Hi hope I am not asking to many question How do you choose the photos for your layouts is there anything you do look for or don't use I am no photogpher what I have is often not well taken but I tend to take heaps to try and get something fit to use than end up with a lot of so so picutres that I don't know how to choose from

thanks Gypsy

Not too many questions at all Gypsy - we love you guys asking questions because it starts good quality conversations

Tiff is the photo expert and hopefully she will see the thread and give you some good professional guidelines however...

I cull my photos firstly by getting rid of stuff that is out of focus - if I have taken bundles at the same time then I dont need to fuzzy ones.

Next, I aways get a couple of hundred photos printed about once every six months or so, so that when I am scrapping I have a bundle to choose from to go with my layout design or paper choice.

These days I ALWAYS do my layouts first and then choose photos - this is of course because having a shop my creative focus is on displaying new product, however I have actually found this a much quicker and easier way to scrap because I dont have to be worried about trying to find the right paper to match a photo - rather a choice of photos that will work with the paper. Of course the last of the embellishments and titling/journalling go on after the pics but the rest is just about the layout. Give it a go - you might find it really works for you.

I usually take a heap of pics too and there is no way that I'd scrap them all I just scrap my favs.

I usually take a gazillion photos too, and then cull out the bad ones. Isn't it wonderful to have the opportunity to do that these days, before printing them out? Quite often I will scrap the same photo more than once if it can tell a different story. Nowadays my photo choices are limited, so I scap what I get!

I definitely take heeps too in the hopes that a good one comes out the midst of them all!!

My eye goes to the one that seems to standout the most - and thats the one I scrap .... it may not be the best shot technically but it may have have the best colours in them.... or the one that is most endearing... or holds the most memories.. so
again its a personal thing for chosing one or two for a LO etc...

On our holiday last year hubby suggested there was an extra along for the ride, my camera!!

So yes I take heaps of photos then hand my camera to my hubby and kids to get their perspective. Got a lot of photos I would not have bothered to take but will undoubtedly get scrapped, either by myself or them. And about a million photos they have taken of themselves at arms length.

When I look at them on the computer I view them nice and big and can usually pick up any back ground sights that I may have missed while concentrating on the subject. Such as funny kids poking tongues etc., these may be scrapped if I plan on trimming the photo or even just covered with some lace or flowers, I might even make it a feature if it is interesting or I have a story to tell about it.

I always look for photos first and look for the colour that stands out the most( if a colour photo) and then choose colours to use with that.I also use a lot of kraft Cardstock, as it blends really well with just about any colour paper.

I always have a million photos - Its always hard to choose So I now have learnt to scrap using multiple photos per page a challenge but a great way to use all those great pictures up - I think also printing off just the ones you think you will use make it easier for me aswell

Its always fun starting out a new craft and you have the best helpers here