Challenge #2: Photo Focus

One of the most challenge parts of creating for me is sharing what I make.  I don't mean giving them away...I mean taking nice photos of my projects to put on my blog or share on facebook with friends.  My photos come out crooked....too dark...flat...totally making it look like I spent very little time on the project.  I really want to do better with this, so I invite you to work on it with me.

Challenge #2: Photo Focus:  Make any project you like...the challenge is in HOW you photograph that project to put on your blog.  Be creative and make it look the best you can!

Getting you started:
How to take great photos
How to photograph your scrapbook layouts
Photographing Layouts
How to take pictures of your cards
Photographing cards indoors

Getting Ready for Summer

It was a toasty 108 degrees at my house today...and it "technically" isn't even summer yet!  You can bet that most of my family's summer will be spent indoors (unless we are in a pool).  I hope to get LOTS of scrapbooking done.   In order to help the rest of you get into the "summertime" mood, I will link you to Rebecca Cooper's Blog, called "Simple as That".  She has a free Summer Photo Checklist that you might find handy.  I love her "photo checklists" and will be printing this one out and keeping it on my fridge!

Welcome to Summer!!!!!

Organize This: Week 6

This week we will begin to tackle our photos!  I won a Library of Memories Class several years ago and loved how she got me thinking about organizing this part of my world.  I discovered through this process that I am MUCH better at having my photos stored on the computer than printed out.  I never know what I am going to want to do to a photo before I use it (resize, black and white, crop, alter), so I prefere to print as I go.

We have an external hardrive with our photos backed up on it.  I have folders sorted by year and then by month.  If we do something extra special during a certain month (big trip, birthday) then I make a subfolder for that in the month so it is easy to find. 

Check out My Love Affair with the Label Maker to see her great suggestions for your photos.

How do YOU organize your photos?  I would love to hear!

Winter Solstice by Rebecca

This is Rebecca.  Happy Winter Solstice, for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  While our southern counterparts are enjoying their longest daylights of their year, we are experiencing the shortest daylight of 2011. 

But it's a celebration, because it just gets lighter from here!  So take advantage of whatever light you can find today and celebrate the return of light:

--Take an outdoor picture.  Check out http://weather.thefuntimesguide.com/2006/01/winter_pictures.php for some good basic winter photography tips. And I found this site http://photo.net/learn/point-and-shoot-tips with some really good general photography tips for those of us with point-and-shoot, basic digital or film cameras.  I sometimes wish I had a fancy camera and the skills to use it; This article made me realize that I could just get better with what I've got!

--If you're doing a December Daily/Journal Your Christmas type project, think about using Winter Solstice as your theme today.  Some journaling prompts: How does the short daylight time impact you and your mood? What is it like to go to work in the dark and come home in the dark and not get to see daylight? What do you look forward to with the return of more daylight?  This blog post http://womensmemoirs.com/memoir-writing-prompts/memoir-writing-prompt-winter-solstice-and-more/ provides a good journaling prompt idea, to focus on a turning point in your life.  It's a good day to feel a little gratitude!

--Read about the origins of winter solstice and Yule celebrations. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/wintersolstice.shtml