moosh in indy.

When I had the opportunity to give away Blurb books to anyone who wanted one, a lot of people left me comments about how frustrating it was make the stars align and make the darn book already. I hear you, I futzed with Bookify A LOT before having it finally make sense. And when I say ‘make sense’ I mean ‘make a book the way I make books both quickly and easily.’

Here’s what I do, every two to three months I make a little hardcover collection of my Instagram photos, I include all of them and lay them out in chronological order.

If you’re interested in doing such a thing (or a book of select photos from Instagram) HERE YOU GO. Follow step by step and you shouldn’t scream at your computer more than once (maybe twice.)

Start at the beginning, which is Blurb.com, from the main page go to ‘Make Your Book’ down to ‘Use Blurb Bookify™ Online.’ (If you already know your book is going to be over 200 pages you’ll have to use BookSmart™ and that’s an entirely different post.)

From the next page choose ‘Get Started.’

At this point you’ll see options for different layouts. Instagram, Facebook and Designer. The rest of this post will walk you through how to ‘Or do it your way in any size’ which can lessen a lot of the frustration if you’re super picky about how your book turns out.

All of my Instagram books are the 7×7 size, the pictures end up being about 5×5 and they are perfect.

Unless you want to add text to every photo, choose the clean and simple layout. It’s easier to add in a few text pages here and there if you want them then to start with text on every other page. I’ve never tried the bold black background. If black is your thing? Go for it.

Next it will ask you where you want to pull your pictures from, I always pull mine directly from Instagram by signing in from this screen:

This is an important step. DO NOT JUST CLICK ON THE FOLDER LABELED INSTAGRAM PHOTOS. As you can see I have 936 photos in my folder and if I tried to add them all to my book I would be lectured about using BookSmart™ for books over 200 pages. Instead, click ‘Open.’

Since I make my books on the last day of the month every two or three months I don’t really have to hunt and peck around for particular photos. I just start with the last photo from the month and go back to the first photo after the last photo I ended on in my last book. Shift+Click between photos to select a large group, then you can Command+Click to add or remove a few random shots you either do or don’t want to use. Selected photos will be highlighted in orange.

Once you’ve selected your photos choose ‘I’ll drag and drop my own photos.’ It will take a little longer but you’ll know they’re going in the order you want. For some reason ‘Place my photos for me’ has never quite worked out despite multiple attempts.

Keep the photos in ‘My Sorting’ if you want them in chronological order of newest to oldest.

Scroll to the far left end of the lightbox along to bottom to find your oldest photo, drag and drop it to the first page, working backwards through the lightbox stream as you add pages to your book. Once you fill the default 20 pages just keep adding more pages with the little ‘add page’ icon at the upper right corner of the book layout until you’ve added all of your photos. (My books are all between 140 and 180 pages.) In this layout option you’ll also have the option to create a title page. I usually include the dates, locations included in the book, as well as any special people who may appear as well.

The photos you drag into the layout will be full bleed, which can be a bit much for an Instagram photo as far as clarity when printed. You’ll have three basic size options for your photos if you choose not to go full bleed and these are smaller, bigger and biggest. I prefer the bigger (not biggest) size myself. The smaller is almost too small and the biggest is just a little too big. You can change the size of each photo as you upload it or go back through and change them all once you have all your photos in order (again, takes a longer time than using a template, but if you want consistent and specific sizing, it’s the only way I’ve found to do it.)

Now that your photos are all in place and sized right, it’s time to design your cover. I prefer the ImageWrap hardcover. I have two little kids looking at these things daily, a dust jacket is out of the question. Plus they just look nicer on my shelf with hardcovers. You can make your cover however you want. Just a title, just one photo or a collage like I do. I add the date and book number to each cover as well (I mean, *NOW* I do. Now that I have this whole process down to a science.)

You can also edit the spine of your book (if you chose hardcover) as well as the back. One of the things I liked least about the automatic Instagram layout was there was no option for adding a back cover image. MOAR PIKCHURS I SAY! I’ve noticed I’ll get a warning that my image is too low resolution to do a full bleed on the back, but I need to just ignore it because when I size them down I get funny, sometimes crooked, and inconsistent edges. Again, the back can have an image, all text, or an image and text (or blank, which boring.) You can also choose from a number of background colors for your cover, the ones I’ve used have all been the default options, I haven’t ventured into custom cover colors yet.

Once your cover, spine and back cover are designed click to preview your book. You’re so close to being done! Once you’ve previewed your book, choose the style of cover you want and get ready to order it!

From the time you complete your book you’ll have two weeks to order a copy or Blurb will delete it.  On the order screen you will have options to upgrade the endsheets (3), the paper (2), make a PDF version (5), order multiple copies (4) as well as different cover options (1). You’ll also have the option at the top to convert your book to an ebook for your iPad for $9.99, I’ve only done this once for a wedding album and it was a nice touch for my clients.) When you’re set, hit order (6.)

Now, about pricing. Upgrading the cover, paper and end sheets will all add up. (The paper is the biggest expense.) If I were to get the softcover and basic paper on 180 page book I would pay $36.99. However I choose to upgrade as these books are investments for me and there always seems to be a discount code available each month. The same 180 page book with premium paper and ImageWrap hardcover was $69.11 (before a 20% discount).

Endsheets? Total personal preference, I’ve ordered them all and don’t have a problem with the standard mid-grey end sheet.

Paper? The thickest and sturdiest (also the most expensive) is the ProLine Pearl Photo Paper. It’s nice, but it’s almost too thick for a book this size. Next in thickness is the ProLine Luster Paper, while the ProLine Matte and Uncoated are about equal. The biggest issue with the uncoated is if a sticky finger gets on it the smudge will stay there forever. Not the best paper for books that will be handled a lot by kids, but by far my favorite to look at and touch. The second best print quality is on the ProLine Lustre paper, but the image size (either small, big, biggest or full bleed) has more to do with image quality than the paper.

So there you have it.

Hope this helps at least one person.

I’ve loved making and having these books, the thought of going back through all 1,200+ of my Instagram photos now to do this? Overwhelming (but I’d still do it.) Keeping up on it every other month makes sure no moments are forgotten in some digital file somewhere.

Go forth! Make tiny books for you to enjoy!

Get 15% off your next book with the code BOOKSFORSUMMER or use the following link: (Code good through June 30th, 2013.)

20 months ago a boy named Abe played his guitar at Brooke and Parker’s wedding.

At the end of the night he asked out Brooke’s little sister, Brittany.

Yesterday Brittany and Abe were married as enormous flakes of snow fell silently to the ground behind them.

These weddings aren’t fair to all the other weddings, they are simply too magical.

Everyone leaves more in love and more thankful for the opportunity to spend a day and a night surrounded by music, love, flowers, laughter, amazing food, family, and friends.

Congratulations you two, thank you for letting all of us take a little hit of your happiness last night.

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I blame Ke$ha for making me want to go insane, go insane throw some glitter make it rain. There’s also P!NK who was all “Have you ever thrown a fistful of glitter in the air?” and I was all, “You know what P!NK? I haven’t, but I sure would like to.”

So I bought some glitter and did just that. (Well, I made Cody’s baby sister throw it. (And by “throw” I mean “blow” which brings this whole thing back to Ke$ha meaning maybe that girl really does know what she’s talking about.))

Here’s what to consider when you throw glitter.

A) You want to be far enough back so the glitter doesn’t blow into your expensive camera.

B) You want a nice wide aperture so you get more in focus, not just one or two flecks of glitter and a fingertip.

C) To have a wide enough aperture you need somewhere bright to shoot (which usually means outside which is good because who wants to blow glitter all over their house?)

D) Having something bright (like the sun) means you don’t have to set up external side lighting to highlight the glitter (which is what I found a lot of photographers doing when I did my “how to photograph glitter in the air” research. It’s totally fine if you want to do it that way but I’m kind of lazy and if the sun is willing to light stuff up for me? Go ahead sun!)

E) Finally, you want a nice high shutter speed so you can catch the glitter mid-flight. Too slow and you’ll wonder why you just took a picture of someone blowing into their hands.

I shot these with a Canon 7D with a 70-300 f/4.0-5.6 IS outside on a super bright and sunny day.

BUT. Guess what happens when you shoot at high noon on a super bright and sunny day?

If you guessed harsh shadows, pat yourself on the back because you would be correct.

I fixed this little conundrum by moving her up next to my light colored house. BOOM. Instant reflector.

(Isn’t she pretty? She’s single! Florida area! Call today!)

Another thing worth mentioning is that the f/stop actually went up an entire stop in the following photo yet the background became even more lovely and blurry. BUT HOW CASEY?

Compression! In the first photo I was standing fairly close to her (well, as close as 70mm will let you stand, perhaps four feet?) In the photo above I’m standing at least 12 feet away from her but I’m zoomed in which allows her to be totally in focus while the background just blurs into lovely oblivion. This is why I shoot portraits with my 70-300 lens if I can, they’re so much more realistic and lovely and it’s also why I don’t need a 70-200 2.8L. Stand far enough back with a zoom lens and you’re going to get a delicious bokeh that rivals any low aperture lens at half the size and a quarter the cost.

ONTO THE GLITTER.

I shot this on AI SERVO which means if and when her hands moved while she blew on the glitter they would stay in focus. I also set my shutter to continuous release (which is *I think* 8 frames per second on my camera.) I wanted a nice wide aperture so I could get a lot of the glitter in focus but have her just slightly out of focus. Even though it was bright as dickens outside I moved my ISO up to 400 so I could get my shutter speed higher to catch the glitter in mid air.

For the first set I filled her hands with just silver holographic glitter, not super fine but also not that scratchy crummy stuff we used in grade school.

The second time around (once I was sure I knew I was getting what I wanted) I filled her hands with foil confetti stars as well as a fine holographic blue glitter.

More sparkle is never a bad thing.

Since I was zoomed in on her no glitter ended up on me or in my camera and thankfully it was a calm day so the glitter carnage on her was kept to a minimum as well.

I think that’s it! Any questions? Comments? Concerns?

My next big idea is to fill a balloon with glitter, blow it up then photograph it popping. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE GLITTER BOMB!? WHEE!

So there you go, Ke$ha and P!NK sang about it. I made it happen.

(animated GIF tutorial can be found here.)

The weather has been positively perfect around these parts lately.

At this moment our windows are wide open, a slight breeze is blowing through, the crickets are doing their cricket thing and Cody and I are both tapping out our tales by the glow of an old lamp, three feet apart from each other.

I love being here. I love having a house that is actually a home. Walls that have captured and absorbed so much laughter that you could probably hear it if you pressed your ear against them. Quiet little moments when you realize you have everything you’ve ever wanted or needed and all you had to do was fall in love and learn how to love yourself.

In my home my arms are never empty, there is always a warm body to hold, some of them bigger than others, a couple of them way more furry than the rest. I am never truly alone here.

I spent so much of my life lonely, even when I was surrounded by people. Now I’m whatever the opposite of lonely is.

Vivi and I take a walk everyday around our circle, we could not be more fortunate to have such a lovely house at the end of a lovely cul-de-sac. I wish every kid could spend part of their lives playing in a cul-de-sac. While the baby phase never lasts long enough, I’m relishing the chubby single finger hand hold phase. Vivi chokes bunny in one arm and holds my index finger with her other hand. We walk, she barks at all the dogs, tweets at all the birds and squats to pick every last dandelion she sees.

Sometimes she’s even wearing pants.

Things have been pretty quiet around here, and yet they couldn’t be more marvelous.

Today my camera and I took a ride on a cherry picker high above hundreds of happy beautiful people.

I love my job.

Want to run in a Color Me Rad? There’s still a bunch of races left this year.

Want the opportunity to photograph one? Check CraigsList (or equivalent) as the date of your city’s race comes close for a chance to apply, or email your portfolio and equipment list to Flo-Foto.

We don’t go to the library enough.

I also haven’t been using my camera enough.

Learn how your camera works, then use it all the time.

Go to the library, read books with your babies.

It puts sunshine in your soul.

Our cats joined us six months after Vivi joined us, which means they came into a home where there was no real risk of being attacked by a baby unless being shrieked at could be considered an attack. We never intended to rescue two cats, but when I went in to visit the one eyed cat I had my heart set on, I turned around to find a brown tabby curled up in Vivi’s lap as she sat in her stroller. He purred as Vivi grabbed at his fur and tugged on his whiskers.

Later we started to wonder if all the other cats at the Humane Society were rolling their eyes at him “There goes that stupid cat again, putting on a show for the humans.”

Well cats, we fell for it because when we came back the next day to pick up our one eyed cat, Cody took one look at the brown tabby and said “He’s coming too.”

Percy walked into our house and said “I LIKE IT!” and made himself right at home (on my face.) Wink on the other hand took to hiding under our bed, but it was cool. I dig cats who demand you win their love, which is probably why I’m more of a cat person, dogs give it up too easily.

Both the cats have always been accepting of Vivi’s existence. Percy constantly tries to rub up on her, I can only assume it’s because she’s warm, smells like milk and her chubby little fingers can really dig into all of his itchy parts.

Wink loves her from a distance, he waits until she’s busy then sneaks up behind her to make sure she’s okay.

He never moves too fast around her and when she’s crying he stands guard until she’s settled down.

Various cat parts have become standard issue in many of our family photos.

These cats make us all outrageously happy despite the baby playing in the kitty water and the fact that owning cats makes the 5 second rule null and void.

Someday this baby is going to grow up and leave me.

Someday these cats are going to leave all of us.

Better enjoy it while I can, because I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.

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I’ll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories and experiences with you here several more times throughout the month before beginning over there full time in early July. This post is sponsored by Disney Baby.