Crop Corner

Distress Inks have been specially formulated to produce an aged look on papers, photos, fibers and more. These inks are not "better" than other inks; they just work completely "different" for the purpose of creating an aged look. STAYS WET LONGER the Distress Ink formulation allows blending and shading on photos and paper, as well as embossing! Other dye inks dry too fast, especially on photos which would result in lines and marks for direct to paper techniques. Not with Distress Inks! COLOR WICKS OR SPREADS OUT - these inks will travel across the surface of your paper when spritzed with water; other dyes do not travel as much although they might bleed a little when wet, the Distress Inks actually "wick" or spread out much further creating several tone on tones.

Happily, the Crop Corner website is going through some major changes right now.  It’s being reorganized to bring the latest articles about scrapbooking directly to you.

I’m striving to make these changes as gently as possible.  Everything should continue to work as the upgrade takes place.

Questions/problems - let me know!

During the nineteenth century, debate swirled around the nature of photography as an art. Many argued that the camera's ability to record the world dispassionately and objectively was a clear indication of photography's location within the realm of technology as opposed to the fine arts. Where was room for individual creativity, for art, if the camera was a tool for recording rather than interpreting the world? For some nineteenth century thinkers, photography, then, was a form of naturalistic documentation and was understood as a form of visual representation outside the bounds of Art with a capital A.

Shoot RAW with a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera? Yes! If you are reading this, you're probably not a working professional photographer. Furthermore, you are fairly new to digital and perhaps to photography in general. You use your camera on Auto most of the time, with perhaps an occasional foray into Aperture and Shutter Priority. The camera's instruction manual states that one of the capture settings is RAW and maybe you tried it once, only to discover that you couldn't open the images on your computer. If so, this article is for you.

Of all the questions we get from students, probably the most popular (after what camera, lens, etc. should I buy?) is how do I use my flash? And no wonder. Flash photography can be confusing and challenging, especially with the feature-laden models out there today. But it doesn't have to be that way. Let's see if I can simplify things a bit. Vivitar flash 283 Virtually all modern cameras except the really high-end professional models feature built-in flash. Some have the flash tube flush with the camera body while others are the "pop-up" variety. Either way, they all have the same limitations -- harsh lighting and ugly shadows -- and this is true whether the camera is a digital model or uses film. But a built-in flash can be used to trigger one or more flashes off the camera, all without annoying wires connecting them.

Background: It's out! My latest book, Photography Your Way: a Career Guide to Satisfaction and Success - published by Allworth Press, is in the bookstores or, you can purchase it on line at allworth.com, bn.com or amazon.com. I've done my best to put everything into the book that I know about how to get started in photography and how to create your own breaks in the field. I hope it helps you. But, NYI Students know that I would never "sell down your throat" and push my own book, unless there was a good reason to do so. And there is a good reason. I had so much fun writing one chapter, entitled "Show Me!", that we decided to turn the concept into an ongoing digital contest, an on-line exchange between us, here at NYI World Headquarters and all you wonderful Web visitors out there wherever you are - all around the world.

While it's fun to look at baseball pictures in newspapers and magazines, you don't have to be a world-famous photojournalist to take exciting baseball pictures of your favorite team, its players, and the drama and elegance that is baseball. You can do it too. All you need is some baseball photography tips. What about equipment? The good news is that you don't need a 600mm lens and a ten-frame-per-second motordrive SLR like the "Hot Shots" have. Of course, heavy artillery like this can help, but you can take great baseball pictures with just about any camera. Here's how...

Materials used: Dymo label maker and cardstock from The Paper Loft. Tip from Jennifer: Cut 3/8" strips and run them through your label maker. Use sand paper to lightly sand the surface of the embossed words and the white words will show up. Note - You have to use colored cardstock with a white back, for example The Paper Loft cardstock works perfectly.

Learn some techniques to get more from your scrapbooking punches. Anna Griffin demonstrates how to use one punch design to create a variety of looks. Remember to make good use of negative and positive space to create different effects for your page borders.

Give your scrapbooking holiday page a one-two punch and create a knockout! Designer Suzanne McNeill uses punches to craft a holiday page. This completed holiday page receives a touch of whimsy--thanks to punched shapes that take the place of ordinary letters.