I Tried the Shotbox for Photographing Stuff!

My co-blogger, Luly, got a Shotbox recently. Did you see her review about it? Go here "Is the Shotbox the Answer to Your Scrapbooking Goals?" for her first thoughts. I got a chance to try hers out awhile back when we got together to scrapbook. I brought a pile of my kid's artwork. I also used it to photograph a few of my Creative Team layouts.

Here are my thoughts upon my first use:

1. I really like that it folds up for storage. I do not have a dedicated crafty space so I can't keep it out all the time.

2. The number one selling point to me: you can take your photos whenever you want. No waiting (or rushing) to get photos near your favorite window. Need to take them at night, after work or after kids are in bed? No problem. The image below shows the black background. I prefer white, which it comes with, too. It's actually a white backdrop that covers the bottom and back of the Shotbox.

3. I think it's rather perfect for kids art. I have a bunch and I got through a stack super fast. I did still edit and crop all the photos but I basically did the same recipe in the Pictapgo App on each of them and was done in a flash. The picture on the left is unedited with my iPhone taken in the Shotbox. The picture on the right was the same photo edited in Pictapgo to lighten it and warm it up just a tad.

4. I also used it for a few Project Life Layouts. The only thing here that I noticed was if you want to take pictures from an angle other than the sideshot, you want to be careful not to get the sides of the box in it.

What do you think? How would you use the Shotbox. I'd love to take it to my parents' house to get a bunch of shots of heritage photos.

Please use our affiliate link to get your Shotbox! 

Thanks!

Holly Genc with www.paintedladiesjournal.com
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Holly's 2016 Crafty Goals!

Please note that most of the product/service links throughout this post are affiliate links. Our blog makes a small amount of you click through and decide to purchase something, at no added cost to you. We thank you for supporting us!!

Luly and I are sharing our Memory Keeping Goals. It's January! Seems like a good time to re-evaluate and focus. Luly posted her goals here. My turn! 

So, first, I went back and looked at last year's post on goals. Wow, we are going to hit our ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY next month! So my goals last year kind of evolved. I won't say I failed, they just changed as my year unfolded and I learned new things. 

 Update on 2015 Goals: 

 Ok, I do need to improve upon the "Organizing my Stash" goal. I did pull stuff and put them in some awesome IRIS containers, (image link below to a bundle of 4, I have 2 bundles!) but I feel like I just moved stuff around and still have too much stuff that I don't use. So, I'm going to re-do this goal. I'm going to go box by box and drawer by drawer (in my fave IKEA furniture above) and be ruthless! Anybody here a Konmari fan? If it doesn't spark JOY, tell it thank you for serving its purpose and get rid of it/give it away. Well, most of my stash sparks joy, so this may be difficult. 😂

I will be doing a post soon on how I used these boxes, so stayed tuned!

  

Goal #2 was working on 2 years at once. 2014 and 2015. I did kind of do this, but not in the way I originally intended. Since that post I have had the amazing opportunity to be on the Take 10 Kits Creative Team for The Studio 29 Designs, LLC. It's a dream! I love it! It keeps me scrapbooking on a weekly schedule! I found that having all of my 2014 not done became a very positive thing. It was much easier to look at the current month from a year ago and pick photos to create my layouts/projects each week. A whole month of photos to work with that work with that month's kit! So, I completed a lot of 2014, but also did the occasional 2015 layout if it made sense. And I will continue the same way this year. I put my pages in chronological order, but have also given myself the freedom to skip around between the current and previous year! It's liberating! 

Goal #3 was doing more pre-planning for Project Life. I do this, but my approach changed! I mainly use the Project Life App to record which photos and write out the journaling. I did a post on that last year, find it here. I only use the PL App now for planning! It's great. I should do an updated post on my process! Because, it's evolved...

New Goals for 2016: I'm gonna get a lot more specific here.

1. Finish DD2015 (so close!!!)   
2. Put together Shutterfly Photobooks for previous year's professional family photos. I want to go back to the year my oldest was born, so that is 2009, 2010 and 2011 that I need to create. And make some Christmas Card books, like Luly has been doing! Here's a Shutterfly link, I'd love if you used on your next order.
3. DONE! I did a review of Amy Tan's class here. Finish my Craftsy Online Classes! I've started one with Amy Tangerine. I love her tips and style. I immediately had new ideas to use. And next up is a Mixed Media class with Olya Schmidt (Paint Paper Studio!). Right now all new classes are on sale! Sign up here.  
   
4. Set up and make current my kid's School Albums! I plan on doing a post to share more about what I'm doing there. My oldest is only in First Grade, so if I can do it this year, I think it's totally manageable. I have been hunting for 2 each of solid color leather 12x12 albums! I'm 2/3rd  of the way there. 
   
5. Finish my #LoveWhereYouLive album that I did withLittle Paper Projects. If you sign up for any classes with them, tell them Holly Genc or Painted Ladies Journal sent you! They have a nice affiliate program. 
   
6. Finish my Midori Traveler's Notebook I started for our Oregon trip. I got a new brown leather Midori I found  one that is beautiful. I just love it! Go here for a post I did on this book! And here's the Midori I purchased:



7. And lastly, I want to try out the Shotbox that Luly got. It's just awesome and I might need my own. She just did a review on it. Go see what she says, here!

Ok, I could keep listing things, but I'm gonna start with these!! What do you hope to accomplish this year?

Holly 

Is the Shotbox the answer to scrapbooking goals?

Following up on my 2016 goals for the year I wanted to give you all my initial impression of the Shotbox which was my big Christmas present from my DH! (I know he's a keeper right?)

I first heard about this great device from the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast from Stacey Julian and it peaked my interest. (By the way if you have never listened they have a dose of amazing inspiration over there!) At lunch that very day I jumped on their website and I knew instantly that I really wanted one... It was the answer to all of my scrapping goals!

Like so many of you, I am drowning in memorabilia which I cannot make myself dispose of! I have tons of old fragile scrapbooks that I want to document to share with my family, photos in terrible old magnetic albums, older scrapbook layouts in different sizes (8 1/2" X 11") plus  I really needed a way to  document lots of physical memorabilia. 

I have a very nice scanner (Epson V600) but it doesn't handle everything I wanted to do. I have taken pictures with a white backdrop and had some luck but it's not so easy and I can really only take pictures on certain days. Since I work full time and really can only take pictures on the weekends - it really limits my ability and flexibility. Plus it needs to be on a fairly bright day when I don't have something else going on.. even more limits!

The Shotbox was originally sold through a Kickstarter campaign - I missed out on that but got in the first order group. The giant box arrived shortly after the holidays so this the second weekend I have had to play with it - and play I have!

I ordered the Shotbox plus the Sideshoot to take pics of physical memorabilia - the backdrops and the carry bag were "extras" that came with the package - they might have included it in the description but they were a surprise to me - a very nice surprise!

The main box is super light and folds flat. And it has its own built in lighting - so no waiting for the sun and light to be just right to take pictures !!  There is a great video on their site which shows them assembling it - literally takes 15 seconds! Shotbox videos

The box unfolds and has 2 simple support arms on the side.

The black base comes separately so it can also be removed. This is the carry bag for all the goodies

There are 4 different backdrops - white, black, green (my DH said it was for special effects like Star Wars..) and blue for various options for picture taking - I will have to play around with these different options to see which one works better.

The Sideshot attaches easily on the top and has its own light source in addition to the light source within the Shotbox.

As a busy scrapper I really like things that are easy to store and transport (think about going to visit family to take pictures of their heritage photos or special collection of grandma's jewelry) I know there are a lot of Etsy and Ebay sellers that will be interested potentially. All you need is access to 1 electric outlet since the Sideshot is also powered directly from the Shotbox.

The bag really makes me so happy!! Everything fits in it perfectly and has nice long shoulder straps to be able to easily carry on you shoulder.

So most importantly how does the Shotbox perform - here are a few examples of cards and scrapbook layouts plus a brochure to see how it goes..

*** Edited to add: There are 3 different light settings - I played around with those and got a much, much better image with no glare this time - I didn't even realize that this was an option - look forward to playing even more!***

So what are my impressions so far... I think the Shotbox will be a perfect tool for cards, photos (taken out of albums or frames), any brochures, tickets etc - I have boxes and boxes of school papers that I need to go through... I think it does a nice job on scrapbook layouts that are flattish.. but not in a page protector (too much glare from the LED lights). I am not sure that it will work as well for those older photos in magnetic albums - here I think a scanner is still a better tool plus the Epson has a nice built in photo restoration setting that does a fine job. 3D memorabilia will also work very well in the Shotbox with a little creative cropping.

Overall I would buy it again without hesitation! Yes, the Shotbox is mostly the answer to my Scrapbooking goals! These opinions are my own and I didn't receive any free products from them..but if you are interested please use the following affliate link  to Shotbox.me to go check it out! It is the same price to you but help supports our blog.. thanks for sticking through this long and photo heavy post!