Deanie and Boo (GA) and Scout
Member Since 2009
Ok, time to start up our annual calendar project. I'm trying to get an early start so we can get the calendars produced and shipped well before Christmas.
Start looking through your photos for suitable submissions. Here are a few of the rules and a few tips.
1. No people in the photo, not even a part of a person. It looks weird to suddenly see a hand or a head in the midst of all the cat photos.
2. Sugarcats only. They can be on insulin, OTJ or a GA. They just have to have been diagnosed with diabetes at one time. If you have a photo of your sugarcat with their best friend, the friend will have to be cropped out. Sorry but there's limited space and we can't fit everyone's civvie cats in.
3. No text on the photos, including date stamps. You will either need to edit them out or choose a different photo. It would look odd to have a date stamp that reads 2007 in the middle of a 2013 calendar.
4. Keep in mind that Shutterfly calendar layouts are generally in the shape of a small square. Your photo will need to fit in the square box. For that reason, horizontal photos work better than vertical. Vertical shots will need to be cropped and that usually means kitty loses their ears. If you want your cat to keep their ears, try to find a horizontal photo.
5. Look for a photo that has a sharp focus and good lighting. Dark, fuzzy photos don't tend to reproduce well in a mass produced calendar. Shutterfly is just going to print these one after another. The photo that shows up in the calendar is only going to be as good as the photo that you submit. If you don't have a good sharp photo, please try to take another until you get one. Of course, if your kitty is a GA, we will do the best we can with whatever photos you have available.
6. Most photos will have a small amount of cropping based on the calendar layout so it works best if there is a small amount of space around your cat's face or body to leave room for the cropping.
7. High resolution photos are needed. Please do not worry about an excessively large photo. Those actually work better. Photos cropped down for avatar use are too small. Cell phone cameras have gotten better but unless you have a smartphone, most cell phone photos do not work well. Remember, you're sharing your kitty with pet owners and veterinarians around the world. You want them to shine.
8. No holiday photos. This limits where I can place a photo in the calendar. If I get 10 Christmas photos but only have space in December for 9, I have nowhere to put the extra photos.
9. I'm going to try to include additional educational information in this year's calendar. For that reason, when you submit a photo, I would ask that you include the following information:
How long ago your cat was diagnosed/how many years have they been diabetic
what insulin types you have tried
if your cat is diet controlled
if your cat is a GA, what was the cause of death? (To point out that diabetes is not a death sentence)
Their birthdate and diagnosis date
Your name and your cat's name (seems obvious but that info gets left out a lot and sadly, no one registers that way
anymore)
That should cover it but I'm open to additional suggestions.
10. Along the way, there will be deadlines set for photo submissions, for ordering, etc. Please pay attention to those deadlines because there will be no exceptions made for folks who are late. I post updates frequently and always have a calendar sticky at the top of the page throughout the project. Anyone who wants to participate is responsible for getting their photos in on time. Also, there are a limited number of photos that will fit and the calendar fills on a first come, first serve basis so the deadline may change. If you want to participate, plan on submitting early.
For those who are new to FDMB, this is our big annual fundraiser to help pay to keep this site running. 100% of the profit goes directly to FDMB. In past years, we have been able to send anywhere from $1000-$1500 to Rebecca. Calendars will be on sale throughout the fall, hopefully starting no later than September. In addition to spending the year looking at all of your new sugarcat friends, these make great gifts for your vet clinic. This is what last year's calendar looked like: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/r...a5b39da46cbbd47cbb382743&sid=0AZNnDFm3atmLOEA
Please submit your photos to me via email at sweetkittyboo@msn.com. Please do not send them in a PM or post them on the board. At times I cannot access this board (no message boards at work unless I bring my laptop with me) and it makes the whole process run much smoother when everything comes through my email.
I'm setting a tentative deadline ofAugust 30th, 2012 or whenever the calendar is full Again, if the calendar fills before that date, you will not be able to submit a photo. The early bird gets their kitty in the calendar.
Let's plan on another successful sugarcat calendar and our highest fundraiser yet for 2013!
Start looking through your photos for suitable submissions. Here are a few of the rules and a few tips.
1. No people in the photo, not even a part of a person. It looks weird to suddenly see a hand or a head in the midst of all the cat photos.
2. Sugarcats only. They can be on insulin, OTJ or a GA. They just have to have been diagnosed with diabetes at one time. If you have a photo of your sugarcat with their best friend, the friend will have to be cropped out. Sorry but there's limited space and we can't fit everyone's civvie cats in.
3. No text on the photos, including date stamps. You will either need to edit them out or choose a different photo. It would look odd to have a date stamp that reads 2007 in the middle of a 2013 calendar.
4. Keep in mind that Shutterfly calendar layouts are generally in the shape of a small square. Your photo will need to fit in the square box. For that reason, horizontal photos work better than vertical. Vertical shots will need to be cropped and that usually means kitty loses their ears. If you want your cat to keep their ears, try to find a horizontal photo.
5. Look for a photo that has a sharp focus and good lighting. Dark, fuzzy photos don't tend to reproduce well in a mass produced calendar. Shutterfly is just going to print these one after another. The photo that shows up in the calendar is only going to be as good as the photo that you submit. If you don't have a good sharp photo, please try to take another until you get one. Of course, if your kitty is a GA, we will do the best we can with whatever photos you have available.
6. Most photos will have a small amount of cropping based on the calendar layout so it works best if there is a small amount of space around your cat's face or body to leave room for the cropping.
7. High resolution photos are needed. Please do not worry about an excessively large photo. Those actually work better. Photos cropped down for avatar use are too small. Cell phone cameras have gotten better but unless you have a smartphone, most cell phone photos do not work well. Remember, you're sharing your kitty with pet owners and veterinarians around the world. You want them to shine.
8. No holiday photos. This limits where I can place a photo in the calendar. If I get 10 Christmas photos but only have space in December for 9, I have nowhere to put the extra photos.
9. I'm going to try to include additional educational information in this year's calendar. For that reason, when you submit a photo, I would ask that you include the following information:
How long ago your cat was diagnosed/how many years have they been diabetic
what insulin types you have tried
if your cat is diet controlled
if your cat is a GA, what was the cause of death? (To point out that diabetes is not a death sentence)
Their birthdate and diagnosis date
Your name and your cat's name (seems obvious but that info gets left out a lot and sadly, no one registers that way
anymore)
That should cover it but I'm open to additional suggestions.
10. Along the way, there will be deadlines set for photo submissions, for ordering, etc. Please pay attention to those deadlines because there will be no exceptions made for folks who are late. I post updates frequently and always have a calendar sticky at the top of the page throughout the project. Anyone who wants to participate is responsible for getting their photos in on time. Also, there are a limited number of photos that will fit and the calendar fills on a first come, first serve basis so the deadline may change. If you want to participate, plan on submitting early.
For those who are new to FDMB, this is our big annual fundraiser to help pay to keep this site running. 100% of the profit goes directly to FDMB. In past years, we have been able to send anywhere from $1000-$1500 to Rebecca. Calendars will be on sale throughout the fall, hopefully starting no later than September. In addition to spending the year looking at all of your new sugarcat friends, these make great gifts for your vet clinic. This is what last year's calendar looked like: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/r...a5b39da46cbbd47cbb382743&sid=0AZNnDFm3atmLOEA
Please submit your photos to me via email at sweetkittyboo@msn.com. Please do not send them in a PM or post them on the board. At times I cannot access this board (no message boards at work unless I bring my laptop with me) and it makes the whole process run much smoother when everything comes through my email.
I'm setting a tentative deadline ofAugust 30th, 2012 or whenever the calendar is full Again, if the calendar fills before that date, you will not be able to submit a photo. The early bird gets their kitty in the calendar.
Let's plan on another successful sugarcat calendar and our highest fundraiser yet for 2013!
