Then I realized that I don’t have to work out to the last detail to share my story. I can design a book to suit the time I have, and adjust the level of detail so that I can finish the book quickly and still be pleased with the posting it to gallery.
Let’s take the book I’ve been working on since February about Miranda’s 10th birthday party. We hired a kids’ chef who promised a chocolate party with the party goers making bowls made of chocolate.
BIG PICTURE
First I did a version of the book where I went BIG PICTURE – just one picture per page to show the highlights of the party. It took under an hour to collect the images in My pictures and bring them into a single image per page book. The whole story is there, but it’s now only 20 pictures and 20 pages.
COMMENTS
Then I took the same images and added some narrative elements. Truly, there’s not much more than short ANNOTATION here. But with every other page a collection of 2 to 4 images, I can get the spirit of the party along with some of the details.
SPLASH
The last approach is what I call the SPLASH. This is not as simple as the BIG PICTURE or as intricate as the ANNOTATION approach – it’s more of a hybrid where most of the pages are collages of images gathered around a theme or a series of moments. Here I condensed the baking part of the party into about 6 pages (3 spreads) so that I could spend the rest of the book on Miranda’s friends and the present giving and opening time.
QUICK TWO-PAGE SPREAD
I’ll throw in one last concept that I like doing. I take 2 similar images, taken from the same vantage point a few seconds apart in time. And then I use half of one image for a full image page on the left, and half of the other image for a full page image on the right. It’s a fun way to fake a 2 page spread and the distance in time between one shot and the next makes for a David Hockney effect.
I’d love to hear from you about different approaches and strategies you have for completing photo books and your considerations for posting them to the Shutterfly Gallery. For me the Gallery is a place of almost infinite inspiration, from the themes and photos to the way people collage their life events- it all makes me wish for more time to spend creating.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
John,
I love all of your techniques, especially BIG PICTURE. Full page shots are always eye catching, and you’re right, they do tell a good story. I also agree about letting go of your need for perfection. Just get started and keep it simple, the rest will take care of itself. I tested some of your techniques today and actually made a decent 20 page book in 30 minutes - it was so fun and engergizing! My experiment also proved that you can make a great photo book in very little time!
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
These were really great tips. I’m like you, I’m working on 5 books myself. 3 are ‘due’ in June. I keep getting ideas for books. It’s fascinating! I like your tip on the 2 page spread. I’ve been meaning to try that but didn’t really know how. One of the books I’m working on is for my mom’s bday the end of June, and i’m hoping all 4 of her grandkids will cooperate this weekend at the lakes so I can get enough of them for a quick photobook. Sometimes they grumble, but hopefully i’ll get some good shots. I may have to bribe them. My Dad’s Father’s day book is almost done, i’m just waiting for messages from my siblings. I have to keep at them! My 3rd June book is for my sister. Hers is a bit time consuming as I’m trying to scan in some older pictures. It is so much easier to put together a book when the photos are already on computer.
I appreciate your insights. They were very helpful.
Joanna
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 am
I think once you get the get hang of a book, it does get easier and quicker. I just recently did a book with the 2-page spreads and it came out really neat!
June 19th, 2008 at 8:21 am
John…. I so know what you mean about getting too bogged down in detail with the books. First of all, it can be a problem when you try to cover too much time. I made several books for my grandchildren to cover “The First Year” and then “The Second Year”. As any grandparent knows, there are thousands of wonderful pictures from any given year. It’s impossible enough to narrow those pictures down to 100 pages… let alone for a quick 20 pages. My other problem is I am a ’story teller’ and I realized in my first books, I was putting too many words on those pages… then I would get my feelings hurt when the viewers didn’t read every word that I had so intrically (and creatively if I do say so myself) written. I would sometimes spend as much as 50 hours on one book…. litterally. My frustration became so great that I had to abandon all Shutterfly projects for the last year. Now you have reinspired me… 20 pages… less words… let the pictures tell the story. I’m jumping back in with the free book offer (20 pages)… Thanks for the advise..
Marie in Birmingham
Marie
June 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Marie- thanks for your comments. I find that almost anything can stop me from being free and creative- if I let it. When I find a breakthrough for my own work habits, I try to share it with others. Your comment makes me smile with pleasure that I have inspired you- so cool. We’ve got a project that will launch next week at shutterfly.com about travel for the summer, and I wrote an article about different approaches to storytelling that I have found, and that creators have used and you can see in our Gallery. Sometimes it’s good to change your rhythm, or your strategy for creation. You will get different results, and sometimes surprises.
Keep creating and know that you’re not alone in getting boxed in. But there’s always a way out.