For the rest of the month of February, the theme of our weekly photo contest will be unusual behavior by people or animals.  If you have a photo that you think will win, it is not doing you any good sitting at home.  Our contest can qualify you for some ongoing prizes.  Check out our easy to follow weekly photo contest rules, and start displaying your winning talents.  Enter early and often.

Share the fun of taking pictures by entering our weekly photo contest.    This week’s competition will center on “Thanksgiving”.  If you are not thankful for anything, sit this one out.  Get some free stuff from me if you win.  Do it for fun, do it for yourself.  Check out our weekly photo contest rules for more information, and enter this week’s contest early for your chance to win.

Yes you can.

This week, I bring to a close the representative examples of how one set of four matted digital photos can be expanded in a variety of different presentations.  Though I have displayed several variations of examples over the past few weeks, the unique treatments have shown only one possibility for each offering.  With digital photo frame content, each new presentation format can be complimented by more combinations of backgrounds, color, and prose which bring added interest to your own eye for subject matter.  Each new photo treatment is created with the goal of increasing appreciation for the original work on display.

As I put together the greeting cards for the week, I took the time to design something that was inspired directly by the visual composition.  Some of the designs were easier to do than others, but all of them represent something that pointed to someone I know and enjoy being with.  This first card would be a thoughtful message to send to a friend who might enjoy receiving an uplifting message.

Give a friend (and me) a lift. Send them a digital greeting card today!

When I get started writing greetings, it never takes long to turn toward the humorous side of life for a quick chuckle.  The second greeting might be taking a bit of a chance to give your spouse on a wedding anniversary, so it would be a good idea to have a back up plan ready in case the sentiment goes unappreciated.  I thought this idea would work for those who are married to someone with a good sense of humor and a tight budget.

Cute, now what did you really get me for our anniversary?

My third digital greeting card would make a nice birthday greeting for someone who sees themselves as a bit on the nerd side of the fence.  If you think this item is funny, you might want to try this one out on one of your friends.  Of course being labeled as a “square” is a bit out of date for some people, politically incorrect, and potentially over the top, but who cares?  I liked the way it came out, so here it is.

It all depends on how you look at it...

My last birthday greeting card for the week was designed to be gifted by the over thinkers among us.  If you are the type of person who needs a justification for every action, and who will look at everything you can find before making a decision, then you may want to bookmark this card to come back to, when you have finished your search.  Rest assured that when you come to me to help you create that special greeting card you have always wanted to give; I can put together a nice piece of work that will not be found on every shelf in town. 

It is nice to think someone goes to a lot of trouble to find the right card.

If you want me to create a unique design from your photos or specifications, just send an email to jdir@bhotechnologists.com and tell me what you have in mind.  Please do not attach photos to your email.  I will tell you everything you need to know about how to start getting the most from your digital picture frame content.  If you want to use any of the work posted on this site, just pay $3 per image at how to buy matting services and then send me an email to let me know what you use or want to download.

Thanks for visiting, and come back often.  If you like what you see, tell your friends.  If you don’t, then keep coming back until you find something you do like.  Your comments are welcome, especially if they are good ones.

This week, I am focusing on four digital plaques made from the digital matted photos of flowers that I started with.  Whether I am making funny digital plaques, inspirational, or something in between, these virtual plaques always liven up my digital photo frame content, and bring me another way to enjoy the variations made from my digital photos.

My first composition uses a lively photo matting design, and surrounds it with a cloth texture.  Though the design may appear a bit busy to some, my wife confirmed that she liked it, so I went with the 2 of 2 votes on that one.  Of course the quotes on the plaques for this week all came from the unrehearsed, spontaneous responses to the compositions spoken by my favorite author and critic.  This way, whether the sayings are original or not, I merely ensure they are the most recent. 

A bold and monumental tribute to flowers - right.

The next funny digital plaque is designed to help my buds who just do not seem able to grasp the concept of romance.  This one is for their wives who rarely see a flower, much less their husbands. So, as your guy heads off on his fishing or hunting trip into the woods, you can turn on the digital photo frame, and dream that he just offered you this beautiful bloom.

Romance never dies...just the fish.

The following humorous plaque carries on with a less than favorable eye for beautiful flowers.  In the sea of poetic quotes about flowers, I have personally never encountered this expression of perspective before.  This is another example of testing whether the photo or the caption gets the most immediate attention.

Grass will not grow? Remember this lawn secret.

This kind of thinking leads to the final and ultimate question for this week.  The plaque offers yet another thought I have not heard anywhere other than Matte Watch.  Though this week’s virtual plaques were largely focused on humor, flowers still make a good foundation for lots of different sentiments.

The logical mind at work.

If you want me to create a unique design from your photos or specifications, just send an email to jdir@bhotechnologists.com and tell me what you have in mind.  Please do not attach photos to your email.  I will tell you everything you need to know about how to start getting the most from your digital picture frame content.  If you want to use any of the work posted on this site, just pay $3 per image at how to buy matting services and then send me an email to let me know what you use or want to download.

Thanks for visiting, and come back often.  If you like what you see, tell your friends.  If you don’t, then ask someone to run over you with a dump truck.  Just kidding…sorta.

It’s time to start thinking about fun, awards, and prizes available when you enter our weekly photo contest.  This week’s theme will be centered on your favorite pet photos.  Don’t worry, we will make your pictures look great!  Check out the weekly photo contest rules for details and thanks for participating.

Over the past few postings, I have introduced some designs which take advantage of working images onto a spherical shape.  Since I personally found this technique interesting, I thought I would make all my digital creations for this week revolve around the world of spheres.  See what you think of this well rounded approach.

The first item in line is a photo digitally matted and highlighted to accentuate the decorative theme of flowers growing in wagon wheels.  The composition came from Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park.  With the added lighting accents and shadows, the original photo took on new interest and focus for me.  This looks great in a digital picture frame, and will get your friends talking.

Digital photo matting gives your composition extra punch.

Having experimented with another picture, I decided to create a spherical gold tone digital calendar to see how that would look.  I got mixed reviews on this design, but gave a copy of this to a friend to help commemorate his starting a new job.  He thanked me for the sentiment, but I have not seen it on his computer wallpaper yet.  My wife also perked up a bit more than usual to comment on this particular piece as one of her favorites.

This unusual digital calendar design could brighten your days.

Next, I wanted to go spherical with the digital awards idea to see how that worked.  In the past, I used globes on digital plaques for an award, but this time I made the whole thing round.  As I gaze into the depths of this piece of digital magic, I think this is an attention getting award.  Although it is more of a change up piece than a staple, I could see variations on this design appearing in my crystal ball.  The photos for the next two items came from around Overland Park, Kansas.

This eye catching digital award gets attention.

For my weekly inspirational digital plaque design, I finished the last item with another play on light and shadows, and an embedded message reminding myself not to think too much.  It strikes me that these rounded objects might be nice around the Christmas season as virtual ornaments or unusual seasonal greeting themes.  How do these ideas inspire your own creativity? 

You do not find digital plaques in stores, so get one here.

If you want me to create a unique design from your photos or specifications, just send an email to jdir@bhotechnologists.com and tell me what you have in mind.  Please do not attach photos to your email.  I will tell you everything you need to know about how to start getting the most from your digital picture frame content.  If you want to use any of the work posted on this site, just donate $3 per image used.  Thanks for visiting.

Beginning in July 2009, we will start the first set of weekly photo contests which have the potential of rolling forward into monthly and even yearly winnings for those who wish to participate.  When people submit their photos into the contest on a weekly basis, the top three winners will receive a weekly award for best submissions.  From this group of top three winners each week, we will automatically enter them for monthly prize eligibility. 

When we have a year’s worth of monthly winners, we will take the top three monthly winners and automatically qualify them for prizes established for the top three best photos of the year.  In the beginning stages of our contest plans, we will need to get the word out and wait for participation to build.  During the weeks and months when we get no entries, the prize levels will not be awarded for those periods.  This makes winning much easier for people who discover us first, and get busy participating before the crowds find out about our offers.

Once the real challenge begins, it will still be possible for contestants to win multiple times during any given month, and to continue to receive weekly and monthly prizes throughout the year.  The more weekly wins a person has, the more chances they have to win the monthly prizes and prizes slated for the yearly level.  While there is a lot for people to get acquainted with about our lower level contests, we are not going to fill in the details of our yearly prizes, but they will be greater than what we offer at the monthly levels when they start to kick in.

To help keep things fair among all our participants, we may need to look at making some adjustments to the way our contests are structured from time to time.  For example, we may adjust our criteria or create different submission categories to level the playing field for more people to have chances to win.  We reserve the right to change criteria, or disqualify certain entries due to things like inappropriate material, improper submissions, or other circumstances we have yet to experience.  Our contests are being created to showcase the talents of our loyal visitors, and give people a chance to see what we can do to raise the bar for their digital photos.

The game of golf has been around for a very long time, and continues its strong traditions moving forward.  As with many different sports, there are a range of golfers from casual players to high stakes professionals.  One of the distinguishing aspects of golf is the dedication shown by those who love to play.  It is a sport that pits the athlete as much against themselves as it does an opponent.

While working through some digital designs, I thought that local clubs could have new ways to tap into the competitive spirit in the hearts of their members.  By offering some elegant, yet inexpensive ways to recognize personal achievements in casual play, digital award designs might offer club members a way to be rewarded for their own level of play. 

Depending on programs a local club might offer as an incentive to boost membership, digital awards for reaching personal best game scores, weekly best scores, or other casual “tournaments,” could help provide incentives to keep moving forward, and a nice extra for joining the club. 

In the following examples, the three winning plaques represent first, second, and third place rewards.  As a digital design, the graphics could be offered in a digital picture frame, with each subsequent win added to the content, or printed out in a hard copy. 

Virtual awards make it possible to reward many levels of play.

Digital awards can bring recognition to clubs and members alike.

Digital awards make excellent ways to recognize personal accomplishments.

Since digital awards are electronic there are many different ways they can be used by recipients, and they will remain fresh as the day they are created.  Because of this, they can be duplicated easily and displayed at clubs and in players’ homes at the same time at the same cost.  Images that look like a million cost only $3.

Our award style favorite for this week shows what might be used in presenting a form of service award.  The blending of textures and colors from the wood, marble and metal foundations add a rich touch to the composition, and the badge makes a good highlight for the design.  The lighted background gives the picture more depth and realism.  The signature was a scanned copy of actual handwriting imposed on the object for another authentic touch.  Try getting something made this richly designed elsewhere for just $3.

Rich looking service award template makes good design.

This week’s photo calendar sample provides a departure from previous styles.  In this construct, the calendar takes a matted vertical shot to create a different flavor of side by side design, while the blue/gray shaded background compliments and highlights the embedded picture.  In this design suggestion, the calendar is being used in a screen wallpaper/note context that might serve as a greeting being emailed from a friend, to provide some correspondence updates and serve as a reminder of a scheduled rendezvous. 

You can use calendars in your correspondence.

Our matted photo/screen wallpaper for the week uses a simple snow scene photo, adds color from the photo, earth tones from a marble inlay, and a ight shaded outer matte and innermost matte within the frame to mimic the same lighting angle as reflected in the photo, and lend realism to the scene.  Using the simple black frame and pastel wall color which was also taken from the photo, this picture’s elements come together in a unique end result.

Angled shading effects also enhance composition.

You may use our compositions by donating $3 per image for each item you take from the site.  Article content may also be used without graphics if you do not alter the content, and acknowledge our site and author, John K, as the source.  If you want us to work with you to bring your own ideas to life, send us an email and let us know how we can help.  Visit often, there is much more to come.

It seems like every year, we search to find a nice way to express our sentiments on Mothers day.  This year, you can reach out to Mom with a nice decorative digital design in the form of an “award” or plaque to acknowledge your mother.

Here are a few possible examples of how you can tell your mother how you feel.  The first image is done as an award style, with nice flowers and rich accents.  You could personalize your gift by adding your mother’s name to the piece.

Mothers Day can be a great time to award mothers for their hard work.

A second style offers a decorative plaque design with sentiment and photo to reflect the Mothers Day theme.

A nice sentiment can lift your mother's spirits.

A third style of digital plaque provides another quote to express sentiment, and a bright flower photo with a matted background that compliments the flowers in the picture.

Many interesting designs and sentiments are possible with digital matting.