I love taking photographs! And if you’re like me, you don’t go anywhere special without your camera. I’m always looking for that perfect shot. I thought I’d share some tips that I’ve learned along the way that have helped me to create that “perfect” shot.

Minimize the Use of Flash

There are definitely times where one needs to use flash. But the more you can avoid it, the better quality photo you will get. With my digital SLR, I have a setting “P” for “Program AE” that doesn’t use the flash and automatically adjusts the aperture and shutter speed to compensate for this. And chances are that if you’ve bought a decent point-and-shoot in the past few years, you shouldn’t have a problem with this either. I love how natural light can maintain the integrity of the moment.

Get Up Close and Personal

Not often thought about, getting closer to your subject is an easy way to take a better shot. When the subject is too small in the photo, it’s easy to be distracted by the other elements of the photo.

By zooming in or taking a step closer, you can fill the frame with your subject and create more interest.

Use the Rule of Thirds

Use this rule of thumb to create a more unique shot. Essentially, it works like this. Divide the image into three sections. Placing your subject off-center creates an interesting, dynamic image. Imagine your photograph divided into three horizontal and vertical sections. To compose a well-balanced, off-center shot, place your subject near the intersections of the imaginary grid lines. This will produce a nicely balanced easy-on-the-eye picture.

Edit Your Photos

OK… I admit it. I’ve become somewhat of a photo snob in that I absolutely must edit my photos before printing them in a book or other creation. My editing program of choice is Creative Memories’ Memory Manager. Without getting too technical, I can use the “Auto Contrast” and “Auto Color” to adjust the picture quality. Here is an example of a Before and After using Memory Manager. Oh, and it just so happens that Memory Manager is on sale this month through Creative Memories. If you need a CM consultant, check our roster of Digital Dream Team members. They can tell you more about the product and help you get started.

Having just purchased my digital SLR in December, I’m planning to take some photography classes through National Camera Exchange. I look forward to learning more about taking better pictures and sharing more tips with you. Until then, feel free to share your favorite tips with us by posting them to our blog. We’d love to hear from you!

Two years ago, the light bulb went off for Amy Krauss and I. That’s when the Future of Scrapping was born.

Amy & I were on retreat in Osceola, Wisconsin. We were surrounded by traditional scrapbookers. Being the only two digi-scrappers at the time, we had several people ask us what we were doing. At one point, we heard someone exclaim, “Now THAT’S the future of scrapping!”

Lo and behold two years later, we were set up once again at the same retreat in nearly the same area and after some thought, we realized who made that exclamation. She had arrived from Colorado with her friend, Jenny. As they were getting settled, her voice and face looked so familiar to me. This prompted us to recall where she sat from us two years ago. And voila! Sure enough, Nicole had faintly recalled saying that phrase.

So here we are to say “Thank you, Nicole!” for giving us the idea for our company name.

What will 2011 bring? No one really knows if we will have an early spring or if the hottest celebrity couples will still be together. However, as a professional digi-scrapper, I have some insight to what might be around the corner for digi-scrappers this year. Here is my look at the top digital scrapping trends for 2011.

1. Lower printing costs. The cost for having our photo books printed will continue to go down. In addition, it will become easier and less expensive to get things like 12 x 12 page prints made. Watch for sales and even free printing offers in the near future.

2. Better product search. Creative Memories’ Storybook Creator Plus has a new feature of offering keywords associated with digital products (papers and embellishments). Most of their new products come with these keywords already populated for you! Soon, the search feature within the StoryBook Creator Software will improve to allow multiple keyword searches, making it simple to find all your “red buttons” for example. Digital product companies such as Designer Digitals will also get on the keyword bandwagon with improved searching capabilities for their products. Rather than a single search box, you will begin seeing advanced search options on these types of sites.

3. Mobile applications just for digi-scrappers. We are starting to see a wave of applications for mobile phones designed with photographers in mind. You can now apply artistic styles to your photos right on your phone. Soon you will start to see mobile applications tailored to the digi-scrapper. Snap your photo and you will be able to give it a star rating, tag it to be used when scrapping, and add a short journaling note – all from your smart phone!

4. Tablet devices – not netbooks. Netbooks (the mini-computers often sold by cell phone companies) will be falling out of favor. More people will be embracing the new tablet devices. These have advantages over netbooks because of their large, vibrant screens, their larger keyboards, and their access to mobile applications. Look for increasing use of these stylish devices in scrapbooking. While on the go, you could use the built-in camera or plug in your SD card for creating and loading photos. Next, organize and journal them. Finally, while Storybook Creator Plus is not available as an “app” yet, soon simple digital scrapbooking apps will be available and you will even be able to get the basic layout of a page done!

5. Wi-fi available at more retreats. This is a trend that will continue to grow. While not essential, this is an amenity I always look for at a retreat. Being able to access my favorite ideas and digi-stores on the web adds a lot to my retreat experience. Select retreat locations such as Vintage Porch in Shakopee, MN, Camp Victory in Zumbro Falls, MN, and South Fork Farm in Lester Prairie, MN have added this important amenity. You will continue to see more and more retreat facilities add wi-fi to better accommodate digi-scrappers.

6. Growing use of font management software. I have hundreds if not thousands of fonts installed on my computer. Viewing your fonts in the traditional alphabetical sort is simply not helpful. It is impossible to sift through them all without help. There are several programs out there for both Windows and Mac users to help with this task by allowing you to rate fonts and assign keywords. We’re featuring the free AMP Font Viewer as our digital feature in Scrap Magic this month.

7. Color matching tools will improve and become more integrated. Scrapbook.com has a great tool for matching the colors in your photo to scrapbooking color schemes. This great technology will continue to be improved and even become integrated into your favorite software like Storybook Creator Plus. This would allow you to not only quickly pick a color scheme, but also automatically find the products in your collection that match perfectly.

8. Increased popularity of photo books as gifts. This is a trend that will continue to explode! Once a set of scrapbook pages is created, it is relatively inexpensive and quick to duplicate those pages. In addition to duplicating books for both sets of grandparents, look for these new ideas: small paper-bound books for all members of a sports team, books offered as fundraisers for dance and theater groups, books for all participants of a group trip, etc. The possibilities are endless!

As I was sifting through bags of family photos that my parents gave me to store, I noticed how many of them had hand written notes on the back to describe who was in each picture. This got me thinking about the thousands of digital photos I have on my computer. If I never touched those photos again, who would be able to explain who is in those photos after I’m gone? It’s a reality that everyone in the digital age will face at some point.

In addition to adding descriptions to our favorite photos, here are some basic steps of preserving digital photographs as shared by The Library of Congress:

IDENTIFY where you have digital photos
Make a list of these locations if you have several locations.

• Places include your computer, laptop, phone, cameras and removable media such as memory cards, external hard drives and flash drives.
• Another place might be photos saved on the Web

DECIDE which photos are important to you
This is the toughest step for me. I take it from the other perspective, though. I try to remove those photos that don’t mean anything and won’t mean anything later on. The rest I keep and organize.

• Choose the ones that you feel are most important
• If you have copies of one photo, be sure to select the one with the highest resolution (largest file size)

ORGANIZE the selected photos
You can do this several ways but regardless of which way you choose to organize your photos, be consistent. I use a program called Memory Manager by Creative Memories that gives me the ability to place my photos in folders, tag them and add descriptions. Find a program that works for you and stick with it.

• Create folders and subfolders to organize the photos
• Give descriptive file names to some photos
• Tag photos with names of people and descriptive subjects
• Add descriptions wherever you can

MAKE copies and STORE them in different places
After taking my photos, I download them from my camera and save them to my desktop computer. Then I copy them to another hard drive. Then I copy them onto an external hard drive before pulling them into my Memory Manager program. And Memory Manager has a backup service to save all the revised photos. So I’m well covered on copies!

• Make at least two copies of your selected photos
• Place the copies on different forms of media, never on the same hard drive
• Store copies in different locations that are as physically far apart as is practical.
• Put a copy of the photo inventory with your important papers in a secure location.
• Check your photos at least once a year to make sure you can read them.
• Convert files to new media when necessary to avoid data loss.

Watch this video to learn more about these steps and other tips for archiving your digital photos. Toward the end of the video, Facebook, camera photo programs, file formats and embedded META data are discussed.

As you follow these basic steps of preserving digital photographs, remember that you’re making a difference in the lives of future generations who will want to experience your memories. Instead of turning a paper photo over to get more details, they’ll be sifting through files on a computer. Will it be a guessing game? What do you want them to remember?

If this sounds overwhelming, turn to “I Hate Scrapping” for help in completing this process. Photo organization professionals at I Hate Scrapping are experienced in preserving digital images and can take away the guesswork. Contact them at www.iHateScrapping.com today.

If you’re like me, it’s difficult to find dedicated time to scrap. So the best way to get anything done is to go on a scrapbooking retreat.

Ranging from local workshops in Eden Prairie to retreats just outside the Twin Cities, our list represents where we’ll be scrapping. We’re also hosting a couple of Dream Big Digi-Meets this year that are included on this page:

http://www.futureofscrapping.com/retreats-digital-scrapbooking.htm

When you need to make time to scrap, return to our Retreats page for more scrapbooking opportunities.

Ever notice how many craft stores have a “Christmas in July” sale about this time of year?  Having sales like this allows people to make thoughtful decisions about the handcrafted gifts or decorations they could create for the holidays. 

This year, why not include digi-scrapping in your gift-giving plans? By putting a bit of thought into projects now, you’ll be ready to enjoy the Christmas season without worrying about gifts at the 11th hour.

What types of gifts can be created through digital scrapbooking? The first item that comes to mind is a photo book, memory book or storybook.  These make wonderful gifts that will be treasured for generations! By planning now what topics and events you want to include in your book, you will easily be able to map out the layouts you will need and how quickly you will want to get them done.

• Want a year-in-review memory book?  Start going through the photos you have of this year so far.
• Want a through-the-years storybook?  Start looking for photos of those special events or people you want to chronicle.
• Want to create a 20-page photo book?  Get started now by doing 1-2 layouts per week and you’ll be all set!

Best of all, you can reprint your photo book in a smaller, soft cover format for a beautiful, yet inexpensive gift for other family members or friends. Pages can easily be swapped out for a more personalized touch as well.

If you decide to do a photo book, you can easily create a personalized holiday greeting as well.  Use the idea of a year-in-review and start collecting photos of the year’s highlights so far.

If you use Creative Memories’ Memory Manager, create an “album” named “year-in-review” and start dropping photos into it.  Come November, you’ll be ready to create a meaningful greeting.  It could be a collage of photos placed on a postcard, or an insert for a traditional card that includes photos, journaling and embellishments.

What else can you do?  Get your creative juices flowing!  The options are endless. You can use the layouts you’ve already created for other gifts. Here are a few more digi-scrapping ideas to consider:

• Mugs featuring a favorite layout.
• A digital photo frame that is loaded with digital layouts.
• Calendars featuring single-photo layouts (you can personalize the dates as well).  I like creating 6×7 layouts with a calendar block and slipping them into Creative Memories’ PicFolio Minutes albums for a great desktop calendar.
• Globe-style Christmas ornaments with a favorite photo (digitally-embellished of course!)
• A favorite layout placed in a frame for a unique wall decoration. (Creative Memories’ Everyday Frame works nicely for this purpose).

And finally, for those people who aren’t scrappers but love your work, give them a gift certificate for our newest division, I Hate Scrapping.  We create photo books, collages and more! See our Subscriber Special in the July issue of Scrap Magic [click here]  for a special discount on our gift certificates.  At I Hate Scrapping, YOU create the memories, WE create the book!

I hope you now feel inspired to create some digitally handcrafted gifts and greetings for this Christmas season.  I can almost hear the sleigh bells!  Ho! Ho! Ho!

Scrapbooking helps me relive special moments. The time Jordan lost her first tooth, when McKenzie took her first step or when my Grandma celebrated her 97th birthday. It could be hard to remember the details of these special moments without a scrapbook.

Tulip over Seattle's Puget Sound

Scrapbooking helps us to remember. I’ve been journalling since I was 14 years old and there are still times that I need to check back in my journals to get the details straight. My memory switches things even after telling the same stories for years!

Scrapbooking shares the story of our lives with family and friends. As special people come into our lives, we can share these memories with others. Many of us have other “families” through the military, sports, work, school or other activities.

Scrapbooking gives me a creative outlet. With how much technology does for us, it’s nice to do something that requires my imagination. I can share my thoughts, feelings and memories in my own special way.

Scrapbooking can be therapeutic. Like journalling, scrapping can help me get through a death or other traumatic experience. Sharing the good times along with the bad times can bring me peace.

And most of all, scrapbooking gives me a sense of appreciation for what God has given me. When I scrap, I am thanking Him for all my blessings. I’m grateful for each day not knowing if I’ll have another day with those I love.

And even though I see all these benefits of scrapbooking, I still make it less than a priority in my life. I use the same old excuses: “There’s not enough time in the day. Right now, something else is more important.” I think scrapbooking is more than a hobby. And it’s time I started treating it this way.

Have you ever thought about having a “scrapbook partner” or someone you check in with who would keep you on task and moving forward on your scrapping projects? Let us know what you think about this. We welcome your comments!

We presented a program called “Organize Your Photos and Start Enjoying Them!” to NAPO-MN on Monday, June 7th. It was an opportunity for us to share The Future of Scrapping, Inc. and I Hate Scrapping to this awesome group of professional organizers. We appreciated their support and encouragement.

Amy Krauss, Karen Bumgardner (NAPO-MN President), Pamela Grover

To keep things interesting, we played out a skit where Amy presented one company and I the other. Because Future of Scrapping caters to scrappers, Amy described digital scrapbooking, shared the benefits of it and outlined our group classes, all day retreats and, coming soon, our video-based online learning service. And since I Hate Scrapping is for those who would prefer to have someone else do the scrapping, I highlighted why scrapping is so important, how we organize photos, digitize photos, and then create custom photo books and other products such as collages, invitations and cards.

We offered a giveaway of three gift certificates for I Hate Scrapping. Congratulations to the winners who were: Brenda Rau of Let’s Get Organized, Jane Scheidnes of Art of Organizing, and Robbie Deering of Balance Your Life.

If you belong to a group or know of a group that would like a speaker on the topic of digital scrapping, photo organization or custom photo book development, please contact us. We appreciate these opportunities!

The Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers works in a cooperative manner to educate the public about organizing as a profession, promote the benefits of organizing services and provide support, education and a networking forum for its members. Learn more about them by visiting http://www.napominnesota.com/.

Let’s face it – computer failures happen.  But how you deal with a computer failure as a digi-scrapper can mean the difference between losing everything or simply dusting yourself off and moving on.  I am speaking from experience here.  I had a major computer failure recently while on retreat!  By using the following three tips I have learned, you can have peace of mind knowing a computer failure is not the end of the world – even on retreat! 

First, if you are going on a retreat, be sure to bring alternative things to do.  In all likelihood you will not have a failure, but if you do, you will want to be prepared.  I did not do this, and was left playing endless games of solitaire on my phone while I waited for various recovery procedures to run on my failing computer.  I so much wished I had at least brought a book to read!  Some ideas for things to bring with you include copies of your favorite scrapping magazines or idea books (I personally like Creating Keepsakes), your journal for ideas on future layouts or to record your current thoughts, good walking shoes so you can get some exercise, or some other craft you enjoy (like knitting).  When you are digi-scrapping on retreat, your load is already light, so adding an alternative activity shouldn’t weigh you down.  It’s a simple precaution and will even help if you end up with a creative block as well!

The second tip is backup, backup, backup!  I can’t stress this enough.  When my computer failed, I was disappointed I couldn’t get my scrapping done, but I wasn’t panicked because I knew my data was safe in at least two other locations.  I have heard other experts say that if you don’t have at least two other copies of something, then you don’t care about it.  So I always have two backup methods in use.  One is an online product called Mozy.  This is an inexpensive “set it and forget it” type of service that is continually monitoring my computer and storing my files at Mozy’s location.  I like the idea of off-site storage as I am then protected against anything that might happen to my home.  My second backup method is a simple external drive.  I use it about once per quarter and back up only my most priceless files such as photos and scrapbook pages.  My husband then stores this drive at his workplace – again to protect from disaster, yet easily accessible.  On retreats, I even have a third backup.  I bring along a small external drive to backup my pages as I am working.   This way if my computer does fail, I have not lost the work I have done over the weekend.

My third and final tip is to budget for computer replacement.  Just as you might budget for eventual replacement of a car, you should do so for your computer equipment.  When I finally decided it was time to lay my computer to rest, I again was not panicked because I knew I had the money set aside to replace it.  This gives additional peace of mind and actually allowed me to upgrade my laptop to a bit nicer model as well!

So digi-scrap with confidence knowing you have a plan in place and that everything will be just fine even if your computer fails.