Photographs as wrapped canvas wall art

One way of using your photographs is to upload them to a Print On Demand website like Zazzle.

I've just opened a new store on Zazzle: Fran West Photography. 

It "specialises in unique wall art for home, corporate and commercial use. Wall art brings flair, elegance and style to your spaces. It provides an instant colour palette and creates a focal point. It brings a sense of texture and makes spaces appear finished. Make a statement or set the mood with original photographs from Australian pilot/adventurer, Fran West (Adventurer Fran)".

At the moment there are eight categories to search through, with some categories expanding even further. Click here to go to the website.

You can choose to have the wrapped canvas in colour, sepia or black & white.​

Various sizes, widths and styles of the actual canvas can also be customised to your taste and you can even add your own text to the wall art.

Please drop by and have a look. More products will be added during the coming months.

Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue Inc.

I love to photograph animals and birds in order to put their photos into my DVDs or on products in places like CafePress and Zazzle (http://www.cafepress.com.au/profile/franwest1 and http://www.zazzle.com/adventurerfran).

One of the animal programmes which I watch is Bondi Vet.

Last episode had the Twinnies and their Pelican & Seabird Rescue place, so I decided to make a donation to help them out. They're located in Queensland.

If you want to help out here's the site: http://twinnies.com.au/. Every little bit counts!

Greater Flamingo at the Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

Last year, "Greater", the Greater Flamingo at the Adelaide Zoo, South Australia, died at the ripe old age of 83 years.

I remember seeing the flamingo standing on one leg right from the time when I was a child many years ago.

The bird was beautiful with its stately plumage and not much went unnoticed as the bird watched people pass by its home.

I'm sure its photo has been taken countless times but here's the photo which I took and made into a series of interactive jigsaw puzzles.

I've had the pleasure of seeing flamingos in the wild when I was trekking in South America, but they were never that close that I could have touched them like "Greater" at the Adelaide Zoo.

Maybe you don't agree with animals and birds being kept in captivity, but many modern zoos these days love and respect the creatures they care for and provide them with food, a home, safety (free from predators) and their own free medical health plan.

And for the people who aren't able to travel to places from where the animals come, zoos provide a tiny glimpse of wildlife which lives on our planet.

Animal and bird photography can be a bit tricky at times, so patience is required. Standing or sitting quietly and not making any sudden movements is also essential.

In a walk-in bird aviary a telephoto lens isn't really necessary unless you want close ups of plumage etc. However, a telephoto or zoom lens can be of real benefit when photographing in the wild and you are unable to get really close to the subject.

The Birds Interactive Jigsaw Puzzle CD is available for purchase below. Here's the link for more information on my jigsaw puzzles on CD.

Birds Jigsaw Puzzles CD

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

Here's the link to my beautiful local zoo - the Adelaide Zoo.

"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.

Outback Adventure DVD Nearing Completion

"Outback Adventure" DVD highlighting photos from "Off the Beaten Track", earlier in September, is nearing completion. It will be released in both PAL format (for Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom) and also NTSC format (for the USA, Canada, Europe and South America).

There will be at least 260 photos (without captions) featuring South Australia's Outback, Gammon Ranges and Flinders Ranges. Wildlife, windmills and wildflowers all make an appearance. Mini adventures like the Pichi Richi Railway journey and the Ridge Top Tour at Arkaroola are there too.

Visits to Alligator Gorge, the Ochre Pits and Leigh Creek Coal Field are included as well. Signs, buildings, vehicles and people make an appearance alongside trees, creeks and beautiful scenery.

Did I mention there are planes in it too?

What more could you want as a snapshot of the Australian Bush?

A video snippet will be posted as soon as the DVD's completed (probably after Christmas or in early January).

If you'd like to reserve a copy at AUD$25.00 contact me at fran@franwest.com.

P.S. the wildflowers on the DVD label are South Australia's floral emblem, the Sturt Desert Pea, (absolutely stunning in the Wearing Gorge).

I'm not an Ugly Duckling! Video Clip

Black swans are a feature on the River Torrens which runs through Adelaide, capital of South Australia.

There's a walk and cycle path which winds its way alongside the river and it's a favourite place for workers and tourists alike.

Just lovely to see the cygnet with the adult swan, very different in plumage.