This week, I bring to a close the representative examples of how one set of four matted digital photos can be expanded in a variety of different presentations.  Though I have displayed several variations of examples over the past few weeks, the unique treatments have shown only one possibility for each offering.  With digital photo frame content, each new presentation format can be complimented by more combinations of backgrounds, color, and prose which bring added interest to your own eye for subject matter.  Each new photo treatment is created with the goal of increasing appreciation for the original work on display.

As I put together the greeting cards for the week, I took the time to design something that was inspired directly by the visual composition.  Some of the designs were easier to do than others, but all of them represent something that pointed to someone I know and enjoy being with.  This first card would be a thoughtful message to send to a friend who might enjoy receiving an uplifting message.

Give a friend (and me) a lift. Send them a digital greeting card today!

When I get started writing greetings, it never takes long to turn toward the humorous side of life for a quick chuckle.  The second greeting might be taking a bit of a chance to give your spouse on a wedding anniversary, so it would be a good idea to have a back up plan ready in case the sentiment goes unappreciated.  I thought this idea would work for those who are married to someone with a good sense of humor and a tight budget.

Cute, now what did you really get me for our anniversary?

My third digital greeting card would make a nice birthday greeting for someone who sees themselves as a bit on the nerd side of the fence.  If you think this item is funny, you might want to try this one out on one of your friends.  Of course being labeled as a “square” is a bit out of date for some people, politically incorrect, and potentially over the top, but who cares?  I liked the way it came out, so here it is.

It all depends on how you look at it...

My last birthday greeting card for the week was designed to be gifted by the over thinkers among us.  If you are the type of person who needs a justification for every action, and who will look at everything you can find before making a decision, then you may want to bookmark this card to come back to, when you have finished your search.  Rest assured that when you come to me to help you create that special greeting card you have always wanted to give; I can put together a nice piece of work that will not be found on every shelf in town. 

It is nice to think someone goes to a lot of trouble to find the right card.

This week, I am focusing on four digital plaques made from the digital matted photos of flowers that I started with.  Whether I am making funny digital plaques, inspirational, or something in between, these virtual plaques always liven up my digital photo frame content, and bring me another way to enjoy the variations made from my digital photos.

My first composition uses a lively photo matting design, and surrounds it with a cloth texture.  Though the design may appear a bit busy to some, my wife confirmed that she liked it, so I went with the 2 of 2 votes on that one.  Of course the quotes on the plaques for this week all came from the unrehearsed, spontaneous responses to the compositions spoken by my favorite author and critic.  This way, whether the sayings are original or not, I merely ensure they are the most recent. 

A bold and monumental tribute to flowers - right.

The next funny digital plaque is designed to help my buds who just do not seem able to grasp the concept of romance.  This one is for their wives who rarely see a flower, much less their husbands. So, as your guy heads off on his fishing or hunting trip into the woods, you can turn on the digital photo frame, and dream that he just offered you this beautiful bloom.

Romance never dies...just the fish.

The following humorous plaque carries on with a less than favorable eye for beautiful flowers.  In the sea of poetic quotes about flowers, I have personally never encountered this expression of perspective before.  This is another example of testing whether the photo or the caption gets the most immediate attention.

Grass will not grow? Remember this lawn secret.

This kind of thinking leads to the final and ultimate question for this week.  The plaque offers yet another thought I have not heard anywhere other than Matte Watch.  Though this week’s virtual plaques were largely focused on humor, flowers still make a good foundation for lots of different sentiments.

The logical mind at work.

When it comes to using digital matted photos of flowers, there may be some question about how these can be used to create digital photo frame awards. There millions of reasons why digital images should be used to brighten someone’s day, and here are only four of them.  First up is an award I designed and awarded to recognize the power of being anonymous.  Since the folks in Hollywood have a little show they call the Oscars to congratulate themselves on doing their job, I thought it might be nice to acknowledge someone without all the fanfare, and just go straight to a nice looking award.  Instead of adding an arm load of flowers with the award, I just put the flowers on it to complete the combination.

I want to thank the academy for this beautiful award.

The next award is dedicated to all those grocery store florists who are just starting out in the field, and may need a bit more time under their belt to truly learn the art of flower arranging.  By earning the Psycho Florist Arranger digital award, these beginners can have a nice way to find out their choices in colors and mistaken arrangements have not gone unnoticed by their adoring public.  Added to this excitement, is the distinction of being bad enough to win a coveted award for such work.  Such an award could possibly be used for a last day at work celebration planned for the recipient, sending them off on the next step of their new career with their first victory under their belt.

Inside joke - "flunked again."

My next award is possibly a bit obtuse on first glance.  One might question why a matted photo of a flower would appear on an award for best Halloween costume.  The award is appropriate if the flower photo was the Halloween costume.  It is also appropriate to put a matted flower on the best costume award if recipient was not wearing a costume.  Onward.

Give someone a hug today.

The final offering this week is based on an observation made by my wife.  I worked the original digital flower shot onto the award to signify something for the picture of Dr Oz to be looking and smiling at.  If this final award were to be presented to anyone other than Dr Oz, the meaning of its inscription might be more difficult to explain why you would be giving it to someone else.  The world of digital photo frame content has the potential for a significant change in the way we display our lives.  Instead of cluttering our homes with trophies and memorabilia, we can dial up all our recognition in one easy to use place. 

The Vulcans are among us.

Drawing on the digitally matted photos of some nice flowers that I posted last week, this week I will provide some of my ideas for creating digital photo frame calendar designs.  Among the most popular of these designs, I made four distinct presentations for my audience to enjoy.  The first offering takes the basic matted photo, and dresses it up with a calendar page and complementary accents to further enhance the photo.  All the blooms came from some pictures I took in Overland Park, Kansas on a weekend outing to celebrate the coming of fall.

Make the months come alive with unusual digital photo frame calendar designs.

Next in line is a spherical design using the flower photo as a backdrop for the calendar page which I think makes a festive looking picture suitable for the upcoming holiday season.  The bright colors in the matte give the piece a nice ornamental look to pass the time through the month.  Many thematic variations of color and subject make this design a versatile way to show off your favorite photo subjects in an unusual way.  I say this is unusual because I have not seen similar work elsewhere.

Christmas is around the corner, so why not put some festive calendar designs into your photo frame.

My third creation expands the photo matting from the original picture matte to create a rich texture to the blended metallic background.  I have not seen anyone posting this type of blended design for calendar creations, as most photographic sites concentrate on plain Jane, rubber stamp templates to sock your pictures into, without offering much else for people to choose from. 

Special days are easy to remember with a calendar like this to put them on.

My final picture returns to another variation on the cubical digital calendar design that also shows a lot of promise for a wide variety of unique compositions fueled by the focus of the individual picture which provides it starting point.  If you are tired of the same old calendar designs available from year to year, digital photo calendars might turn out to be one of your best choices for arriving with something people will really notice.  Of course, if you want to add personalized events, holidays, and other notable information in the design, we can add those to the mix as well.

No photo frame? Use these images as computer screen wallpapers to dazzle your eyes while you work!

As this week begins a new month, I thought about taking a slightly new direction with my digital photo matting techniques.  Starting this week, I will begin showing how four different photos can go from the kind of thing you bring out make your late house guests go home, into something that will have them watching the whole show on your digital picture frame.  I will take some digital photos through a sequence of transformations which will eventually cover all the kinds of treatments I have offered to do for my Matte Watch audience.  Each subsequent week, I will take the matted photos and turn them into next stage of transformation until we circle back to the beginning with a new set of pictures.  This way, everyone can see how the photos look in the various treatment venues. 

The first matted photo is a new style of digital photo matting that incorporates some fractal manipulation of the central theme photograph.  As I have said before, I know that taking flower shots is probably about the most usual thing a fledgling photographer can do, but I like to matte these pictures and use flower shots in all kinds of different ways.  So, if you are some kind of “snooty” pro who wants to wise me up, then go ahead and show me what you have that is better.

Sometimes a picture can be made to compliment itself.

Now I know that more traditional matting styles can be more appropriate than creating the colorful designs and borders found in this week’s fare, but I felt like dabbling with some more unusual designs this week, so I went ahead with it.  There is certainly a lot to be said for going too far overboard in trying to make the beauty of flowers even fancier.  The next item might fit the category of too much, but I blame my wife because she said she liked it.

Too much dressing for a flower shot? You decide.

The third digital photo matting takes a complimentary colored spherical design using colors from the photograph, and drops it behind the main subject photo.  I liked this design for its variation away from the usual, and the beautiful flower as well.

Not all mattes need to be typical.

The final offering for this week’s digital photo matting parade of images uses a subtle weave of matte colors to create a delicate texture in the photo matting.  Next week, you will be able to see the digital calendar designs I create from these four matted photos.  Are you excited?  I knew you would be.

Use more subtle accents to create a nice texture.