Photo Valentine Gift

Valentine’s Day is much more than a box of chocolates (plus I prefer fruity candy anyways)!  My husband and I have been married for 13 years and it’s more about spending time together than a fantastic gift.  However, the thought of something personal is always unique and nothing is more personal than a photo with a special connection.  So this year give a photo Valentine gift.

One of my favorite things to do, partly because I love photography, is to take pictures of a place or something that holds special memories and give that as a gift to my husband.  So let’s talk about photo gifts.

Taking pictures of sentimental items or places you’ve been is a always a great gift!

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How To Take a great photo for a Valentine’s gift?

Sentimental Items

Finding the perfect item is sometimes easy and other times it might be a bit challenging.  Try to find something that has special meaning or fond memories.  Possibly something that they don’t see everyday.  For example, my husband has wonderful memories of his grandparents.  His grandpa was so talented and could play any instrument. Whenever my husband went to his grandparents he remembered playing around on musical instruments at their house.

When his grandparents passed away, my husband inherited a few of those instruments.  One is an accordion, which doesn’t quite fit on a shelf, so they are stored in our basement.  One Valentine’s day I surprised him by taking photos of the instruments and framed them for our living room.  This way he can see them and remember his grandparents. 

Places For A Photo Valentine Gift

Places have the ability to bring back the most wonderful memories!  Where you went on your first date, the location where he proposed, or even your favorite everyday places. 

When Kyle and I were dating, we took the train down to Chicago for the day.  The tickets were actually a Christmas gift to him from me.  It was the first time Kyle had ever been to the windy city.  I had black and white film, yes….film!  I took this picture, which is still one of my favorite pictures, and framed it for him the following Valentine’s day.  It always reminds us of our first trip to Chicago!

Tips For A Photo Valentine Gift

If you are not comfortable taking photos, here are a few tips.  Remember I am far from being an expert and I don’t have any fancy equipment.  However, my two main areas of focus would be lighting and editing!

Lighting

For taking pictures of items, one of the biggest tips I can give you is even light.  To get even light (or filtered light), you can use tissue paper!  I have a big bay window in my kitchen and the light comes in really bright, almost too strong at certain times.  To help filter the light, I tape tissue paper onto all the windows.  The goal is to have even light, not a lot of bright spots and minimal shadows.  Hanging tissue paper is different, but if you don’t have all the photography equipment, it works like a charm!

If I am not by a big window to take a picture, I use the flash on the camera…but wrap Kleenex around the flash to diffuse it.  It’s not fool proof, but definitely helps if you don’t have a nice indoor flash.

Editing

I have Photoshop, but now do most of my photo editing in PicMonkey because it is easier to use.  PicMonkey is so easy to use, any beginner will be able to jump right in!  Editing your photos will take a great photo and make it amazing! 

Below is a photo I was editing.  As you can see the side menu is pretty simple.

You can get a free trial by clicking on the banner below, but just a heads up, there is a small monthly fee to use the program after the free trial ends (around $5.99-$7.99 a month).

Editing allows you to add incredible effects to enhance the photo.  It allows you to add text, overlays, and so much more.  Here are some of the effects you can add in PicMonkey.  I used the same picture with several different effects so you can see the difference.

Original photo:

Orton Effect

Lomo Effect

Film Stock Effect

Snowflake Theme

Gritty Effect

Photo’s are the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day!  Making your pictures look great isn’t as hard as you think.  So go to that special place and take a picture or find an item dear to your loved ones heart. 

Small thoughtful gifts will be remembered for a lifetime!

Thanks so much for checking out my post!