layer Styles submenu. Don’t worry if you are warned that some effects can’t be reduced. Your drop shadow will separate from the original layer and become a separate layer of its own.
4. Use the Distort and Free Transform commands to bend the shadow into a realistic shadow shape. Move the shadow to align with the casting object and position it where it would be cast by the image light source.
5. Tweak the layer blend and opacity. The settings will be copied to the layer from the original layer style settings. While “Multiply” blend mode will usually work best, some of the other darken blends may work better with specific backgrounds.
Read more: How to Create Advanced Shadows in Photoshop CS3 | http://www.ehow.com/how_2294394_create-advanced-shadows-photoshop-cs3.html.
7 Steps to Digital Stickers.
I have tons of fonts, and I have a lot of dingbats fonts. I am hoping that I can make use of those images in my scrapbook pages.
I came across this tutorial on how to transform those fonts into digital stickers and I couldn’t be happier. I will surely be trying this one out. ScrapNGal has the full tutorial on how to make digital stickers.
The 8th Commandment.
ALWAYS Do It For Yourself – Don’t take pictures that you think other people will like. If you like them, that’s all that counts.
I do agree. We need not be intimidated by other people’s photos or by their opinions. We will never get to enjoy doing things, as in this case taking pictures, if our main concern is pleasing other people.
I saw this on The Ten Commandments of Photography while I was browsing through my feeds at Bloglines. Read the rest of the commandments here.
Tips, Anyone?
I am no photographer. I haven’t taken any photography classes {yet}, but I thought I’ll share a few things I know. I try to read photography tips once in a while but I find it more fun browsing pictures than reading stuff about it. 
First off, I really appreciate all the wonderful comments on my pictures. I really do.
Just so you know, my pictures don’t always come out as nice. And it’s very rare that I come up with a picture that doesn’t need editing. Here’s what I usually do with my pictures to make it post-worthy.
I edit it in Photoshop. I usually just adjust the levels then add a pop of color. I don’t want to do much editing as I just want to improve my shot and not transform it. And yes, I find actions so very helpful.
When resizing my pictures for web, I manually change the resolution to 72dpi in the Image Size option, rather that using the Save For Web option. I also set the Resample Image option to Bicubic Sharper (best for reduction) to make the picture sharper even after resizing. Though I don’t resize my pictures anymore now as I can upload high-res pics in Flickr. This can also be done in our scrap layouts so they will appear sharp when we post them in our galleries and blogs. I learned this tip in one of the blogs I read long time ago.
I am trigger-happy. I take a lot of pictures especially when it’s the little boy I’m shooting. I want to make sure that I get at least a few decent shots of him, out of a hundred. Hahaha!
I rarely use flash. I try as much as possible to make use of the available light. I usually shoot the little boy beside our window. I tried using an external flash once and what I did was to point the flash towards the ceiling or the wall so the light would bounce, thereby making the shadow less harsh. If you don’t have an external flash, I read somewhere that you can cover the flash with a tissue to lessen harsh shadows.
I am not so technical. That’s why when people ask me what my settings were, I kinda feel stupid for actually not knowing what my setting were. You see I don’t really check much on my settings. All I know is when I’m indoors or when it’s not as bright, I raise the ISO setting. Though I try as much as possible to not go beyond 300 to avoid grains. Then I adjust the aperture (lower) as I shoot until I get the my desired output. When I’m out and it’s sunny, the ISO stays at 100 and I raise the aperture. I shoot in Manual, btw. So you see, that’s all I know. And I bet those who are in the know will laugh at my explanation here. I just shoot and adjust until I get the picture that pleases me. But I know it still is important to learn the technical side, to maximize yours and your camera’s potential. I just hope I will have the energy to focus on the technical stuff.
And lastly of course, enjoy!
So my secret is out. Hahaha! I hope you did get something from my feeling-photographer tips.
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