Hello.  My name is Kim Hughes and I am thrilled to be here today.  I have dabbled in so many artistic venues but the one that makes my heart swoon is card making.  What I love most is the freedom that I have with each mini creation.  Yes, the rules of three sometimes apply,  design certainly matters...but not always.  What ultimately matters in the end is that you have a piece of art that can easily make someone's day.  Pretty powerful stuff!

I love cards with playful elements that make me smile.  "Cluster Cards" have this effect on me.  It's nothing more than forming a collage with scrapbooking products.  You can take advantage of a stamp set that includes many coordinating images, a rub-on pack that works beautifully together, or collect many different products to create a focal point that is just so sweet.


Here is an example of a cluster that is centered and truly the focal image.  This is a playful look that you can achieve by mixing different textures and colors.  The dominant white Fleur de lis is calmed by the fresh elements that surrounds it.  Everything is aligned neatly but still has the look of a collage.  The kraft card base helps the colors pop, the subtle polka dot pattern lends to the "cute factor"


This card is so simple but says everything it needs to.  It would be so easy to over-do this card, just by adding embellishments and ribbon.  So, I simply stamped a hot air balloon and 3 clouds.  The color combination draws attention to each element and some tiny hand stitching is all the accent you need.  A hand written sentiment is simply said.  It's not "top heavy" because it's a scene that takes place in the sky and the colors are soft.  It becomes a warm card by stamping on grid paper and rounding the bottom 2 corners brings your eye back up to the top



When choosing rub-ons to create a collage from, make sure to have a

• larger focal image
• sentiment
• pattern
• supporting elements

(and be sure to keep the backing in tact so that you can play with the placement before committing to the card base)


Keep in mind that you are not tied to a certain look or pattern with rub-ons, simply cut off what you don't want to use.

I chose a textured, scalloped card stock to add interest.  This is a flat card that won't require extra postage when mailing.  You can easily add some bling to the dots, glitter to the bats or a few brads along the border.

Note this card has balance because the witch is pointing to the white space and the bats bring your eye back to the main event.

I hope that I have inspired you to break the rules a bit and just have fun creating.  This is a great way to use up random stickers and scraps as well.  Have fun!

Supplies:
card stock: Bazzill Basics
paper: October Afternoon
pearls, rose: Zva Creative
chipboard, stamps: American Crafts
scalloped border rub-on: Jenni Bowlin
rainbow border sticker: Doodlebug Design
ink: Papertrey Ink
floss: DMC
corner rounder: Fiskars
word sticker: Making Memories
pen: Sakura

about me:
I have been a card maker since 2004 and have truly enjoyed meeting the most wonderful people in the industry.  I am a Go-to Gal for Paper Crafts magazine, and I am the DT Coordinator for Zva Creative.  I design for Papertrey Ink, Provo Craft and Therm O Web adhesives.  I teach for Paper Crafts and at my local scrapbook store.  My hand written fonts can be found at ScrapNFonts.  I was a Stamp Illustrator in the past and may possibly dabble in stamp design once again someday.  I blog at least three times each week stop by and say hello.

Hello! My name is Debbie Olson, and I am happy to be a guest blogger today on the Ella Publishing Blog. I have to admit that I was hesitant to tackle a scrapbooking topic since my genre of paper crafting is primarily card making. I love layouts; I just don't have much free time to create them. I feel much more comfortable with an occasional mini album than with a 12" x 12" page.

Having spent several hours perusing various Ella Publications, however, I knew that I had a topic that my scrapbooking  friends could relate to: using your paper scraps and layout sketches. Today I would like to share some cards that take those layout sketches and paper scraps, and translate them to cards. I am using three sketches from the Ella Stretch Your Sketches e-book by Donna Jannuzzi. If you don't have this e-book, I highly recommend it to help you rethink and rework successful sketches.

I began with the three-photo sketch found on page 10, downsizing it to create a 5-1/4" square card. Square cards are a great break from the traditional 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card, though postage costs a bit extra for them.

My stamp image was three flower stems and leaves together; the blooms were intended to be buttons. I inked the stems separately so that I could stamp three small panels rather than one large one, and I stitched a couple of lines for ground.

I stuck to the sketch faithfully, other than moving my sentiment down to the journaling block area, and adding the felt clouds and sun where the title had originally been. If you don't have image stamps, try some freehand sketching, or hand-stitch a stem and leaf trio. Use those scraps and sketches!

Next I have a birthday card that uses one of the alternate page 13 sketches shown on page 26. I simply reduced it to 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"-- one quarter of a letter-sized sheet of cardstock.

Since I had a sweet scrap of kite strings paper, I searched through my stamps for a kite image. (If you don't have a kite image, you can always cut the kites from scraps too.)


I wasn't as sure that this sketch would work for a card front with the title/sentiment turned sideways, but when I stamped it on twill and tied it around my card front, it worked well. I bumped the rectangles up slightly rather than leaving then in the center vertically since I wanted the knot and button detail to help frame that lower right corner. Still, it's recognizable as the alternate sketch and uses only scraps.

Are you ready to make some cards yet?

For my last card I chose the six-photo sketch from page 19 of Stretch Your Sketches.

With paper scraps this warm and cozy, I wanted to create a quilt card. While I have plenty of quilt- square stamps, I made a simple quilt from 1-1/4" paper scraps, sewn onto a pale aqua cardstock base.

One helpful hint when sewing cardstock: you probably will not want to knot your thread in the traditional way of going forward, reversing your stitching, and then stitching forward again. Instead simply leave the ends loose. You will have a thread on top and one on the bottom at each place that you started and stopped a line of stitches. Turn your cardstock over and pull gently on the thread in the back. A loop should appear that when pulled upon will bring the front thread through to the back as well. To affix the threads to the cardstock, simply dot some adhesive (I've used a tape runner here) near the threads and press them into the adhesive. That way you won't need to tie knots, and you will still have a clean front with no loose threads showing.

I added the sentiment where the title was in the sketch and tied twine around the card for lower element strip on this 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card. A couple of threaded buttons finished my quilt with a minimum of fuss.

See how simple it is to adapt those sketches and use your paper scraps? You may discover a new hobby! Thank you for visiting today.
 

Supplies:
All of my patterned paper scraps today are from Cosmo Cricket's new Togetherness line.

Stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Blooming Button Bits; Up, Up, and Away; Scattered Showers Additions; and Vintage Picnic
Sentiments).

Cardstock and most accessories are also from Papertrey Ink.

Tools include a Martha Stewart Circle Cutter, a set of Papertrey Ink cloud dies, and a Spellbinders Paper Arts Classic Rectangle Nestability die and Double-Ended Tag die.

Inks were mostly Versamagic chalk ink.

a little about Debbie Olson

As a home-schooling mom by day and avid paper crafter by night, I am blessed to work with several paper crafting and stamping manufacturers, including Copic (Imagination International), Cosmo Cricket, JustRite Stampers, Lockhart Stamp Company, Papertrey Ink, Spellbinders Paper Arts, and Zva Creative. They feed my paper addiction! I also blog regularly on paper crafting at Thinking Inking.

Hi everyone! I’m Rachel Kaufman, owner of the kit club, inspirational source and online community, Scrapbooking from the Inside Out. Each month our kits are based on an emotion. We just celebrated our second anniversary this July, and we’ve covered some amazing topics – everything from freedom and gratitude to loss and safety. Our kits help you explore every side of yourself - your inner struggles and triumphs, your relationships, and your goals and dreams. Not only does each kit use color, design and symbolism to help you tell a deeper story, but our industry-exclusive FREE Inspiration Page each month provides you with a multimedia support system - including meaningful journaling prompts, a music playlist, quotations, stock photography and evocative challenges to make your tender heart and creative mind and hands flow.

I’m honored to have been asked by my friends at Ella to share what’s so special about what we do, and to show you some of the unique creative process of Inside Out-style scrapbooking. I’ve created a layout using July’s theme and kit, COURAGE. Check this out, and you might win your own COURAGE kit!



Materials: Patterned Paper, Die Cuts: Glitz; Chipboard, GCD Studios; Ribbon, Websters Pages; Alphas: American Crafts; Bling: Mark Richards; Paint: Making Memories; Ink: Tsukineko; Paper Glaze: Duncan; Pen: Sakura; Photo Credit: Tanya Sorkin Photography

The most important thing to me when I’m creating a layout is what I like to call ‘Visual Journaling’ – expressing the idea, the emotion behind the subject of the layout with visual ideas that reinforce the written journaling. It tells a much richer story than just good journaling or just a pretty page.

My subject for this layout was a big change in my life in the past few weeks that requires new courage on my part...I left my long-time career in fundraising and strategic planning and am now a full-time entrepreneur. It's exciting and anxiety-producing all at once. Have you ever experienced a change that was exactly what you wished for and then came face to face with new realities and challenges? I'm happy and nervous about what lies ahead and wanted to capture this feeling of new found courage...

Come join me on my quest to imbue my layout with more depth!

Color:

To reflect this month’s emotion, COURAGE, we specifically chose colors and patterns for the kit that are strong and resolute. The combination of deep red and clear blue connote power - like superman's cape and tights, or a waving (American) flag. For the base of my layout, I chose a patterned paper from Glitz with a bingo game theme to suggest a question: is what happens to us in life pure chance or beautiful synchronicity?


Photos:

While I'm often a single-photo scrapper, I used multiple photos on this layout, representative of the many parts of my life that come into play as I 'roll the dice'. It also reminds me that it's OK to have a variety of emotions at a time of transition.


Design:
The patterned paper I chose has a built in grid on it, so I took advantage of that symbolism in placing my photos. Three of them are lined up cleanly on the gird, and the largest is tilted - this represents the juxtaposition of the order of the stability of the past vs the 'off-balance' feeling of something totally new.

I used the chipboard star embellishments in a few symbolic ways. They serve as 'bingo markers', as I'm making choices in the game of life. The embellishment groups are also arranged like shooting stars with a bling trail, hoping for a bright future. The photos are nestled in among the stars, as I hope my destiny will be.



If you look closely, you'll see that I incorporated a tone-on-tone subtitle. I used cherry red American Crafts rub-ons to blend alliterative words - luck, love, life - into the red distressed paper strips. It adds some subtle interest to a visually flat area, highlights the photos, and sweetly and poignantly records what's at stake...




Technique:

I wanted to give the stars something more. I used one of my favorite painting techniques, learned from decorative wall painting...I used a plastic hair comb to distress the paint and create a wave-like movement instead of a flat coat of white. I then coated the stars with clear glaze to make the ridges in the paint pop. From a visual and symbolic perspective, the waves give the stars forward motion - a reference to life's trajectory.





Journaling:

I'm a big fan of hidden journaling. Why? My layouts are all about truth, and sometimes the truth is hard to share in an in-your-face way. Hidden journaling lets me feel free to express what's really going on and also symbolically show that some of my thinking is private. I trimmed out a section of the bingo grid so hat the journaling spot almost disappears. See the lace ribbon? That's the pull. But I always share my journaling with our members in a secondary photo, as does our whole design team - we want to encourage everyone to say what's really in their hearts...that's what the Inside Out approach is all about.



Scrapbooking from the Inside Out’s emotion-focused kits provide all-in-one value, unparalleled variety, exclusive inspiration and a heart-centered community to help you explore your inner world and motivate you to express yourself on the page with depth and meaning. No add-ons needed, just one big perfect kit with exactly what you'll need to Explore Your Inner World. Each kit is a unique, stylish creation that takes you to new places in your heart and your crafting.

Giveaway:
Would you like to win your own COURAGE kit? This kit’s retail value is $46.95 and it can be yours!



Leave a comment here and tell me what courage means to you, and you’ll be entered to win this beautiful kit.

Giveaway closes, Friday noon MST August 6.

And do come join us online…we're debuting our August kit, DISCOVERY. We would love to welcome you and join you on your journey to explore YOUR inner world.

Hello all my Ella loves out there in blog land! I sort the layout submissions here at Ella Publishing Co., and once a month I guest blog to share my favorites from the month.

Without further ado, this month's Loves are: Andrea MacDonald, with her layout "Magic Garden"; Katie Squires, with her mini-album; Jennifer Alfonso, with her layout "Sweet Summer"; Reyanna Klein, with her layout "Joy and Me"; and Mindy Miller, with her layout "iwonder".

*First: I loved how Andrea added so many textures and layers to her layout! I love the feeling of a picnic table with the cloth and the cute little smiles of the fruits. Oh, and that frayed paper edge in red is just perfect. If you want to see more of Andrea (and I know you will) check her out at andreasmetta.blogspot.com.

 

*Second: I found Katie's mini truly inspiring!! The handmade burlap cover is genius...and as she said in her submission, "I had made a little pile of strawberry themed scrap supplies for when we would go strawberry picking this summer. We went this past Monday only to discover that the season was closed.  We picked raspberries instead. I still made the mini book that I had been planning, filled with strawberry embellishments. I like it, kind of cheeky." Cheeky indeed...and when life gives you, um, berries, make a mini. You can see more of Katie at katarooskitchen.blogspot.com.



 

*Third: I thought that Jennifer's page was so innovative using the pennants in her flower! Finding a new way to use a very popular item takes some serious outside the box thinking. I also really love that color combo, so summery! You can find more inspiration from Jennifer at jenniferalfonso.blogspot.com/.

*Fourth: I was instantly smitten with Reyanna's layout! I love the colors and I am anticipating big time stealing her envelope technique; you never know when you're going to need to hide a love note on a page! She states, "To spruce up the envelope a bit, I opened it up and added patterned paper under the flap. I punched small circles and then used a hole punch to punch them again, so they'd fit perfectly over the clasp circles. I made sure that the words 'child' and 'memory' were visible when I punched the circles. Then I just added buttons (with Glue Dots) and some journal strips!" Wonderful, really. I love new ways to use old ordinary things! You can find Reyanna at sunshineandwonder.blogspot.com.

*Fifth: You could say it was love at first sight with Mindy's page! Look at that scotch tape! Who knew an office staple could pack such a punch? I seriously *heart* the circles as a background with her main photo in the corner; it makes me want to know the story behind the hat! You can see more amazing layouts from Mindy at mysecretheart.typepad.com.

 

And Now for a Few Words About August
I decided I'd like to issue a fun and exciting challenge for our August Liz's Loves! To help you understand the reasons behind the challenge, I want you to escape with me into one of the most popular love stories of our day. So, indulge me if you will for a minute. (Twilight fans, you're going to love this! Non-Twilight fans, stay with me because there will still be an incentive for you at the end!)

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him, and I didn't know how potent that part might be, that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

"You are my life. You're the only thing it would hurt me to lose."

"Isn't it supposed to be like this? The glory of first love, and all that. It’s incredible, isn't it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it?"

"For almost ninety years I've walked among my kind, and yours...all the time thinking I was complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you weren't alive yet."

I've read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and was enthralled by it, like millions of other readers worldwide. I loved her ability to put in to words how her characters were feeling. I loved how smitten Bella was with Edward, even though she knew she shouldn't be, and I could feel Edward's pain in knowing she was untouchable! However, even as enthralled as I was after I read the books, I put them on the back burner of my mind. (I still haven't even seen the third movie yet!)

But, while I was at the library a couple of days ago, I picked up a Stephenie Meyer novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and I was enthralled all over again. It tells the backstory of a very minor character from the second book in the series, Eclipse. This then inspired me to finally read Meyer's partially finished fifth book in the series, Midnight Sun, which was leaked online and so it's never been officially released. It tells the story of the original Twilight book, but from Edward's perspective instead of Bella's. (I struggled with wanting to read this one because I wouldn't be able to finish and that drives me bonkers!)

Fortunately though, as I was reading, inspiration struck me... Do I ever scrapbook from someone else's perspective? Stephenie Meyer has now been able to recreate the same story through three different characters' perspectives. And she turned it into even more than a he said/she said exercise. It captivated me each time—truly amazing!

Okay, now that you've indulged me, I'm sure you're wondering how this plays into Liz's Loves. Well, here's the scoop: for this upcoming month of Liz's Loves, I want to see pages that are told from a different perspective other than your own. Or you could even go a little Stephenie Meyer on me and show a couple different perspectives on one page. Most of all, I want you all to have fun and try something new to spice up your scrapbooking life!

Of those submissions, I will pick my three favorites, as well as my two other loves for the month. All five loves will be featured on next month's blog post and will receive a discount for some Ella gear. Just email your submissions to submissions@ellapublishing.com, with "Perspective" in the subject line so I'll identify it right away. Deadline: August 16.

I hope this post and my amazing loves have left you inspired! I can't wait to be inspired by all of your challenge pages. You know you just might be my next crush of the month (along with my favorite Twilight hottie)!

XOXO
~Liz


 

Guest blogger Audrey Neal writes:

I've been a book lover for as long as I can remember; in fact, I'm lucky enough to say that some of my earliest memories involve books. And while I consider myself a gadget girl in many ways, switching to an e-reader has been one technological advance I'm not willing to take. Not only would I miss the familiar heft of a book in my hands, but I'd miss out on the amazing cover art that accompanies some of my favorite books.

Those same book covers have served as inspiration for my scrapbook pages time and again. Whenever I'm feeling uninspired, I browse my bookshelves and come away with so many great ideas. Let's take a peek at a couple of my favorite books and I'll show you what I mean.



Design style: This cover features a playful look with hand-drawn illustrations. You could easily achieve the same look with doodles -- either digital, stamped, or hand-drawn.

Technique: The cover artist created a neat effect by using negative space on the hillside to create the outline of a man. Punches give you the same look on your layouts, and clipping masks help you achieve the look with digital layouts.



Photo treatment: Get the same vibrant look for your photos with photo actions, or play around with overlays and textures to mimic the blurred background on the main image.

Typography: This funky font would look great handcut from cardstock or printed onto a subtly patterned paper. Create a block of color to back your title.

The opportunities for inspiration are endless. In fact, I've found that some of my most meaningful layouts have been strongly inspired by the books I'm currently reading and their covers. Here's one of my favorites:



I had just finished The Help and was moved so strongly by this story; I couldn't stop thinking about it, even as I moved on to other books. There was so much about the book that resonated so strongly with me, and in part I knew it was because of the relationship I had formed as a small girl with three older black women who worked at the restaurant my grandparents owned when I was younger. It wasn't long before I knew the story I wanted to tell, but I was having trouble coming up with the layout and style. That's when I turned to the book cover for help.



Color scheme: I pulled patterned papers from some of my favorite designers in the same purples and yellows of the book's cover. (Being able to recolor just about anything makes this really easy with digital scrapbooking!)

Visual element: The birds and birdcages helped me to think more symbolically about the story I was telling; while I never really discusss the idea of being caged by society's ideas about class and race, those ideas are hinted at with the images I chose.

After participating in a circle journal based on books and reading with a number of scrappers this past year, I wanted to continue and expand this idea of getting scrapbooking inspiration from the books I was reading. That's when The Open Book Challenges were born. Every other Monday, seven talented scrappers and I take turns offering up our latest reads for your scrapbooking inspiration. We offer a short review and then include a variety of challenges, both inspired by both the content and the design of the book. To play along, all you have to do is create a layout (digi, hybrid, or traditional), card, or other paper project of your choice (any style, any format) and post a link to it in the comments. That's it -- though we do welcome comments and discussion about the book as well.

Click here to see the current challenges we have posted, as well as short bios of our challenge team.

We've got a new challenge going live on Monday, July 12 -- we hope you'll stop by, check it out, and play along!

Hi Everyone! I am so happy to be back today as Ella’s guest blogger. I have a few
new sketches to share with you as well as a fun tip to help you get the most from your
sketches.

Today I wanted to share with you how you can stretch your sketches in ways that you
may not have previously thought about. The idea was originally inspired by a set
of die-cut sticker photo frames made by K & Company. When I first received this product
I’ll admit, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it. The frames are very cute, but they are all
for small cropped photos. As I started taking the frames out of the package I noticed three
photo-strip style stickers and I lined them all up together on my work table. They reminded
me of a 5x7 photograph and it immediately struck me that that is how I should use them,
not as three separate items but as a single element. With that idea in mind I searched through my sketch notebook for a sketch featuring a single 5x7 photo. Here is the sketch I chose:


And an 8.5x11 version of the sketch:



Here is the layout I created using the photo-strip frames in place of the 5x7 photo:



This time around I actually worked backwards. I made the “stretched” layout first and
then decided to make a layout using the sketch in its original form. Here is the layout I
made using a 5x7 photograph:



Other ideas for stretching your sketches in this way are to replace one or more of the
photographs in a sketch with tags, patterned paper, or memorabilia (truly, the list could
go on and on). Maybe you have a product that has you stumped and you’re not sure how
to use it? Sketches are meant to aid the creative process. Use a sketch as a starting off
point and then perhaps look at that product in a different light. I want to challenge you to
think outside the box and beyond photographs to see how you can get creative with your
sketches and your scrapbooking stash. And, if you make a layout using this idea or any
of the sketches I’ve shared with you today I’d love to see your creation.

Finally, here are some bonus sketches to help kick-start your creative process:






Get more of Donna's sketches from her Ella eBook, Stretch Your Sketches

Today, we invited Lucy Edson of lucyscraftylife.blogspot.com to be our guest blogger, and she responded with this fun video about altering and creating your own patterned paper. Lucy designs for Webster's Pages, Crate Paper, Shimmerz Paints, and The Color Room. And, she's also a frequent contributor to Somerset Memories and Sew Somerset magazines. Take it away, Lucy!

Altering Patterned Paper - Doily Paper from lucy edson on Vimeo.

Welcome to Ella's four week Photography Series. Thanks to the expertise of Noel and Moon we have been instructed over the last three weeks on light, focus, perspective, and this week it is all about action!

From Noel:
Action is sometimes a tricky thing to catch when you are looking at it one frame at a time. Try these tricks to catch some action in your daily life.




Panning is a really effective way of showing motion. You focus on your subject and follow their action with your camera. This keeps your subject in focus, but blurs the background. Think looking out of the passenger window of a moving car. Things are whizzing by while the car window remains in focus. It takes a little practice, but be patient and shoot LOTS of pictures. Then thank your lucky stars that you have a digital camera!

Find a subject that is moving in a consistent motion. They don't have to be going a million miles an hour, just moving in a predictable way. Set your camera to Shutter Priority (usually the "S" on your camera's dial).You'll want your shutter speed to be on the slower side around 1/20 to 1/25. (the bike picture was a 1/25 of a sec at f9, and the scooter image was at 1/20 of a sec at f25.) I was holding my camera, but you may have better luck with a monopod. But since I am monopod-less, I'll tell you how I did it. Focus on your subject, then follow them with your camera, keeping them in the frame as they move. Click your shutter at some point while you're following them in camera, making sure to continue to follow them after you press the shutter. It'll take some practice, but the end result is something like these.  I'm sure there are zillions of applications for panning, but I've only tried it with my girls riding bikes and scooters. It's a good place to start since it's a generally consistent motion to follow. Panning also works wonders with track runners, moving cars and trains, etc.



Taking a shot while someone is in motion can take a fast trigger finger. Catching your subject just at the precise moment their action is taking place can take some practice. In the beginning, if your camera has a burst mode, this is a great time to use it. The burst mode will often take several pictures in a row. This is especially handy with point and shoot cameras as they are known for their delayed shutters. With the picture of my daughter jump roping, I took a number of pictures to get her as she was in the air and the jump rope hit the puddle. It worked to both show her movement, and her goal of splashing as much water as possible.


The movement of fabric, clothing and hair can all show motion as well. In this picture my daughters dress was fluttering as she jumped from square to square.


Mid-air is almost always shows off action in a fun way. Since gravity keeps us grounded, catching those brief moments of flight adds superhero type action to our pictures. Try snapping pictures of a child in mid-air while jumping or running. This picture is of my daughter's thrill of beating her sister to home plate in a game of backyard baseball. You can almost feel her thrill of victory.

From Moon:
As Noel discussed how to take action shots, I'm going to talk a little about action, as in Photoshop actions. You can use actions in most versions of Photoshop, and there are even some for PS Elements. With actions, you can create certain moods or looks to your photographs from one touch of a button. My favorite free actions are created by The Pioneer Woman and you can find her actions here. She does a wonderful job of showing you each of her actions at work.
 
Another great resource is this website. Pifphoto.com is a great resource for photographers where readers share actions and templates and anything photo related with each other.
 
Thanks for spending the last four weeks with Noel and me. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Did you know you can save 20% when you purchase BOTH of Ella's top-selling photography eBooks? Use the coupon code SUMMERPICS before July 5, 2010.

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs

Also, be sure and check out the other three posts in our Friday photo lesson series.
Light
Focus
Perspective

Welcome to a start of a four week Ella Photography Series. For the last few Fridays (and one more to go!), Noel and Moon have been sharing their photography tips, tricks and challenges to help you take better photographs. Each week they will be focusing on a different topic. This week's topic is Perspective.

Noel shares...
Changing perspective is one of the easiest ways to add interest to a photo. I read once that if you take a photo from the same spot everyone else does, you'll get a photo that looks like every other photo you've seen. For instance, flowers are often low to the ground. if you hold your camera, look down and shoot... you'll end up with an average looking shot. However, if you get on the ground and shoot up toward the flower, you'll get a very different shot with lots of added interest.



After losing this shoe's pair in an unfortunate snow spin out in the Rockey Mountains, I wanted to document the one that didn't get away. I place the shoe on a stool and shot it on an angle. One tip for shooting on an angle, keep an eye on how that leaves your subject. You want the angle to feel purposeful, but not so angled that your subject looks like it is falling out of the frame.



Get low. Just like shooting a flower from a different angle, you can shoot people from a different angle. This is especially true of children. Being adults, we're often taller than children, so we naturally see them from above. Getting low, and looking at them, or in this case at her legs, gives a perspective you couldn't catch from simply standing and taking a picture.



Zoom in. Get pictures of just a piece of the puzzle, as well as the big picture. Zooming in to get a detail shot is a great way of adding a new perspective. I took several pictures of my daughter with her new missing tooth, but really loved this zoomed in shot of my little toothless wonder.



Beside the different angles you can shoot to get perspective... there is also the mental perspective. Taking pictures as a way to convey someone's life perspective. A few weeks ago I asked my daughter to put away the vacuum cleaner. When I came upstairs, this was what I saw. The vacuum, still plugged into the outlet in the living room, but put away in the closet down the hall. From a kid's perspective, she put away the vacuum, just like I said. From a mom's perspective... well, we can all guess. It was a funny way of remembering the big difference in perspective that 30 years and a couple of kids can make.


Moon shares...
I think Noel has pretty much covered the topic of perspective beautifully. Just wanted to add that you can also use perspective to focus on what you want to focus on. For example, in this photo, I wanted to capture the smallness of my nephew's head in relation to my brother's big hands:



The same goes for his tiny feet:



And speaking of feet, that's what I wanted to capture in the next photo-well, feet and legs of my kids. In keeping the focus on just their legs, it makes a greater impact than if I had their whole bodies in the shot:



I hope Noel and my examples get your creative juices flowing to try out different perspectives.

Ella loves photography. Our two photography eBooks have been super popular. They retail for $5.99 each but if you buy both you can save 20% using this coupon code, SUMMERPICS. So do it!

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs