One of the best ways to find the perfect photo for your digital scrapbooking page is to look for the “story” the photo tells. When you have Have you ever purchased a digital scrapbooking kit because you absolutely loved it — but then couldn’t find a photo to use to make a page? Or maybe the photos in your stash just don’t seem right for the kind of page to you want scrap and you’re just not sure what to do. Choosing the right photo might seem a daunting task, but it is easier than you think!
One of my Creative Team members, Gina, has a super power! She is the master and selecting the perfect photo for her layouts! She prefers to not use family photos on her pages and yet, each photo she chooses is somehow absolutely on point for the message she wants her page to convey. I asked her to share her thought process as she sifts through online photo sites for the image.
Gina’s go-to sites are Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels and the Morgue Files. These sites allow use of their photos, without attribution (meaning you don’t need to indicate who took the photo in your credits) — although you should aways check to be sure. And, although the photographer may not require their name be listed, it is always good practice to do so.
Gina says “Searching for the right photo can take longer than actually creating the layout. But the photo doesn’t have to be perfect. It is the statement that the photo makes that is important. I try to look at a photo and decide if I need to use all of it, or if just a portion of it will work best. Sometimes the color of a kit helps — because to me, color often invokes a particular emotion and that helps to narrow down my search. I simply enter what ever words or emotions a kit evokes for me into the search field on a site and then scroll through until a photo jumps out at me.”
We hope by understanding Gina’s process, it will help you find a great photo to spark your creativity — even if you don’t have your own photos to use. As you’ll see from these layouts, it’s not necessary to use your own photos to create a beautiful page.
Each image is linked to Gina’s page in the Oscraps Gallery. I’m sure she’d appreciate your kind words!
Starring in My Own Life
For this layout, the text label — starring in my own life — was what caught my attention. It made me thing about how, sometimes you look back and realize that not everything was always easy in life. So, I searched Pixabay using these terms: sad, thoughtful.
Kit: Starring Me.
Message In a Bottle
When I saw this kit, I thought about the beach and for some reason that old song “Message in Bottle” by The Police” popped into my head. I’m not sure why that happened, but I went with it. So searching for a photo was easy! Terms used: message in a bottle.
Kit: Vitamin Sea
Summer Love
Some love only lasts one summer – it was that word art that got me thinking about that. So I looked for: woman, sad.
Kit: Summer-ish
All Things are Possible
As is often the case for me, the word art in the kit was my inspiration. Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to. Children, in particular, are then sad and they are reassured that everything is possible. My search here: child, sad.
Let it Go
The words in the kit really spoke to me. It’s so true — sometimes you just have to let go. I searched for: sad and although I didn’t intend to use an animal photo on my page, when this one showed up, I couldn’t resist.
Listen to the Music
This kit was a journey back to my youth. When I saw it I immediately thought of the song “Listen to the music” by the Doobie Brothers. The rest was easy – my search was: headphones
Kit: The Music’s in Me
Time to Renew
This collection was all about refreshing one’s spirit. I thought about how some mornings you look at yourself in the mirror and know that something has to change. So I searched for: mirror – this particular image couldn’t have fit more perfectly.
Living My Life My Way
I belief that as when you get older and have worked hard, you should be able to do what you want look the way you want, regardless of whether it suits others or not. So my search was simple: woman, senior.
Happiness
The word art in this kit brought back so many memories for me — times when I did crazy and happy things with my best friend. So my search was easy: happy
P.S. Vicki used this page in her “Out of Bounds” tutorial!
Kit: Miss Ella
Put a Little Love in Your Heart
When I saw this kit, I remembered the beautiful portrait photos of a particular photographer. Since I love creating layouts with faces, this one was easy. My search: woman, face
Celebrating Life’s Journey
And, last, but definitely not least, is this page, which won Gina a “Gallery Standout!” Gina says, “for this kit, I searched for an old couple. I found this photo, which shows that even in old age you can still do “crazy” things like the spontaneous dance you see here. I didn’t want to have those other people on my page — only the couple, so I created a mask with the painted strokes of the collection.”
Kit: Age is Just a Number
Gina is the master for sure! I have used these photo sites from time to time. They are fully loaded with images!
Glad you enjoyed the article! Thanks for stopping by my blog, Jana!