New collector, any help please?

[thegirlnextdoor42]

I've never sent or recieved an autograph from any celebrity. I don't know where to begin!

I want to send Lauren Bacall a photo for her to sign. I have a legitimate address. Problem is, I don't have a photo!

1) How/where would I get a proper photo? (How much would it cost?)
2) Do I need to write them a letter? (About what?)
3)What are the steps in mailing or attaching a photo?

Any answers, advice or help is much appreciated! Thank you so much in advance!

[Andrew2000]

Hi
1) I normally use Amazon or Ebay for photos, the cheapest ones from amazon are about 3.99. Just search kitchen and home for Lauren Bacall and there is quite a good selection.
2)With letters i normally keep it fairly short as im sure they must receive thousands! Try telling her what films of hers are your favourites and what you like about them e.t.c. At the end of a letter i always tend to thank them for taking the time to read it and then politely ask if they can sign my photo.
3)if you are mailing from abroad then you will need to include IRC's for oversea postage.
Hope that helps. Good luck collecting!

[thegirlnextdoor42]

Hi
1) I normally use Amazon or Ebay for photos, the cheapest ones from amazon are about 3.99. Just search kitchen and home for Lauren Bacall and there is quite a good selection.
2)With letters i normally keep it fairly short as im sure they must receive thousands! Try telling her what films of hers are your favourites and what you like about them e.t.c. At the end of a letter i always tend to thank them for taking the time to read it and then politely ask if they can sign my photo.
3)if you are mailing from abroad then you will need to include IRC's for oversea postage.
Hope that helps. Good luck collecting!

Thank you very much for replying Andrew! You clarified all my questions!

[ScottishDan]

what I do is I find large photos on Google Images and save them in a folder. Once I have 70-100 photos I upload them on to Photobox.com and get them printed and sent to my door. I think that's a lot cheaper than buying each photo separately. Dan.

[HappinessStan]

Agree with both.

If you're getting photos from Google images to get printed it's a good idea to drop them into a photo editor (I use photoshop, but there are free old versions of Paintshop Pro online which work just as well for simple cropping, check on oldversion dot com) and crop or add borders to get them to the right dimensions. I get mine printed at a local supermarket and if you don't give them a little help with the dimensions it is possible to get some fairly unexpected results, with the tops of heads missing and all sorts.

As I see it, it's a trade-off between their turning a blind eye to potential copyright issues and expecting them to look and think about the pictures they're printing. If they're doing a 10" x 8" photo, then giving them something 1000 x 800 pixels to work with is fairly safe.

There are loads of fantastic photos of Lauren Bacall on Google images, she has a reputation as a good signer as well as being an international treasure, good luck!

[thegirlnextdoor42]

what I do is I find large photos on Google Images and save them in a folder. Once I have 70-100 photos I upload them on to Photobox.com and get them printed and sent to my door. I think that's a lot cheaper than buying each photo separately. Dan.

That sounds great! I don't think I would have a problem...I have more than enough google images saved on file! Haha

Thank you for the wonderful idea, Dan!

[thegirlnextdoor42]

Agree with both.

If you're getting photos from Google images to get printed it's a good idea to drop them into a photo editor (I use photoshop, but there are free old versions of Paintshop Pro online which work just as well for simple cropping, check on oldversion dot com) and crop or add borders to get them to the right dimensions. I get mine printed at a local supermarket and if you don't give them a little help with the dimensions it is possible to get some fairly unexpected results, with the tops of heads missing and all sorts.

As I see it, it's a trade-off between their turning a blind eye to potential copyright issues and expecting them to look and think about the pictures they're printing. If they're doing a 10" x 8" photo, then giving them something 1000 x 800 pixels to work with is fairly safe.

There are loads of fantastic photos of Lauren Bacall on Google images, she has a reputation as a good signer as well as being an international treasure, good luck!

Hey, Stan!

Thank you for the intricate instructions, they couldn't be any clearer! Though I'm not too experienced with editing software, I might know someone who is. I'll try it out and see how it goes!

Thank's again!