Using Your Not So Great Photos Tutorial
By Julie Gillespie
Getting the most out of your photographs….even the not so good ones!
If you are like me, you often look at a photograph and make a decision on whether or not you could build a layout around it. And, if you are still like me, you will often discount some of those photos because they are not great. We’ve all had them…photos where you might say…oh if only it was just this part, or closer, or clearer…. Well, I’m here to say don’t rush to discard some of those photos and to remind you of things that you can do with some of those not so great pics!
What about a photo that’s not quite in focus…a little blurry? Not to worry!
Originally I had hoped that the focus of this photo would be the little girl in the background, but she is a little too blurry for that. So, instead, I’ve made the focus my DD in the foreground and made the whole layout soft and romantic. You still get the feel of the fun the two of them are having without having a completely clear photo.
And we all have these ones…the too busy backgrounds or other distractions including headless “extras” in the photo. Well, if there are a few of these at the same event, I’d recommend cropping them quite small and matting them and then layering them so that they are grouped in your layout. You can tell they are part of the same timeframe and provide a “bigger picture” of the event while zooming in on the main subject of a photo. A great example is this layout of Heather’s. It is soooo cute! Even though she admitted to using the same photo over and over again but cropped differently, the same type of thing could be done with your “bad” photos!
Layout by Heather Haggett
Another way to add interest to a photo is through cropping pics. I think we all tend to crop to slightly smaller rectangles or squares, but think about cropping and matting just a “slice” of a photo. This works well when you want to zoom in a small section of the photo and works really well with architectural or landscape pics.
In this layout, the small photo is in a round frame. While I’m not sure if the original photo was a “not so great” one, this would still be a great way to crop and use one.
Layout by Ann Jobes
The photos on this layout have been trimmed to focus on the player. Love the circle framing Bev’s DGD, pulling her into focus from a pic containing another person.
Layout by Bev Code
Shelley has used landscape pics to make her title letters – what a great way to use photos that we probably all have a ton of!
Layout by Shelley Scheeringa
I love how Mim has cropped these pics to fit into a circle. Not only does it add interest, but is a great way to crop what might be run of the mill photos and make them unique!
Layout by Michele Harris
This is one of my favourite examples of a photo that is great, but far away. The scenery in this pic is wonderful, but the person in the pic could easily get lost. Love the way Tammy has used a frame (that she has also journalled on) to highlight the person!
Layout by Tammy Spruce
Another idea is that if you have a photo with the main subject off to one side, and maybe not too close up, you can slice the photo into sections and spread it across a larger space. This will lead your eye to the part of the pic you want to focus on and add interest to your page. This works well with photos that have something of interest or colour in the section of the photo that you want to cut. (Unfortunately, I don’t have an example of this one handy.)
Other great examples I just had to highlight!
Layout by Michele Harris
Layout by Deb Dunham
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