Another app, which is available for tablets, phones and computers is SmileBox. You can learn more about it and download the free software from http://smilebox.com. This is another program that allows you to work through a slideshow template adding photos and music to create a fun video out of your favorite shots

Welcome to another edition of Let’s Talk Photography!

Photos are so much fun to share, but putting them to music and making a slideshow takes your photos to a whole different level. Today I’d like to share a few apps with you that will allow you to make great slideshows for sharing with your friends and family on your portable devices or through social media.

Whether it’s on your computer or using a phone or tablet, you have so many options out there for making fun slideshows that there isn’t any reason not to try it. I’ll share three apps that will get you on your way and you can even go on my Facebook page to see a slideshow I created just for you!

The first app that I’ll share with you is a tablet and phone app and it’s called Flipagram and you can download the app from either the Google Play store or the iTunes store. You can also check out the features and see sample slideshows by visiting their website at http://flipagram.com. It’s pretty simple to create a slideshow. Once you have the app installed you’ll have to create an account and then it guides you through the process. The first step is choosing some photos. Once this is done, you’ll get the opportunity to edit the layout of the whole slideshow as well as the layout of individual photos. You can adjust the crop and add text and filters to your photos to make them interesting. Next you have the choice of adding music. There are a lot of free music titles that you can add as part of the free package and a lot of the songs are current top artists like Bruno Mars and Pharrell Williams. When you’ve finished your video you will upload it to the Flipagram cloud service and decide if you want to make it public or private then you can share it out through many different ways such as through text messaging, social media or email. The only thing I don’t really get excited about with a lot of these kinds of services is the fact that whomever you send the video to must also create an account and download the app in order to view the video. Now, if you share it directly to your Facebook timeline or through Twitter or Instagram, then they don’t have to view it through an app, but you may not want to make it available to the general public so you’ll have to decide if privacy is an important issue with you.

Another app, which is available for tablets, phones and computers is SmileBox. You can learn more about it and download the free software from http://smilebox.com. This is another program that allows you to work through a slideshow template adding photos and music to create a fun video out of your favorite shots. Again, you’ll need to create an account with the online service to get the full features but there are a ton of free templates to use and lots of creative shows that can be made from this handy app.

Both Mac and Windows computers come with programs pre-installed that allow you to make slideshows if you choose to do your work strictly on your computer. On Mac computers you can make beautiful slideshows with music using the built in iPhoto software and on Windows computers you should have Microsoft Movie Maker installed. Some Windows 10 machines don’t have it installed as part of the original software so you’ll have to download it to use it. You can also search the Windows store for equivalent programs on your Windows computer and on a Mac you can go into the iTunes store and search there for apps that give you a different result than the built-in packages.

Both Windows and Mac will be able to run a program called PhotoStage Slideshow Producer by NCH Software. If you’d like to learn more about it and download it then visit their site at http://nchsoftware.com/slideshow. This program offers a bit more control over the slideshow by giving you the ability to choose the different transitions and effects that happen between each slide. You also have the ability to edit and optimize your photos, add text captions and also add videos into your slideshow. With a full audio editing module you can import your own music and record narrations directly into the slideshow, as well. Finally, when it’s all finished, your slideshow can be shared digitally through social media or recorded onto DVD or USB thumb drives so they can be viewed directly on a television or computer.

No matter which software package you decide to use, do me a favor and give it a try. Sharing a slideshow is a lot of fun and it puts a smile on the faces of those who you included in your show. I’ve been using slideshows as a way to share a preview of photos that I’ve taken of sports teams and I find that the athletes and their parents end up requesting a copy of the slideshow along with any photos that they like because it’s all ready to share and they love watching them. Just to put together an example of a fun and simple slideshow, I took a handful of photos of me and my three sons between January and April of this year and put them to music with a fun little sparkle transition effect and shared it for you to view. You can find it on my Facebook page by visiting http://facebook.com/chadecklofphotoart and scrolling down to the first item in the “Posts” section where you’ll find the video Me and My Boys – Jan thru Apr 2017. You don’t have to have a Facebook account to view this so please check it out and see how much fun a photo slideshow can be.

Until next week, happy shooting!

Is there a topic that you’d like to learn more about? Send feedback, share your photos, or offer topic suggestions to talkphotos@ecklof.com. If you’re looking for a place to connect with local photographers in Chautauqua County, search for the group “Shoot ‘n Share Chautauqua” on Facebook.