Photo Focus: Organizing Tips

I came across a little book at the library the other day called, "The One Minute Organizer, Plain & Simple" by Donna Smallin.  There is an abundance of quick to read, easy to implement organizing tips!

Some of these tips are beneficial for us scrapbookers (or paper crafters, or memory keepers!) too!  I have listed them here, along with some of my own notes:

• Take photos of your child with favorite artwork or school projects. That way you can scrap the photo and let go of the physical item later!
• Schedule a regular time each week (or month) to sort and organize photos until you are all up to date.  Decide how to organize your photos and digital photos based on what type of scrapper you are:  subject/event or chronological.  (I recently just finished organizing ten years of digital photos!  It was well worth the time -- I found things that I hadn't printed that I forgot about!)
• Throw away printed photos that didn't come out right or are unusable.  Scrap and use the ones that best represent your family.  Deleting digital photos you know won't be used makes it easier to archive.
• Throw away duplicate photos.  If you can't bear to toss them, separate them in a different box clearly marked so that you know where to find a photo for a special project or mini album.
• Consider keeping all of your formal or professional photos in a separate album.  
• Get in the habit of developing photos on a regular basis.  Put developed photos in your regular photo album or organizer right away so you are ready for scrapping!

Just like anything else in our home, keeping our scrapbooking areas organized will help us as we create wonderful things for our family.  

Have ideas that have worked well for your photos?  Please post here!

Photo Focus: Ordinary Days

It seems as though we are great about scrapping special events, people and places, but never the day to day. I'm an event scrapper -- most of my pages are of special events. This year I wanted to try something different -- borrowed from many of the blogs that I love to follow.

I am challenging myself and my girlfriends at the Crop N Chat group on CafeMom to do the "Take Ten". Take ten photos during the month of the "ordinary" (yet extraordinary!) everyday things that happen. We can take more, or less, but the object is to keep your camera out and capture things you normally wouldn't think about snapping. About half way through the month, I post a two page layout sketch the ladies can follow if they wish to get those photos on paper right away!

So here is just one of the photos I took this week -- my youngest diligently doing his homework. I am amazed that he can sit on his feet that way and be comfortable!

Photo Focus: Try it in Black and White

Close up photos (or portraits) are great for scrapping. However, have you tried using a photo in black and white? I have started doing some of my portrait shots in black and white, and it really give a new look to a scrapbook page. Here is an example.

This is Matt, my "tweenager". He will sometimes let me snap a photo -- so I take advantage of it. Here is the photo in color:

While this is a great close-up, I edited it to black and white:


There is much more focus on his face, instead of the background. The sunlight also gives great highlights, without doing any other adjustment.

This black and white technique was done using Windows Photo Gallery. First, make a copy of your photo. With the copy, simply choose "Fix", then "Adjust Color." Slide the Saturation tool all the way to the left, then save. That's it. There are other programs where you can fine tune black and white photos, but if you are a beginner, this is the simplest and quickest way to go.