Taking Pictures for your Scrapbook!

Picture taking is an important element of scrapbooking. Afterall, if you don’t have any great photographs to include in your layout, what is the point of building a scrapbook? When I am taking pictures for scrapbooking (or any other occasion), I do so with concept, focus, and tons of film on hand. No matter if I am taking pictures at a wedding or important family event or instead taking a few snapshots at the local city park, I always try my best to capture special, unusually different visual representations of my subject matter. In other words, I do not waste time nor film on retaking a bunch of shots that all look alike.

Here are a few pointers to aid you in learning to take excellent shots for inclusion in your scrapbook or just in your family photo album:

1. Take a variety of pictures that capture the entire event. Trying to capture the whole event from a visual perspective will offer you the advantage of telling the story visually in your scrapbook as well as dating that specific point in time to a certain occasion. The secret to taking these type of explanative photos is to take a step back and include as much activity at one time in your photos. Dating your photos in this way offers you a point of comparison of not only people but objects in the future. It is important to capture this type of perspective in your scrapbooks to serve as a point of reference for other less specific pictures.

2. In this group of photos, try to focus on activities rather then people or things. Take a few pictures that focus on the activity as a whole and others that capture a smaller, more specific portion of them. These photos will be taken from what is called a ‘middle range’ perspective. The photos not only offer specific details of the actions and activities that are occurring, but they are almost always the ones that capture memories that will invoke that old ‘hey---I remember that’ emotion in years to come.

Keep in mind, now that you do not have to take these pictures in a specific order. Rather, take good ones at an opportune time, just bearing in mind the types of photos that you are out to get and what purposes they will serve later.

3. Get in their face and personal. By focusing centrally on people and their facial expressions and body language, you capture the emotion of that particular event. These photos are likely to be the focal points for your scrapbook pages, with the other photos begin used as ‘descriptives’ and ways to further explain the story. Surprised expressions or silly faces make wonderful close-ups. As do children who are posing…for some reason children possess the unique ability to really ham it up in front of the camera. Take advantage of these types and other types of close-up moments to give a personal touch to your picture stories.

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