"The 12 Days of Christmas" using Photos and Making a Video

Here's part 2 of making a fun presentation which I created from my photos used in my own products.

First, I made a PowerPoint presentation, as detailed in the previous post.

Next, I clicked on the slide sorter icon towards the bottom right of the page.

I then clicked on Slide 1, held down the Shift Key and clicked on Slide 14 so that all the slides were highlighted.

Then it was click on File and Save As.

In the Save As box I kept the same File Name and file location in My Documents but instead of the Save as Type: PowerPoint Presentation, I clicked on the arrow and scrolled down till I found JPEG File Interchange Format and clicked the Save button.

A new box appeared on the screen and I clicked on the Every Slide button.

After that I clicked on the OK button so that each of the JPEGs could be saved in a separate folder.

I closed the PowerPoint file, went to My Documents and found the folder (not the PPt file) for "The 12 Days of Christmas" and opened it. There were all the slides from the presentation as JPEGs.

After that, I opened up my movie making program (you should have a free Windows Movie Maker program on your PC if you don't have access to a purchased program).

I inserted all the JPEGs, added the timings and did the basic fade in and fade out transition.

After that, I saved it as a Windows Media Audio/Video file (WMAV file) in the smaller format to be posted on the internet.

I uploaded to YouTube and was able to select a free soundtrack which approximately matched the length of the movie.

From below the uploaded file I clicked on Share, then on Embed and copied the Embed Code and inserted that in this blog post for you to enjoy. (You can also select the size of the video to suit the width of the blog post)

So now you can go off and use your photos to produce your very own Christmas spectacular!

You can check out my full length videos by clicking on the links to the left of this post (Alzheimer's Products and Digital's Great!).

If you found this post entertaining and/or educational please feel free to share it with others.

"The 12 Days of Christmas" using Photos and Slideshare

It's been quite a while now since I've written a post not connected to my bed & breakfast or work for aged care and early childhood (this entails creating DVDs, Photo Downloads, Kindle Books and Interactive Jigsaw Puzzles on CD).

The past year has been very traumatic and emotional watching my 95 year old mother decline in health and eventually pass away on Remembrance Day in November.

I not only wrote and delivered the eulogy but also created the audio visual presentation for the funeral service. Doing this really brought home how important photos are for our memories, not only of places but also of people, especially our loved ones. Here's the link.

Although I haven't been posting on the blog for several months, the visitors to this site have actually increased. The internet gurus say that to increase traffic to a website or blog, bloggers must keep posting at least once a week. I think that theory's just gone out the window!

However, when I look at how people arrive at this blog, it's usually via the images. So photos once again play a huge part in the lives of those of us who respond to the visual.

I'll continue to add photos for your enjoyment and give you a few hints as well.

Here's a fun Slideshare presentation which I created from my photos used in my products.

First, I made a PowerPoint presentation, then created a PDF.

Next, I uploaded it to www.slideshare.net (a free service for uploading all sorts of documents and presentations).

After that, I got the embed code and I put it in my blog for you to enjoy.

Why don't you do the same with a few photos in a presentation for Christmas (or whatever special occasion you like)?

The 12 days of christmas 2012, by Fran West from Fran West

I did turn this into a moving slideshow presentation in PowerPoint and also created a Flash file but Slideshare just kept the basic PDF file. To create video uploads in Slideshare you have to upgrade your membership and pay.

The next post will be about how I created the movie version from the PowerPoint presentation.

If you found this post entertaining and/or educational please feel free to share it with others.

Animal Photography at Alma Park Zoo near Brisbane

A few weeks ago I was in Brisbane, Queensland, and visited one of the city's prime attractions, Alma Park Zoo. The aim was of course to photograph the animals for further dvds and interactive jigsaw puzzles.

I didn't bother renting a car, so I took the train to the outer suburbs and then proceded to walk for half an hour to arrive at the Alma Park Zoo before opening time. As usual, I kept stopping to photograph whatever caught my eye.

The entrance to the zoo is eye catching and the landscaping is stunning. A beautiful environment for both humans and animals.

It's worth arriving early and leaving late to catch the animals at different times of the day, attend the keeper talks and see the animals at feeding times.

As an Australian, I'm partial to koalas (which are not bears by the way) but I also love the Madagascan ringtail lemurs.

I love talking to the animals when I take photographs.

I'm sure they relate to the tone of my voice and appreciate when I thank them for their patience!

One of the features of this smallish zoo is the obvious bond between the keepers and the animals.

It goes beyond just the provision of food.

Here's my take on animals talking back.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"This fresh fruit and veg is yummy, isn't it?"

"It certainly is and the silver service isn't too bad either."

"Being hand fed is my personal favourite though."

"And all on our own island Paradise."


There'll be a few more blog posts with animal comments later on so stay tuned.

Here's the link to a great day's outing at Alma Park Zoo.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is just gorgeous

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is just gorgeous.

It's shared by both Utah and Arizona and it's a very special place whether enjoyed from the land, the water or the air (I thoroughly recommend that way as detailed in a previous post).

The signs around Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are almost as impressive as the natural beauty which they highlight.

I left my campground and went for a drive around part of the lake until I came to this spot at the Coves. The painted part of the sign is mirrored in the stone which supports it.

Very creatively designed to make a statement about the place.

Photographing signs on a trip actually defines where the photos were taken, breaks up the series of photos taken e.g. all landscapes, and some are just worth photographing anyway.

Click on the photo to enlarge it and enjoy both the sign and the scenery behind it.

I can definitely feel the urge to create some interactive jigsaw puzzles about Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, check out my "Canyon Country" post.

Rules aren’t always meant to be broken

"Rules aren't always meant to be broken" is a chapter in my book, Plane Reflections: about life and a flight around Australia's coast, and a topic for one of my newsletters. Worth bearing in mind.

Pilot your life newsletter no. 23: Rules aren't always meant to be broken from Fran West

Welcome to issue no. 23 of Pilot your life. May 2011

Just recently I’ve viewed a few movies where the main characters have “broken all the rules” and triumphed. However, real life doesn’t always work that way. Here’s a passage from my book, Plane Reflections: about life and a flight around Australia’s coast, which illustrates the potential hazards if some rules are broken.

“Rules aren’t always meant to be broken

There are more rules up in the air than on the ground. You don’t just jump in a plane and take off because you can get into a lot of trouble if you don’t read your charts properly.

There are a lot of Prohibited, Restricted and Danger Areas (PRDs), some of which need to be avoided if they are active, and there is also civil and military controlled airspace.

Some areas are for training or transitting and this applies to planes, helicopters, gliders, float planes, military jets, parachuting, aerobatics etc. Other areas need to be avoided when active for bombing, flares, rifles, lasers, gunnery, blasting, high velocity gas discharge etc.

Quite a lot of things end up in the atmosphere and planes don’t want to be in the air at the wrong time. If you read the documents and obtain weather reports with the PRDs before flying, then safety is assured.

Controlled airspace is one place where you don’t do your own thing without obtaining a clearance (asking permission) first. Planes etc. need to be kept separate from one another to avoid collisions. This is easier in airspace where the control tower has aircraft on radar but in other areas it’s up to the pilot to keep watch and maintain separation.

Along the coast there are military areas where planes can transit by set routes. This suited me in many instances because the routes flew over the ocean anyway.

On one occasion I obtained a clearance to fly along the coast at 1,500 feet. I was on radar, transmitting the designated transponder code, and while I was flying through the area I must have been concentrating on the camera and not on the altimeter and I had gradually descended. The control tower promptly told me to climb back to 1,500 feet. Just as well I did because not long after, a military helicopter came in from the ocean and flew beneath me towards the land.

Imagine what would have happened if I had kept descending and the helicopter had been climbing! A good lesson learnt that day!

So every time you come across a rule which you consider unnecessary, think very carefully before you break it. The rule may well have been designed for your own protection!”

Sometimes it's easier to talk to the animals than photograph them

Animal photography is something I'm still learning. Photographing Australia's coast (it's the 13th anniversary of my flight today) seemed to be a lot simpler. Even though the plane was moving, the landscape wasn't.

With animals there can be a bit of a problem. They move. Just as I go to take the perfect shot, the animal decides to move, to eat, to play. And particularly with photographing animals at a zoo or wildlife park, there's the added bonus of glass or fence or bars as the case may be.

I've been attending a lot of conferences lately and with my Adelaide Zoo pass I've been able to gain free entry to the Melbourne Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo. They're great places to practice animal and bird photography.

My success has been due to taking a lot of photos, using the camera's original lens and then changing over to the telephoto lens. I also walk around the zoo several times during the day to get the different light and to see the animals engaging in their normal behaviour.

If possible, I return to the zoo on another day when the weather can be different and I'm in time for keeper talks about the animals, animal feeding times and the variety of shows where the animals (e.g. the seals) perform.

You can see the results of the successful photos at http://www.digitalsgreat.blogspot.com.au/ with DVDs like "A day at the Zoo" and "A day at the Show" and interactive jigsaw puzzles like "African Animals" and "Birds".

However, Animal Photography: A Practical Guide, by Robert Maier, is something that would be handy to study before I venture out again.



Animal Photography: A Practical Guide

Check it out (as I will be doing) by clicking on the photo for more information and to buy.

Trains Are Terrific Especially As Jigsaw Puzzles

Trains and locomotives, whether steam or diesel seem to capture that spirit of adventure and take us back to a different time. The photos made into jigsaw puzzles of this exciting mode of travel are sure to bring back memories for people who love their train journeys.

In this new series of CDs there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

Trains Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

These photos are of trains old and new, working and at rest. Sure to bring back memories for people who love trains and travel, especially throughout the USA in Alaska, Arizona and Colorado. There's the Alaska Railroad in Talkeetna, Alaska, the Grand Canyon Railway at the South Rim station, Arizona, the Verde Canyon Railroad, Arizona, a Santa Fe Railway caboose, Williams, Arizona, and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Colorado.

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a personal computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector.

Internet access is not required.

If you would like to try a sample of a jigsaw, email me at fran@franwest.com

Turning Negatives Into Positives: Hot Air Ballooning In The Flinders Ranges (Not!)

Turning negatives into positives is a tremendous habit to acquire. It's really looking on the bright side of life and finding what there is to be thankful for. The following newsletter reprint details what I did on "Outback Adventure" after the disappointment of having my hot air balloon flight over the Flinders Ranges cancelled.

Pilot your life newsletter no. 15: Turn negatives into positives

View more documents from Fran West

Pilot Your Life #15: Turn negatives into positives

During my recent four wheel drive trip into South Australia’s Outback, I put into practice one of the tips I learnt on Oz Flight ’99, my flight around Australia’s coast.

I had to turn negatives into positives several times.

Staying at Rawnsley Park Station, in the Flinders Ranges, was going to give me another opportunity to fly in a hot air balloon. I rather like the serenity of floating with the breeze, like earlier in the year in Florida (see issue no. 9, March 2010).

In the evening before the flight, everything pointed to the right conditions for a balloon launch the next morning. We had to get up early and meet in front of the Woolshed Restaurant at 5.45am, while it was still dark. It was also very chilly so I had on my gloves, scarf and beanie (a sight to behold!).

The chief pilot wasn’t sounding very hopeful because even though there didn’t seem to be much wind at ground level, the small tester balloon, with a light attached, was floating up into the darkness quite rapidly. So the decision was made not to launch the balloons.

Very disappointing. It would have been a beautiful flight, seeing Wilpena Pound bathed in the early morning sunlight. That was the negative side, missing out on the flight. The positive side was that my cabin was only a few hundred metres away and I could go back to a warm bed. Others, unfortunately, had to drive back the 24 kilometres to their accommodation in Wilpena.

The most important positive was that the pilot had our safety in mind and chose not to fly (my kind of pilot – safety first, second and last). Later in the day, the pilots packed up their gear and headed back to Adelaide, with no hope of balloon flights later in the week. I’d previously booked another night at Rawnsley Park in a few days’ time just in case there was another opportunity to go ballooning. Not this trip, obviously.

However, I made the most of the situation since I was already up in time for the sunrise (like in issue no. 6, December 2009).

It was bitterly cold and my boots did get wet tramping through the dew-laden grass but it was worth it for what I heard and saw and photographed. The magpies were carolling away in the trees and in the distance was the faint bleating of sheep. An eagle was even soaring not far from Rawnsley Bluff.

As the sun gradually rose, the landscape changed from the windmill silhouetted against the night sky, to trees cloaked in gentle light and mist still clinging to the ranges. Not a bad start to the day as I chose to look on the bright side and turn a negative into a positive.

So, the next great tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:

Turn negatives into positives.
In order to get rainbows
you have to put up with the rain.
Always look on the bright side of life…

Two of my presentation topics are:
Overcoming procrastination
Turning negatives into positives

Canyon Country Colossal As Jigsaw Puzzles

Utah's Canyon Country is coming soon as 25 interactive Jigsaw Puzzles on CD. The spectacular rock formations present photographers with such a wealth of material that it's hard to resist capturing them on film or digital flash card. The response to my photos has been so overwhelming that I've decided to make 5 of the photos into interactive jigsaws: Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park's Kolob Canyons, Red Canyon, Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.

Stay tuned!

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West, by Thomas J. Harvey looks to be an interesting read if you can get past the cover. Stunning photo of one of the Mittens in Monument Valley.

I just had to visit Monument Valley after seeing the Red Bull Air Race on TV. No wonder so many movies have been made in this area. Flying over Rainbow Bridge in the early morning was also one of the highlights of my trip to the Southwest. Put this area on your bucket list. A bit of reading beforehand, like this book, wouldn't go astray to add to the appreciation of these significant places.



Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley: Making the Modern Old West

The Colorado River Plateau is home to two of the best-known landscapes in the world: Rainbow Bridge in southern Utah and Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border. Twentieth-century popular culture made these places icons of the American West, and advertising continues to exploit their significance today. In "Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley," Thomas J. Harvey artfully tells how Navajos and Anglo-Americans created fabrics of meaning out of this stunning desert landscape, space that western novelist Zane Grey called "the storehouse of unlived years," where a rugged, more authentic life beckoned.

Reviews
"Thomas J. Harvey's work on the Utah-Arizona border region . . . will stake out new intellectual terrain for scholars seeking to explore the relationship between geography, cultural nationalism, and Occidentalism in twentieth-century America. . . . Harvey shows quite clearly how layers of meaning continue to be attached to the region and how modern mythmaking is perpetuated."Carter Jones Meyer co-author of "Selling the Indian: Commercializing and Appropriating American Indian Cultures".

Australia's Coast Is Awesome As Jigsaw Puzzles

Australia's Coast jigsaw puzzles are great for viewing the coast from a different perspective. This time the photos for the jigsaws have been reproduced as dry brush stroke paintings, introducing a different element for enjoyment. All these aerial photos were taken during my flight around Australia's coast.

In this series of CDs there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

This range of puzzles can be used both by children with different skill levels and adults. Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over. Best of all, you can't lose any pieces.

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector.

Internet access is not required.

Australia's Coast Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

These photos are of Tasman Island, off the southeast coast of Tasmania, Point Nepean, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Cape Wiles, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, Disaster Bay (aptly named because of shipwrecks) in New South Wales, and the Useless Loop Salt Pans in the Shark Bay area of Western Australia.

If you would like to try a sample jigsaw to see how it works, email me at
fran@franwest.com.

Feeling Like A Small Cog In A Big Machine?

Welcome to issue no. 30 of Pilot your life. March 2012
You can read the full colour version or just read the text below.

Have you ever felt like you were a small cog in a big machine?

Pilot your life newsletter no. 30

View more documents from Fran West

As I discovered on my trip to the UK last year, there are cogs and then there are other cogs.

In addition to my passion for flying, I also like travelling on trains, particularly when they’re in different countries. Not only do the trains vary but the terrain through which they travel can be very different too.

In Wales, the narrow gauge steam railways cooperatively market themselves as the Great Little Trains of Wales. One of the great little train journeys I went on was the Snowdon Mountain Railway which runs through Snowdonia National Park in the north of the country. The train departs the station in Llanberis and winds its way over 7.5 kilometres up the steep mountain slopes to reach the summit of Mount Snowdon at 3,560 feet (almost 1,200 metres).

Because of the steep terrain, the train can’t run on normal train tracks. It runs on a rack and pinion system designed by a Swiss engineer, Dr Roman Abt. Basically, each small locomotive has toothed pinions (cogwheels) which grab onto the rack, giving it traction for the ascent. During the descent, the rack and pinion system acts as a brake.

To climb up the mountain, the locomotive also runs with the chimney first and pushes the carriage up the steep incline. Everything is geared to reaching the summit (and returning) safely and working with nature.

Looking back at the photos I’d taken of this little train and its tracks got me thinking about cogs. For some people, the term “feeling like a small cog in a big machine” has a lot of negative connotations like powerlessness, lack of importance and being under valued.

However, this Welsh cog railway illustrates the positive side of cogs.

Cogs are part of a team.

Not only are they a valuable part of a team, they’re part of a successful team because the train reaches its goal, the summit of Mount Snowdon. They’re also extremely important because without them the train wouldn’t run at all. And they’re powerful too because they enable the train to ascend without slipping backwards and descend without speeding out of control down the mountainside.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway also puts into practice one of my own tips. It tackles everything in bite size pieces. There are no big powerful locomotives in the system. All that’s required is one small loco and one carriage. There are, however, quite a number of engines and carriages to take the thousands of visitors up to the summit and back.
A winning formula since 1896 and still going strong.

So what do you think is the logo of the Snowdon Mountain Railway? A cog of course. That’s how important cogs are.

So, if at any time you feel like a “small cog in the big machine” of life (or business) and you need a bit of inspiration, then just think of the wonderful cogs of Wales.

Here are another three tips for how to pilot your life (personal or business):

Turn negatives into positives.
Look on the bright side.

Teamwork is extremely powerful.
Together Everyone Achieves More.

Tackle everything in bite size pieces.
It’s easier to eat a block of chocolate a bite at a time
than it is to try and eat the whole block at once.

Mounted Police Are Magnificent In Person And Also In Jigsaw Puzzles

Mounted Police and their horses are not only magnificent in person but their photos made up into interactive Jigsaw Puzzles, which can be done on a computer or laptop, are stunning too.

In this series of CDs there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

This range of puzzles can be used both by children with different skill levels and adults. Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over.

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector.

Internet access is not required.

Mounted Police Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

These photos are of Mounted Police Officers in London, England, in front of Buckingham Palace and accompanying the Horse Guards. There are also two photos of Mounted Police Officers at the Australian International 3 Day Event in Adelaide, South Australia.

If you would like to try a sample jigsaw to see how it works, email me at
fran@franwest.com.

Flourishing Relationships Retreat: Helping Couples Enhance And Grow Their Relationship

Flourishing Relationships Retreat has been set up in the Adelaide Hills by Fran West and Hilary Thompson to help couples enhance and grow their relationship.

Open publication - Free publishing - More counselling

Flourishing Relationships Retreat
1. © Hilary Thompson The Out and About Therapist

2. Who is this Retreat suitable for? All couples who wish to grow and enhance their relationship; reconnect with each other and resolve issues that may be causing some disharmony within their relationship.

3. What is unique about this Retreat?
• We cater exclusively for one couple at a time, so there is as much privacy as you want.
• Retreats can be held at the weekend or during the week at a time convenient for both parties.
• We offer relationship coaching for each partner individually and coaching sessions together as a couple.
• The Retreat starts on the afternoon of your arrival and ends late afternoon of the second day.
• One, one hour follow up session with Hilary via Skype is offered as part of the Retreat.

4. Hilary Thompson MIICT Retreat Facilitator
Hilary is passionate about helping people to grow and thrive within their relationships.
She is also passionate about teaching people self help techniques so that they are better able to cope when life gets stressful.
Hilary will be drawing on many years experience as an NLP practitioner to help you to achieve the best possible outcome from this retreat.

5. Fran West BA ARMIT Retreat Host
Fran is your Host for this retreat.
She will be looking after you during your stay at “The Gums”.
Fran is an award-winning pilot, adventurer,author, photographer, and motivational speaker.
She is Australia’s Life Pilot, motivating others to pilot their lives and navigate their way to success.

6. Where is this Retreat held?
The Retreat venue is “The Gums” a four star Bed & Breakfast at Coromandel Valley in the picturesque Adelaide Hills area of South Australia

7. The Food
• Fran will serve you with one of her super continental style or cooked breakfasts.
• Lunches and afternoon teas will be prepared by Chef Jonathan Holmes-Ross of The Artisan Café Blackwood and served at the Retreat.
• For your evening meal, you can sample the fare of some of our local restaurants

8. Want to find out more? Email us at: flourishingrelationships@gmail.com for a comprehensive information package

9. Flourishing Relationships Retreat
A unique experience for all couples

London's Historic Buildings Make Beautiful Jigsaw Puzzles

London, England, is a vibrant place and its historic buildings have many interesting tales to tell. They're also a photographer's delight and I've made their photos into interactive Jigsaw Puzzles which can be done on a computer or laptop.

In this series of CDs there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

This range of puzzles can be used both by children with different skill levels and adults. Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over.

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector.

Internet access is not required.

London Buildings Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

These photos are of some of London's iconic buildings like the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the National Gallery and Admiralty Arch.

If you would like to try a sample jigsaw to see how it works, email me at
fran@franwest.com.

Welsh Castles Aren't A Puzzle, They're Really Wonderful

Wales is blessed with castles of all types and from different historic periods. They are a photographer's delight and I've made their photos into interactive Jigsaw Puzzles which can be done on a computer or laptop.

In this series of CDs there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

This range of puzzles can be used both by children with different skill levels and adults. Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over.

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector.

Internet access is not required.

Welsh Castles Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

If you would like to try a sample jigsaw to see how it works, email me at
fran@franwest.com.

Travel Australia: Find Out How

Travel Australia, published by Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, looks to be the ideal companion for planning a trip around Australia. I used several of these type of books to plan my flight around the coast of Australia and detours inland to even more beauty spots. Check it out.



Travel Australia

It's a vibrant mix of road maps and essential touring information with beautiful photography. It includes over 200 crystal-clear, up-to-date road maps of the entire country plus 98 town and city maps, route-planning maps and trip diagrams to make planning your trip a breeze.

Scottish Castles Are Put Together A Piece At A Time In Jigsaw Puzzles

Scotland is blessed with castles of all types and from different historic periods. They are a photographer's delight and I've made their photos into interactive Jigsaw Puzzles which can be done on a computer or laptop.

In this series of CDs there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

This range of puzzles can be used both by children with different skill levels and adults. Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over.

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector.

Internet access is not required.

Scottish Castles Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

If you would like to try a sample jigsaw to see how it works, email me at
fran@franwest.com.

3 Tips To Increase Traffic To Your Website Digitally

Increase traffic to your website or blog not only by posting good content often and by submitting articles to article directories but also by using digital methods.

Not everyone likes to read a lot of words. Some people relate more to photos or visual presentations, so why not make the most of the photos that you have. Direct people digitally to your blog or website.

I’m a relative newcomer to blogging, so I’ve learnt a lot from making mistakes. Photos tell a story much better than words sometimes and in nearly every post I use an image or two. I discovered that in a couple of my blogs (like this one), the traffic sources were mostly from people’s searches on images.

So here are three digital ways of increasing traffic that I’ve been learning to use.

1. Photos in blogs
I used to insert an image into my blog without actually naming it e.g. leaving it with the original upload identifier like “IMG_1234”. However, search engines also search on images, so imagine how many images there would be with “IMG_1234”.

Go to any blog or website with a photo on it, right mouse click on the photo, click on “Save Picture As” and you’ll see the title of the image, be it “IMG” or something else. When I first started, I just used the original photo identifier, but now I actually name the photo and add my name to it as well e.g. “Lake Powell, Arizona & Utah, USA – Fran West” (I still have a lot of photos to go back to and name properly).

Another thing that I do to the photo is put my name and website on it so that when people save onto their computer, my details are visible.


2. Slideshare
This is one of the free sites where you can upload various format files of your work e.g.
• Presentations: pdf, ppt, pps, pptx, ppsx, pot, potx (Powerpoint); odp (OpenOffice); key, zip (Apple Keynote),
• Documents: pdf, doc, docx, rtf (MSOffice); odt, ods(OpenOffice); Apple iWork Pages
• Videos: mp4, m4v, wmv, mpeg, avi, mov, mpg, mkv, ogg , asf , vob , 3gp, rm, rmvb, flv

People search in this site but you can also copy the embed code and paste it into your blog. The transcript of the document is printed below your upload and you can also copy this and paste it into your own blog. Make sure that you include your name and/or blog URL somewhere in the presentation.

Here's my Slideshare page - http://www.slideshare.net/AdventurerFran

Utah Parks

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3. Flickr
I’ve just started uploading some of my blog photos onto Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franwest. The photos have my name and also my website on them. In the actual description of the photos I include “This photo appears in (the URL of my blogs)” so if people like my photos they might want to read the blog posts which contain the photos. As a newcomer to Flickr, I still have a lot to learn but putting the photos into sets and joining groups related to the photos can lead to more people searching on your website.

These are just three ways to increase traffic to your site but in the end it does depend on how often you blog and what you blog about.

To prove a point, however, I stopped blogging on two of my websites to see if traffic was still coming to the sites and in what form. In both this blog and http://utahparks.blogspot.com, the traffic sources have continued to be image searches, so imagine how much more traffic I could have had if I’d kept posting regularly to the blogs and inserting more photos.

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Natural Bridges Naturally Bridge the Gap

Natural Bridges National Monument, in southeastern Utah, is another fine example of nature's architectural design. The entrance to the park is at the end of Highway 275, approximately 35 miles west of Blanding, Utah, on Highway 95. Driving time from Blanding is roughly 45 minutes.

The entrance sign to the park really accentuates the natural bridge theme.

The next place to stop of course is the Visitor Centre to view the interesting displays and pick up a brochure highlighting the park's features. The Visitor Center is up at about 6,500 feet (about 2,000 metres) but it's still set in desert country and on a sunny day it's hot, hot, hot!

A day or two need to be set aside for this park but as usual for me it was just a quick trip by car around the one way circuit. The lookouts are well marked but parking on a busy day can be a problem. You can see the highlights of the park from the lookouts but this is a park that you need to spend time walking around. The bridges definitely need to be viewed from beneath as well as from above. The different perspective can only be obtained by walking on the trails not just glimpsing from the lookout. Remember to wear a big hat (like my trusty Akubra), put on the sunscreen and take plenty of water. This is very thirsty country.

There are three famous bridges, Sipapu, Kachina and Owachomo (pictured) but I just loved the desert country (maybe because I'm Australian). As well as the natural architecture, the vegetation is worth investigating too. Not just the trees but also the flowers. Reminds me a bit of Australia.

Here's more information about Natural Bridges National Monument.

I've found a few books which might be worth looking into.



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Take Time Out To Enjoy Every Achievement By Going Hot Air Ballooning In Florida

Take Time Out To Enjoy Every Achievement By Going Hot Air Ballooning In Florida. Here's one of my newsletters with Slideshare presentation and text below.

Pilot your life newsletter no. 9: Take time out to enjoy every achievement

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Pilot Your Life #9: Take time out to enjoy every achievement

This year has been particularly busy for me as I’ve already set in motion and achieved some of my goals.

In January and February I went trekking in Patagonia in southern Chile and Argentina. Then, after a week back at home to partially recover, I set off for North America to speak at the Women in Aviation International conference in Orlando, Florida.

Another speaking engagement followed that with the invitation to participate in the Women Fly! program at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Not a bad start to the year.

While in Orlando, I experienced the joy of flying in a much slower mode than usual – a hot air balloon. The flight ended up being both a time of reflection and a time for reflection.

At the Boggy Creek field, with a definite nip in the air, six balloons launched in the blinding light of the early morning sun. The biggest balloon headed off with two smaller ones, then ours took off with two others following behind.

The launch was so gentle that we hardly realised that we were aloft. Very different to taking off in a light aircraft. No roar of the engine with the plane speeding down the runway before lift off.

Apart from the occasional noisy burst of flame from the gas cylinder to adjust the balloon’s height, the flight was so peaceful. Just drifting along without a care in the world and having a bird’s eye view of the land below.

Quite amazing really that I could look out and down and not feel the fear of heights, particularly as the basket wasn’t very deep and there were no seat belts.

As we floated over the swamp, we saw the reflection of the other balloon below. That in turn sparked another reflection.

I reflected back on my holiday in South America. It involved some quite arduous trekking to reach many of the stunning scenic spots in Torres del Paine and Fitzroy National Parks. Once again this was partly to prove that I could complete the walk despite the knee, feet and back injuries from the car accident a few years ago. But I really just wanted to achieve another goal that I’d set myself. Satisfying yet exhausting.

Consequently, the balloon flight, where I relaxed, did nothing (except take photographs), and just enjoyed the experience, was my reward to me for my achievement in South America.

So, another great tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:

Take time out to enjoy every achievement
Treat yourself to something special and enjoy the moment.
It’s great to achieve goals, but remember to reward yourself as you go.
It encourages you to keep striving for the next goal and success does breed success.

Two of my presentation topics are:

Setting and achieving goals
Success