My dad is so excited to be a grandfather.  He adores my little girl and seeing him with her reminds me of all the fun times I had with my dad when I was young.  That was the inspiration for the gift I chose for Father’s Day this year.  I decided to set up a picture of my dad and all his girls in one beautiful image.  In order to make it even better, I’ve decided to use Canvas Press to produce the image in a photo to canvas print.
Using canvas press is very easy.  You log onto their website, www.canvaspress.com, upload your digital image and select the size you want your finished canvas to be.  Does it sound like something you might be interested in?  Here’s a list of questions and set-up steps I followed when creating my image:

1. Decide on your overall image theme:  What do you want this image to say?  For my image, I wanted a picture that featured my father, my two sisters and me, and our daughters.  I wanted the image to evoke a feeling of pride from my father as he looked at all his girls and the adoration we all felt for him.
2. Where do you want to shoot your picture?:  The location of the shoot is something you should plan in advance.  If you are going to have multiple people in the shot, this becomes even more important.  Also, if you are going to use an outdoor location, make sure to give yourself extra time before the shoot to clean up the area if needed.  Tree limbs and leaves can build up over the course of a week or even a day if the weather is bad.
3. Coordinate and schedule: Even if you are the only person in the image, you still need someone to take the picture.  Make a few calls and schedule the event out a little bit so that everyone has time to make the shoot.  Also, set expectations for the outing appropriately.  If you have to err on the time, a lot more than you actually need.  This will also help with morale on the day of because no one will feel rushed.
4. Clothing is key:  In a group shot, it’s a good idea to coordinate what everyone will be wearing.  Solids will look better than prints  - especially with a large group of people.  Prints will make the background look cluttered and become the focus more than the people in the shot.  No one wants to remember your sister’s bad fashion sense â€" it’s about dad.

This Father’s day, let your imagination be the only limit to what you can create with a little help from the folks at Canvas Press.