Picture Perfect Portraits 8 comments  

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Portrait photos - they seem to haunt family photo-loving people, especially those who like to get everyone all dressed to match, looking perfect, and dragged down to your local portrait studio. Then, there is almost always that magical 8x10, or sometimes even 11x17, that they like to pan off on you as a "freebie" in your package. Now, the 8x10 is usually workable, especially if you have a decent sized space on your wall, but, frankly, walking into someone's living room and seeing a giant, 20-year old family portrait over the fireplace can be pretty scarey!

So, what do you do with all these giant photos that you really don't have room on your wall to hang them? I say, scrap them!

Working with such a large photo can be a bit challenging, as it takes up so much of the page, leaving little room for anything else. Even as our team took on the challenge of working with large photos, many of us found it difficult, from both a simple layout design, to the task of actually scanning the photo into our computers with tiny desk-top scanners. But, and I think you will agree, the team did a fantastic job, with tips for both digi and paper scrappers.

Graduation 2009, by Jennifer (sarahwhithers)

"For the digi CT reveal this week, it's showing off the possibilities of portrait pictures. I did two different pages with my Grad photos. One using the pic as an 8x10 and the other as 8x12. Both pages show you can get a different feel, it all depends on placement. I used the kits Sophistication by SAS Designs and Uptown by Julie Mead."

Collins Family 1982/3, by Sara (keling)

"When dealing with a portrait sized photo, I find it best to let the photo speak for itself, and only use minimal embellishments to accent it. The photo I used in this LO was actually an 11x17!, so scanning it was a bit of a challenge - I had to shift it around the scanner and preview it several times before I got it just right. And even though it is such a large picture, I still scanned it at 100% size, 300dpi, to maintain the quality of the photo, especially as I still intended it to use it at is (almost) full size. I used "Argh" by SAS Designs and the font, Post Note"

Amazingly Beautiful, by Jenn (jjenni08)

"This is a photo of my grandmother from 1956. I found it challenging yet fun to create a layout using a portrait. I would definitely love to try again though! The kit I used is "One Love", A collab kit created to benefit the victims of Haiti."

One Ocean, by Kristi (MamaK321)

"Generally these large sized photos can be tough to use on a layout. They tend to take up much of the layouts space and can make adding extra page elements somewhat tricky. One feature I love to see is a photo with open space that can be layered with embellishments and even journaling, like I did in my layout here. My layout includes: Dazzletude Elements by Theresa Hernandez, The Chicken Dance Paper Pack by Marcie Reckinger, Pepper It by Merkeley Designs, Springy Collab Kit (alpha) by Amy Teets & Laura Burger; and fonts: DJB PinkySwear and mellyKat by Darcy Baldwin (SweetShoppeDesigns). I found the poem online."

 Time Machine, by Laura (Art_Teacher

"This is one of my favorite portraits of my dh as a baby! I love the ability with digital to take a portrait and showcase it with some embellishments.  In this case, I used a  ribbon wrap, some folded ribbon, and some stitching to anchor the photo to the page and frame it.  Finishing that off with some word art is a simple, but elegant way to scrap those large portraits."

Blinding Sunshine by Ronny (Smiley-Scrap8)

"This week's reveal is all about scrapping portraits. What makes them difficult to work with on a layout is the fact that normally a portrait is framed alone. It really doesn't need a lot of embellishment because it speaks for itself. But sometimes you have a story to tell with these special photos. In this case I say, keep it simple. One color with minimal embellishments to really helps the photo shine."

Products used in this week's reveal: