Do you remember looking at your grandmother’s cursive and thinking about how perfect it was? She was from an era where a hand-written note was the quintessential way to convey sentiments, thanks, and advice. Continue reading “Personal Messages From Your Heart” »
Tide-Mark Hits The Mark With Amazing Puzzles, Photos, and More
The perfect art piece is waiting for you at Tide-Mark, publisher of hundreds of styles of calendars, note cards, books and puzzles!
Art isn’t just about paintings hanging on a wall. It can be in any format, and Tide-Mark proudly offers alternatives to appreciating an artist’s work. Flowers, animals, landscapes and even the art of dance are all featured in Tide-Mark’s products!
Coffee table books aren’t just to take up space; they are also meant to be viewed! Adorn the centerpiece of a living area with a book from Tide-Mark and enjoy and afternoon flipping through pages of beautiful photography and paintings.
Are you a lover of the coast? The Lighthouse Companion series is packed with full-color photographs of lighthouses throughout Connecticut, Maine and New York, complete with guides to each one. The photos by Paul Rezendes even include guides for lodging and local events near each lighthouse, making this book a great companion for planning a trip!
Or, for bright watercolors of flowers and landscapes, try Blueprints for Paradise. Around 250 paintings by Sara Steele fill this book, showcasing her work’s connection to the natural world and her love for ecological preservation.
Creating art can be just as fun as viewing somebody else’s. With Tide-Mark’s puzzles, it’s easy to enjoy the paintings of another artists while still being creative.
For a challenge, pick up the 1,000 piece puzzle Blood Brothers, featuring a pair of wolves. Colors of Courage, a portrait of a former marine with an American Flag, is perfect for any military member or military family. Created by Bruce Greene after the events of 9/11, the painting serves as a tribute to those who served in the past and those currently serving today.
Spring, by Sara Steele, is a bright and happy puzzle that, once completed and framed, would brighten up any room. The Sunflowers puzzle can do the same, with bright yellow flowers pasted against a gorgeous blue background.
If funky is the desired style, go for Jonathan Green’s Harvest Festival puzzle. The swirls and blocks of vivid colors will create a unique conversation piece after the puzzle is connected.
Think outside of the box when it comes to art. The variety of items at Tide-Mark promise something for everybody, and every style.
FGmarket’s Weekly Pick — Natural Moments Studio
Natural Moments Studio is a fantastic photography studio started by master photographer Louise Magno.
Magno has been a photographer for many years, which has allowed her to hone her skills and master the complicated art of taking beautiful photographs of nature.
In her collection of fine photographs, you’ll find gorgeous still shots of nature, including floral scenery, wildlife, sprawling country settings, and more. Her primary inspiration and canvas is the Pacific Northwest, where she lives and works.
Many of the photos are available as wholesale prints and trust us, you’ll want to give your customers the chance to get ahold of one of these museum-quality photographs!
In each and every photograph taken by Louise Magno, you can experience the beauty of the American Pacific Northwest. Her photos are so good, it’ll feel like you’re really there, breathing in the fresh air and taking in the beautiful sights around you.
Buy from Natural Moments Studio, and purchase a work of museum-quality art, guaranteed.
Take Better Product Photos With These Easy Tips
When you own an e-commerce store, it’s easy to take basic photos of your products and slap them onto a website. But when you don’t take the effort and care to capture beautifully accurate images of your products, you run the risk of turning your customers away from buying from you.
Dark and dingy looking photos can lead customers to believe that you don’t care about your products, or that your products are lower quality than they actually are. That’s why it’s super important to take excellent, well-lit photographs of your products, to give your customers the most accurate representation possible on a computer or phone screen.
It’s not that difficult to take great product photographs if you have the right equipment and the determination to do so. Here are a few tips that can get you started on the path to taking awesome product photos.
Get The Right Equipment
One of they keys to taking good photos is to have a good camera. That seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many folks out there will attempt to take photos of their products with a point-and-shoot low-resolution camera. Even a low-end DSLR camera, with a good lens, can be great for taking high-quality photos.
You don’t need to break the bank to get a good camera. Even a low-end DSLR camera, with a good lens, can be great for taking high-quality photos. You’d also be surprised at how many cellphone cameras these days are great for taking photos. Just be sure to use a high-end phone camera if you’re going to use your phone for taking product photos.
If you can’t afford to make the investment in a DSLR camera right now, you can always find a friend or family member that has a camera that you can borrow, or rent from them. The quality of the camera you’re using makes all the difference when it comes taking great photos.
Make Sure Your Lighting Is Good
Next to having the right equipment, your lighting is the most important piece of the puzzle for taking gorgeous photos. You don’t want your photos to be too blown out by bright lights, and you also don’t want them to be too dark, where it’s impossible to see any details.
You can get a lot of great lighting by taking photos of your products in natural light, such as light from a window, or taking your photos outside. But, you also run the risk of having too little or too much light when you’re using natural light. In these cases, it’s best to control your lighting through lamps and lighting set ups.
If you don’t have the money to shell out for a nice lighting rig, you can always make your own through a DIY set up. This blog post from A Better Lemonade Stand details how you can make your own DIY setup for less than $40.
Capture The Details And Color
Finally, when taking product photos you have to ensure that the colors and details of your products pop when displayed on a computer or mobile device screen. You can achieve accurate color in a number of ways, but you’ll need some sort of photo editing software to do so.
For most photographers, Adobe’s Creative Cloud programs (including Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.) are necessary for editing photos to look the best they can possibly look. These programs allow you to edit simple things like brightness and contrast, to more complex and time-consuming details. These programs aren’t free, but if you can’t afford Adobe CC programs, there are also a number of free online photo editing tools, like Pixlr and Fotor, that make editing photos a breeze. These are great for simple edits like color, contrast, and brightness, which are oftentimes the only thing you’ll need to edit.
You want to make sure your products don’t look washed out and dim when you upload them to your website. Make them stand out and grab people’s attention with bright colors and great contrast.
These tips will help you attract more customers to your shop, and entice them into buying your products. Great photos lead to more purchases, so be sure to get your product photos looking great and ready for your website!
FGmarket’s Weekly Pick — Language Art
Greg and Dilynn Puckett are fantastic photographers, who are able to see the beauty and unique qualities of every scenery. Perhaps that’s why they decided to get married and start a photography business together, selling their unique findings for others to enjoy.
The idea for Language Art came from Greg and Dilynn’s passion for family, friends, and home, along with an eye for the art in everyday life.
With Language Art, they take photographs of signs and scenery, whether it be actual letters or objects that resemble letters, and assemble them into collages of words to be displayed in the home or office!
Every piece of wall decor sold by Language Art is photographed by the couple and professionally printed on 4″x6″ paper. They have more than 700 photo choices to design with, so you can find the right artistry to match exactly what you’re looking for!
Check out Language Art today, and experience the amazing art they have to offer!
Feel Good Photos By Sasha Explores The Beauty Of Nature
Pictures can say much more than words, and give a very different perspective on the world. Whereas words can describe specifically the beauty of a thing, pictures rely entirely on the viewer’s own perspective, and can speak to people in different ways, depending on their life experiences.
Feel Good Photos by Sasha is a Colorado Springs, Colorado company that understands and respects the deep connection to creation that human beings have, and works to take photos that reflect this understanding.
Sasha Woods, Feel Good Photos founder and photographer, was born and raised in Illinois, and state’s on her website that she’s always been intrigued by God’s symmetry and patterns in nature.
She focuses her photography on these shapes, and her photos reflect this appreciation for nature. For more than 30 years, Sasha has been exploring photography and the world around her, and has built her business on exploring these subjects.
At Feel Good Photos, customers can find photos focusing on nature and scenery, but also portraits of people.
Calendars, note cards, gift enclosures, canvas prints, custom photography, and more can be selected to display customers’ favorite photos.
Their notecard selection features note card size print, that feature a variety of different photos, and a blank backside to write your own message. This collections feature pictures from a variety of themes, including Bold Blooms and Colorado Summer flowers, and Wishin’ I Were Fishin’ outdoorsman photos.A variety of gallery wrapped canvas prints are also available, ranging from 8″ x 10″ to 20″ x 30″ sizes. Each print features expertly photographed subjects, and clear prints that show off the colors and clarity of nature.
If your customers are looking for gift enclosures to give to that special person in their lives, check out Feel Good Photos’ gift enclosure options. These gift enclosures come in three varieties: Flower Garden, Christmas, and Throughout the Year Flowers. They feature 10 assorted gift tags with coordinating ribbon, to add beauty to any gift-giving occasion.
Check out Feel Good Photos by Sasha if your customers love and appreciate the beauty of nature, or are looking for beautiful photos to display around their home and business!