tons of questions about pictures

[spark deLite]

I've been sending my requests without pictures. (I've enclosed an index card if they had nothing else to sign.) Today I got my first 8x10 pictures to send. I'm going to send them to Andy Serkis who played Gollum on "Lord of the Rings". VV to New Zealand.

I'm thinking that I might start sending pictures with my LOR as a general practice... if I can pace myself to where I can manage my meager funds. I'd like to get something that's more unique than the stock photo that the celeb hands out.

I have some questions. Maybe you can help.

Do you think sending a picture will increase my chances of getting a response? I believe it's supposed to for vv, but does that apply to regular ttm's too?

Is 5x7 too small to send?

I've payed nearly $3 for each 8x10 at WalMart Photo. Do you have recommendations for where I can get them cheaper, even if it's over the internet and I have to wait for them to be shipped to my home?

As far as backgrounds go what should I be looking for in order for the autograph to be clearly visable? I think i've read something about silver sharpee not being ideal so should I avoid darkness in the picture? (I'm assuming silver is the only color that would show up on black and that there really is some problem with silver sharpees in the first place.)


If you can think of any other helpful hints about pictures I'd love to read it.

Thanks.

[RYAN-J]

Oh yes! Sending photos increases your change much more than sending a plain index card. some celebs don't like to sign just blank material and will only sign photos.

5x7 is fine! I tend to stick with 4x6's as their cheaper to print and you don't have to use extra postage on the larger envelopes.

$3.00 sounds about right for an 8x10. however www.adoramapix.com does print them for a cheaper price and if you order them in large quanities you do see a bit of savings. with 4x6's those only cost .19 each, so I like those better.

I tend to look for photos that are bright and have light area's on them, so the signature can be seen clearly. Silver sharpies work fine on professionally printed photos from a lab like Wal-mart, but ones printed from a regular printer at home always lead to smearing as the printer ink filles in the pores on the photo paper and then the sharpie ink has no place to soak into the photo, so it's basically 'floating' on top and never gets a chance to dry.

Hope that helps!

RYAN-J

[spark deLite]

It does help quite a bit. Thanks Ryan!

[spark deLite]

Do you think that a celeb would be more likely to personalize and inscribe a larger photograph because there is more room?

[RYAN-J]

Not really. I send 4x6's and 90% of the time they personalize them. I've even had celebrities personalize smaller items like 2x3 inches. They just write smaller is all.

RYAN-J

[spark deLite]

Thanks Ryan. I've been on a picture searching frenzy and my funds are running out quite quickly trying to get the larger photos.