I’ve seen some remodeling and construction books in the Gallery, but these three books were special because they featured do-it-yourself projects around the house (and garage). ChristianG7’s “How We Built a Swimming Pool in 7 Months” caught my attention. This project was ambitious and got the whole family involved in the construction.

Already we know our audience is thinking ahead to graduations in May or June. While invitations may be top of mind, consider a photo book to remember the school year or a whole series of years. I’ve found some great examples in the Shutterfly Gallery. DianeB297’s “Jamie’s grad gift” is one of the most ambitious, capturing 14 years of her daughter’s school memories.

There’s a new post-wedding photo session fad that I’ve heard about recently called “Trash the Dress.” Our Weddings site profiles a couple and their photographer who did such a shoot. But, I’ve also seen a couple of books from these sessions in Gallery. MelanieK29 “3rd TTD” was the most personal I found

Year-around kids are playing sports, and photo books are a great way to remember the season and also make a great thank you gift for the coaches. 22Margaret captures her kids wrestling season in “Tyler’s Wresting Book” and

Cropping effectively can give you numerous narrative choices within a single image. These choices will have significant impact on how the image is read and perceived. These are conscious decisions that should be thought through. Here are a few things to consider when playing with the options:

Photo book portfolios created to showcase someone’s photography, artwork, or hand-made jewelry has been another type of ‘story’ I’ve found in the Shutterfly Gallery. A fun and practical variation on this idea is the children’s artwork portfolio. A tongue-in-cheek example was added to the Gallery by Shutterfly’s own Eugene-C “The abstract art of my 3 year old nephew” was created as a gift