The Library of Congress on Flickr

The Library of Congress has uploaded some of its photo collections onto Flickr. Most of the photos are in black and white, but some are in color. Of particular interest is a set of color, Rosie the Riveter, and Americana photos from the 1930s and 1940s; most of which, were created using Kodachrome. So if your find yourself with a large block of time, check them out!

• Library of Congress on Flickr
• Rosie the Riveter
• 1930s-40s in color

Making photo books

I love taking pictures. Love it. Back when cameras used film, I had to curb my enthusiasm so as not to waste film (and thus, money). But now, in the age of digital cameras and storage, I am a photo glutton. Pictures, pictures, and more pictures. Originals, cropped images, originals changed to black and white, experiments with lighting and effects, you name it, I have a picture for it.

That is, I have a digital representation of it. I don’t really have the picture. The images are stuck in my camera, saved on my computer, stored online. (For more on online photo storage, see the ”Store Your Photos Online“ entry.) A select few were turned into DVD slide shows on a Mac. But I want a printed thing. For the great photos – often odd-sized crops – that don’t make it into frames, I like to make photo books.

For those unfamiliar with this concept, a photo book is akin to a yearbook. It has a nice cover and glossy pages, with your pictures on the pages. Books can be made from most websites that offer photo storage and sharing. Different sites offer different options and pricing (ranging from $3.99 to more than $50), but  all of them allow you to design the book yourself. This means that you can choose hard or soft cover, a cover with a picture printed on it, textured covers (leather, suede, linen), page layouts (from a template or self-designed), and which pictures go where. I love photo books because they are great looking AND they fit on a shelf! (Hate the scrapbooks that fit nowhere.) Here are a few sites that allow you to make books.

Sites from “Store Your Photos Online”:  

• Flickr – Must sign up in order to preview capabilities.
• Webshots – Lots of options, with prices ranging from $12.95 to over $50.

My favs:

• Shutterfly - Offers five sizes (12×12, 8×8, 8×11.5, 5×7, and a  4×4 brag book), lots of cover options. The base price for books ranges from $12.99 (for the brag book) to $54.99 (for the 12×12); base price includes 20 pages, with each additional page costing $.50 (brag book)-$1.50 (12×12). Shutterfly offers nice backgrounds for the photo pages.
• Snapfish - My top pick. Offers lots of size and cover options, with nice backgrounds for the photo pages. Here’s why it’s my favorite: $4.99 4×6″ flip books (base price) and dust jackets!