Scrapbooking - Make Your Ordinary Photos Just As Special As The Pages You Put Them On
March 2nd, 2008 by admin
If you love making Scrapbooks as a special way to preserve your special memories, then chances are that you have lots of experience in “blinging” up your scrapbook pages. You pick out beautiful background papers, and add borders, words, lace, stickers, ribbon and sayings to make your scrapbook pages special. But what about the pictures that you put in the midst of all this creative decoration? If you are simply sticking your plain old photos into your scrapbook creations, then you are missing out on another dimension of scrapbooking: making your pictures themselves into creative works of art.
Chances are, unless you are a professional photographer or someone with a lot of money to pay for excellent photographs on every occasion, most of the pictures you use for scrapbooking are just run of the mill, plain old everyday shots that you or someone you know took yourselves. Yes, you can crop and shape them with the cropping tools, but that is about it. So, you plunk your ordinary old picture down in the midst of all your ribbons, patterns, sayings, borders and other “bling” on your page. In a way, that is like getting dressed in a beautiful outfit before you bathe or fix your hair.
Savvy graphic artists will be able to “fix” their photos before attempting to use them on their scrapbook pages. They can adjust exposure, brightness and color balance, and maybe even fix a few flaws and blemishes. Perhaps you own a program that will allow you to do this. If so, you may want to consider giving your pictures a little makeover before using them in your scrapbook pages. You would be surprised how much difference just a little extra attention can make! Many digital cameras now come with software that easily allows you to do some of these things before printing your pictures.
Or, you may want to consider sending your photos to an artist who specializes in photo enhancement and restoration. Contrary to popular belief, there are several good graphic artists who can make ordinary photos look like they came from professional photo shoots for a very reasonable price. Now, before you object, think about all the money you spend on scrapbooks and scrapbooking supplies. What is just a little more to make sure your photos are as fine as the backgrounds you are placing them in? After all, the photos themselves are supposed to be the main attraction on the scrapbook page…that is what scrapbooking is all about!
There is at least one company out there that takes your own photo, crops and edits it and places your subjects on a custom background of your choice for just a tiny price. When your photo is returned, it looks as though you had it taken in a very expensive photography studio or at some exotic locale. They even provide backgrounds to color coordinate with your scrapbook “page theme.”
If you are a scrapbooker who wants your special scrapbook pages to be as beautiful and creative as possible, you will probably want to take advantage of a few of these ideas. They will give you scrapbooks that you will not only enjoy for the memories they preserve, but that you will enjoy showing off to friends and family as well. Each page will be a totally integrated work of art that showcases what it was meant to: your pictures!
To see how your scrapbook pictures can be made into striking works of art very inexpensively, visit this Custom Pictures Page, or visit http://www.dollargrafix.com/mypics.htm Carla Wells is a mom, grandma, photographic artist and writer dedicated to helping others become successful. See her family friendly photos and art at http://www.dollargrafix.com
Tags: crafts, photo editing, photos, scrapbook, scrapbook page, scrapbook supplies, scrapbooking
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