Basic Tips to Take Perfect Photo for a Canvas

Expensive cameras do not equate to perfect photos on canvas!  However, following some basic techniques and a good camera can get you the perfect shot!  Some basic steps and suggestions from our end to get your perfect shot for the canvas:

1. Set your camera to ‘Highest’ Quality Mode & Ensure Enough Free Memory

Your camera or phone may be able to take photos of a certain amount of pixels, but this doesn't necessarily mean that all photos taken will be captured using the highest pixels possible. So, ensure that your camera is set to high quality mode and there is enough memory.  For example, if your camera or SD card is low on memory, your camera may automatically switch to taking photos using fewer pixels in order to save them to your device – the smaller the pixels the smaller the file. This, of course, will cause quality problems and when printed on canvas, this distortion will be obvious.

2. Straighten the Horizon

Always pay attention to the lines and horizons in your photograph, even if you are taking a portrait. This is because unintentional angular lines throw off the balance of the photograph – the eye prefers level lines instead of uneven angles. This is even more important when considering a canvas, as your print will be hung on a wall above a fireplace, bed, or sofa. With straight lines surrounding your canvas, your image will look extremely out of place if it has been taken at an awkward angle.

Don't just look in the foreground – the background needs to be level too. There is a really easy way to make sure everything in your picture lines up, and most phones allow you to do this too. In your settings you will have the option of turning your viewfinder on or off. If you turn it on, you will see vertical and horizontal rulers on your screen that will allow you to align your images correctly. You can then view your photos normally without the viewfinder on.

3. Shoot in a Good Light

Lighting is very important when it comes to taking photographs and even average lighting can define the difference between an amazing picture and a poor one. For printing on a canvas, you will need to take photos in a setting with a lot of natural light in order to get the highest quality print possible. If you are using a mobile phone or a compact camera try to avoid using flash and taking photographs in dark settings as the image you take will distort when it is printed big.

If you stand with the light behind you when taking a photograph, the subject of your shot will naturally light up, avoiding shadows across their structure. This isn't just relevant for portraits as photographs of nature, landscapes and buildings will be the same.

4. Stabilize – Use a Tripod

Steadiness of your hand is very crucial to the final outcome of your shot. Many a times, the difference between a great and a good shot is how steady was your hand when the shot was taken. Good old tripods can be very handy to provide that steadiness especially when it comes to nature photography, shooting landscapes and sporting shots!

These basic tips can result in great photos.  Great Photos make beautiful canvases!  Canvases make everlasting memories!  At Print Arcade, we look forward to giving your photos a life of its own through our canvases – a cheap but treasured way to soak into your memories

50 Shades of Sky on the Canvas

When it comes to choosing an image to print on to canvas, most people stick to the tried and tested formats: their family and children, landscapes, pets, etc. How about trying something different – something that looks absolutely brilliant when printed really large. Any guesses? Just step outside on a clear day or clear night, look up and tell us what you see...
Twinkle Twinkle Millions of Star

We’re absolutely inspired by the beauty of the night sky. Take a look up on a clear night in the outback and the view is breath-taking. For example, the night sky at Uluru is teaming with millions of stars. It’s a perfect fit for canvas on a bedroom wall or a study room. Just take a look at these images that we found on erstwhile www.dollarphotoclub.com (now Adobe Stock) available for download for one single dollar! Any of these skyscapes would look stellar printed large on a bedroom wall, and they’re just a small selection of those available.

The Blue Sky

Clear blue skies with its formation of white clouds lend itself to some amazing photos and pictures for canvases. Any of them can find a place in your living room giving it that extra persona of its own!
The Orange Sky

Mornings and Evenings provide perfect time to get colorful orange, red and pink skies which can run a color riot on canvas! And we have not even started talking about the sunrise and sunset photos which themselves are so magical!!

So go out and take beautiful shots…and Print Arcade will help you make them into treasured artefacts on your walls!

Your Kid’s Artwork on Canvas

Your kid’s childhood is synonymous with creativity! Right from the age they learn to hold a crayon or pencil, their whole world and your home becomes their canvas! Walls, papers, magazines, clothes, their bodies – all are coloured reflecting their creativity at most unexpected times and unexpected places! Here are three of our favourite ideas on how to build lasting memories out of your kid’s artwork:

Digitize – Take photo of all artwork
Digital cameras and photos are a boon – take snaps of as many artwork as you can OR scan them. Many times the artworks lend themselves to beautiful collages which can then be captured on a canvas for lasting memories.

Photos of models and 3D art work
Little Kids love making paper models, clay models, legworks while older kids love doing different kinds of wooden, metal and electronic models. Photos of these models are a great reminder of creativity of your kids and putting a life sized canvas picture of the models is a great way to remember their best creative moment

Face paintings
Little kids may get as many as 10 face-paintings done every year in their growing up years. Sometimes they get creative and do their own body-painting too! Capture all these moments and build a beautiful collage. This collage on your canvas will remind you of how much colour was a part of your kid’s formative years!

So, go ahead and capture your kid’s artwork on a photo and we will help them put them on beautiful canvas prints at cheap prices!

Cool Tips for Snow Canvases in Australia

With Australia heading into winter and expecting its first snowfall of the winter, many fair-weather photographers will be snuggling up in front of the fire keeping warm... but the more adventurous among you will want to get out and capture this winter wonderland on camera. This week we share our top tips for shooting great snow pictures.  These snow pictures can be put on elegant canvases in a cheap and effective manner and be made the center pieces of attraction of your home!

1. Early to Rise and Early to Shoot!

Part of the magic of shooting in the snow is capturing those untouched shots before anyone has walked through it. Wrap up warm and head out as soon as the snow has finished falling, because you can guarantee that it won’t stay fresh for long!

Early mornings many times are the best times to be out and about shooting beautiful pictures!

2. Lighting is the key - Get your exposure right!

Winter and Snow means – lots of dark and white! Our camera generally do a pretty good job of exposing our images correctly for us - but, when it comes to scenes with lots of black or white it can struggle.

Every camera is designed to expose as close to medium grey as possible, which is fine for an evenly lit scene, but in a situation like a snowy day with lots of sunshine, your camera sees all that bright white and tries to balance it by underexposing the entire scene. The answer is to dial in between +1 and +2 stops of exposure compensation.

You should be able to do this with any reasonable spec camera from a compact through to a DSLR. Try it and see how white your snow becomes!

3. Shoot raw OR with a warmer white balance

Shooting raw rather than jpeg gives you the opportunity to recover a lot of detail from any blown highlights in post-production, should you overdo the exposure compensation. You’ll also have a chance to deal with any white balance issues that might occur because your camera will probably make your snow look a little blue. If your camera doesn’t have the ability to shoot raw don’t worry! Choosing a warmer white balance – either cloudy or flash – should get you in the right ballpark.

4. Do not forget spare batteries

Because batteries drain much quicker in cold conditions it’s a good idea to have a couple of spares with you. Instead of leaving them in your bag you can keep them warm by putting them in a pocket close to your skin.

5. Click without waiting to check

Click…click..click – follow the basic digital photography rule to avoid losing the important moment. Winter and snow can be tough time to do family portraits outside when everyone will want to quickly get into warmer insides OR to even hold camera with your fingers and nose freezing – so, do not wait for the perfect moment but keep clicking!  You are bound to capture many beautiful moments.

Hope the above tips help you shoot some winter classics and we can help them put them on beautiful canvas prints! For more help, please visit our Print Arcade official website - http://printarcade.com.au