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Monthly Archives: January 2013

1/31/2013

Digital Project Life Technique #2 — Using the Calendar Card Brush

I had received some comments asking about how I use the adorable calendar brush by Nisa so that is the focus of today’s video. For those that just like the nitty gritty details I have two recommendations for you when using a brush: make sure it’s on its own layer, and after it is “stamped” in the appropriate place create a clipping mask. Having the brush on it’s own layer allows you to resize it and move it later on, and the clipping mask comes in handy if you plan on having your brush on the edges of your photo or shape and want a nice finished look. (If the brush is in the middle of a photo or shape, however, creating a clipping mask is not always needed.) Onto the video:

I hope these little video tutorials help, and I really hope I get better at them! I find I still say “um” to much, and I can’t seem to figure out how to get them crystal clear. This one almost seem worse quality-wise than the last one …but what the heck! It’s fun seeing someone stumbling along and figuring it out isn’t it?! (I detest learning curves, but in the spirit of my New Year’s Resolutions I am trying to be okay with not having everything perfect right away.)

I’ll let you know later how long I will be able to keep that up:)

I found if I did two things: made sure the quality was at 480 (can be changed by clicking on the icon that looks like a little spoke wheel/cog) and clicked on the CMD and + buttons on my keyboard together, to make the webpage bigger, it helped. I have a MAC, so I don’t know if the CMD + together thing will work on a PC? If so…leave me a comment and fill us all in!

Thanks again for hanging in there with me as I figure all of this out.:)

 

 

 

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Heather S. in VT. - Great video! Thanks for sharing!! Even though I “know” how to do it, it’s great to see someone else do it!! Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

Michelle Macpherson - Hi Heather, Thanks so much for this. Just wanted to let you know that Ctrl + works on a PC.

Thnaks, Michelle

noe - Thanks so much, the video was very helpful. You’re so talented!

libbywilko - Great fun little tut, think this will be great for newbies :-)

1/30/2013

Tips for Shooting Indoors

****For those of you stopping by to see my calendar brush tutorial, it’s still in production. I am having technical difficulties, which in other words means I have no idea how to get a clean crisp looking tutorial from screenflow to youtube or vimeo. I hope to have it figured out soon!

A lot of life happens indoors, so naturally we all want to capture it. This can be challenging due to many factors, but the one I find that people struggle with the most is how to not end up with a dark photo. So today I thought I would share a few tips and tricks to help you get a bit more light into your photos.

For the record, a lot of the indoor shots you see in my Project Life album are taken with a Nikon D700. One of it’s greatest assets is its ability to shoot in low light situations–which is one of the reasons my photos do not often appear to be too dark or grainy. I know many of you take photos with your iphone or a compact point and shoot camera, so for the purpose of this post my examples will be shot with this type of equipment. I want to show you that you don’t necessarily need a big DSLR to get a good indoor shot if you know a few tricks.

The most important bit of information I can provide is to always, always, have your subject facing the light.  This tip doesn’t necessarily translate to a very spur of the moment shot, but when things can be manipulated it’s the first thing you can do that will completely transform your photo. (And if what is happening can’t move you will often find me trying to place myself exactly where you see below–with the window or light source behind me. If the subjects won’t or can’t move, I move to where I know I need to be!) Here is a diagram that illustrates this:

It’s best to stand a bit off to the side, because if you are directly between your subject and the window you are more likely to block light falling onto your subject. This is my go-to technique, and is used the most often in our kitchen. If you look back at my layouts where there are “kitchen shots” you will notice that more often than not the photos are taken with the appliances in the background. That’s because the table sits at the north end, with north-facing windows. My daughter’s lack of enthusiasm about not getting to sit exactly where she wants when we do crafts or play board games sometimes creates a road block, but if I can get my way she is always sitting on the south side of the table!

Here is an example of Holly at our kitchen table facing the window. This was taken with my iphone with no flash on a cloudy day. The only editing done to this photo was adding a bit of contrast (through a soft light layer at 70% opacity) just so the image didn’t appear too flat. The sharpness? That’s the power of that iphone, standing still, and knowing how to use light to your advantage:

This type of shot always gives you those wonderful catchlights–the little white sparkle in her eyes that is actually the window behind me. You will always get these if your subject is pointing towards the light and you have wide open space behind you. If you point your subject towards the interior of the room, versus facing the window, you are probably going to end up with a shot like this. (This photo was taken with my iphone with the flash off and a very uncooperative subject):

Have any of you wondered why this consistently happens? Your sure you have a great photo and then when you upload it it’s really dark. I know I used to. When your camera is in charge of the settings (otherwise known as automatic) it does the best it can and what is happening here is the light meter within the camera is compensating for the light from the window. The camera assumes that there is actually a lot of light in the photo (which I suppose their technically is) but since the light is not on your subject the subject becomes underexposed. This can be aided with the help of a flash, but personally I am not always crazy about that look. Direct flash (which is what is most often found on point and shoot cameras) has a tendency to really wash out the colors and people in a photo so I rarely use it. If you have a DSLR and have a flash mounted on the top of your camera, you can get more light in your photo without washing everything out by pointing the straight up to the ceiling. The flash will “bounce” back down and create an even illumination. If your ceilings won’t bounce a sufficient amount of light back, pop up the white card (while still pointing the flash straight up) if your flash has one, or make one like they show here.

Like I said before, this all works great if you can manipulate what is going on. If you cannot, you can still try to capture an indoor shot but I have found that the results are really going to be hit or miss if you are on automatic or shooting with your phone. If my iphone is all I have in situation like this I try to stay as still as I possibly can (often using my elbows as a tripod or placing the phone against a wall, doorframe, or on something to prevent it from moving) and pray that my subjects do the same. If they move, or if I move, I am going to get blur. That’s just how it goes…the shutter speeds only go so far on the iphone!

But for those of you that have a DSLR? You have all of the opportunity in the world to play and see what you can come up with. You have the option of manipulating your settings, so my tip for you would be to—

Set the camera to manual!

This is a big undertaking, I get that. Up until May of 2010 I owned a Nikon D70 and had never, ever taken it off automatic. Honestly I didn’t even know where to begin. Luckily a photographer friend recommended a book to me that I have now recommended over and over again: Understanding Exposure. That book is literally what taught me how to shoot in manual and I am sure it can help any of you that have an interest to learn more about your camera. I didn’t find it hard to read or too dry for a how-to book–it actually was very readable and straight forward. Once I got the basic concepts down it was practice, practice, practice. I remember thinking I was NEVER going to be able to move my fingers fast enough (adjusting shutter speed and ISO with moving kids can be a bit tricky if they are moving in and out of  different lighting situations) but after awhile it really is second nature.

If you have a DSLR, here is a quick list of what I do and recommend:

  1. I spot meter 100% of the time. For a good description of each type of metering–check out this site. I meter for skin tones, so most often I use the face. Sure there are times when the window or sky is blown in the background, but I don’t care. My subjects are the focus of my images!
  2. Use prime lenses (fixed focal length versus zoom lenses with different focal lengths). It’s been my experience that prime lenses are sharper, focus faster, and have wider apertures. Wide apertures are your best friend in low light situations. Which brings me to three….
  3. Shoot as wide open as possible. The lower the f-stop, the more wide open you are, thus letting the most light into your camera. If I am doing a portrait type shot I am always at a f/1.6 or f/1.8 because I am a sucker for bokeh, if I am trying to get more of the background in focus I go up to f/3.2 or so.
  4. Have a camera with as high of an ISO setting as you can afford. My camera goes to at least 6200 I believe, and although I do not routinely shoot that high indoors I think nothing of being between 1000-2500. The capabilities of my camera can handle it without creating much noise (or grain) in the photo at all. If your camera tops out at 800 you are likely going to struggle indoors getting enough light into your camera.
  5. Try and keep the shutter speed as low as possible, but not too low. (I do not like to go under 100.) The lower the shutter speed the more light that is let into your camera, the downside of course being that the lower it is the more opportunity there is for a blurry shot. I will be honest..sometimes when Holly and I are playing and I am taking a photo of it–she knows to FREEZE while I am taking the photo.

That was one of the first things I learned once I started my photography business, and learning so much more about Photoshop….most photos are nothing but smoke and mirrors and never what they seem! (I mean seriously–do you think I post a straight on shot of myself without fixing the area under my eyes where all of the bags are? HA! Of course I do.)

In the end if your photo is still a little darker than you would like, you can always play around a bit in photoshop. Bumping up curves will brighten your photos and when people end up being a little underexposed or dark my favorite action is MCP Actions Touch of Light/Touch of Darkness. Once the action is activated I make the brush a little bigger than the face, set the opacity to 25%, and just click a few times to give faces a little bit of a brightened lift. It’s a free download here,

I hope this short list of suggestions helps. I am by no means an expert, but I have found some things that work well for what I try to do so I am happy to share anything I know to help you get to know your camera better.

Are there any other photography related questions you have been wanting to ask?

 

 

 

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Sheena - Okay thanks I was just shooting yesterday with my rebel of my little girl playing with play doh at her kid table. I set her up with the bright patio doors behind her and kept wondering why it was dark LOL I like to meter light in Manuel but find it too hard to do inside so I just shoot auto and live with the harsh flash. Thought of getting an external flash but not sure if it would work like I want. I think my ISO goes up to 3200 but makes my pics grainy. :( thanks for these reminders.

Jen Wright - Thank you for this post. I got my first DSLR only two weeks ago and it’s overwhelming but I’m determined to know how to use it decently before we go to Disney in December. This is so helpful. Please keep posting tips, I need them. Hugs! Jen

Amy O'H. - Thanks for these tips, Heather! I find on indoor shots that I move myself around until the clutter in the background is at a minimum- not exactly looking at the light! I’ll need to grab my 50mm lens more often too!

libbywilko - Great tips :-)

1/29/2013

Digital Project Life 2013 : Week Four

One of my favorite weeks so far, welcome to Week Four!

Whole Spread:

Left Side:

Right Side:

What we were up to this week:

It was so bitterly cold here in Minnesota this past week that we stayed indoors a lot. This meant we broke out crafts and games and had fun with any and all dramatic play scenarios Holly could come up with. (This is her forte. She is constantly acting out movies, books, and songs. She has enough medical supplies to be the chief of staff somewhere and an entire play kitchen that acts as our restaurant, hotel, or cafeteria.) The picture of us on the lower left of the left side page was taken with the self-timer on the camera as we played hospital. Be sure to read my journaling card above it for the whole story! One of my favorite photos of the week is the b/w in the upper right of the right-side page. I walked into the living room and found both girls on their computers…..can’t believe how Marie is trying to mimic us already! She actually types with her fingers, in the correct position, on the keys. TOO FUNNY. The weekend ended with a mini-reunion of some of Holly’s preschool friends from her old school and sledding thanks to a picturesque snowfall late Sunday afternoon.

Techniques used this week:

Nothing too exciting this week. Brushes again of course, and I tried my best to embrace a few elements here and there. (Still obsessed with recoloring everything to match. Not sure how to do that? Be sure to check out my tutorial here.) Still not confident on how to use elements, but hopefully I am getting better. I did incorporate a screenshot from my iphone. Not sure how to do that either? This will show you how. Do you ever wonder how we answered questions before google and the internet? I sure do….

Supplies used this week:

I just had to go back and use the Seen and Noted Collection again. LOVE that kit! Still loving the calendar brush, the week in review card, and this week I think I finally completed a collage with Cathy Zielske’s Tiny Templates that I like.  I also incorporated two of my journaling card templates, one is available for free download here and the other will be releasing as soon as I finish up designing the rest of the collection. I love how they turned out, it finally feels like my instagrams have a spot now! I also discovered that Studio Calico has a digital shop, so the Friday stamp and the awesome flag are from the free cut files and brushes provided by the Day by Day class. Loved the inspiration and tips in that class! Even though a lot of the digital elements say cut files, they are just .png files on a transparent background so I recolor them and add them to my layout. Their stuff is just too cute! The love journaling card is from this collection and the happy memories arrow if from here. The remember brush is from the digital Clementine edition. Has anyone else wondered why the digital kits didn’t have extra elements this time around? I keep meaning to ask if it’s going to be a later add-on, or if they are not designing them all together. I must say it made me sad–I loved the elements with my other kits!

Other Thoughts:

I really like when I have both the week number and the calendar with the dates on a spread. I received Volume One of last year’s album in the mail from Shutterfly on Friday and when I was looking through it I found that if a spread didn’t have both I was confused as to what I was looking at. So, definitely, this is going to be a constant. And honestly? I like them right where they are. (Combine those two spots with the week in review card and I have three spaces already pre-determined….makes everything come together so much quicker!)

One of the goals I had this year, although I haven’t mentioned it yet, is to be in the layout each week. Too often last year I was not–so I made it my goal to get out in front of the camera this year. So far, so good. This week I was even in there twice!!

I think the main thing I learned this week is love what your doing. I started with a completely different kit and I just wasn’t feeling it. When I changed over to Seen and Noted–BAM. The whole thing came together in a snap. It also helped that I really loved the photos this week….I think I got some adorable captures if I do say so myself!

And that wraps up another week my friends! I am linking up at The Mom Creative–be sure to head on over there for more Project Life inspiration.

I will be back tomorrow with a short video on how to use the calendar brush that keeps popping up in my Project Life spreads. Next week I will be doing a post on workflow. I have been writing down for the past week when and for how long I sit down to work on my spreads…and what I complete each time. Two words for you–WILLY NILLY. But…it might be interesting…for someone!

Also, loads of inserts to share–hopefully by the end of the week. If I stay true to my goal I should be sending photos off to Persnickety by Wednesday:)

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Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. To learn more about Project Life check out Becky’s Website. The pieces used in my album are available through acdigitals here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life here.

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Christine - Playing hospital…Genius!!! You are not the only one who thinks they don’t “play” enough. Good reminder to get ourselves into the layouts and a SUPER cute weekly spread. The picture of you and Marie is my favorite….well, maybe after the one of us two :)

Jan - Wow…so beautiful, the children, the layouts everything. Thank you for sharing. I am just beginning to do PL the digital way, so far so good…all about learning.

sheena - Another fantastic week layout! I noticed you haven’t used the seafoam much…I got the seen and noted kit and love it so much too! i find myself using that the most. Thanks for sharing and giving me ideas! :)

admin - Hi Sheena, No…I haven’t. If this year goes like last year I only use the PL kits when I have to put together something really fast. I think I would use it more if it was more my color scheme, if you can’t tell I am into bright, bright color! I do love the Seafoam kit though, I just haven’t been inspired to use it again yet:) I also try to use a lot of kits because I get too bored if I don’t. I wish that wasn’t the case, I could sure save a lot of money!

Sue - I totally look forward to seeing your pages every week and this week was worth the wait. LOVE how you use patterned paper for the background – I have it on my list of things to do this year! Great idea to include YOU in the pages – I need to work on that for sure.

Amy O'H. - I love how colorful this spread is- very cheery- something you probably need with that dreadful cold weather (although my kids would kill for a good snow storm:). Love also the weather screen shot- very clever. I will definitely use this! (The part about the garage door being stuck cracked me up.)

I love how you are using two base papers with one acting as a large mat for the photos. I started duplicating the + card layers on my PL templates so I could lay a photo mat under each photo. It is so time consuming this way. I think I will give your layout a spin next time!

Michelle Mac - Simply GORGEOUS layout – just love the colours.

So funny to see the winter photos – it’s summer here in NZ and we’re having a bit of a heatwave!

I look foraward to seeing your PL weekly layouts – they are awe-inspiring!

Amber - Hi Heather,
I really like your style! I am wondering how you do your black and white photos – do you use a preset or recolor them or something?!! I use elements but my black and whites do not look as nice as yours. Please help if you can and have time!! Thanks :)

Dunia - I’m always impressed how you photos always tell a history <3

admin - I use florabella actions for most of my black and whites–she does such a nice job with layers in them that I think they end up with a lot of depth. Here is a link to the ones I use most often–b/w film and b/w blush. They are part of the luxe II collection.

Sandy - Of course another beautiful layout!! I love what you do and love coming back to see your pages. I will be stopping by tomorrow to see your tutorial even though I don’t have Photoshop, but I just want to know how its all done.

Thanks again!

Jen Wright - Your photos look amazing. I love your nurse… so adorable.
You did a great job this week on your layout!
Hugs!
jen

Cerise - Gorgeous layout! I love the laptop picture. Too cute!
Thanks for the template! I can’t wait to use it!

Elizabeth A - Wonderfully colorful layout. Great pics too.

Donna G. - Love your layout!! I’m so glad you mentioned “REMEMBER” in the Clementine kit. I overlooked it because it’s so pale. Thanks! =)

Jessica - How do you scrapbook with a 5 yr old?
I have a 4 yr old and would love to scrap with her but I’m almost afraid or really I know about the time I’m done pulling things out & sit down she’ll be on to something new.
I saw your post on her doing a project life album but any more tips – I would love to read! Thanks!

admin - That’s a great question! It really is quite hard as she chatters on non-stop (making it hard for me to concentrate on what I am doing!) and needs me to spell everything. I do my best to be patient and get her what she needs as I know it won’t be long until she can do a lot of it herself. Truth be told she only sits with me for about ten minutes or so at a time and then she is off into her land of make-believe playing in her bedroom!

Sarah - I LOVE your layout! Such a vibrant display of real life!

As I was looking at how you put together your title card, I noticed that the date on your Facebook status is 01.21.03 rather than 01.21.13. Maybe my eyes are seeing it weird, but I thought you might want to check.

THANKS fir posting such fantastic inspiration!
Sarah

admin - Oh goodness, it does say 03. Oh well. I already printed the 12×12–I usually have at least 2-3 goofs per month:) thank for pointing it out though!!! If I hadn’t printed it already I definitely would have fixed it.

1/25/2013

Fall Family Mini Session Part I : Minneapolis/St Paul Family Photographer

 

Oh fall. How I miss you now that it is one degree!

Today I am sharing a session from my October mini sessions at Battle Creek Park in Saint Paul. This particular weekend was at the peak of colors–I have so many fun sessions to share from this day! Up first is an adorable family of four, these kiddos were so cute and absolutely loved rolling around in the leaves with me. (And who am I kidding? I found it very fun too!)

I adore the “serious” shot in the middle. Of course he has a silly side to–the right side of this next collage is a good example of this and coincidentally is my most favorite picture EVER taken:

We got plenty of other family shots, but something about this one below made it my favorite. I captured them doing their group hug (we do this as a family too) and little man just had to check in and see what all the noise was behind him. I am sure I was oooohhing and aaahhhing at all the love:)

And finally, an image that captures the spirit of siblings. As an older sister myself….oh how I wish there was a photo like this of me and my brother when we were young!!!

I look forward to sharing more of my fall images next Friday. Until then, stay warm!!!

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Jeanine Christensen - Oooh! Such wonderful shots!! Let us know when the spring event will be! B

Stephanie - So adorable! Love that little boy’s blonde hair!

Amy O'H. - Beautiful photos!

Michelle - I love your photos and all of your Project Life pages. I started Project Life this year (digitally) and I love it. I just wish Becky or anybody had come up with this when my kids were little. Now they are 17 and 22 but it is still nice to have something documented each week.

My question is how much room should I leave around the edges of the pages and in the middle for the printing and the making of the hard bound book. I have never printed an entire book before and am not sure if they print exactly or if the image comes out a little larger. I am noticing a good edge above and beyond your photos. I have only about 1/4 inch on the top bottom and outside edge and about 1/2 inch down the inside edge. Is this enough? Any advice you can provide would be helpful.

Michelle

admin - Thank you so much Michelle! I took a peek at your pages on your blog and it looks awesome. Isn’t digital SO MUCH easier and fun?!? I know what you mean about wishing this was available sooner….the first five years of Holly’s life have nothing recorded and I also have NOTHING of my single years. Truth be told that’s what I would love to look at…am so envious of the young gals out there now doing this–wouldn’t it be amazing to get a glimpse back at our twenty year old selves? (Then again…there are moments I wouldn’t want to relive in that time period either!)

You have a great question, and I believe it is going to depend on who you use to do your printing. I wrote a post in January of last year about Shutterfly, with links to their templates and such, that you can find here. That being said, one of my readers said she followed the guidelines (which include resizing your pages to 11.95×11.95) and stuff was still cut off. That’s why I went in so much, and double matted, because I would be really annoyed if that happened to me after all the work that goes into this stuff.

Let me know how else I can help. Last week my week three blogpost had a link up to Jessica Sprague’s website where you can download the double mat background for free–if you like that look.

Thanks again for reading!

1/24/2013

Some more Project Life advice…..

I am a bit behind on putting my tutorial video together for this week, so I thought in lieu of not posting at all I would add my own advice as an add-on to the great stuff I just read over on Becky’s Blog. Here are my two cents on Project Life for those just beginning and for those just beginning to think about it.

First, a little history. I can honestly say that I have always loved taking pictures and the box of old diaries under my bed (and the blog entries on my hard drive) attest to the fact that I have always loved to write. So you could say that I pretty much have always been a keeper of memories…but not really a scrapbooker. That changed around 2001 when I discovered scrapbooking and I loved the hobby from the start because it was the perfect marriage of these two passions. But time wasn’t always on my side, nor my constant struggle with perfectionism, so save participation in December Daily for the past four years actual 12×12 layouts were few and far between. I tell you all this because I am just a regular person who wanted to start writing things down her kids said and did. I don’t have a scrapbooking product line, I never had design training, I only fit into one pair of jeans in my closet, and I have no idea where the stains on my shirt came from. I know (from my own personal experience) that it can be intimidating looking at all of the inspiration out there and think you couldn’t do it…because you don’t have a,b, or c. Or you think you are not creative. Scrapbooking and memory keeping were things I always wanted to do…but couldn’t figure out how to do, or finish.

But at present day? It’s all I want to do! And I know this has everything to do with discovering Project Life. My only regret is that I waited until January of 2012 to begin. (I watched Ali Edwards do it throughout 2011, and almost began that July, but decided to wait so my book would start in January. See? Told you–perfectionism issues.) Knowing what I know now? AH! I just kick myself for that!!

I do my best to stay current mainly because if I don’t, I forget a lot. There are several things that help me do this:

  1. I keep my cameras (both my DSLR and my point and shoot) on the piano in the living room. Clutter drives me nuts, but I overlook these items laying out because they need to be accessible if I am going to have photos at the end of the week. My phone is always with me, and it contributes a lot to my album. Learning to embrace the iphone and it’s capabilities allows me to capture moments I might otherwise miss. My phone is always with me, my cameras however are not. Use and love your phone for sure!
  2. I developed a note keeping system/place to write things down. Some people use apps, some people use the notepad on their phones, some use good old-fashioned pen and paper, and some even send emails to themselves.  I use a combination of all of the above to be honest! Anything you can do to help you remember is awesome.
  3. Know yourself. I talked a lot about this in my “thoughts mid year” post last summer, and all of it still rings true now. I know that setting aside specific time would never work for me–I have to take it while I can. I know that I love to use this project for my creative outlet so I mix it up almost every single week with another kit–but I also know that as soon as life gets crazy I have my chosen PL kit (this year it’s Seafoam) to fall back on.  I was at Archiver’s today buying journaling pens and had to focus so hard it’s embarrassing to NOT buy the cute things I saw there–I know that being digital is all that this season of my life will allow.
  4. I created a deadline or commitment. I really enjoyed posting my layouts on pinterest and at The Mom Creative every week all year long. Not only did I find great inspiration at both places, I also got to “know” people from all over the world. It’s just as amazing to me to watch other people’s children grow before my eyes as it is my own.
  5. I started putting “constants” on my page. It helped fill up space, and it took the pressure off to have so many photos. I try to incorporate a week in review card and a title card almost always. (This didn’t always happen in 2012, and is the one and only thing I wish I had done then, but will do differently now.)

Remember, truly, that it is whatever you want it to be. I had a week last year that I didn’t take any pictures. ZERO. Did it trip me up? Not for a second. I remembered I had a great template to use and created a full text layout of Week 42. Some weeks almost every picture is of the same day. Some weeks it nearly is a photo a day. Some weeks I use lots of filler cards because I just don’t have enough photos, it seriously is all good. When I look at what I have done these past 55 weeks my smile is just as big, no matter what type of page I am viewing. If nothing else, remember that.

Last night after the girls had gone to bed my husband and I sat on the sofa together looking at some recent photos. Before I knew it we were on my blog and he started viewing my layouts online (Shutterfly book STILL is in route and he doesn’t always see them each week). I can’t tell you how amazing it was to look at it together and smile, laugh, and yes…tear up. (Me of course, not him.) I can say without hesitation that this is the best thing I have ever started and I have no idea if I will ever stop.

Honestly I cannot even imagine my life now not doing it.

 

 

 

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Sandy - Heather, I’m so glad you posted this today. Again, I’m 4 weeks into to doing this project for the first time and that perfectionism hits on occasion. I’m glad to see that I’ve thought of doing a few things you already do, but its good to know that there others doing this project with not always having enough pictures to work with. Your week 42 layout was perfect and so inspirational. It truly does all work. I feel like I can let go alot of the pressure by reading this (although I know I will pile it on myself anyway at some point ;)

Thank you again for sharing!!

admin - I hear you sister, boy do I hear you! It’s something I struggle with all of the time–but truly, when I look back at what I did this past year, I am amazed that not for one second do I judge how creative the page was. I might get caught up in that from time to time weekly…but when it was all together before my eyes–I was just absolutely amazed at what our life looked like AND proud of myself for providing this for my family. I just updated the post, so I don’t know if you saw the sentence I just added, so if not I will post it here again–My smile is just as big when I look at a week with filler cards as it is with a week with 20 photos. I didn’t even realize that until I started writing out this post, and I am so glad I had this “aha moment.” I think it will help me keep it all in perspective, and I think if you look back at what you’ve done so far this year you will realize the same thing…I think everyone will!!!

Barb - Heather – Thanks for your post today. I have been doing Project Life for 4 years now and can’t imagine a year without it! I am not a creative person so this format was perfect for me. It makes my albums look like I am a creative person! I don’t have children at home any longer and don’t have grandchildren yet – so there are definitely times when I don’t have many photos for the week. This year, because of that issue, I decided to pick a theme for the week and go with it! This week for instance I used the Presidential Inauguration. This allows me to take photos from the TV (which turned out awesome by the way), talk about how much freedom means to me, talk about the first lady’s bangs!, etc. This is life as it is right now and when our grandchildren or great grandchildren look back they will be interested in our everyday stuff just as much as the big things in our lives. I know I long to know more about my grandmother’s who are no longer with us – but will never know their favorite color, the items they used daily, etc.
I can’t say enough about Project Life and thank you for sharing your pages with us. You are extremely talented and I am looking forward to learning many things from you!

admin - So many things to say about this comment–one, your theme idea for the week is briliant. I would have LOVED to have had something like this of my grandmother’s. I think what you are doing is wonderful and it WILL be cherished. You totally get it, the focus on the everyday stuff is what we all will want years from now. I am just putting together my daughter’s baby book, she is five, and I am astounded–so astounded–that I have NO photos of me pregnant…save the day of my baby shower. No pictures of me shopping, no pictures of me eating any of the cravings I remember….I am so different now. I really do feel like, since I have found Project Life, I am living life with my eyes open.

Jessica - Love this posting – it speaks to me I can totally relate to being a photo taker and journal keeper… a memory keeper and having perfection get in the way of really being any kind of scrapbooker.
Thanks for the tips. Love your work again.

Lynn L. - I have done Project Life for 4 years now and still love it! Such a great way to capture memories and the stuff I really want to remember. Thanks for sharing your pages, thoughts, and tips about doing the project. :)

Amber - I just started project life this year. The past three years I have done a yearly photobook with monthly layouts but daily journaling. I decided PL was a better format for me and so far I am loving it. I email my weekly layouts to my husband and he loves it. He even send me texts with funny things the kids said to add to my daily journaling. I love how he is involved in this project. Your pages are amazing and a great inspiration. Thank you for this post beacause I can easily get caught up in the cuteness instead of the stories.

Amy O'H. - Great tips! Your fifth tip is great and one I fight- also feeling I have to get as many photos in as possible.

I have noticed that you have a lot of indoor shots capturing everyday life. I would love to hear any tips on lighting and camera settings and if you are using a flash. It takes me forever to get good indoor shot because I am constantly tweaking my settings and my bounce flash (which doesn’t really work in our family room since it has a vaulted ceiling).

Thanks for sharing!!