Scrapbooking is a hugely popular hobby. And it’s rewarding to come away from your creative space with something that both preserves memories and was fun to create. While I enjoy scrapbooking, one of the challenges I face is finding scrapbook-worthy photos.
I spend a lot of time taking photos of nature and architecture. Trees, flowers, symmetry, lines, and other abstract things. I don’t take a lot of time to photograph people. And while a few photos of some of these other things are nice in a scrapbook, they’re not what you generally are looking for in a scrapbook. I’m not saying that you can only scrapbook people pictures, because I’ve seen some amazing pages and layouts that feature other things, but people are a major focus in most scrapbooks.
Knowing that, when you’re snapping photos you think you might want to scrapbook take a moment to think about a few things so that the photos you take for the page visually represent what you’re trying to preserve. What about this memory is so special? Is it the expression on someone’s face? Is it an activity? Is it a small detail someone else may have missed? Think about these questions for a minute, then grab your camera.
Let’s say you’re having a picnic with your kids. You packed the lunch, including lemonade to drink. You’ve made it to the park (or the backyard), and you’re sitting there with your little brood when one of your kids takes a sip of the lemonade.
Of course, your camera is sitting right there ready to go, so you grab it and take a candid of his little pucker. That’s definitely a photo for a page. Now follow up by taking other photos that would complement the page theme. Perhaps a close-up of the lemonade pitcher or a lemon (when you get back to your kitchen). Or, you could make a page of facial expressions when he takes a bite of some of the other foods from your picnic. Whatever you choose to theme your page, take several shots so that you have options when you get to creating the page (and you don’t have to use them all).