Challenge of the Month: To Crop, or Not To Crop!

Welcome to Challenge of the Month for August.  Brenda here, and the theme will be To Crop, or Not To Crop! Photographs are a very important part of scrapbooking. Occasionally, cropping a photo is a good idea for several reasons—it helps improve the composition, focus, and overall impact of an image. The most important reason for me is simply because it helps the viewer focus on what matters most. Cropping allows you to zoom in (without a zoom lens) and bring more attention to the subject by removing unnecessary background or space. Today’s challenge is as much about the crop, as it is the original photo. The idea is to choose a photo that you will feature twice. The first will be the original, and the second will be a section of the photo that you want to zoom in on. Sound fun? Our creative team has come up with some great examples.

Additionally, we’ve added a nice freebie package from Katie to get you started. You can pick it up here: FREEBIE.

I’d like to share some example pages our Creative Team came up with for your inspiration.  First up is a delightful scrapbook page from our guest team member, Karen. I love the emphasis with the cropped photo on the flower girl’s face!

Supplies Karen used: Vintage Artistry Sage Paper Pack, Krafty Lace Paper Pack 01, ARToptions Mini Mix 11, Page Blends 11, Deckled Photo Frames: Vintage 02, Color Me Happy Element Pack, Love Letters Scrapbook Kit, and Sweet Rose Bay Element Pack.

Next, guest team member, Jen, made a great travel page based on the inspiration! It is so fun to see all the scenery and the park sign, and then have the photo cropped of the people!! Great idea!

Suppies Jen used: Layer Works 1525, Layer Works 2394, Layer Works 2393, and Layer Works 2391.

Next, team member, Addie, focused on her little cousin’s crossed feet. Making the repeated, cropped photo black and white adds some fun!

Supplies Addie used: Vintage Photo Frames 47, Field Guide Collage Frames 05, ARToptions Spice Transfers 04, Spectrum | Sherbet Strawberry Lemonade Ephemera Plus Pack, Spectrum | Sherbet Flairs, ARToptions Alena Sentiment Transfers, and Krafted Cardstocks Paper Pack 02.

Finally, here is my take. With the layering of the lighter opacity mask and the framed, full color photo, your eye can zoom in on the special stuffed animal!

Supplies I used: Indigo Garden Painted Layers, Vintage Blendable Layers 38, Musical Epoxies 01, Krafty Garden Essential Transfers 01, Vintage Artistry Serenity Transfers 03, Vintage Artistry Serenity Transfers 05, Vintage Artistry in the Leaves Paper Pack, and Big Bottom Lift Classic Frames.

I hope you join us and use a crop in your design! Please remember to post your layout in the Challenge of the Month category and also in the August Challenges area in the forum for your coupon to the shop.

Happy Scrapping! – Brenda