Hello there PhotoBoxers!

So as the long nights draw in, and those days spent sipping drinks in the sun get washed away, you can always trust Photobox to be the bearer of great news! We’re always really excited to launch a new product, and this one is a corker! We care about your photos as much as you do, so we know that sometimes there are those really awesome photos that deserve something a little special… cue our new Framed Canvas Prints to take your photos to a whole new level of wow!

Framed Canvas Prints use the same high quality canvas as our Canvas Prints, but with a 5.4cm deep and 1.9cm wide wooden frame, think of it as eyeliner for your photographs! All the wood we use in our frames is responsibly sourced and FCS certified, which will help you feel not so bad about those thoughts you had about Christian Grey. The range comes in 3 different finishes & 8 different sizes from a not too small 30.5cm x 20.3cm, but we think a framed canvas looks better the bigger it is, and our 76.2cm x 50.8cm frame wouldn’t look out of place on the wall of the Tate.

A frame of this quality should really be reserved for your most special memories, but we won’t tell anyone if you use a snap of your cat with a cheese single on its head. We guarantee that all of your friends’ jaws will drop when they see how stunning your photos will look framed!

At PhotoBox, we’re putting the fun back into Christmas fundraising

Yes, I can hear the groans already. Fundraising- fun? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Not when it comes to PhotoBox-powered fundraising!

We’re launching this great new programme called PhotoBox School Cards. (No, don’t start groaning again, these aren’t those painfully-posed school photos glued onto cards – not by a long way). Remember, these are PhotoBox cards. So they’re all about celebrating creativity – in this case, the creative powers of the school art lesson. Here’s how it works:

Teachers (and PTA members) organise a workshop or class project to design Christmas cards (or any other kind of card for that matter – you might as well create the Thank You cards at the same time, so there’s no excuse for not sending them after the holidays). Each teacher can then scan and upload the kids’ final designs to a secure microsite we provide at no cost to the school.

The kids take the weblink home and show off their –and their classmates’ – creative masterpieces to the family at home on the computer. The final card design process becomes a family affair – everyone can chip in, and no-one has to clean up the leftover glue and glitter afterwards. Ordering the cards – a bargain at just £7.99 for a pack of ten 5”x7” folded cards printed on high-gloss paper, with envelopes – is simplicity itself, connecting directly into the PhotoBox shopping cart. Because it’s all online, it’s easy for anyone to order the cards – all parents and teachers (and kids) need to do is let everyone have the URL.

And here’s all there is to the fundraising part – for every pack of ten cards sold, PhotoBox will return £2 to the school. It’s so easy, and all your friends and relatives will be so bowled over by the kids’ creative efforts, that no-one will even notice the fundraising part!

You could even say it’s child’s play (OK, we’ll let you groan at that one).

Now that the summer holidays are here, you’ll want to be out and about with your cameras! Annabel gives you some ideas to turn your holiday snaps into something really special.

1.   When you’re taking shots of your kids on a beach, try and compose your pictures so you can’t see the people in the background.  If it’s really busy, either zoom in close, or try shooting upright shots to help tighten the picture and shoot through the gap in between people!  Often, just by moving your own position, you can avoid things in the background.

2.  Try giving the children something to do – let them build a sandcastle, or pick up some sticks and get them to write their names in the sand.  This will provide lots of opportunities for you to zoom in and get some really natural shots, while they play – and shoot them with the sun behind them so they don’t squint when they look up at you.

3.  Try shooting a sequence of shots, rather than just one – often you can produce a set of 3 shots to go together on your wall, as with these shots of reflections in a swimming pool, below. And if you really concentrate on what is in front of you, you often start to see more detail, rather than accepting the first shot you take.

4.  For a really dynamic effect, try tilting your camera at an angle to produce a more interesting effect.

5.  Think about your compostion – there is no right and wrong – it’s a matter of personal taste!  Try moving your camera so your subject is in different areas   of the picture – left, right, centre etc – and shoot them all!   Then decide which one you like best later.

If you really love shooting pictures on holiday – give yourself a project!  Think about shooting your own photo book – this will help you concentrate on what you are shooting. So, instead of just taking one shot of something, you can spend more time thinking about how 3 shots would work together on the page of a photobook – it really makes you more creative when you have already decided your pictures are going to be on display!

Photobox are now giving you a choice of matt or gloss finish for some of your Wall Decor – images of water, sea and swimming pools for example, look amazing on glossy paper, because the colours look much brighter.  Whilst pictures of old doors & windows look great on matt paper, because it really enhances the textures.

Have a great holiday!

Annabel x

Well lately we just can’t stop ourselves, with all of the new features and products we’re adding, we’re on a roll! Over the past few months, we’ve listened to you, the customer and decided it was high time we reached your expectations and continued on our quest to make PhotoBox the best that it can be, and a big part of this was to overhaul our Photo Books creation studio.

So we took a look at why people may not find it as easy as it could be and made some really clever changes. For example: The book and your photos are displayed bigger and bolder so it’s much clearer. So clear, in fact, it makes a needle look like The Eiffel Tower! (Just kidding).  You can even choose how big you want the book to be displayed so it’s even easier! Also, when you choose to manually create your Photo Book, you can see an overview of your whole book, and drag and drop the photos as you please.

There are tons more great features and we hope this makes the already exciting experience of turning your moments into memories even better for you.

To have a go yourself, just log on to our main site, here.

Enjoy!

So you know we have an endless list of great ways to print your photos, but what you probably don’t know is you now have even more options on their finish.

That’s right! So now instead of printing your photos in matt with one of our beautiful Mounted Gallery Prints, or in gloss with one of our sturdy, stunning Aluminium Mounted Prints, you now have the option to have both in either matt or gloss! So gone are the days of having no choice, and here are the days of… choose what you like! (Almost, anyway).

This option was requested by you, the customer, so it’s great to see this now proudly displayed on our main site. Please keep your suggestions coming and keep your eyes peeled on our main site for more options coming to you very soon. In the mean time, look out for our guest blogger Annabel Williams who will be giving you tips on which kind of photos go well with each print finish. Now if that’s not the cats pajamas, what is?

What kind of Social Fab are you? Well you won’t know that if you don’t know what Social Fab is! Social Fab is a revolution about to take the world of photo printing and sharing by storm so naturally it was created and brought to life by us .

But what is Social Fab and how can you be it? Well, Social Fab is a unique service where you can use your Facebook friends’ profile pics and comments to make a one-of-a-kind, super funky piece of photo merchandise to be the envy of all of your mates.

Whether you’re a trendy Motographer who likes to take pics on the go using your camera phone, or if you’re a professional who takes great quality, composed snaps, there’s a product that’s got your name on it! (Well, technically it’ll have your pics on it but you get the idea).

So now you can stand out in a crowd like a pink suede elephant at a boxing match by looking cool as a cucumber with your unique QR code T-shirt, which lets people add you as a friend on Facebook just by scanning it! Or, you can even set the trend at the office by showing off your whopping amount of Facebook friends using our super cool Photo Mug!

So log on to our Facebook page or our website and answer the burning question- What kind of Social Fab are you?

As you know, we said we had been busy burrowing away making lots of plans for the coming months and we weren’t telling pork pies. We’re always looking for ways to make PhotoBox better and while we still have a long way to go, we like to think we’re not doing too shabby!

One thing we really rely on is your feedback and without it we’d be lost! So we always want you to update us on how we’re doing, how you’re doing, what we can do better, you know the score. One thing that keeps cropping up is questions about our site, “How do I…” “Do you sell…” “When will you get…” and sometimes it’s hard to reply to everyone quick enough. So we thought we needed someone who could take on of all of these queries for us and so a light bulb switched on, a thought popped into our heads, the heavens opened and along came Phoebe!

Phoebe, given her title thanks to our wonderful Facebook fans, is our new virtual agent. She knows the ins, outs, unders and overs of PhotoBox and everything we do. You can ask her What size your photos need to be when you upload them, how to create a Photo book, even if she can do the can-can (although, her answer for that probably won’t be yes) but if there’s anything you want to ask or if you need help with anything at all, our lovely Phoebe will be on hand 24 hours a day to help you out. So go and ask her a question She won’t tell you the week’s weather forecast or the lottery numbers but if it’s a PhotoBox query you’ve got, she’s your woman!

So as you all know, we recently asked you to go back to your roots and be childish for our ‘’The Kid In Me’’ competition. We said, and I quote- ‘’ We want you to re-capture the kid inside of you and come up with a self-portrait titled ‘The Kid In Me’. An old photo, a finger painting, a paper mache creation, anything will do.’’

Photo by: Laura Gill

So far, we’ve had some great, imaginative entries, a lot of which have made us cry with laughter. But, you know us, we want so many entries that there aren’t enough hours in the day to go through them, enough to snow John Snow under! There’s loads of ideas floating around for this comp, the possibilities are endless and as much as we would love to tell you we might have to… well then it wouldn’t be a competition!

Think – locations, what kids do, nostalgia, a play-on-words even!

As long as it’s you in the picture or an impression of you, it’s fine by us! This competition goes along side the Face Britain campaign which PhotoBox breathed life into, and what better way to celebrate this massive feat from the countries’ kids than to get the adults involved? Genius, right?!

Photo by: Zoe and Matt Mallett

Just to give you a leg up, we’ve extended the deadline for entries to Midnight Thursday 26^th April. Remember- Post your entries to OUR Facebook wall Max 2 entries, NO googling and a fab prize to the winner!  :)

And here are some words from our proud MD, Lawrence Merritt, PhotoBox Managing Director:

‘”PhotoBox is the premier online printing and personal publishing service in the UK.  Our pledge since our founding in 2000 has been to help our customers share and celebrate precious memories that leave behind a legacy.  Face Britain does this in an inclusive and far-reaching way. We are strong believers in embracing individualism and using our technology as a catalyst to celebrate creativity.  We at PhotoBox could not be prouder to see months of hard work and dedication come to fruition as Britain’s young people make history this week.  It gives me and my co-workers at PhotoBox great joy to know we’re a part of that. Please come and celebrate with us either on the Mall tonight or via your local screening”

Lawrence

For more details on how you can get involved and come and see this wonderful project in action, just check out our Facebook event for all the info you’ll need.

As you know, all of the thousands of works of art produced by kids up and down the country will be projected onto Buckingham Palace from the 19^th  to the 21^nd of April. Worry not, for those not close to the capital, this incredible montage of HM the Queen made up of more than 200,000 self-portraits, will be screened for 24 hours from 8.30 on Thursday 19^th April on BBC Live sites up and down Britain, including Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bradford and many more. If that wasn’t enough, over 400 JCDecaux screens all over the nation’s train stations and shopping centres will be showing a piece of the action. To top it all off and send the project into stratospheric proportions, there will also be an Ebay auction from the 3^rd-the 13^th of May for all of the portraits entered by celebrities, so you can really get your hands on a famous face!

Portrait by Fearne Cotton

The fun doesn’t end there, oh no, we’ve just got started Face Britain is going for a Guinness World Record attempt for ‘’The Most artists working on the same art installation’’. The current record is 28,267 artists, so fingers crossed! Guinness World Record officials will announce whether a new world record has been set when the projection onto the palace finishes.

Face Britain is a unique project created by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts and brought to life by PhotoBox to provide a platform to celebrate the nation’s children and young people in the lead up to HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, The London Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts is an educational charity established by HRH The Prince of Wales to enable disadvantaged young people to access and engage with professional arts.

So the kids have done their bit, let’s see how you fare! We want you to re-capture the kid inside of you and come up with a self-portrait titled ‘The Kid In Me’. An old photo, a finger painting, a paper mache creation, anything will do. But the more imagination the better! You can enter a maximum of 2 per person and make sure you post them to our Facebook wall pretty please!

So there you have it! For a full list of screen locations and the latest news and gossip from Face Britain join our event on Facebook.