Five Tips for Taking Classic Photos of Children

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	As one of the fastest growing hobbies, scrapbooking is the perfect combination of creative photography and creative album making. Plus, it's a great way to remember and celebrate special times. The following five easy tips will help you plan and execute perfect scrapbook photos so your family albums will look like works of art!
	Plan Ahead! Most experienced scrapbookers start with one of two approaches: they either build their pages around existing pictures or they come up with a page design and take their pictures to fit the scrapbook colors and theme. Both can be very successful, but either way, we recommend having a plan before you start shooting (or pasting). For example, if you're going to use earth tones for the album background, then stage your pictures in a natural setting and pick subtle colors for clothing and props. If you're going to spend a day at the amusement park, be sure to include the bright colors and fun structural elements in your pictures. Then you can incorporate those colors and shapes into your page layouts for a nicely unified theme.
	Let Your Camera Tell a Story A great thing about scrapbooks is that photos are such a powerful medium for conveying a story. Whatever your subject matter, your story will be better told if you devote at least one photo session to photographing the subject from all different angles - close up, far away, the side, the front, from above, etc. If it's a person, be sure to capture different facial expressions and moods. You can take several pictures from the same position - each documenting a different facial expression - and describe the expressions in your "journaling" copy. If your subject is a child, use several two-page spreads to show him or her dressed in a variety of different outfits to bring out a range of moods and emotions.
	Don't Forget About Black & White Photo hobbyists often place a great emphasis on color photography, but good black & white photos have a beauty all their own. Shape, texture and composition become much more important, and the subject is not lost in a jumble of colors. This is especially true with people pictures. You can create a classic "family tree" album by starting with old family portraits and adding pictures of your contemporary family members, converted to black-and-white. It's simple to do, even if you're shooting color pictures. Take the pictures in color, as you normally would, and then convert them to "gray scale" with Ofoto's easy photo editing tools. By adjusting contrast and brightness, you can make them look very professional. Once you've chosen the pictures that best fit your album, it will have a beautifully classic look.
	Use Different Sizes to Add Variety Conventional 4 x 6" prints are great for making multiple photo collages, but you should also use some 5 x 7" and 8 x 10" prints to make those special, single-image pages that grab the viewer's attention. Larger images are great for opening pages of different sections of the album, or to finish off a series of themed pictures. You can even use wallet photos to build a really "active" page, or order multiple prints of the same image -to make a similar scrapbook for friends or family, or to put into your regular photo album.
	Pay Attention to Framing and Composition Even if you're taking pictures of the same subject from different angles, avoid making the common "snapshot" mistakes, such as cutting off the tops of people's heads (or other body parts), photographing the backs of heads, or cutting off important people or objects at the edges of the frame. Frame each image as though you're going to hang it on the wall. Your subject doesn't have to be right in the center of the frame, you can position it on the left or right side of the picture, but you should never have an object hanging off the edge of the print. Also, if someone is in your way when you're ready to take the picture, or if they have their backs turned in your direction, don't be afraid to wait until they move, or even ask them to turn around or move aside. Good photography often requires an assertive attitude when composing the scene or positioning your subjects. For more tips on digital photography, visit www.imaging-resource.com.