First 2015 Scrapbook

It's about time, I must say. I will have to go check it out. Thanks for posting, yosemite1.

Where did you find it? The only ones I could find were older.

Here's a link: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks. scroll to bottom.

So soon? Thanks for letting us know!

Well done. The photography is beautiful. Thanks for posting, yosemite1.

Tamara, excellent work! This is terrific.

Here is a link to her Trip Report which may have some different/additional information.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/germany-austria-and-switzerland-may-2015-trip-report

Thank you, ladies! We had a lot of fun reminiscing. Can't wait to see all the other entries - it's my favorite way to pass the time!

I'm always impressed with how sophisticated the scrapbooks are. My idea of a scrapbook is tossing the pictures into a drawer. Then years later, I'm wondering "Is this the Grand Canyon? or Arches Nat'l Park? Or the results of a gully-washer in North Texas?" Stan's habit is to have lots of thumb drives or memory cards, so he can look at them as say "I think this is Barcelona; no, wait, it might be Rome..."

Jane... Funny!

I just hope the scrapbooks don't get so sophisticated that they discourage others from creating a scrapbook. I know I am not as talented as most people that have posted scrapbooks. I find it a lot easier to create a DVD in ITunes and put my pictures to music. With iTunes you can include words with the pictures and you can arrange for more than one picture on a page/slide. I think that works best when you are showing your pictures to friends rather than a scrapbook. The scrapbook documents the trip.
Maybe one day, Rick will have a category for slide shows.

What a wonderful scrapbook! Tamara, in your "About Us" you say you are a "novice" photographer. You are certainly off to a great start! All the photographs are great, and many are magnificent! You have produced a scrapbook that will be tough to beat. I think we need a "how to create a wonderful scrapbook" topic on this forum, with tips on using different software, how to intermingle photos and titles and text, and all that. Tamara, you can be "Mentor #1"!

Thank you so much, Larry! I'll be honest - I'm not very tech savvy at all. I used wix.com and it is very user friendly and has sample layouts and you just choose colors and then add text boxes and photo galleries and drag them wherever you want. It's not difficult, just time consuming! I've seen some scrapbooks where people make their own websites with lots of interesting graphics and effects, and I have no idea how to do that! And I'd love to make a video like yosemite1 mentioned, but I've never learned how to do that either. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Tamara, your scrapbook was terrific. I, too, have always wanted to complete one. Sadly, I know it is very time consuming and I am too lazy to complete such a lengthy process.(I usually cherry pick my photos and create a calendar each year.) Congrats, on you dedication! I enjoy the scrapbooks and use them to aide in deciding which tour I want to take next. We, my husband and I, have been considering the GAS tour for some time. Your scrapbook is definitely nudging me in that direction for our next adventure.

Tamara, great scrapbook! You set the bar high for this year's competition, good luck!

Thank you! Debra - you wouldn't regret taking that tour! Every day is packed with beauty and amazing history. I think I could take it over and over again. Although I feel that way about our Scotland tour last year too... :)

Tamara I also love the scrapbook. It seems like a Rick Steves tour is awesome. I love visiting Europe and the only tour I took was in high school many many years ago. It was my first visit and so exciting to see so many places in 14 days. I have been back 4 times since then and always plan my visit around 1 or 2 locations with minimum stays of 4 or 5 nights each to fully explore the city and do day trips. It seems on a Rick Steves tour you get about a day and a half in each location. Do you find it enough time to fully experience what you want to see? Does the tour feel rushed moving from location to location? I know many people love them..I just am wondering if I would enjoy it. I am glad you had a great trip....makes me want to travel soon :)

You did a really great job immortalizing your trip Tamara! Your pictures were wonderful and I enjoyed the journaling that accompanied them. I toyed with the idea of attempting the website format, but decided to remain with something that I had some experience with. But just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your work!
Steve, we took not only our first RS tour this past spring, it was also our first ever tour. I understand what you say about being on your own and planning the time as you want. But I have to say, the benefits on our Best of Southern Italy tour more than compensated for that. Everything ran smoothly with no worries about missed connections, mix ups with reservations, etc. As far as if there is enough time in each stop, I guess that is something everyone decides for themselves. I can say that because the timeline is planned so well, with a minimum of wasted time, you very likely will cover more ground than if you were on your own. Do I sound like a RS fan? I guess that I am and would take another without hesitation. Sadly our next adventure will not be with RS because his tours, while sounding wonderful, do not follow the itinerary that will are dreaming about. But you can be sure that the RS books will play a big role in our planning.

Tamara, great job on your GAS Scrapbook. My favorite tour of all time and you did a great job taking me back to the places I enjoyed so much a few years ago. Sitting here in Tn with 7"of snow on the ground gave me a good hour of great memories. I am still hoping for a fall tour if my health will just improve some. Now looking at the new 8 day trip from Munuch to Vienna. I really have a comfort level in those areas and Salzburg is my favorite little city. Thanks for putting out a wonderful scrapbook that many on the site have a will enjoy over the next month or so, and good luck in the contest.
Tony

Thank you so much, Steve, Pat and Tony! It was such a great tour!

Just a reminder that February 29 is the last day to submit a scrapbook and be eligible for the contest. I sure hope to see some scrapbooks from the Best of Italy tour so I can relive the tour.

What a nice scrapbook! I love the beautiful pictures and layout. What kind of camera did you bring?

More scrapbooks have been posted. Yea!

Thanks Peg! I have a Nikon 5200 DSLR. I really like the photos it takes, but it is a bit heavy and bulky. I've been researching some smaller point-and-shoot type cameras, but I may have to take one on a shorter trip and see if I'm as happy with the pictures, as photography had become an interest of mine.

Yosemite1 - I see there is one posted for the Italy tour so far! I was hoping there would be some I could look at to tide me over until we leave in September! :)

Maybe it's just me, but I can't get the last one to work (#5). I just see the home page, but nothing to scroll through. The text mentions mousing over country names, but I see none. Also, #3 doesn't appear to work, either.

For scrapbook 5, there are 3 little lines in the top left corner, click on them. For scrapbook 3, I was able to click on the names to the left and it worked for me.

Tamara

Wow, your photos really pop. Your photography skills are obvious. I have been on the tech forum extolling the benefits of a compact camera (albeit with a larger 1 " sensor) for travel. Your site shows what can be done with a good DSLR in the hands of somebody who really knows which way to point the camera. Do you use high end (expensive) lenses?

Just out of curiousity, do you shoot in RAW and do a lot of post processsing? I have always been too lazy to do that, but i may have to push myself If I want to aspire to your level.

Thank you, Yosemite, mine was #5, it shows the country names on top of my computer screen, but if I look at it from my iPad it just shows those little lines, too, I don't know why :(. I appreciate you helping everyone see all the scrapbooks, thank you!

Lynny - I loved your scrapbook! Thanks so much for sharing! I was drooling over your Switzerland days - what amazing weather you had! Gorgeous!

Tamara, thank you, I really enjoyed yours, too, you are a great photographer and you made that trip look beautiful! I would like to try that itinerary someday!

Okay, thoroughly enjoying all the pics and reading about everyone's tour experiences! Have yet to go through all of them, but I'm rooting for a few already! :)