When you think of family photographs being used to decorate the walls of a family home, what comes to mind is usually a thoroughly planned picture of the family posed nicely in a line or with the parents at the back and the kids in the front. But this kind of rigorously planned and posed photography doesn’t often capture the personality of the family and individuals being photographed. This is where candid photographs can offer up something a little different.

What is a candid photo?

A candid photo is one that is not posed or planned. The subject may not even be aware you are taking photos, such as snapping shots of your kids while they’re happily playing in the backyard.

Other times, the subjects may be aware of the photographer but still don’t know when photos are being taken. For example, a wedding day photographer often acts as a fly-on-the-wall during the ceremony or the reception, taking photos of people happily chatting, drinking, or wiping a tear away.

Either way, the idea is that the subject does not change their behavior for the photograph, they are simply acting natural doing whatever they are doing.

Candid photos vs. posed photos

Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of candid photos compared to posed photos.

When people complain about not being photogenic, it’s often because they feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. Someone might have a nice smile when they’re laughing with friends, but point a camera at them and it suddenly becomes an awkward and forced smile, instead. Candid photography eliminates this because you’re photographing natural behavior rather than a forced pose.

However, candid photography can still lead to unflattering poses. It can be difficult to time a photograph just right when someone is moving, talking, and laughing naturally. Candid photography can involve a lot of luck and perseverance to achieve the perfect shot, especially if you’re photographing hyperactive children or animals.

But the best thing about candid photos is that they reflect people’s (or animals’) real personality and uniqueness by capturing them acting naturally or in their natural environment. You can capture an image of someone having fun, working hard, pursuing a hobby they love, or the loving look in someone’s eye when they look at their kids or partner. Whatever kind of candid photo you’re taking, the results are real, not staged.

Great candid photos are perfect for custom framing and hanging on the walls in your home, or even to be given as a gift. If you’re interested in custom framing services around Clemmons and Winston Salem, NC, then contact Tanglewood Art and Frame or visit us in-store.

You’ve just put in a lot of effort to complete a puzzle and you feel extremely satisfied to see the finished result. Maybe it took you hours, or maybe days, weeks, even months. But the next step can feel a little soul-destroying. All that fun and hard work just to break it up again and put it back in the box, maybe never to be looked at again.

Sure, you could take a photo of the puzzle to remember it and show off your achievement, but it just isn’t the same. So, why not frame the actual puzzle and put it up on your wall?

Choosing a puzzle to frame

Which puzzle to frame should be completely personal to you. Usually, it’s one that you’ve spent a lot of time on or that has sentimental meaning to you or a loved one you’re giving a gift to. Here are a few ideas:

• A challenging puzzle – Perhaps there’s one puzzle that was a real challenge and that you spent a lot of time on, either alone or with friends and family. Frame it to show off your achievement.
• A custom puzzle – You can get a puzzle printed with whatever photo you want, complete the puzzle, and then frame it for your wall.
• A child’s puzzle – Celebrate your child’s achievement by framing the first puzzle they completed by themselves or preserve the puzzle that they repeatedly did as a child.
• A couple’s puzzle – Did you and your partner spend one of your early dates doing a puzzle together on a rainy day? Frame it and remember those happy moments.

How to frame a puzzle

After you’ve completed your puzzle, you want to make sure that all the pieces will stay together even if you move the finished puzzle. The last thing you want is for some pieces to come apart once inside the frame.

One way to achieve this is to use glue on the puzzle. You can get special puzzle adhesive for this purpose, or you can opt for ordinary glue, but try to find one with low water content to reduce the risk of the pieces wrinkling or peeling. Spread the glue evenly over the face of the puzzle using a sponge or a piece of card, for example. You can use a paintbrush for this, but you may end up leaving brush strokes. A spray adhesive could also be quick and easy to apply.

Another option is adhesive tape designed for puzzles. This is usually quick and easy to apply and doesn’t create as much mess as glue. Once your puzzle is secure, you can bring it into a custom frame shop to complete the framing process for you. When choosing a frame, a float mounting frame is the best to choose for these purposes.

If you want to frame a puzzle for your home or as a gift, then contact Tanglewood Art and Frame or visit us in Clemmons, NC.

For many people, their pets are just as much a part of the family as any person, so they deserve to be a part of the family portrait or have their own frames on the wall.Whether you’re buying a gift for a friend or family member with a beloved pet dog or want to celebrate your own dog through custom framing, then we’ve got some ideas for the best things you can frame.

A dog portrait

A simple photo of your dog looking adorable would make a great addition to your walls or shelves. Choose a favorite photo to have custom framed or even book a doggy photoshoot to get professional shots of your pet. If you’re looking for a gift for a friend, then one of these photoshoots could be the perfect option.

A painting of your dog

Instead of a photo, you could opt to commission someone to draw a painting of your dog, which would usually be based on a photo you provide for them. This allows you to enjoy an artistic interpretation of your pup in whatever style or colors you’d like. Or you could leave it up to the artist to decide these details. You can even commission funny dog portraits like the uniformed dogs here.

Pawprints

Let your dog leave a mark in your home by framing a print of their pawprints. Simply dip the bottom of your dog’s paw in paint (make sure it’s safe for dogs!) and gently place their paw down onto a piece of paper or card. You can do this for one or more paw and can choose whatever colors you’d like. Properly wash the paint off their paws afterward. Or, instead of paint, you can have their paw imprinted in clay or a similar material.

Their collar and tags

Want to remember how cute your dog was as a tiny puppy? Save their old collars to display inside a frame when they move up to a bigger size. You can keep their tags on the collars too with their name displayed. If they have multiple collars as they get bigger, then you can frame them together, each circled inside the next.

Give the gift of custom framing to yourself or a loved one to commemorate a family dog. Contact Tanglewood Art and Frame to find out more about our custom framing services around Winston Salem and Clemmons, NC.

You might find photobooths in shopping malls, bars and clubs, or at events like weddings, birthday parties, and corporate events. Wherever you come across them, they’re a great opportunity to take fun and silly photos with your friends, family, or partner.

So, you’ve got this printout of photos that are a great memory of the day, but what do you do with them now? Often, they get stuck in a drawer and forgot about. But it’s time to cherish those memories and display them proudly. Here are some ideas for what you can do with your photobooth photos and how to display them proudly.

Make a collage

If you’ve got a collection of fun photobooth strips from over the years, then combine them to make a frameable collage to display on your wall. You could stick them to a piece of cardboard, or something similar, in any arrangement you’d like. Bring your photobooth photos or a pre-made collage to Tanglewood Art & Frame to get your memories custom framed.

Add them to a scrapbook

If you have a photo album or a scrapbook full of memories, then photobooth strips are the perfect addition. You could stick a few together on the same page or scatter them throughout the scrapbook with other memories from each day or period of your life. If you had a photobooth at your wedding or another event, then you could make a wedding scrapbook filled with everyone’s photos for a fun way to remember the day and everyone who was there for you.

Use them as bookmarks

You don’t even have to do anything for this one. Photobooth photo strips are the perfect size and shape to place between the pages of the book you’re ready in order to save your place. And those memories will make you smile every time you pick up your book.

Turn them into fridge magnets

There are lots of websites and companies that can turn your photos into personalized fridge magnets. Pick your favorites to send in and stick them on your fridge so you can see them every day.

Create a giant photo strip

Why keep those memories in such small dimensions? If you have a single strip that you really love, then have it blown up to larger dimensions and custom framed to be hung proudly on your wall.

Turn them into a phone case

Another personalized item you can create is a phone case with your pictures printed on the back. Most of us have our smartphones with us around-the-clock, so having a cherished memory printed on it can be a great way to share and remember those memories.

All of the above ideas would make great gifts for the people you took those photos with, as well as being great ideas for yourself. If you want to get your photobooth photos custom framed in the Winston Salem and Clemmons area, then contact us today.

You want to adorn your walls and shelves with photos of the things, places, and people that you love. And if you have kids, they’re obviously going to be high up on this list. But taking the perfect photos of your kids can be difficult. From hyperactive infants that never want to stand still, to moody teenagers that won’t smile for a family photo, snapping the perfect still can be difficult.

In this article, we’ve got some tips on how to take photos of your kids that you can cherish forever.

Professional photos

One option is to pay and leave it to the pros. A lot of professional photographers are used to family photoshoots, so they’re skilled at getting kids to cooperate with photos and capturing good poses from them. You can get a wide variety of shots this way, both posed and candid. Of course, there are the costs to consider, but it can be well worth it for the great pictures you get out of it.

Candid photos

If it’s hard to get your kids to pose for a photo, then capture them while they’re doing something they enjoy. This means you won’t have to work at getting them to cooperate. Photograph them doing a jigsaw or while watching their favorite movie. Or go for action shots and photograph them running around the yard, playing with their siblings, or jumping on the bed. You might get a lot of blurry shots if you’re just using your smartphone, but keep snapping and you’ll eventually strike gold.

Draw their attention

If you really want a photo of a young child looking perfectly at the camera, then you might be in for a challenge. For babies and infants, you could try holding a toy or their favorite food over the camera to get them looking in the right direction. For slightly older children, you might need to get more creative. You could simply ask if they can see their reflection in the camera lens, or be more imaginative and tell them there are fairies in the lens, or whatever would pique their interest.

Hand the camera over

The selfie generation has arrived, and kids are practically born knowing how to use smartphones and tablets these days. Flip your phone into selfie mode and hand it over to them. They’ll be curious about their reflection on the screen and they’ll soon figure out how to snap photos of themselves. Just be prepared to scroll through hundreds of selfies on your phone.

Once you’ve got the perfect photos for your wall, bring them into our shop in Clemmons, NC for our expert custom framing services. Get in touch if you have any questions about how custom framing works.

There are lots of occasions throughout the year where you need to buy gifts for your loved ones. You want to get them something thoughtful and meaningful, but this can often be difficult. If you want your gifts to be displayed in pride of place inside your loved one’s home, then custom framing is the perfect accessory.

Here are some great gift ideas you could try that involve custom framing…

Print a special photo

You probably have lots of photos of you and your loved one having a good time together. These are memories that should be cherished. Although we can easily take more photos now, they often get left in the cloud and rarely looked at again. Trawl through your old photographs to find a special memory you can frame as a gift for them.

Frame tickets or memorabilia

Another way to commemorate memories you and your loved one have shared is to frame keepsakes from those times. Tickets are a great example of this. If you and your friend go to a lot of music concerts, sporting events, or movies together, then saving tickets from these events and then having them framed will mean a lot. You could create a collage of keepsakes or just frame one special item, such as a ticket from the movie you went to on your first date, for example.

A pet portrait

If your friend or family member has a pet, then they would probably love to see that pet immortalized in a portrait. Find a nice photo of their pet (you’re bound to find plenty on your friend’s social media profiles) and take it to someone who can paint or draw that photograph in a nice style. Or maybe you’ve got artistic skills yourself and can create your own drawing. Have the end result custom framed to create the perfect gift.

Framed book covers

If your friend, partner, or family member loves to read, then printing or acquiring the front cover of their favorite book can make for a really special, personalized gift. This could be the cover of a novel or a comic book, for example. If they love musicals and going to the theater, then you could frame the playbill of their favorite show.

Framed art from their kids

Parents are always looking for ways to hold onto the early years and memories of their kids as they grow up. Rather than just sticking their child’s best drawings or achievements on the refrigerator, frame them and hang them on the walls so that they can really show them off. It might embarrass the kids when they get older, but it will make for a very proud and happy parent.

What framed gifts would you like to give your loved ones? Get in touch or visit our frame shop in Clemmons, NC for our custom framing services.

These days, with pretty good cameras in most people’s pockets, it has become a lot easier to capture and save memories. You can just pull out your phone and take a photo, then upload those photos and print them off, ready to be framed and put up on the wall or the mantelpiece.

If you want to take some high-quality photos for framing without spending a lot on camera equipment, then we’ve got some tips to help you improve the quality of photos you take with your smartphone.

Select the focus

On modern smartphones, it’s easy to select an element of the photo you want to focus on, if it’s different to whatever your phone automatically decided to focus on. You don’t have to mess around with different settings, all you have to do is tap the subject on the screen. The camera settings will automatically adjust to focus on that element.

Adjust the lighting

There are various settings you can adjust within your camera app to improve your photos you take. How much you can utilize these will depend mostly on your technical knowledge when it comes to photography. Even if these pro settings go way over your head, there’s a simple adjustment you can make when taking photos; the brightness. Each smartphone camera will differ slightly, but you should be able to simply increase or decrease the brightness to get the best out of your subject.

Avoid flash

One aspect of smartphone photography that still has some catching up to do is the flash. When used for taking photos in the dark, the flash tends to produce photos that are grainy and overexposed, or still too dark. Wherever possible, rely on external sources of light to highlight your subject so that you don’t have to rely on flash.

Only zoom if you have to

Zooming in with your camera phone can also result in low-quality photos, especially if you’re zooming in a lot. Try to physically get closer to your subject if you want a more zoomed in photo, rather than relying on the zoom tool itself. If you can’t get closer, then try simply taking the photo from where you are (with just a little zoom if needed) and then cropping it to get the desired frame.

Consider buying accessories

If you’re willing to spend a little more money, there are lots of great accessories to help boost the capabilities of your smartphone’s camera. You can buy attachable lenses that allow you to zoom in better and achieve different perspectives. There are LED lights that attach to your phone to achieve better lighting. Or you can use a tripod or stand designed for smartphones to help you stabilize your photos.

If you have photos that you want custom framing, then get in touch with Tanglewood Art and Frame in Clemmons, NC.

You’ve probably seen examples online or in museums of old, famous works of art that have been restored to their original glory. These pieces of art gradually degraded or became damaged over centuries and went through an often painstaking process to return them to their original state.

You probably don’t have a 1,000-year-old painting lying around in your house, but if you do have any paintings or photographs that have faded, cracked, or otherwise become damaged over the years, then we can help you restore them. Here’s a quick look into how the process of art restoration works.

Early art restoration

Art restoration has been practiced for a long time, but techniques didn’t use to be as sophisticated as they are now. Paintings were regularly restored to bring them more up-to-date with modern times and trends in the art world. This left artwork heavily altered from the artist’s original piece, negatively affecting its value in the eyes of many.

One technique to improve the painting’s appearance was to coat it in wood-ash and then wash it off, but this later proved to be damaging to the painting.

Art restoration today

Art restoration in modern times has become somewhat of a science. It is much less invasive than it used to be. X-rays, infrared, and cameras are often used to determine the original composition of the painting, highlighting areas that were essentially “edited” by previous conservators. After this analysis, restorers can use certain mixtures to remove the added elements from these early conservation efforts in order to reverse their effects, revealing more of the original artwork.

Photo restoration

Modern technology can also be used to restore old photos, to digitally repair damage or improve the quality of very old photos. Photos are scanned into a computer and then various techniques using a photo editing tool can be used to restore the photo.

Scratches, tears, and creases can all be removed from the digital photograph. Colors of faded photographs can be restored to their original vibrancy. Old black and white photos can even be colorized to incredibly convincing effect. Once you have your restored photo printed, you’ll have a physical copy of it as good as new. In some cases, even better!

Hang your artwork proudly on your walls thanks to restoration services from Tanglewood Art and Frame. Come into our custom framing shop in Clemmons or contact us directly to find out how we can help you.

Canvas art is a popular decorative feature of many homes. Images can be painted or printed onto canvas and then stretched or wrapped around a kind of frame. The result is a piece that can be hung from the wall without actually being framed. But just because you don’t have to frame canvas art, does that mean you shouldn’t?

If you’re placing canvas art in your home or office, then this article will help you decide whether it needs custom framing or whether you should hang it as it is.

The Pros of framing canvas art

Like with any kind of artwork, framing canvas art can help to protect and preserve the piece, keeping it in good condition for longer. Even if you don’t use a glass cover to provide UV protection, the outer frame itself helps to protect the edges and corners of the canvas from becoming worn and damaged.

Some canvases are better off being framed because of the quality or finish of the wrap. A standard wrap tends to leave the edges of the canvas blank, whereas the image can be continued around the corner of the canvas to make the edges look attractive. Staples or other fastenings may also be visible on the edges. The appearance of these edges should play a big part in deciding whether or not to frame your canvas.

A good option for framing canvas is known as a float frame or floating frame. These leave a small space between the art and the frame so that it appears recessed and the entirety of the piece can be viewed.

The pros of leaving it unframed

A canvas print without a frame can produce a more minimalist look. If the painting or photo in question lends itself to a minimalist style, then leaving the canvas unframed could be a good option. Think also about the room you’re hanging it in and whether that has a minimalist design.

As mentioned above, if your image is fully wrapped around the canvas to make the sides look aesthetically pleasing, then leaving a canvas unframed is a viable option. A lot of it comes down to style and personal preferences. Do you think your canvas would look better unfinished or presented inside a frame?

If you’re looking for custom framing for your canvas or any other kind of artwork, then contact Tanglewood Art and Frame today or visit our frame shop in Clemmons, NC.

You may have seen framed artwork in museums that’s perfectly lit to make the entire piece look more attractive and to highlight the focal aspects of the art. If you want to step your own artwork and décor up a level, then you can do the same thing in your home or workplace.

Here’s some of the theory and tips behind using lighting to highlight your framed photos or artwork…

Different types of lighting

Generally, you can choose between three main types of lighting – wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted, or picture lights mounted to the frame itself. If you choose a ceiling-mounted light fixture, then the best way to reduce glare on the artwork and shadows being cast from the frame is to angle the light at 30 degrees. Picture lights can be very effective at highlighting your artwork, just make sure your frame is big enough and sturdy enough to support the fixture.

For wall-mounted fixtures and picture lights, uplighting or downlighting your frame will create a different effect. Which direction to choose may depend a lot on the piece of art and the frame in use, as well as your personal preferences. Uplighting can create dramatic shadows over the piece, especially with a chunky frame. Try shining a light on your art facing upwards and then downwards to see which effect you prefer.

Make it bright

To really highlight your frame and picture, the lighting used should be brighter than the room’s general lighting. You can achieve this by buying brighter bulbs or directing more light sources toward your artwork.

Avoid damage to your artwork

You might think about positioning your artwork in a spot that gets direct sunlight during the day as a way to highlight it, but this can be damaging to your art or photo. The UV light from the sun’s rays causes the colors to fade. When it comes to artificial lighting, damage can still be caused by the heat coming from the bulbs. Don’t place a lighting fixture so close to the frame that you can feel the heat coming off it if you place your hand near the artwork. And try not to position a light source so that it is facing directly toward the piece.

Consider LED lights

LED lights are a good choice for protecting your artwork because they produce very little heat and do not emit UV light. Other options, like halogen lights, may need UV filters applying to them and should be kept a safe distance from all artwork.

If you need help with home or commercial framing, or more advice about hanging your artwork, then please get in touch or visit us at our frame shop in Clemmons, NC.