Over the last year or two, I’ve developed the habit of putting together a photo book following each photo adventure I take. Creating a photo book is a great to bundle together those photo experiences into a convenient format for sharing with friends or just to keep on your coffee table to help you keep your own memories.
I just finished putting together the one for the Mystic Forest Workshop with Michael Frye.
A few weeks ago I did one for the Jay Maisel Workshop.
I’ve been using iPhoto ’11 for these books and enjoy the editing process of putting them together. For my photo books, I’ve been using iPhoto ’11’s Picture Book theme – in softcover and the medium size option (8×6 inches). I find this format is just right for these adventure-specific books. I use Lightroom as my primary photo management application. To create a new photo book, I first find the images (“selects”) I want to use in Lightroom and export them as full size JPEGs to a folder. I then fire up iPhoto ’11 and create a new library (important!) – putting it and the selects in a new, separate folder in my Photo Books folder. It’s important to just do one photo book per iPhoto library – keeps things simpler and better organized. I think import the selects into iPhoto and start creating the new photo book.
I also do an annual portfolio photo book of my “best” images from the year – something I start in November and like to have finishing in time to have portfolio books to use as gifts with family. For my annual portfolio books, I use the same Picture Book theme also in softcover but the larger version. It’s more expensive but provides a more substantial book of great images.
On Friday, Apple announced that it would be moving to a new Photos application beginning in Mac OS X Yosemite – and no longer enhancing either iPhoto or Aperture. I’ve really come to appreciate the quality of the iPhoto books – and I hope that Apple continues to provide great photo book printing options in the new Photos app going forward!
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