Scrapbooking 101

I have been teaching individuals to scrapbook for five years. The first thing I tell me students is, You don't have to be creative to scrapbook. You just need to learn the techniques.” Anyone can make a simple, nice scrapbook you just need to follow a few guidelines and learn some scrapbooking techniques. You can learn new techniques by taking classes, either online or at your local scrapbook store, or by reading articles like this and specialty scrapbooking magazines. You could even scraplift your entire scrapbook. Scraplifting is taking someone else’s idea from a magazine, tv show, or other source and copying the idea. Change the colors and add your own photos to make the layout yours. Let's get started by examining each part of a scrapbook layout.


Photos
Obviously your main reason for scrapbooking is to preserve your memories that are represented in your photos. So to keep the main focus the photos, nothing on your scrapbook layout should be larger than your photos. Use photos that are in focus and that are close-up. Before adhering the photos to your scrapbook layout you may need to crop some of the photos. Cropping is cutting a photo down to eliminate unnecessary background and people or to help focus in on the person or thing you want to standout.

Tips for taking better photos:
Step forward. Move closer to the person or group that you are photographing. Eliminate as much unnecessary background as possible to reduce your need for cropping later.
If you are shooting against a wall move the person or group a few feet in front of the wall. This will help eliminate harsh shadows in the background.
Turn the camera. Not every picture needs to be horizontal. Turn your camera vertical and snap the picture.
Be off center. When photographing a single person or item move the person or item to the left or right side of the view screen and snap the picture. This technique works especially well when the background landscape is part of why you are taking the picture.