Scrapping Events When All You Have Are Bad Photos

It was my son's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited; he was even willing to pose for an extra picture so I snapped a photo in the driveway before we left. When we got to the school, he jumped out of the car and posed for the perfect photo before running in. Normally I would take two pictures just in case, but he was excited and wasn't going to wait. It was okay; I had that perfect photo of him in front of the school. I snapped another one of his back walking in. Later that day, I downloaded the photos to print them out and discovered that my perfect photo was blurry.

My usual practice is that bad photos don't get scrapped. However, not scrapping the first day of kindergarten wasn't an option. Luckily I had those backup photos. They weren't great, but they were fine. By keeping the photos small and focusing on the journaling, I was able to create a great page about the first day of kindergarten.

So, what do you do when you don't have backup photos? Here are some suggestions on how to scrap events when all you have are bad photos.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps a thousand words are worth a picture. When the photos are bad, the scrapper should put extra effort into the journaling. In the layout, Labor of Love, by Nora, the photos are not terrible but they are not great either. The photos were taken from less-than-ideal angles and the lighting could have been better. However, by using a lot of photos and by making the large journaling section the main focus of the layout, the emphasis is taken away from the photo quality.

Using smaller photos is another way to minimize the effect of less-than-ideal photo quality. In the layout, No Work, by GH26 the photos were taken with a camera phone which has limited resolution. By using several small photos, a big title, and lots of journaling, she was able to create a great memory of the event while keeping the focus away from the photo quality.

Sometimes the problem with a photo is the expression on someone's face. In this case, consider making fun of the expression by somehow mentioning it in the title or journaling. In the layout, Ewww, by Luvscrappin, she chose the title based on facial expression and mentioned it in her journaling. By doing this, she essentially turned a lousy photo into a good one.

Sometimes the problem with the photo is in the background. Perhaps there is a tree growing out of someone's head or a stranger scowling in the background. Sometimes the solution to this is to cut the photo in an unusual shape. I will often silhouette the people and remove the background altogether. The silhouetted photo can then be placed onto another photo of the background or straight onto the layout. Another possibility is to cover up the offending item; try sticking a large flower or other embellishment right onto the unwanted part of the photo. You'd be surprised how it can look intentional; no one will ever guess that there was anything wrong with the photo.

If the bad photos are of a famous place, consider finding new ones. The Internet is a great source of photos. I've used the technique for museum exhibits. It is often difficult to get good photos in an exhibit, but the museum often has great ones on their web site. Combine these with a photo showing your group and you can have a wonderful page about the visit to the museum. People may even ask how you got such great photos of the exhibit.

If none of these techniques can help, just use the bad photo. That's what Bghigliotty did in this layout. Even though the photo is blurry, it still shows the happy expression on the child's face. By making a layout with the only photo she had, she was able to preserve the memory.

Next time you are trying to scrap an event and find that you only have bad photos, don't get discouraged. Consider using the ideas here to make a great page in spite of limited photo quality. You'll be preserving the memory and you may be surprisingly pleased with the result.

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