Eeek, those colours don't go!

Ever had a photo like that? The sort that makes you think "Why didn't I-he-she think how that was going to look against that background-with those clothes-beside that piece of furniture ...?" Unworthy as it was of me, that's exactly what I thought when DS sent me this picture of our DGS (and this is with half the distractions already cropped out!):

I have no idea what made the white shiny flash across my DGS's lower legs, and the colours neither contrasted nor blended well, but his expression had a certain something which really grabbed me. My first thought was: try black and white - that'll sort out the colour problem. It did, but it looked, frankly, drab.

However, it drew attention to his lovely eyes, which are a rich brown in reality. Then I remembered that some time ago, I had purchased some 'actions' - ever tried these? Nifty mini-programs that, with a click, allow you to alter a photo. After swizzling through a few and discarding them, one called Antique Colour produced this:

Ah, now we were getting somewhere! The browns and soft coppers had depth and pleasing shades, and my DGS's eyes looked very much as they do in reality. A quick crop, and I ended up with this:

Being a simple scrapper - minimal is closer to the mark! - I wanted a clean and uncluttered layout which would really draw attention to the photo. Journalling is usually very important to me, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to say. I ran through various perspectives in my head:

• something about his characteristics at this age?
• a story about which features he has from his Mum and which from his Dad?
• my memories of his Dad at a similar age?
• musings on how he has changed in the few months since I last saw him?
• sharing how hard I find it being such a long way away?

None of them seemed to quite fit. Then I thought: these are all from my perspective. What might it be like to turn it round and imaginatively look out at the world through HIS eyes? What might he be seeing, feeling, or - were he able to verbalise - thinking? Something crystallized, and there it was: just a very short sentence. Next, the design ... Contrast is a tool I often find helpful. Big photo + small piece of journalling. Large bold photo + plenty of white space. Busy patterns + uncluttered background. Pick out details of the photo to replicate in the rest of the layout: a colour, stitching, a buckle, a texture ... And here's how it turned out.

 

 

Since my printer is on the blink (arrgh!), this is a digital version, but it will be easy to do with card, a tag, and a stapler once my printer is fixed. I know there may be too much white space for some of you! but I'm hoping there will have been something useful for you in your own scrapping here today. Oh, and pop back to see us all tomorrow ...

Enjoy being creative, somewhere, somehow, today! Warm good wishes, Alexa.

Comments

[Eleanor]

Amazing journey from the first photo to the finished LO, what a result! Fantastic as ever.
E
xx

[Mandy]

Never tried 'actions' but will look into it after seeing your photo so transformed. TFS

[Carmen]

Oh I love the journalling :D Fabulous! Really love this, it would take a huge effort for me to leave that much white space but it looks so good!

[Crystal Blake]

I know what the flash on his legs is, my little one had trousers similar to those. It's a reflective strip so you can see them in the dark. Usually the trousers are waterproof. Lukas had a matching jacket great for the park and for splashing in puddles, not so great for photos unless you are trying to photograph them lol. I love what you did with the picture and the finished layout is really cute. Hugs Crystal xx