Worst Photos Are Family Treasures

Your worst photos just became your family's greatest treasure.

Dear Photographer,

I've been studying photography and taking courses off and on for 30 years. Like most of you, I'm still not a professional photographer as much as I sometimes would like to be. But, I can honestly say that I've taken some really great family photos and a few spectacular vacation pictures and scenics.

As good as those photographs are, what my family, relations and friends remember most are not my best photographs, but the not so great snapshots that my wife and I have used to fill our collection of hand and digital scrapbooks.

Why is that?

Why is it that ordinary snapshots placed into the most basic scrapbook page are more memorable than the best photograph that I have ever taken?

The simple answer is... the scrapbook page tells the whole story. It puts everything in perspective. It let's everyone who sees it in on the family secret that otherwise would be lost on those who weren't there when the photo was taken.

It's the addition of words and graphics that turns the wrecked car into why you now always set the parking brake when leaving the dog in the car alone.

Without the words (journaling in scrapbook lingo), no one would know that half mile wide smile was because her grandpa had just let her fly for the first time at 9500 feet over Eastern Colorado.

So, why am I telling you all this?

Because I want you to understand something that almost all photography courses fail to convey.

Presentation is everything!

Put the best photograph in the world in an ugly frame and all people see is the ugly frame. Put just basic snapshots in a plain clear plastic sleeve photo album and almost no one will look at all the photos inside. Why?

Because no one wants to read a book where more than half the story is missing or not understood.

On the other hand, put even the most poorly lighted, grainy and somewhat blurred snapshots into a scrapbook that tells the whole story and it will get opened and discussed over and over again. My wife's heritage albums get fought over at family reunions.

The worst photo's you have can be some of the most expressive pictures of life. All that is needed to turn them into the truly treasured moment that they really were is to fill in the missing gaps that made you push the shutter button in the first place. All you need are the right enhancements that fill in the feelings and story behind the snapped moment in time.

All you need is a scrapbook!

Do you know what a scrapbook really is?

A scrapbook is nothing more than a method of turning everyday photos and clippings into the story of a lifetime. Your story!

A scrapbook does nothing more than the same thing you would be doing if you were sitting there with the person looking at your photos. It tells the story behind the pictures and puts the onlooker into the context of that particular moment in time. It makes them a part of the event.

A scrapbook acts on your behalf to tell the whole story long after you're not there to tell it any longer.

A picture may say a thousand words, but it also leaves many of the viewers questions unanswered and it never tells them what you were thinking.

A scrapbook will set the backdrop for your story... leave no doubts... add to the feeling... fill in the answers to the questions that every picture asks.

Are you seeing the difference?

Can you hear your subconscious saying - this really makes sense, why didn't they tell me this years ago?

Now, while I don't know for sure whether you already knew the right answer was scrapbooking and you just never took action, or if this was the first time anyone had connected the presentation together with the final photograph.

What I do know is that it's not to late to fix the problem.

All you need to do is to get started.

Want to know how?

Want to learn how to digital scrapbook?

Amateur Digit Photographers... this is your answer to what to do with all the pictures you now have on your computer.

All photographers... this is your best path to creating the digital story of a lifetime. Your Story!

The Greatest FREE Digital Scrapbook Gift... EVER! Everything you need to get started, including a link to free software and free templates for your first computer scrapbook is just a click away.

You have got to check out http://www.ComputerScrapbookTraining.com

Their totally free Computer Scrapbooking 101 Mini-Course will show you how to turn your average snapshot into a memorable moment in time... turn your once-in-a-lifetime photo into an unforgettable work of art.

Turn a series of snapshots into a once in a lifetime story that can accurately be told for generations to come.

Even if they're your worst photos, they'll show you how to enhanced your photo presentation - to learn to tell the whole story in both pictures and words

This is the greatest thing to happen to photography since the photo quality printer.

What are you waiting for? All it will cost is your time. Just think of what you could gain. Your photos and stories could be displayed and told for generations to come, but only if you tell them to start with.

Wes Waddell