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Most of us enjoy having beautiful photography displayed on our walls. It serves many purposes, but its main purpose is to of course decorate and improve the appearance of our homes. We try to always find that perfect frame which blends well into your interior decor, and at the same time emphasizes the detail, and the information, which the photograph conveys. There are many, many different styles of frames out there. Yet, most of us have very similar frames throughout our homes. While it may be a good idea to match the style of the frames in one area, we typically have several regions in our houses where we display photography, or other pieces of decor. As such, I want to offer you a more modern, and interesting alternative to your typical wooden, or metal frame. A shadow box is a type of a picture frame, with your photograph recessed into the box.

First of all, why a shadow box instead of a more traditional frame? Well, the answer is simple, if you live in a neighborhood where every house has an identical architectural design, how do you identify your house from the rest of the identical buildings. You make it stand out in some fashion. Whether you plant trees, repaint the house, add a deck, a patio, whatever. The point is, you are trying to make it look different from the rest of the houses on your block. Same idea applies here. A shadow box is an excellent product to make your photographs really stand out from the rest of the environment. A nice thing about a shadow box is its versatility. Most shadow boxes are fairly small. In other words, you will not find one sized to fit a large 20×30″ photograph. However, you can always have one custom made for you, if you are really like the idea of a shadow box, and have a fairly large area to fill. Shadow boxes seem to fit very well in smaller spaces, where a picture frame with a fair sized photograph may appear over-sized. Some shadow boxes are sold in pairs or threes, and are perfect if you like stacking, or creating a stair effect on your walls.

Besides using shadow boxes to display your photography, they can just as well be used to show off other pieces of decor, such as small sculptures, crafts, wood carvings, you name it. It is important to be creative with them, and the possibilities are endless. Here’s are some ideas which you may want to consider. If you have any photographs of the sea, the beach, something nautical, consider placing empty shells, some petrified sealife, or other small pieces such as sand and small pebbles inside the shadow box. Most shadow boxes are fairly deep, and will allow quite a bit of stuff to be placed inside. It is a great idea to complement real 3-D elements with your photography, as these pieces create depth, and demand your eyes’ attention. Likewise, you may have photos of autumn leaves, which would be coupled very well with perhaps some tree shells, miniature pine or elm cones, dried leaves, and other gifts of nature. Again, be creative, and consider the possibilities. Even if you are not using the interior of the shadow box for anything other than a photograph, you can always use it as a miniature shelf, and place small figurines, little carvings, small plants, and other pieces of decor.

As always, quality is important, and in today’s world of mostly low quality high volume products you will certainly encounter many shadow boxes which do not pass your quality standards. Do not be discouraged, and consider visiting specialty home stores. These stores are typically more selective about their products, and you will be more likely to find a good product there. Aim for a box with a glass, because you want your photographs protected. If you are going to have a custom box made, make sure to have glass installed either right away, or request that the craftsman building the box routes a grove inside, so you could have glass cut and installed later.

Written by Professional Photographer, and an owner of a Photography Selling Service. To learn more about this, and many other general, as well as more specific photography related subjects, or to explore a Fine Art Photography gallery, please consider visiting WorldonPaper.com Contemporary Fine Art Gallery. Read more interesting articles in the Photography and Arts Wiki.

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The final step to displaying great photography involves mounting it on your walls. While this sounds very simple, it may seem intimidating to people new to photography, and those who do not consider themselves do-it-yourself-ers. Actually, the process is fairly simple with a few tools. While there are many, many different ways to creatively display photography we will focus on the more basic approach of using single row of photos across a wall. Because this is a basic introduction to mounting, I will try to make all explanations as simple as possible. While different people use different methods, which eventually bring them all to the same point, I prefer to start from the middle of every wall, and work outwards. This article assumes that your photography will not be offset, and will indeed be mounted with equal margins at either end of the wall.

First, let’s talk tools. Most of the time you can get away with a tape measure, a hammer, a few small nails and a screw driver. My personal recommendation is to acquire a leveling tool, as well as a long metal ruler. You will need a tape measure in order to measure distances between your photographs and of course to assure that spacing is proportional. A hammer will of course be necessary to drive the nails into the drywall. A screwdriver may be necessary, if your frames do not have mounting hardware already attached. In many cases, store bought frames will include a little comb looking hanger, which will require a small Phillips screwdriver to attach to the frame. As I mentioned a minute ago, it is a good idea to acquire a level, if you expect to hang photography more than once. A laser lever is a great tool for a home owner, as it will produce visible straight lines across your walls, which will make a snap for you to measure to mount frames. If you begin shopping for one, make sure that it has some sort of a wall mount, which will not damage the walls, but will attach securely. There are many different models out there, and with a little research and brand comparison, you will find a good tool, which will make you thank me for suggesting it.

Let’s get started. First of all, determine how many photographs you are going to mount and whether or not the wall is long enough to accommodate all of them. Obviously, if the total width of your framed photographs is more than the length of the wall end to end, you will have to reconsider the number of photographs to be mounted. Measure your wall, end to end, in order to get the total length, and divide that length into half. This will give you the middle of the wall. Now place a mark wherever that middle happens to be. Place a mark with a pencil at approximately your eye-level. Do not worry, pencil erases easily. Now figure out how many photographs will be to the left and to the right of this mark. Remember, you may choose to use this mark for one of your photographs, or you may choose to leave it empty.

Hopefully, all of your frames are the same size. This makes things much easier. Determine home much space you want to leave between your photographs and add ½ the length of the frame to that number. Try to keep the numbers whole, as it makes things much easier. You want to use a few pieces of cardboard, cut out to the same size as the frames, to figure out what looks good on your wall. It is easy to tack these templates to the wall with a few pieces of tasking tape.

Now figure out how high you want your photographs. Try to keep them at eye-level. Measure from top of the ceiling to where the top of the picture frame will be. Now, measure from the top of the frame to the wall mount on that frame. Add the first number to this and you will have the height at which you will be driving in your small nails. Record this number.

Now that you know how high the photographs will be mounted, and the intervals between them, it is time to mark all points which will receive a nail. If you have a laser level, you are in luck. Just place it at either end of the wall at the same height as you recorded earlier. The laser level will project a straight line to the other end of the wall, and you will have a reference line. Now from the middle of the wall move in either direction and put a mark where the nails will go. This distance was determined earlier. This distance will be equal from one mark to the next. All marks will be done on the reference line from your laser level. Once all points are marked, hammer a small nail, on a downward angle to create a simple hook at every mark.

That’s it. While it may seem daunting at first, just use this guide, and it will make things quite a bit easier. This article does not discuss vertical alignment, where different types and sizes of frames are used. This will be discussed in future articles.

Written by Professional Photographer, and an owner of a Photography Selling Service. To learn more about this, and many other general, as well as more specific photography related subjects, or to explore a Fine Art Photography gallery, please consider visiting WorldonPaper.com Contemporary Fine Art Gallery. Read more interesting articles in the Photography and Arts Wiki.

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Introduction

I often visit friends, relatives and customers and see out of the corner of my eye un-mounted photographs laying on the sideboard or propped up against the kitchen cabinets.
And often they are very good shots.

What a shame that they are not presented more thoughtfully - making a memorable photograph a visual masterpiece which will be passed down the generations.

Framing and Mounting is a specialist but significant part of our business.

Mounting a Photograph or Watercolour

Many schools photographs come presented in cardboard mounts. These are the minimum in transforming a piece of paper into a memorable keepsake.

That photograph can then be put into a frame - with or without the mount and placed on the sideboard in the lounge - or hung on the wall.

In general a mount enhances the photo.

We stock a range of mount boards which can be cut using a special machine to fit around a photograph - or indeed a watercolour - to enhance its appearance. It is conventional to mount a watercolour in cream card, but we have a whole variety of colours, which can be selected to bring out a particular colour in the image or to match the d

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