National Poetry Month: Photo and a Poem

April is National Poetry Month, so in honor of National Poetry Month, we will share poetry and photography that inspires poetry or that reminds of poetry.

For this swap, you will send your 1 partner a photo and a poem. You can do this one of two ways: (1) send a photo WITH a poem that seems to illuminate the photo (or a photo that illuminates the meaning of the poem). OR (2) you can integrate the photo and the poem.

Here's what you'll do:

• Step 1: Select one of your photos and then select a poem that complements it OR select a poem and find one of your own photos (or take another photo) that complements IT.

OPTION 1

• Step 2: Have your photo printed professionally or on photo paper using your high quality home printer.
• Step 3: Type and print the poem on nicely decorated paper or stationery--anything but a plain white sheet of paper. You can even use craft scissors to trim the paper. Beautiful handwriting is also acceptable. Calligraphy or very neat artistic writing.

OPTION 2

• Step 2: If you decide to integrate poem and photo, use Photoshop, Paintshop or your chosen photo editing software and add the poem to the photo. Actually, you can even do this in Microsoft Word and Pages. Choose an appropriate font--keep in mind that fancy fonts don't always work and can distract from the beauty of your creation.
• Step 3: Position the text so that the photo doesn't get lost in the words.
• Step 4: Save as .jpeg (if you're sending to a photo finisher).
• Step 5: Have your transformed photo printed professionally or on photo paper using your high quality home printer.

Your photo should be at least 4x6 in size. Send to your partner in an envelope.

Please note: The poem does not have to be written by you.

Have fun!