When I sent my first photo to My Pop Art, I chose the Vintage style.  I had discovered the stereotypically horrible photograph of myself from high school.  You know the one…I had a perm (which made me look like a poodle on crack) and tons of “blusher.”  The expression was one of dumb disillusionment, which is about right, when I think of how I felt back then.

But I wanted to remember that person.  That person that I was.  I wanted to “vintage” it so I remembered my permed roots.  It’s an easy time to be ashamed, to hide those photos at the bottom of your pile.  But guess what?  You only get one of those bizarro phases in your life and why not memorialize it?  Why not embrace it?

I hung the photo in my hall when I got it back.  It really made me look kinda lovely, I thought.  Now when I walk by it, I remember the girl I used to be:  insecure, needy, excited, placating.  She doesn’t seem awful, though the hairdo may have been.  She seemed at the beginning of something.

I wonder if this period will look a particular way, many years from now.  Is my hairdo all wrong?  Do I look nervous and insecure or road weary and sad?  Will I look wise and centered maybe?  Forward focused and dreamy?  Who knows…but bottom line:  I was that insecure, permed girl in high school and she deserves a place somewhere on my wall and not at the bottom of a heap of photos.

My friends are I are planning another one of our summer adventures. Last summer was pretty miserable actually. It rained almost every day of our two-week vacation. We were stuck in small hotel room, playing cards and drinking warm beer and had to share single beds. Hmm…maybe that wasn’t so bad after all.

Anyway, this summer is going to be different and I want a big group shot to send off to MyPopArt.com to capture the memory.

I’d like the photo taken in the water. I figured since we’re playing around with Pop Art, let’s make the photo I send in as “pop arty” as possible. Plus, I just got an underwater camera and I want to have some fun with it. So I figured I’d get the whole group of us (14 in total) and place us in the ocean, right at the shoreline. Everyone has to remain still, even if waves are crashing over them. I think it’s going to be an awesome photograph - everyone stationary and the waves in constant movement.

Then, I want to get some underwater shots of the gang. We’ll have to go further out for this, I think. I want everyone to go underwater, staying as close to one another as possible. Wow. To get a group shot underwater. That would be a real score.

So, that’s my summer plans. And it’s going to be sunny. No warm beers in a cramped hotel room. No card games. Hot days on the beach. And wonderful photographs of my friends.

My friend Charles has, what he calls, a very “minimalist” apartment.  It is all white, which is annoying.  I never get those people!  What would possibly possess you to challenge the gods like that?  Do you not drink red wine?  Do you not track in mud?  Are you trying to compete with American Psycho or something (who also had an entirely white place until blood appeared!)

Anyway, who am I to judge?  Just because my place is every color under the sun and is by no means, shape or form “minimalist” doesn’t mean I can make fun of Charles for neatness.  Right?  Well, whatever.  I think it’s weird!

But Charles is a good friend so I took a “minimalist” shot of a ballpoint pen on my desk.  Yep, that’s right.  A ballpoint pen.  I shot in black and white and used some macro settings.  It had surprising richness and depth.  I sent it to MyPopArt.com and chose some vivid blues and greens.  I was shocked how much I liked the final results!  I didn’t even want to give it to Charles.  But I’m glad I did.  He hung it with pride over his pristine desk and smiled a nice, clean, neat smile.  I think I may have started a trend for Charles - color might start slowly slipping into his perfectly white palace.  He assured me it wasn’t but color is contagious, I told him!
Bottom line:  you don’t have to go out of your way for a good shot to send.  It can be as simple as a pen.  Or a feather.  Or an empty glass.  Think outside the box.  Then hang it up in your box.  Just don’t make it an all-white box.  Because that’s just weird.

Carol is my closest friend. And I hate her dog. Sure, hate is a strong word. But guess what? I wouldn’t choose it if it weren’t true. I check in with myself frequently and I say to myself “Yep, I still hate Carol’s dog.” Would I tell her this? God, no - just the opposite, as friends should. I sent off of the little monster to MyPopArt.com and had a lovely art strokes rendering of it, for Carol’s birthday.

It’s always a little strange to me when people act like animals are people. I wonder what is lacking in their lives. In Carol’s case, who knows? She seems pretty happy. But she worships the dog as if it were some canine queen. When I visit her, the dog shows total disdain for me. The “queen” doesn’t really appreciate the intrusion of a lowly serf like me, I suppose.

Carol then goes to explain to the dog, in great detail, “Listen, Sophia. My friend is visiting and I need to spend some time with her. I know you’re upset but I promise, you will get my undivided attention in an hour or so.” I wonder when she lost the dog. Was it the word “undivided”? Or when she tried to explain the concept of time to a dog? I think it was the second she opened her mouth, frankly.

But I’ll keep my mouth closed. Carol loved her birthday present. It displayed Sophia in all of her weird, little glory. Carol took down her family portrait and replaced it with Sophia’s. Nice, Carol.

Oh well, what do you do? I worship wine, chocolate and young men sometimes and that’s not the most “normal” thing in the world, right?

Viva la difference.

When I allowed myself the Christmas present of a new camera last year, I was quite perplexed.  With all these choices out there, which one was the smartest?  Megapixels and memory cards, prosumer, consumer, SLR’s…what did it all mean?  And frankly, I didn’t feel like learning every detail.  I love photography, but I’m not going to make a profession based on it…well, not yet!

I had a limited budget to contend with - under $300.  But I didn’t want this to stand it my way.  If I send off a cool photo to My Pop Art, I want the resolution to be good and the image to really pop, even if I couldn’t afford something super fancy.

My lesson to you?  In this day and age, you should be able to get a good camera for under $300.  Figure it this way, never before in history have we had access to equipment that takes such amazingly clear, sharp photos.  You kinda can’t go wrong!  Of course, I did some research via Consumer Reports, etc.  But the bottom line:  a digital photograph is light years beyond a camera you would have owned 20 years ago (though some purists disagree).

I went with a Fuji FinePix S700 and have been quite happy, though it doesn’t take photos as quickly as I’d like sometimes.  The quality of the photos are very good and it was definitely in my budget range.

I’d suggest you go with feel, first and foremost (in addition to some research).  A  camera needs to feel like a natural extension of you.  If not, you won’t optimize your abilities.  Spend some time, hold it, get a feel for it.  Just like a blind date, you know after a short period of  time!

I recently discovered the Vintage print style on MyPopArt.com. Well, actually - I used it several times in the past but only for my photographs of people. I took some shots of my nephew Ryan, for instance, and had it sent to my sister for her birthday.

But recently, I discovered a new trick, which is applying the Vintage print style to an object.

It’s spring here in Vermont and I have some beautiful wild daisies in bloom, all across the backyard. I went out and took some shots during the late afternoon light and was really pleased with the results. Bright, bold, fun, colorful - they already looked very Pop Art, that’s for sure!

I tried a little experiment and sent it to MyPopArt.com and applied the Vintage style technique. I told them I wanted the  except for the yellow, which I wanted “kicked up a notch” to stand out. I had it done on a small canvas, just because I wasn’t sure if the results would work or not.

Well, I couldn’t have been more pleased. It is the most unusual, lovely piece of art. I hung it directly over my desk and it serves as an inspiration - to take some artistic chances, to mix things up a little.

So the next time you send in a photograph, try this out. Find an object you like, take a nice shot and have the Vintage style applied. Then choose one element of the photograph for some extreme color. It can really brighten up your world…or at least brighten up your bedroom!

We’ve all seen depictions on tv and in movies where people would sit for hours, back in days of yore, and have their portrait painted. I suppose some people still sit for hours on end but it certainly must be a rarity. People don’t have times for lengthy sittings. It is a shame because an old-fashioned portrait is quite a stately thing to own. Luckily, My Pop Art can make this happen, with none of the sore butts!

Recently, my best friend Krissie was dressed up to the nines for a gala she was attending in New York. I went over to her house and covered a living room chair with some beautiful, rich-looking, red velvet fabric. I had Krissie sit down and arranged her just so. I posed her - made sure her legs were pointed a certain direction, her head arched a certain way. I wanted Krissie to show me her regal side, which was quite easy - we all have some royalty in us somewhere!

The photo I took was beautiful and elegant. But what was more beautiful was sending it to MyPopArt.com and having it transferred to canvas. Just as I had guessed, it upped the royal ante! Krissie looked like a proper queen on canvas.

She was thrilled with it and it was exciting for her to hang a genuine portrait of herself in her home. It made her feel fancy, she said! Royalty can be a snapshot a way. Who needs the whole blood line thing anyway?

My aunt Sally had a serious accident several months ago.  She slipped and fell down a flight of steps leading up to her house.  She broke her leg in three places and had a serious road of recovery ahead of her.  I wondered how I could help her when My Pop Art came to mind.

When I went to see her, she was feeling pretty dismal.  She had already been in bed for close to a month and still had another month ahead of her.  Sally is a very active woman otherwise so this was particularly difficult for her.  Used to doing things for other people, she really felt quite uncomfortable with her family serving and treating her for so long.

Her room looked gloomy as well - dark and uninviting.  It was if my aunt’s mood had permeated the very walls.  It was then I had my great Pop Art idea.  I searched my photos for the last family reunion and grabbed the best one.  I sent it off to MyPopArt.com and choose the largest size.  I wanted my aunt to have no problem seeing this work of art!

When it was sent back to me, I brought it over to my aunt’s house and I could see how moved she was.  I made sure it was directly in her view and boy, did it change the feel of the room.  My aunt noticed this as well.  It also brought everyone into the room with her, cheering her on to better health.  She truly loved it and I felt particularly happy to bestow it on her.

Aunt Sally is out and about now.  The artwork has moved to her living room and still attracts tons of attention to the room.  Pop Art, in my humble opinion, contributed to the healing of my aunt.  It brought a bright energy into her home and that could only have helped!

Tommy, my son, is graduating from high school a few weeks and I decided to throw a party for him. He doesn’t want the party. He’s too cool for it. He’d prefer to hang out with his friends in the woods and drink beer illegally. But that’s a whole other story. Anyway, we’re having a party for him at our house and that’s all there is to it! Argument over. Sorry. You’re not Tommy.

Anyway, I decided to personalize the invitation by taking a nice photo of Tommy and sending it off to MyPopArt.com and having cards made. Well, taking a nice photo of Tommy posed its own problems. Tommy has some serious attitude as of late and even getting him to smile was a major project. When I threatened to ground him if he didn’t smile, suddenly one appeared on his face. I quickly shot it.

When I got the cards back, I was really happy. Even Tommy cracked a smile for maybe a second or two. Grouchy Tommy looked happy on the cards - happy and colorful and funky. He took a few and showed his friends. I sent out the invitation and got wonderful feedback. It really personalized the event.

Tommy’s graduation party was a lot of fun - even begrudgingly for Tommy. I put the cards on all of the tables and it served as a colorful centerpiece. Tommy’s graduation from high school comes once in a lifetime (thankfully) and MyPopArt.com made it a more colorful experience. Even for Tommy.

Lighting is one of the most crucial aspects to photography.  It is the luminary backbone to this artistic expression.  Once you understand it, your photography will improve immensely.  There are many nuances to it, though, so it can certainly take some time.  Before you send a photo off to My Pop Art, you may want to do some research or purchase a book specifically on lighting.

I consider myself a high-level amateur photographer.  My pro friends make me look like a hack but I’m quite pleased with many of my images and feel like they stand on their own artistically.

My biggest lesson has been light.  It took me quite some time to realize that my flash alone was not going to make a photograph work if it was shot in a dark location.  Don’t get me wrong - a flash helps.  But if you are in a dark locale, you need subsidiary light in addition to a flash for a genuinely good shot.

Nothing beats the daylight and many if not all photographers will agree.  There are, of course, restrictions to day light as well.  Midday light is often to glaring and not optimal.  Same holds true with an overcast day.  Some of my favorite photos are shot in the late afternoon, when the light is rich and shadows work their magic.

The idea is to play around with light.  Pull out those clip lights of yours.  Put them behind your subject, next to your subject, above your subject.  Add flash.  Take it away.  The proof is in the experimentation.  As always with photography, it’s about play.  So have fun and see what light works best for you!