How many times have you gone on a family trip and realized when you got home that you only had close up photos of your kids and no backdrop of your location or all backdrop and tiny people! I just went on a trip to Disney and Sea World and took about 600 pictures! On this trip I decided ahead of time to make sure to take photos of my surroundings (with no people) and lots of close ups of the ones I love! The key is to get context…my layout of the kids swimming at the pool will have a seperate picture of the beautiful clubhouse and palm trees. I also took close up photos at “Minnie’s house” in Toon Town, I was able to crop the fun “paintbrushes” in her art room and use them as a page element! I even took close ups of the adorable ride signs at Sea World and will crop those to use on the page of them riding that ride!

Most of my photos of the kids are close up, catching their excited expressions.  I am delighted that I did not end up with a bunch of pictures where my children are tiny dots. With the separate “location” photo, I don’t  have to lose my background just to zoom in on the kids! Get creative and take lots of closeups of flowers, architecture, landscape or even a sand toy at the beach and make your own unique decorative elements that have meaning! With digital, it opens a whole new world of opportunity using the selection, zoom and crop tools.

Look for some of the layouts from our trip in the coming weeks in my gallery.