Christmas in the countryside

For the first time this year I really witnessed how exciting Christmas Day is through the eyes of a child.

It was the first year our eldest, who’s three, really experienced the build up - Nativity at school nursery, learning Christmas carols, writing a letter to Father Christmas and streaming Arthur Christmas on Netflix on an almost daily basis during December.

The 25th was therefore an exciting, eagerly anticipated day for her, her sister and three young cousins (all under 4 years old) as we gathered together to celebrate Christmas in a beautiful rented house in the countryside.

I had my camera close by as I really wanted to take lots of pictures this year.

I also edited the pictures as I went along this time by using an Apple SD card reader that plugged straight into my phone. Once imported, I edited the images in Snapseed, my favourite editing app.

Once I returned home I did a more thorough edit on my iMac using Adobe Lightroom but it was great to have the option of editing on the go, without packing a laptop for our travels.

Now the Christmas decorations are packed away, I'm looking at the photos and thinking how pleased I am that I didn't just rely on my phone to capture Christmas Day. 

I love my iPhone but it just doesn't cut it sometimes when my children are running around like crazy. 

My new motto this year is to print more pictures. So next on my list is to get some hard copies and make a good old fashioned photo album to look back on in years gone by. 

3 great places to print your pictures

Remember the days of waiting in line at Boots to collect your photos?

Then you would perhaps find those annoying stickers all over them?

Thankfully printing your pictures is so much easier these days. A simple upload to your phone or computer and a parcel through the letterbox a few days later.

I'm on a mission this year to print more of my pictures - rather than leaving them in folders on my desktop.

So this week I want to share some of my favourite places for printing pictures - ranging from high quality art prints to an almost free option still producing lovely results.

Watch this video for my top 3 suggestions:

 

 

The Print Space

If you're looking for high quality prints to frame, this is a great bet. Easy to upload images and postage is quick. The Print Space

 

Artifact Uprising

For something a little bit different head to Artifact Uprising. They also print cards, calendars & photo books. The square print set above is my favourite and if Instagram is your thing, these prints are perfect. Artifact Uprising

Photobooks App/Freeprints App

The Freeprints App allows you to have 45 free prints a month (you just pay postage). The new app Freeprints Photobooks offers you a free photo book each month - again, you just pay the delivery cost. Both apps are available from the iTunes store - Freeprints &  Freeprints Photobooks