Photography Archives - Page 8 of 12

I love Instagram. I can’t leave the house without my camera phone. I can’t go out for a meal without taking a picture of it. Every move my son has made from the moment he was born has been papped, snapped, uploaded and viewed a hundred times online. The problem with this is there are no photo albums to flick through of an evening, scroll through yes, but it’s not quite the same.

Over the summer I took a picture of my son that I loved so much I immediately made it my lock screen on my iPad (that’s the modern day family photo on your office desk that is). I adore the photo and gaze at it for a few minutes each day. I figured it was high time I got it framed and up on the wall for everyone else to gaze at too. That’s where Frame Again came in.

You might have heard of Frame Again, they were on Dragons Den earlier this year, got an offer from Peter Jones, turned him down and then crowd-sourced the funding they needed to develop their business, anyway, I digress. Frame Again is a really cute, innovative photo frame product. You can link to your Instagram page, or upload pictures directly from your mobile phone onto their website. If you’ve got a picture in mind for framing it literally takes only a couple of minutes to order your framed photo.

I was incredibly impressed with their really simple to use website. I just uploaded the image I wanted from Instagram and then chose my frame to go with it. Because the picture has a black background I went for a black and pink frame. The frames have magnets in them so you can build your collection and they will stick together, perhaps on a windowsill or mantelpiece. They have a small hole in the back if you want to hang them on the wall too.

Now, below is a picture of our photo in its frame, they are terrible pictures of a great product, I hold my hands up and hang my head in shame. It was the hardest thing to take a decent picture of.

The frames are 7×7 inches and are made of plastic, they are currently sold for £9.99 per frame which includes the printing and framing of your photo. There are a large number of colour combinations to choose from to compliment and enhance your image. I also understand that they do international delivery, making them great presents to send to friends and family abroad.

My frame arrived in super-quick time and was stylishly packaged, so it felt like I was opening a little treat. I was really impressed with the quality of the photograph and the frame itself. I immediately stood it on the windowsill in my bedroom, where it stayed for a few days until I hung it from a spare nail in our dining room; it will probably move again, it’s such a lovely object to have, I’m thinking of getting a few more framed up to go with it for my bedroom.

It’s a funky looking frame and I think the price is spot on, I’m really impressed by it and a little bit in love with it too, I can see why the Dragons were so keen on it. If it’s good enough for Peter Jones, then it’s good enough for me.

Note: Frame Again sent me this frame free of charge for review purposes. All images (yes, sorry about that again) and opinions are my own.

Earlier this month I upgraded from my camera phone to a Nikon Coolpix L820. It was second hand, a really good price and it was a step up from where I was camera-wise, and closer to where I eventually want to be (DSLR nirvana). There was only one problem, how do I use the thing? With fantabulous timing I was invited to attend the #LightsCameraCurrys photography workshop at Manchester Photographic, in association with Currys.

It was an incredibly informative day, especially for those who had a proper DSLR camera, alas I was in the minority with my bridge camera, but mine does what I need it to do so I’m happy. I am in no way jealous, no siree.

Christian from Manchester Photographic showed us the ropes and we ran through basics, such as finding your focus, shutter speed, apertures and ISO. We explored all the settings on our cameras and then went out on assignment. Luckily it was the Manchester Food and Drink Festival that weekend so we wandered down to take some pictures. Here are some of my favourites…

I really enjoyed just going out and taking pictures with my new camera. It’s given me the confidence to take it out and have fun with it. I really recommend going on a photography workshop, even if it’s just to boost your confidence. When I do eventually upgrade to a proper DSLR then I’ll definitely be booking myself onto another course. Manchester Photographic are ace and if you’re local, then they are worth checking out.