The holiday season is a great time to show our friends and family how much they mean to us; A great time to reflect back on the year and remember the good times and all the laughs. It is however 2020; We are in the middle of another shut down and most public places are once again closed and this busy season of holiday season and photography has been a very uncomfortable rollercoaster ride BUT, what if we don't want to go out and potentially put ourselves and loved ones at risk. Well, I have come up with some wonderful ideas for you to consider for your loved ones this holiday season. Here are 5 great inexpensive gift ideas:
1. Bring an old photo to life
This is one of my favorites! This is so personal that I recommend it the most. This does require some professional or photo editing techniques to do a proper restoration but it is so wonderful when done. I highly recommend this for parents and grandparents. Imagine them seeing an old photo of themself restored beautifully. awwww
Below are a few of mine. I can't love this enough!
2. Yearly Photo Album
Your phones and devices already put your photos of the year in a folder. Pick out a few of your favorites or from other albums and make a photo album out of them. You can do this several ways; here are 3 from inexpensive to the most expensive:
Get a wireless inexpensive photo paper at home, print, and then have someone put them together.
There are online services you upload and design your album yourself and get shipped to your door. Here is Shutterfly. Have a good number of inexpensive books. I recommend supporting your local printing shops. They can easily put one together and you keep the locals happy.
Have someone edit the photos print and make a book for you. Obviously this is the best quality and way of doing it. Your professional person will make sure the images have a uniform look and message and are curated the right way. So good AND you BOTH get the surprise when you get it! yayyy!
3. Print and Frame an old forgotten photo
Have a professional or non professional photo? don't worry about who took it! Do you love it? is it special to you? then print it! Your phone photo might still be excellent and high quality enough. Have a professional photographer or retoucher take a look, edit it for you and print it for you. Nothing melts a heart more than a trip down memory lane with a genuine happy photo.
4. Ordinary Is Boring
There are so many cool products that are cheap but yet so cool and fun. Custom thumb drives, T-shirts, Cups, Pillow Casings, and so many more! Look at the guys at Photo Moon Lamp with some great festive solutions and I love this Idea below. Cute and nothing like sitting there and pull out a strip of memory. I haven't tried it myself yet but it's a neat idea.
5. Turn your life into a movie on iPhone!
Your phone already does slideshows (Go into an album and look around) use this feature for your favorite photos and videos; Then, make slideshows with no music. Then you can airplay it to your TV with your favorite song in the background. You could create a simple video like this on a good number of editing software out there and mix your own music. Keep in mind that if you don't have the copyrights to the song, then google or other social apps will mute your audio. You can always have someone in the industry put together a really professional one with all the legal actions so you don't have to.