Born to be a Dad: A Special Layout

I created this layout for my husband, Matthew, celebrating the many ways he loves our son, Elias. The photos were taken several months apart and have very different energy - one of Matthew kissing Elias right after he was born and one more recently of the two of them playing. The very different pictures together showcase two sides of their relationship. I recommend not always using pictures taken on the same day or at the same event when scrapbooking sentiments. Oftentimes the most meaningful layouts come together when pictures from different times are used. This layout is a great example of that. Be sure to journal about what makes your husband or dad a great father.

You are My Masterpiece: An Altered Card

I created this simple, but fun and artsy one-sided card using a single photo, some patterned paper scraps, rub-ons, buttons and mod-podge. It took about 15 minutes to put together, but the result is so darling! I recommend cutting the background out of the photo to really make it pop on the card. Also, make sure not to use to busy of a patterned paper so that it doesn’t distract from the image. I plan to set it on my husband’s nightstand Sunday morning so it is there when he wakes up on Father’s Day. You could also put a magnet on the back so your husband could take it to work and hang it on a filing cabinet or desk.

One of a Kind: A Greeting Card

Rather than giving Hallmark $3, make your own card. It doesn’t have to be elaborate to be treasured by the dad in your life. I made this card for my dad, from Elias. I cut out a photo of the two of them, stamped a flourish on the top and bottom of the card and stamped the message One of a Kind on a circle Martha Stewart sticker.

Bookmark

If your child’s dad is a reader, why not make a bookmark with a photo of your child and a simple quote. Simply glue a photo to a 2×7 piece of cardstock with a quote, such as “Dad, you’re someone to look up to no matter how tall I’ll grow” and the date. Laminate it using a Xyron machine or laminator and stick it in your husband’s favorite book.

Whatever you create, I guarentee it will touch the dad or dads in your life.

Week #1 Winner, Christian

Week #2 Winner, LaQuinn

Week #3 Winner, Jan

Week #4 Winner, Nixie

Week #5 Winner, Kendall

Week #6 Winner, Kendall

Week #7 Winner, Dominic

Week #8 Winner, Mercy Jo

Week #9 Winner, Turner

Week #10 Winner, Addy

Week #11 Winner, Haven

Week #12 Winner, Andrew

We wanted to award the grand prize to a photo that exemplifies what our readers have learned about baby photography both creatively and technically. After some careful consideration and debate our judges have picked Mercy Jo from Week 8.

Grand Prize Winner, Mercy jo

Congratulations to Mercy Jo! The colors and composition of the photo are a nice contrast and the emotional expression is memorable.

Thats it for the My Baby Photos! Contest. But don’t stop the pictures from coming. We encourage you to submit your best baby photos on our flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/mybabyphotos/
and at facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71918424376

Items Needed:

• Digital SLR
• External Flash
• Long Lens (300mm-ish)

You don’t need a fancy low light lens or TTL flash, just a decent enough camera that can give you a really high ISO without turning the picture into rainbow snow. :)

Taylor fudges the Pledge of Allegiance.

First,  set your camera to manual. Choose the largest aperature possible (lowest F/#) and put your shutter speed at 1/250. Even though you are likely shooting at 300mm, the same-or-better-shutter-speed-as-focal-length rule doesn’t apply here, because your only good source of recordable light will be your flash.

Second, put your flash on full power - 1/1.  Aim your flash at a 45° forward to hit the ceiling midway between you and your kid. The flash will bounce off the large, tiled ceiling and light the whole room. This is so much better than aiming straight ahead, which would cause ugly shadows and make the kids see stars. :)

Raise your ISO to about 800. Zoom all the way in and take a picture. Check your histogram - it’s your picture’s not light enough, raise your ISO. If it’s blown out, lower it. Keep doing this until you have your exposure nailed.

Shoot like an outlaw on the run! Paparazzo that kid! Just give your flash time to recycle and don’t get in the way of the other paparazzi!

Expect some red eye because from the distance you are at from your child, the flash will seem to be coming from the lens, not high above it. Red eye is caused by the flash being too close to the lens, combined with low light. When you take pictures later and aren’t so far away, it won’t be a problem. By the way, you will want a diffuser for those… the closer ones, NOT the graduation ones!

Happy shooting!!

The Big Moment!

Andrew, 6 months, Flower Mound, TX

Congratulations to our My Baby Photos! Contest Winner for Week #12. His name is Andrew and he is currently 6 months old from Flower Mound, TX. Andrew beat out 20 other entries to win this week. Thank you to all who participated this week.

According to his mom Josie, “this is a photo of my son Andrew, he had just finished swimming and was so happy afterwards. I was talking to him while taking pictures when he stuck his tounge out and I got lucky when my camera captured it.”

Andrew received the fabulous ebook 10 Tips to Shoot Your Baby like a Movie Star just for entering the contest. A cute My Baby Photos! t-shirt is on its way to Andrew for being the weekly winner.

Well folks, that’s it for weekly winners. We are no longer accepting entries. :( We will now be evaluating all the winning entries from the past 12 weeks and announce the grand prize $250 winner next week on June 15!

Theme

Two page scrapbooking spreads work best with a theme, so choose a theme first and then work with it. Use photos that complete your theme. In the example here, I’ve used Water Fun as my theme and everything from the papers and colors to the photos work with that theme.

Often, you can find entire kits based around common themes that you might want to use. I did find several water based scrapbooking kits online, but none of them were really what I wanted, so I ended up mixing and matching from what I already had from assorted sites.

You can use up paper scrapping supplies this way, as well. In fact, an excellent method of creating your two page spreads with minimal investment is to print off some of your working materials and then integrate stickers and other items that you have leftover from previous scrapping sessions! Anything you don’t have, such as borders or papers, can be produced on your computer for next to nothing, making it far easier to create that theme you’ve been wanting to scrapbook about.

Balance

Whenever you’re working on a double page spread, it’s very helpful to balance the pages out. That means that you will want to make sure the elements are arranged in such a way that they are pleasing to the eye. Having six photos on one side and just one on the other could look pretty lopsided unless you add a journaling space to the page with just one photo.

Colors and Papers

You’ll want to keep your theme pretty much the same on both pages, but too much repetition can get boring quickly, so mix it up. This is especially true if you are looking at having several two page spreads on the same theme in your scrapbook, such as camping, for example.

Choose two solid colors and two patterns to work with. These will give you a good selection without making the page too busy. If you aren’t sure which papers to use, you might want to opt for a scrapbooking kit which will provide you with solids and patterns that go well together.

Keep in mind that you can also turn patterns so that they run diagonally or vertically instead of horizontally, essentially creating a whole new look without adding more designs.

Borders

Good borders should run around both pages to unite them. However, there’s no need to use just paper, you can turn stickers or even hand-drawn lines or written words into a great border that will tie both pages together. The idea here is to go for continuity . . . you want both sides to meld into one page so you don’t even notice that they are really two.

Details

Truthfully, the details are what make scrapbook pages really come together and this is especially true when you are blending a two page spread. You have more room to work with, so you can really get creative! What might have crowded a single page is now something you can use freely to create a top notch scrapbooking spread.

Titles

Your titles don’t have to be centered. In fact, I’ve seen some very cool scrapbook layouts where the titles were down the sides or even just on one side of a two page scrapbook. Get creative!

Two page scrapbook layouts are ideal for when you have a lot of photos of one event or of your child playing in the dirt or taking riding lessons. Sometimes you just need more space!