I have been a member here for awhile and I am just amazed with everything you are able to do. I have PSP 8.1 and PSE2. I have done most of the tutorials here and some off the web. I subscribe to the e-zine and faithfully read the whole thing. I read the posts in the forum and look at the gallery to learn more. I know I have much to learn, especially about photography.

So with all of this I have made very few layouts. Mostly because I look at my photos and can't see anything that I should scrapbook, the pictures are just "snapshots". I have a digital camera and I love to use it, maybe not enough!

So my question for anyone is this: What do I do with all the pictures I would love to scrapbook but they are really just snapshot pictures?

For example, I went to my neice's wedding recently. I was helping a lot so my brother took a lot of pictures with his digital camera. There is a great shot with 6 men that are brothers and sons. This is just a snapshot but I would love to do something with it but it isn't a great picture.

When I look back at all my pictures I want to scrapbook, they aren't great pictures. So what do I do with them and how can I make layouts that are worth printing. (I know I won't get it right away)

Your pictures are great and they seem much better than mine to start with.

Thanks for the help and inspiration.
Sierra

Sierra are you not just being hard on yourself & your pictures? Having a digital camera gives you wonderful opportunities - first of all you can take lots of pics as their is no cost involved - if you don't like it delete, so just snap away! also its usually possible to use good parts of pics & zoom in to enlarge them & give them more impact - look out for examples where often one pic is used as a whole then part of it enlarged to make others. Most of all though, just keep trying, look at LO's you like & try to make a similar type with something of you'rs. Of course you CAN do it! Meryl

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Meryl (KwaZulu Natal South Africa)
Design Team Member at DSP

My suggestion is to get the book "Designing with photos". It's an excellent resource that has just the right amount of info for scrapbookers who want to take better pictures. I minored in photography in college, but I still learned from this book, some 15 years later. Plus it's so amazingly beautiful that it's a worthy addition to any library of someone who takes pictures.
Other than that, I would say the biggest mistake people make is not getting close enough. If you can't get close enough when taking it, have it enlarged and crop it to get the shot you want. It is very rare that a photo is just right right out of the developer (or right off the card, in the case of digital.)
Good luck!
Tonya

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gauchogirl

"If you're gonna' get wet, you might as well go swimming."

gauchogirl.com Owner/Designer |
ScrapGirls Designer | SSReflections Digital Tutorials

2004 Memory Makers Finalist

Hey Sierra!
"Just do it!" pardon the nike slogan!

You sound a lot like me! With many things in my life, if I can't do something perfect- I would rather not even start.

The only way to get over this is to just jump in! Grab any decent photo that isn't blurry and start playing with it.

A few tips:
crop crop crop
if the bg looks terrible blur it out
if there are a ton of colors that clash- desaturate the photo

Here is one of the fastest LO's I've ever done- and I love it!
All of the colors did clash on this one so of course I desaturated the photo. The background is black so no need for drop shadows. I used an ad inspiration from one of the ezines- very simple!
http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...cat=500&page=2

I cropped a lot on both of these photos:
http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...cat=500&page=3

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...cat=500&page=3

You need to start simple so you can get some LO's finished and feel a sense of accomplishment. Don't try anything too complicated to begin with because you'll just end up frustated.

Also, don't be afraid to post just a photo in the gallery to ask for advice! And most of all- just have fun- you can always hit undo

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~Laurie Garza~

Photos are priceless no matter how "good" they are. Snapshots tell the story of our lives a lot better than portraits do. A short time down the road every photo brings back memories. So my suggestion is to jump in and make a few pages. It won't be long before you'll be looking back at them feeling glad you did.

Kristi

You might not take the most technically "perfect" photos, but aren't they perfect to you? They are the people and places and events of your life, and your life is worth scrapping!

Don't scrap for us, scrap for YOU! Scrap for the creative outlet, scrap for your memories, scrap for your family and your future generations of family. Scrap for YOU!

Honestly, you just need to jump in and get started! LOL! I think we all probably look back at our first pages and think "I have come such a long way!" - so don't start with your wedding pictures or someother big event - start with everyday stuff, and get your legs under you first!

"Just do it!" to borrow a phrase from Laurie and Nike!

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My layouts!

I love up close portraits as much as anyone and they are very dramatic, however I have to remind myself that they don't tell the whole story. When you stand farther back and just take snapshots they 'surround' you. You can capture more of the moment if that makes any sense. A face is beautiful, and I can't say I don't take 100's of close up shots of my children, however, when i take a step back and gather in all that's going on in the scene... clothing furniture, surrounds of all the people..... that is what really brings back the memory for me. YOu know how smells can bring back a moment -- well somtimes when i look at certain photos they envoke a certain feeling in me too. If you are following me here wow -- I'm confuzing myself... i really do have a point and i'm not sure if it's coming across....

Even the faded old photos with the orange countre tops and olive green appliances need to be scrapped -- and YES that shag carpet too -- to me it's all part of the past that I have waded through and i want to remember every detail as well as pass on fashon do's and don'ts to future generations --

Make sense??? hope so --

Kristie

Thank you so much for your encouragement. I guess I do have a problem with wanting to do everything perfectly and I appreciate your encouragement. I'm really not trying to whine but I just don't know where to start but by listening here I guess I just "start".

Tonya, I was wondering where I could get the book "Designing with Photos"? I just quickly looked on line at a bookstore and it wasn't there. Do you know where I might be able to get it.

Thanks again
Sierra