What is the most important thing to consider when photo editing? A photo, all by itself, has the power to evoke strong feelings; it is after all, a window to the soul.
When I am looking for photos to add to my digital scrapbook layouts, I look at several things. Does the picture or series of pictures tell a story? Or even more basically… are the pictures in focus? Is the main subject obvious?
For me, photo editing by cropping the photo, either as I’m taking a picture or as part of the process of creating my layout, can make all the difference in whether or not the story is told. Obviously there are times when your subject is moving too quickly or the moment is too fleeting for you to engage in photo editing when you crop “in camera” as taking the picture, but whenever possible, this will give you the very best result. It can be done by simply getting physically closer or if you have a zoom lens, just zoom in to get closer.
For instance, in the photo below, which is obviously posed, I was standing on a stool trying to get my son’s whole body and longboard in focus. While I managed to do that, I also captured the corner of my desk and the bottom of my not-yet-trimmed wall. I could use my photo editing software to remove those things in Photoshop and make a decent photo, but the whole purpose of this photo session was to capture the proud moment when he finished the long process of building the longboard. But because of the distractions, this photo doesn’t do that for me.
I could have cropped the photo (see above image) in my photo editing program before creating my layout, but there’s that harsh shadow on the wall. Fixing that shadow was the deal-breaker on this photo.
I fixed the giant shadow by closing the curtains, moved in closer, and took another photo. Below is my finished layout using the new photo, which gives you an example of how cropping your photos can really help you focus on the main subject, create the feeling you want, and ultimately give you a great layout.
Digital scrapbook layout by Janine Buckles
Article written by Janine Buckles
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