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Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking - Your Best Tool is Your Camera! by Deborah Simon There are a ton of helpful and trendy tools for scrapbooking out there, but your albums won't look good if you don't take some great pictures! Article rating: 8.51

While perusing one of the latest scrapbooking magazines, I noticed a lot of advertisements.   Virtually every company known in the craft industry is introducing a trendy new tool that we all need.  Some of them punch holes or shapes, while others add metal embellishments silently and with only a gentle squeeze.  I have to admit, hidden in the dark corners of my work area are some of those "hot" new products that I thought were necessary for making great albums.  All of these new fangled gadgets are handy, but your camera is the most essential for your scrapbooking.

As an avid scrapbook artist and keeper of family memories, I am constantly looking for ways to improve on capturing both the memorable and the mundane as part of my story.  It used to be that the art of scrapbooking was simply a documentation of birthdays, weddings, and the children's school years.  The pages consisted of nothing more than the elementary elements - paper and pictures.  Paper remains as the foundation upon which most scrapbooks are made, but the pictures, or rather the picture taking, has changed. 

Most of us who call ourselves scrappers, attend crops, and spend too much time late at night chatting on online scrapbooking forums, are not satisfied with the quality of photos that our limited skills used to produce.  You remember those photos taken at family gatherings where everyone was standing around the kitchen table to witness little Johnny blow out the candles on his cake.  I have them too; boxes full of photos with scenes of yellow-skinned people illuminated by the chandelier hovering over their heads.  I'm quite sure that I also saw a few with an unknown group of people posing at a distance that looks to be a few too many miles from the photographer in an unrecognizable location.  What were we thinking?  Or should I say, were we thinking?  

Scrapbookers are thinking now, about being more purposeful toward the choice of subjects in their albums and using their cameras to record more than just celebrations on the calendar.  Along with the age of digital, has come the freedom to experiment, to be more creative with the camera and to shoot in continuous mode for a series of shots rather than risk it all on one.  For the cost of a roll of film, you can walk yourself through a photography lesson in composition and just delete the shots that you don't like.  Instead of suffering disappointment when an order of prints comes back with less than desirable photos and the moment is gone, now you can practice with wild abandon to get the angle that better represents the event. Not only can you work at being a better photographer from a technical standpoint, but you can plan ahead at how you want to tell your story.  In other words, you can imagine from what perspective you would like to tell your story, make a list of the details you want to include, and set up your shots.  Using this method will ensure being able to convey the emotions that you and your subject were experiencing as well as provide for more interesting scrapbook themes.

© 2006 Deborah Simon

© 2006 Deborah Simon

Let's review a few ideas on how to achieve more from your photo taking while trying to capture the moments of life.  First, work that zoom.  Fill your frames.  Don't be afraid to cut off the tops of heads, zoom in on body parts, or focus on a tiny detail while the rest of the photo remains blurred.  There's no need to share with the world the basket of laundry in the living room while photographing your mother-in-law holding her newborn grandchild for the first time.  Remove the clutter from your photos, especially the stuff that you think won't matter years from now.  Go big and bold and awaken the senses with your shots.

Next, try a new angle.  Step out of the box and climb high.  Grab a chair and take a shot looking down on your subject.  Get down on a child's level or have them climb up on a play set.  Take a day to steer clear of the straight-on photos and enjoy the results.  Consider a different perspective.  I am always moved by the less than perfectly lined up images and those are the ones that I end up being making the most exciting layouts.  Throw out conventional wisdom and be more creative with where you stand and how you hold your camera.

© 2006 Deborah Simon

Finally, be more open-minded about what you shoot. Make a mental note of the types of shots that grab your attention, the ones that evoke an emotion in you.  Plan a scrapbook layout around an idea and take the photographs that will best immortalize the memory that you are working with. Spend some time thinking about how you want your life to be remembered and the memories that you'd like to keep fresh for later reflection.  Don't wait to pick up your camera until there is a formal celebration or a family get together.  Let the mundane be remembered as well.  Remember to include the activities that are unique to you and each member of your family. Take pictures of your life as it really is, not just the events that are common to us all. 

Tools are nice.  They make life a lot easier and can accomplish things that neither you nor I could do with our bare hands.  However, it goes without saying that your camera is the one tool that makes this hobby what it is.  It bears the fruit for us to continue with this labor of love - scrapbooking.  So give your camera the attention and gratitude that it deserves and use it for all it's worth. Those other tools can wait. Go scrap your story!

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	Great pointers! I'm looking for a camera. Would love some suggestions for a good camera or a suggested site to go to for ideas from experience. Love the photos!! Posted by: Brenda deNeui Aug 30, 2006 @ 3:20 PM EST
	Good tips! Beautiful photos. I would like more info on lighting. How to get rid of the "yellow-skinned people". Posted by: Amy Moore Aug 30, 2006 @ 4:56 PM EST
	Way to really 'capture the moment' with these photos!! Posted by: Angela Minnick Aug 30, 2006 @ 5:52 PM EST
	Wonderful, emotive writing, & some very good photos, though not all were great-looking. Also, I would've liked the actual photos shown to be described a little &, especially, some of the (bad?) shots explained as to why she thought they were so good. Like the ankle shot of jeans & partial shoelaces--what's up with that??? What WAS she thinking??? The shot I'm talking about is right above the country fence photo (which I truly loved--it's a very emotion-producing photo on several levels). Then, there's also an ankle/shoe shot at the top of the story--so teeny-tiny that the reader can't read what's written on it--new shoes??? Or that blurry carousel shot--one person standing in the very far background was in focus--was that a mistake, or by luck/happinstance, or her true subject, or was the largest image of a blurry horse-riging child her subject??? It seemed like she relished in indulging in a "lazy" photographic style--just point the camera in the general direction of the subject (wait--does she think that one actually even NEEDS a subject?), close eyes, & snap the picture--devoid of the many useful concepts I learned in college photography courses. I'm online here to learn more innovative photographic tips & relearn the ones I've forgotten from my college days, & learn more about digital cameras--I don't have one & don't want to waste my money on one, until I've learned all I can about them--from real people, not from paid-for ads by companies. Personally, I don't see how a digital camera's performance could possibly compare with my beloved 35 mm Pentax K-1000 (that I bought way back when in college). Maybe some day--long from now (if ever)--I'll be proven wrong & will expound the glories of digital cameras...but don't hold your breath. And this article, while on the whole was quite nice to read, did not sell me on digital cameras. Posted by: Bakaca Sep 7, 2006 @ 10:18 AM EST
	I absolutely loved this artical. It was so informative of how we all need to take ourself out of the box a bit to catch the emotion of what was going on around us. I loved the new shoe. I can just imagine the scapebook page that might be going on in her mind. That little boy was probably so excited and nervous about his first day of school, but it was the shoes that he got to pick out all by himself that gave him the courage to not be so scared for the first day. I would normally throw out those blurry pictures like the carousel shot, but just in looking at it with out know what was going through the photographers head, I put myself in my place many years ago. Those carousel rides seemed so fast! I have learned a lot just by just reading this artical and lookiing at photo opportunities in a completely different angle. I may still have yellow people in my at celebrations, but I will also have the sweet innocent memories that will mean so much later. Thank you for the great artical! Posted by: Teri Sanford Sep 10, 2006 @ 10:58 AM EST
	vivid&interesting Posted by: pavan Sep 10, 2006 @ 12:1 PM EST
	Nice article and interesting pictures I really like the one of the little boy looking out the train window. Posted by: Theresa Sep 17, 2006 @ 11:26 PM EST
	Photography captures the "moments " of life as we live. You will only apppreciate those moments many years later. These moments never repeats. there can only be repeated in pictures. There pictures will be the many fond memories that you will cherish. Posted by: clement sia Jun 4, 2007 @ 4:49 AM EST
	Very good article! A good reminder of the great photos you can capture. Posted by: Deb. D. Jan 21, 2008 @ 12:0 PM EST

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