How to Compile an Impressive Slideshow from Travel Photos

Koh Lipeh Thailand

To be quite frank the majority of travel slideshows can be a bit boring and tedious. More
often than not they come off as a collection of random photos from a trip, and are way too long.

If you want to compile an impressive slideshow that actually draws makes people
interested, there are a few things that you need to do:

  1. Decide on the story that you’re going to tell

Think about the narrative of your slideshow, and the story that you want it to tell – and try to focus it on a specific topic. The goal should be for the story to showcase the emotions that you felt on your trip, and convey that to the people that are watching.


2. Curate the photos and select only the best

Based on the narrative you’ve decided on, you should start to curate the photos from your trip. Only the very best photos should make the cut, and you should keep the total number of photos small so that the slideshow isn’t too long.

Typically about 20 photos is a good number, as that will create a slideshow of about 1 minute and 40 seconds if each photo is displayed for 5 seconds.

Any photos that have poor quality should be immediately discarded. Of those that remain, you should think about how they can be arranged to best tell the story. Don’t be afraid to break the chronological order if you feel it would help.


3. Make sure all the photos are uniform

Every photo in your slideshow should be uniform in terms of its dimensions, orientation, and color.

In some cases you may have to rotate some photos or crop them in order to make them fit. If you must you could even resize certain photos – though you should be careful that it doesn’t affect their quality.

As a rule it helps to color correct all your photos so that none look too out of place. On top of that however you should try to select photos that don’t vary too much in terms of their colors – or group them together at very least.


4. Find the right music for the slideshow

The background music that you choose to accompany your slideshow should be specifically designed to complement the mood of its story. It could be tense, mysterious, high-paced, serene, or something else entirely.

Make it a point to browse collections of royalty-free music if you want to get an idea
of some of the options that are out there.


5. Use transitions – but sparingly

Placing transitions between some of your travel photos can help to accentuate specific points in your slideshow. For example, a fade out transition at the end could draw it to a close.

However you should take care that you don’t use too many transitions as it can be distracting for viewers. More importantly if your slideshow is full of transitions it will look really tacky.

Actually learning how to make a slideshow with music is the easy part, and all you need is a decent slideshow software. For example you could try Movavi Slideshow Maker if you need one that has all the bells and whistles that you could possibly require.

At the end of the day if you follow the steps described above you should end up with a travel photo slideshow that is much more compelling and interesting to viewers. In fact you can use what you now know to actually snap better travel photos – with an eye towards eventually compiling them into a very impressive slideshow.

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LET’S CONNECT

Empowered Kids Corner: Following Dad’s Footsteps

Great things start from small beginnings.

Most often than not success whatever its magnitude is, always begin with a small step forward.  This tiny effort may seem insignificant, easy but it actually makes a whole lot of difference; and could be difficult and a scary thing to do. It takes courage, support from loved ones, and a bit of “You’re dong great!”,”Keep up the good job!” here and there.

Summer showed a flair for photography early on.  Whether it is a prognostic sign of the future or just a momentary hobby she finds interesting, my husband and I see to it that she is encouraged and given every opportunity. She enjoys tagging along with her Dad’s photography group SOMCHAI Studios .

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Her photos started from these….

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to these…

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Kids usually obey and take heed of advises from people they trust.  Fear and doubt hinder this.  That is why parents and teachers play a crucial role. If we could only create an environment of acceptance, encouragement, and trust for all children, then, they would surely reach great things.

What do you think of Summer’s photos?

What small beginnings have your children started?

This corner showcases all the creative things our little ones do, captured in photos. Be featured here by submitting your kid’s photos at mitchelle.juaban@gmail.com with a description. 
Disclaimer: By submitting your photos to mitchelle.juaban@gmail.com you are affirming you own the copyright to the photo and that you give permission for MitchRyan’s Blog to reuse your image anywhere on the website, including but not limited to the MitchRyan’s Blog, as well as using your image on MitchRyan’s pages on social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest. 
 

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Don’t Delete Old Boring Photos

 

  • As an amateur photographer shooting for 3 years or so now, I have accumulated hundreds of folders of RAW files in my laptop. I was wondering what to do with them. I have already deleted the unusable files but still there a lot of ‘em nicely taken photos but not good enough for photo competitions. Then I came upon this CS6 Photoshop tutorial by Serge Ramelli on YouTube that gave me a golden idea on what to do with my stored photos.

So I started experimenting. I am no Photoshop expert so please bear with me.

I started mixing and matching photos that may have been taken very well but the scene is boring with photos that are exciting enough to catch attention but the framing was not well taken… ^_^ so mixing both photos might get it somewhere in between the positive notes. ^_^

Sometimes you might catch a great moment but that great moment is not picturesque enough.

Last week I took a photo of this beached cargo ship on the shores of Songkhla beach. The actual feeling of looking at this behemoth vessel is not given due justice by the original photo i took. And here is the actual photo.

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So I sort of played around with it. I found an old photo of clouds I took 2 years ago and combined it and voila.

1t      +      3t

 

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As I got more excited I looked for other old photos that may be compatible with it and did another rendition of it.

1t    +    5t

4a

And here is another one.

t    +    5t

5aa

I uploaded these 3 photos on Pixoto.com and got their respective awards. Though they did not get first place I am happy to be in the top 10 out of hundreds of photos submitted every day. ^_^

6aa

 

7aa

 

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Some boring photos might be worth storing in your hard drive so think twice before you start deleting files. ^_^ Cheers!

 

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The Cheap Canon 55-250mm IS Zoom Lens Review 

Why I Chose The Canon 24-105 mm IS USM L Lens

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Upon reading the title some of you might be confused and say “What?! An L lens is a Pauper’s Lens?” Calm down, calm down. Put down the torches and pitch forks and let me explain.

Seriously the Canon 24-105mm IS USM L Lens is by no means a pauper’s lens. In fact this is a very pricey lens in its category. But it does not mean a pauper like me can’t save up and get this lens for the proper reasons. Spending a fortune on this lens actually will save me few thousand bucks in the long run and save me the hassle of selling a camera lens I no longer can use. So, why did I choose to have this? It’s because I can use it now with my current DSLR and would still be able to use it when I go full frame in the distant future.

I needed an all around lens I can use with my current DSLR body which is the 550D. A lot of my friends were suggesting the 17-55 f2.8 or the new 15-85mm. I know these 2 are great lenses. I have tried out these two lenses and they were fantastic for the crop framed DSLR’s. Others suggested the 18-135mm and the 18-200mm lens (which were no better than my kitlens). But the thing is I won’t be able to use them when I upgrade to a full frame. So, i will have to sell them, haggle with the price, etc etc and then add some more money and get a full frame compatible lens. And that is a big hassle.

With my current DSLR body the 24-105 is a great walk around lens. Not to mention it is a very sharp lens, built like a tank, weather sealed, full time manual focus. creamy bokeh, smooth zoom and focus rings,and an f4 all through out. It is my go to lens for out of the country travels and road trips and portraiture. And during times when I want to bring only one lens this is the lens I choose to bring. Well it is not that I have much to brag in my lens arsenal but the thing is I still use my 18-55 kit lens for landscape and big group photography and my 55-250 zoom for portraiture and Zoo photography.

I chose to drop my fortune on this lens because it fits exactly the description of the lens that I need. A walk around lens that I can use now with my 550D and can still use in the near future with a full frame body. And most of all it is an L lens. Cheers!

Two Photographers And A Bear

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Two wild life photographers are trapped inside their tent. A hungry grizzly bear prowling around the campsite looking for food to eat.

Tog1: What are you doing?

Tog2: Putting on my sneakers.

Tog1: What’s the point!? Do you know that bears can outrun even an average runner!?

Tog2: Yup I know that!

Tog1: So what in the world are you wearing your sneakers for?

Tog2: Do you know that wearing sneakers will increase your running speed by 10-20%?

Tog1: Yup I know that! but still the bear is going to out run you idiot!

Tog2: True! But you are not wearing any sneakers. So, all I have to do is out run you!

black camera lens

The Nifty Fifty Canon 50mm 1.8 Lens Review

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Being a teacher does not really rake in a lot of dough. And if you are a Photography enthusiast at the same time it would be a bit of a drag gathering all the goodies of photography.  Well, it is not really that bad I should say. Even for a family man like me.

For someone like me who is always on a tight budget(LOL), I make it a point to find something that is rather good but still within my budget. Search and research is the key.

For this review I will be talking about  the Canon’s nifty fifty. The good ole 50mm f1.8 Mk ii.

But let it be known… This review is not a professional review. This is a users review.

This lens has received a lot of very good feed backs from users.(My self included) It is quite popular in the country where I come from and very popular here in the country where I am living at present.

Let us start talking about why it is sought by many beginners and budget photographers like me. First, the price. At 3000 Thb (94 USD) this lens was really intriguing. This was the first lens I bought to boost my photography arsenal. But of course before I threw in the dough, I dug out all of the reviews of this lens in the internet. Scouring you-tube and blog sites with tags of this lens. Almost all of them had the same thing to say… “GET THIS LENS!” Second, at f1.8 this lens is really enticing. An f1.8 means a lot of light can pass through the lens and into the sensor and that is a good thing for low light photography, for blurring out back grounds, portraits, even for video this lens is awesome. And the last but not the least… it is a prime lens… no zooms.. a fixed focal length lens and this means it should be a sharp lens… and it is indeed a  very sharp lens! Well nothing comparable to an L lens but it is indeed plenty sharp.

Now nothing is ever perfect. A lot of people would be asking… “If this is such a good lens then why is it so cheap!?”

That would start me off talking about its down sides. This lens being a very cheap lens manifests its cheapness in its physical build. The first time I held it.. it felt like a toy. I had doubts when I went down to the camera store to buy it. But being in a very tight budget I had no choice. I badly needed a prime lens for portraiture at that time . The plastics it is made out of is really cheap looking. It jiggles about when you give it a shake. LOL!  The focus ring rotates when focusing. Not to mention it is quite.. I mean really loud. You would be able to hear it when focusing. Another complaint of pro-photographers is that it gives a pentagon-ish to oval-ish shape bokeh. Unlike the L-lenses. The bokeh it produces is round-ish.

images (1) images

To some photographers these downsides are deal-breakers. To some, a challenge. For me, these downsides are ignorable.(Is that even a word?) I have used this lens for a very long time. I have enjoyed the results it gives. And for me Photography is all about enjoyment.IMG_3958 aaabbbccc-2-Edit-1

If you want the best value for your money this is the lens for you.

P.S If you have the money to burn get the Canon 50mm 1.2 L lens. If you are planning of turning pro but don’t want to burn that much cash, get the Canon 50mm 1.4 USM lens. Cheers!

If I had missed out something, or  made a mistake about something please feel free to leave a comment down below!

 

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The Most Under Rated Canon Lens: Canon 18-55mm IS Kit Lens

The Canon 18-55mm IS kit lens is perhaps the most under rated lens in the canon line up. You would hear a lot of newbies ranting about how bad this lens is… why they have not gotten the optional 18-135 mm lens etc etc… with out even giving this lens a proper and or a fair use. Most of the common complaints would be the lack of focus ring, poor build quality and last would be the rotating barrel tip. Other subjective complaints would be… it’s size… just because it’s small most newbies think it is uncool or unmanly.(yep even in photography some people think size matters LOL!) And they would often shy away from other photographers with bigger lenses. Others would think; because this lens is cheap it equates to poor image quality. I have used this lens for a year and i would say i have given it a fair share of use and learned photography using it. Experience wise this lens has given me good quality pictures. It is fairly sharp though with a slight distortion at its widest focal length(but it’s not something a PS can’t correct). While it may not have a stellar performance as an L lens (Luxury Lens) would but i would say that it does give an excellent photo for its price.

The Canon 18-55mm IS kit lens produces better IQ than the favored Canon 18-135mm and the  Canon 18-200mm IS. This lens also does not fall that far behind in terms of IQ from the more expensive Canon 17-85mm IS USM and the new Canon 15-85mm IS USM Canon lenses.

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The three most common problems raised by most people/critique (who most probably have not used this lens) is not actually a big problem in actual practice.

1. The absence of the focus ring may sound atrocious when read in a review or when mentioned in video reviews. But,  it is not really a big problem in actual practice. A lens hood can be used as an alternate focus ring. But the thing is, as a beginner my personal experience was that I used AF(auto Focus) all the time.

2. The poor build quality they have been complaining about is actually unfair to say to this lens. It is fairly made out of nice plastics that is even textured to mimic the alloy body of some premium lenses. OK,  I know that will not equate to a good build quality but comparing it to other third party lens in its price range this lens is better built.  The absence of a metal mount, well, the lens is so light that having a metal mount would be an over-kill.

3. The rotating barrel tip has always been a major issue with photographers. Yes this is true if you are already into filters and what not. But, for the beginners, in actual practice, very few go into filters right away. Most beginners would be so preoccupied with rule of thirds and framing and just taking pictures of whatever they see around them thus making this claim null and void.

I highly recommend the 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens most especially to beginners who just got their first DSLR and to hobbyists who are on a tight budget. For beginners this is the best lens there is… it is light and has image stabilization. The reach may not be long but there is a complimenting lens.. the 55-250mm IS telephoto lens which is also an excellent lens for its price. But that would be another review.

Hope this review helps newbies like me out there confusing themselves with what lens to buy to immediately replace their kit lens with.. I suggest you try this lens out first, make the most out of it, learn from it.

Pros:

Image Stabilization

Light weight

Very Cheap

IQ is better than most 3rd party lens in its price range

IQ is better than the more sought and more expensive Canon 18-135mm IS and the 18-200mm IS walk around lenses.

IQ does not fall that far behind from other more expensive Canon lens in its category (eg. 17-85mm IS USM and the 15-85mm IS USM).

Cons:

No focus ring

Poor build quality

Rotating barrel tip

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Summer Photoshoot

 

Summer collage

Our little girl likes to pose for the camera anytime anywhere.  This is her recent pictures.  My husband was just cleaning his camera and stuff when she said, “Papa take my picture”.

As a mom I love it.  It’s something that I wanted to do when I was young, but never had the chance. Now, she’s fulfilling it for me.  She’s a natural.  She is photogenic.  Something that I am fruitlessly trying to be until now, lol.

qqeustWhat do you think?

 

 

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Do you have a lot of pictures but were never in any of them? (Is carrying a tripod worth the hassle)

 

The hassle of lugging around a heavy tripod during photography is no longer new to any photographer. Others, would even choose the heaviest and the most stable tripod especially if they will be shooting on water(ie. beach, lakes) or on windy locations.

But for a non-professional photographer who just likes to shoot some scenery with the family, is it worth the hassle of carrying a tripod?

For me… it is a big YES!!! Whether your cam is a DSLR or a point and shoot camera it is always convenient to have a tripod.

1. First reason… the photographer can join the picture taking.

Have you ever gone on a trip or celebrate an occasion where some one is always missing in the photos? and then everybody just says… “oh he was the one behind the camera” LOL!

2. It won’t be such a bother asking someone you don’t know to take the photo.

A tripod won’t be complaining if you ask it to hold and shoot the camera again.

3. A tripod has got very steady hands! ^_^ LOL!

4. You would be able to pose with out holding back or feel shy knowing that the tripod won’t really mind at all.

These are some of our family shots taken using a Benro tripod.

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Leave your comments and creative responses below ^_^
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