Follow these steps to put together a creative photo show to give as a special sports team gift. It will give a child and their teammates a special memory of their sports season. Plan to present the DVD to the entire team after the final game of the season or at the team's end of season party.
Plan Ahead
Plan to create the photo show early in the season. Make sure to take photos of everyone on the team. Get the team together for group photos and have them be serious for the first set and then make funny faces or poses for the second set. Take some candid shots of the kids on the field or on the side lines. Make sure to include photos of parents as spectators. Get some shots at the team’s practices when they are out of uniform and more relaxed. If the child’s team has a kick-off chant or lines up to shake hands with the other team after the game, include a few of these shots too.
Did the kids make the play-offs or a tournament? If so, definitely take shots of those events. If they won trophies or medals, take a few shots of the kids with their trophies or any after-game celebrations and include those. Or take a few stills of the trophy or medal. Did the child play soccer? Drape the medal over a soccer ball for a great shot to include. Don’t forget about photos of the coach and referees too.
Choose Media
Choose a photo media software such as Windows Movie Maker. Get familiar with the software before you attempt to make a digital slideshow or movie. Once you are comfortable with the software, import the photos taken during the sports season. Look over the photos and eliminate ones that are blurry or otherwise unusable.
Remember, these are kids - don’t include photos of them doing anything embarrassing. Look at each photo to make sure it is appropriate and not one that is going to make the kid cringe. Add enough photos for a 3 or 4 minute show. Each photo should be on the screen for about four seconds so plan to have about 50 or 55 photos which will run for about 3-1/2 minutes. Note: save the presentation frequently. Make sure all that hard work isn’t lost if there is a glitch.
Add Transitions and Special Effects
Once the photos are chosen, add some special effects. These are the filters that will go onto the photos. Use a variety of the available special effects filters. Add a black and white filter to some of the photos and add a sepia one to others. Play around with the different types of effects that the software provides. Some can look like old time photos and others can transition from regular color to a light blue and then grey. Add a few that can flip and rotate. Most software allows users to drag the desired effect to the photo on which it should appear.
Transitions are the movements between the photos. Some can fade in and others fade out. Add transitions that dissolve, look like checkerboards or bow-ties or others that make shapes like circles or diamonds. Just choose a transition button and drag it to where you want it to appear.
Music
Adding music makes a photo show delightful. Is there a current team song? If so, add that to the show. Make sure it is an upbeat, lively song and make sure it’s current. Do not use music to which the rights have not been purchased. Some downloaded music comes in an mp2 or mp4 format. Oftentimes, these types of formats will have to be converted to mp3 which is more easily recognized. There is conversion software available if the music needs to be converted.
Text and Credits
Adding some fun text to the tops or bottoms of the photos is easy and makes the show interesting. Add names of the players or call out some special locations or events that took place such as "Here's Jimmy right before the thunderstorm” or “Go Heat, winners of the Sun Cup Tournament”. Add credits at the end. Put each child’s name under the name of their team and the year. Make it fun and interesting.
After the presentation is complete, save it one final time and publish it to video format and then burn it to DVD. Now, this special gift is ready to be given to the team.
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