Scrapbook Photography 101 Part 2 of 3

Posted on November 16th, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Training.

Title:  Scrapbook Photography 101 Part 2

Author:  Wes Waddell

Article:  Scrapbook Photography 101 Part 2 Basic Photo Composition

Now that you have the basic photography equipment and a better understanding of your camera, its’ different modes and how they affect your images… it’s time to start learning how to best use this knowledge to take photos that are not only in focus, but tell the right story and fit into your scrapbook of memories.

Basic Scrapbook Photography Composition:

Anyone can easily, in just a few hours, learn to operate a camera, point it at something and take a clear, in focus image. But it takes lots and lots of practice to have that image composed so that it also tells the story, preserves the memory and fits onto your scrapbook page the way you need it to.

In all your standard photography courses, they teach you the basic principal of: Use all the available space!

For your scrapbooks… this is sometimes the totally WRONG ANSWER!

Yes, if you are going to print an image of your child’s smiling face and hang it on the wall, you want to get in closer and capture the face close up. The difference with the scrapbook or memory journal is that while you may want to have a close-up on the page, you are also going to be adding captions, journaling and other artwork that not only tells of your child’s wonderful smile, but that it’s their 1st birthday and they were smiling at grandma for the very first time.

Scrapbook Photo Technique: Take the close-up image, but also take one with grandma in the image and one of the child’s profile from the front of the ears forward on the very edge of the frame. (great to use as a scrapbook background) In short, think page background, and how you will tell the story on the page or page set. Then take the images needed for that one part of the story.

Photos of the birthday cake in the lower corner of the photo with a solid color wall or background and photos of the presents off to one side or along the bottom of the picture make wonderful scrapbook background images with plenty of empty space to fill with photos and journaling notes.

Landscapes are different:

When you travel or go on family outings, a lot of people take beautiful images of the landscapes and scenery.

The problems you run into as a scrapbook photographer is that these landscapes don’t make for good backgrounds in many cases because you will be covering much of it up with other photos and stories. And if you just put the images on the scrapbook page by themselves, they make for some very boring scrapbook page sets.

So, what do you do about it?

There are a couple of techniques that you can use to help jazz up your scrapbook scenery pages.

First, keep your family in the images but off to the side or near the bottom of the image and don’t be afraid to use the fill flash mode (if you have one) to highlight their faces. This keeps the story about them and that they were there.

Second, use the viewfinder and look at the image as if it were a background page. Imagine your images, titles and journaling over the top of the image you see. Now, move the camera around, turn it on end for portrait style and capture several images that work as backgrounds with the most important parts of the scenery around the sides of the photo.

Third, use a tree, some plants, a fence post or other close object to frame all or part of the image. Grandma and Grandpa holding hands and you shooting between them with just their shoulders, arms and hands framing the scenic is a really cool way to tie the family into the story.

Scrapbook Photography Tip: If your camera doesn’t have manual focus or it’s hard to use, then almost all cameras today allow you to point the camera somewhere else (like into the distance or at the sky), press the shutter button part way down so it activates the focus and light settings, then without releasing the shutter, point it where you want the photo taken and finish pressing the shutter. In this way you have the camera set to shoot a different setting than would be otherwise. You may need to practice this a bit, but it really works great at sunset and to place focus on other thanthe close up face or object.

Now it’s time again for the fun part… practice all these principles and techniques at the same time.

It’s not as easy as you might think! At least not at first anyhow.  Now you get an idea of why photographers take years to really learn their craft well.

This week’s assignment: Create 2 complete scrapbook pages using only your images and journaling/titles.

Go out in the morning or early afternoon with your friends or family. Take photos of backgrounds, people and nature.  Then, that evening go out again and take images in low light and of the sunset with someone as the focus of the story. Now, put the images onto your computer and using a digital scrapbook or photo editing program (you can print and do it by hand too, but that will cost you money for the prints and paper), create one page that tells the story of your morning and one page that tells the story of your evening. You can only use the images your took and titles/journaling boxes.

Show the results to family and friends that were not there and see if they understand the story and like what they see. After all, it’s only through the minds of others that we know we have told the complete story.

In Part 3, we’ll cover mood and some more tricks to make your photo’s look like a pro.

Until then, practice, practice, practice!

Wes Waddell

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Scrapbook Photography 101 Part 1 of 3

Posted on November 15th, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Training.

Title: Scrapbook Photography 101 Part 1 of 3

Author: Wes Waddell

Article:
Scrapbook Photography 101, Part One: Equipment – Bag, camera, flash, tripod

This article is a simplified photography course directed at new photographers and scrapbookers out there who want to know the basics of where to start.

First, a short introduction to what this course is.

The basics of photography are not hard and just about anyone over the age of 12 can learn them in very short order. With today’s modern digital cameras, it’s very easy for anyone to take clear focused images in most any conditions. What really takes time and practice is taking images that capture the memory and fit the needs of the scrapbooker who is capturing not only the memory and the emotions, but the story itself.

We will highlight the basics and what you need to get started. We’ll really be concentrating on how to apply the basics and the techniques/tips to use to get the most out of the images you capture for your scrapbooks.

That said, let’s get started.

If you really want to learn the basics of photography the first thing you need is a reliable camera. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive camera out there, but it must, and I repeat must, be able to shoot in a variety of modes and conditions. At a minimum, this means in full auto mode, in portrait or people mode, in sunset or low light conditions, with fill flash (we’ll talk more on what that is later) and at night.  Optional nice to have options are: moving objects mode, landscape mode and Macro settings.

The nice thing is that most of today’s digital cameras, even the ones on your smart phone come standard with this. The only catch is that it needs to be 4 mega pixel or better resolution if you plan on making 8×10 or larger prints out of your best images.

Now comes the hard part that most people ignore… To really get the most out of your photography you must understand the equipment. You’ll need to learn how your camera and all it’s modes and capabilities work. After all, if you don’t know what it can do and how to use it, then how can you take advantage of it when the time comes that you need it?

For example, full auto is OK for taking candid shots at a family reunion, but so much is out of focus in the auto images taken of mountain or lake scenery photos. You need to know how to put your camera into landscape mode to get the full Depth of Field (how much is in focus) out of your camera lens.

Read the manual, practice with the different settings and keep your manual handy to review the modes you don’t use all the time.

Let’s talk bags and cases:

If you have a camera but can’t get to it quickly when you need to take a quick photo… then you are going to miss out on a lot of great pictures. I always recommend getting the smallest bag you can for the camera and your everyday basics. That way you are more likely to always have it with you when you need it. If you have a lot of accessories, use a seperate bag and swap out what is needed for the situation you are in at the time.

The one accessory you should never leave out: Your Tripod!

Face it, you’re going to need a tripod whether it’s for portrait work, landscapes or sporting events. You will need one eventually if for no other reason then to include your self in a few of the images with your self timer or remote. Luckily you don’t have to spend a lot here. Just something lightweight and durable. If your camera (cell phone camera’s especially) doesn’t have a tripod attach point, don’t worry about it, just get one of the multi-finger or spider grip tripods that can be adjusted to hold almost anything.

Your Flash:

You will need some kind of Flash.  You can buy a separate remote mounted flash, which is great to have around if you can afford it to supliment your built in flash on the camera. These external flash units have a remote sensor that goes off when it senses the flash on your camera go off and adds light just where you need it. I use mine to light backgrounds up most of the time.

You’ll will need to consider what kind of photography that you will be doing most though before you spend your cash on another flash unit. If you’re going to do mostly nature and landscape, you may only need the fill flash that comes with most cameras built in today. On the other hand, if you are planning on doing portraiture or large group shots, you will want to consider a larger high power camera mounted flash that has an adjustable angle.

OK, now that we have our bag, our camera and our tripod; it’s time to have some fun.

This week’s assignment: Find a willing subject (person) that you can work with, preferably someone that won’t mind playing some games and doing a few silly things.  Now, with your manual reviewed and still handy, shoot 8 to 10 images using each mode of your camera.  Shoot some of the pictures in the morning, some in the afternoon, and finish up at sunset into darkness. Be sure and have a notebook handy so you can take notes on time of day and light conditions along with what your settings (mode) were for each photograph. 

When you get the images off your camera and onto your computer, you should be able to see a difference in each image mode. Be sure and repeat this procedure until you feel that you understand the relationship between the different camera modes and the effects they have on your pictures.

This way you will learn your own particular camera as well as how it reacts in different conditions. In part two we’ll start to learn some tricks and tips on how to make your images look like a pro took them with high end camera equipment. In the mean time, if you have some specific questions please visit our Scrapbook BLOG at: http://blog.princesscrafts.com

About the author:
Copyright 2011 Wes Waddell is a Freelance Photographer and Website designer who, along with his wife Kathy, maintain the Internets largest Digital Scrapbook Membership site (www.MyPrincessCrafts.com). He has an educational background in Photography, Space Systems Command and Control and Business Website Design. He very much enjoys applying photography and memory preservation techniques to his scrapbooks and web design.

 

Wes Waddell

1 comment.

Great Holiday Gift Idea: New FREE Kids Recipe and Memory Journal Pages

Posted on November 6th, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: Free Downloads, Scrapbook Tips, Site Information.

Just in case you missed the BIG NEWS:

PrincessCrafts just opened a new Totally FREE Scrapbook website on Halloween!

What a great idea this site is too.

Free Children’s Cookbook or Kids Recipes pre done for you on colorful fun scrapbook pages.

So, What’s so different about it?

The free kids recipes come complete with a matching photo memory journal page. Now, you can not only create lifelong memories in the kitchen, you can preserve them (complete with photos) right there when you’re done. Create your own children’s cookbook and memory journal and then, pass the memories down to their kids and even their kids. Generations of memories made in the kitchen, preserved and cherished.

It’s the holiday gift that keeps giving for more than a lifetime!

Still not sure what I’m talking about exactly? Then head on over to:

www.FreeKidsRecipes.com

where you’ll find all the answers and see the scrapbook cookbook for kids for yourself.

Hope to see you there!

Wes

www.FreeKidsRecipes.com

P.S. If you are looking for a children’s cookbook already fully complete for you, then check out our…

www.Cookbook4Kids.com and www.KidsRecipeBook.com sites.

You can even get a real custom hardbound version if you want one.

 

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New FREE Autumn Scrapbook Page Sets

Posted on November 2nd, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: Free Downloads, Site Information.

Hi Scrapbook Friend,

Kathy and I have just updated the menu’s at www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com to make them easier to navigate and find all the cool free goodies on the site.

Along with that, I just added some new Free Autumn Digital Scrapbook page sets in all three formats: 8.5×11, 12×12 and Landscape.

Just look on the newly updated left hand menu and you’ll see the link to the FREE Scrap Pages. From there, you just choose your size and download at will.

As always, there are no sign-ups, no memberships and no hassles of any kind.

Enjoy and be sure and tell your friends all about www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com

Wes

P.S. Our New FREE Kids Recipes and Memory Journal page sets site is also now open for your download pleasure.

 

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Adding Fall/Autumn and Thanksgiving Scrapbook Page Sets

Posted on October 17th, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: Free Downloads, Scrapbook Tips, Site Information.

Quick note for today,

I’m working on our www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com site today and adding some new Fall / Autumn and Thanksgiving Digital Scrapbook Paper Downloads to our Free Scrapbook Page Sets area.

I’m also adding FREE Autumn or Fall stationery along with some more Halloween Stationery to our www.Free-Stationery.com site in the Holiday area there. These are not only great for your Halloween Party invitations, Children’s coloring papers and holiday letters, they make great digital scrapbooking page backgrounds as well.

Have a great week!

Wes

www.PrincessCrafts.com

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

www.TwasTheNightScrapbook.com

 

2 comments.

FREE Halloween Stationery and Autumn Digital Scrapbook Sets

Posted on October 14th, 2011 by admin.
Categories: Free Downloads, Site Information.

Hi Scrapbook Friends

I just had hubby put 5 new Halloween stationery, perfect for your Halloween Party Invitations, on the

http://www.1-Computer-Stationery.com site.

They are totally FREE and there is no signups or hassles to get them.

I’ve also placed 3 new Autumn or Fall Digital Scrapbook set downloads in all 3 sizes: 8.5×11, 12×12 and Landscape format.  You can find them at:

http://www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com

Let us help you:

If you have any questions or would like to see a new theme added, let us know so we can do our best to get you exactly what you need.

Kathy and Wes

www.PrincessCrafts.com

 

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