Trend of single photo layouts

All these beautiful layouts with single photos are incredible works of art. But to be honest they over whelm me. When I look at the gallery and most the posts are all day creations and incredibly stunning I am in awe but also feel over loaded. Is it just me?

Don't let yourself feel that way. It's just a different way of scraping. My MIL never would scrap that way. She wants to load her LO's with photos and memorabilia and journaling. It's all in what you want to accomplish. It's also a matter of taste to. I think it's a good thing that we don't all do the same things and pick the same paper. It would be boring around here!

Everyone should feel free to do their own thing and if they like it that is the only opinion that really counts.

I prefer to do multi-photo layouts, but everyone does something different. I love looking at the different styles in the gallery. I think it's important to do what feels right to you and not to feel overwhelmed with the gallery or pressured by what others do.

I do both, but I only generally post my single photo layouts. They are more artistic. My multiphoto layouts are more traditional.

When I started doing single photo, my husband did not get it at all. Now, it is more just what I do.

Sometimes I end up with only a single photo from an event that I like so I just scrapbook that one photo. Also, it's much easier for me scrapping one photo than trying to squeeze multiple ones onto a page along with a title, journaling and embellishments. It's all personal preference and what you're comfortable with.

I'm not really sure what you mean by it making you feel overloaded. I look at multi photo LOs and feel that they don't look how I would choose a page to look - but that's fine since they're not my pages

I love single photo LOs but I'm more about the 'art' than recording the story so maybe that makes a difference. If I was trying to document our lives it'd take forever doing it one photo at a time but I'm not, I'm just letting myself be creative for pleasure.

Just carry on doing your thing - there will always be others doing it differently and that's ok.

Thanks for all the feedback. I agree with the responses, it is about personal preference. For some it is the art, for some it is the history, for others the process etc. I do love the gallery and the various looks and feels. I can't really say what I mean by overwhelmed...probably a little of all the responses there too. My goal is to bring those photos front and center and tell their story...perhaps I shall add a bit more art... No negativity meant if anyone thought that.

I like single photo layouts. I do some multi photo layouts but lately any multi photo layouts have been with 2x2 or 3x3 photos....I like leaving space...

I like having an open, spacious feel to my page. Some of the old school multi photo layouts to me, look like they are just trying squeeze as many photos as they can on a page and I'm not fond of that.....
Precisely because I want to journal, I like single photo layouts...it leaves lots of room for journaling and still room to be creative.

I scrap stories....sometimes it takes a few photos (like if I'm telling a story that takes place over time) but lots of time, I can tell the story with one photo....and I don't care if all my photos get scrapped. I just care if all my stories get scrapped....
If you scrap events, like birthdays, going to the zoo etc. then you might be inclined to put every photo on your page....

I do both.....for me, it depends on the activity the picture is from. If it is one of my hubs and I and it's just a by chance picture, I will so a single photo LO, but normally for family holidays, baseball games, or other bigger events, I do multi picture LO's.

I used to only do two page lo with lots of pics. I found that I did not enjoy it. It took me forever to get anything done and I almost dreaded it. Now I do single page lo and use one to three pics per page. I often have three to four lo of each event but I can do different things for each lo. I will often use the same paper line so that they go together. Now I enjoy each project and the art of it.

Most of my friends still scrap two page multi pic lo and they love scrapping that way. Its what works for each person.

I do both but used to try and cram all the pics on 1 or 2 pages. It felt cluttered. I pick the best photo(s) from an event and go with it. Sometimes it's 1, other times its 3-4. And other times I'm showing off the paper by only using 1 pic.

I think I know what you mean about feeling overwhelmed. Here are we, trying to record every memory, and often trying to stuff as many (often mediocre) photos onto one or two pages as we can, to record that event in as few pages as possible. Then we go to the Featured LOs in the Gallery, and many of them seem to be one beautiful, model photo, framed by half the latest products in the scrapbook store. We feel that our work is a bit rubbish by comparison. Right?

That's because many of those are created by designers to showcase the products. They aren't necessarily designed to showcase the photo. Most of us don't have perfect, Photoshopped photos of model children and we are not photographers with professional cameras. We have a point-and-shoot, our subjects are uncooperative and fast-moving in poor light surrounded by dingy looking clutter and winter browns and greys!

Well I say we should take what we love from those beautiful LOs; the design, the composition, the ideas and the bright optimism, and transfer what we can onto our own pages. They may not be single photo or have the latest products, but they are ours: our lives, our memories, our imagination. And maybe we can save a particularly lovely designer page into our favourites for when the right photo comes along.

I don't get it, but that is probably because I have 4 kids and a ton of pics from their sports or whatever that all have great meaning my pages. Or so I think right now LOL! I do single pictures as well if that is all I have, but I couldn't just do one pic, to me all my pics are part of the story. I did branch out on the last page I did. I spread out this 3v3 tournament dd did on 3 two page layouts, but still have several per page. Perhaps I should stop taking 200 pics per game and that would help LOL But again, that is the beauty of scrapbooking, we all have our different ways of doing it!

• RedSquirrel Said:

Well said! I agree!

I do one photo layouts from time to time, but not often. I have to be careful not to overwhelm the page with embellies.

Rosey...you are spot on!! My personal challenge is to put multi photos on a page artistically with limited embellies, because of a limited budget, and an often uncooperative young subject. I still want each page to be an example of my creativity, but also capture every look, every nuance, every moment of a fleeting childhood. I wish I could afford whole collections of papers etc to look polished and perfect...but Im loving the process of figuring out how to design my own "die cuts", titles and embellies...

Red Squirrel - very good points.

I have done single photo LOs on occasion (not like ones showcased here) and while it's pretty and creative, that is not the main reason I scrap. I scrap to archive events/life and there is usually more than one or two photos of an event.

I understand how you can feel overwhelmed.... The photos are perfect, the embellishments are gorgeous, and the layers and textures are amazing. I am more of a frugal scrapper. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem buying stuff, but I often think of the cost per page when embellishing. I also am very "the embellishments must match the theme of photos" and envy the use of birdcages, butterflies, bicycles and gears on a page where the picture is someone swimming. It looks great and I enjoy seeing that technique, my brain just doesn't work that way no matter how hard I try with my LOs..

I love looking at all LOs: digi, single photo, 1-page, 2-pages, etc. Even if that's not my exact style, i still can get many ideas from them: paper used, color combos, techniques, embellishments and other products.

Even though my style is definitely multi-pic double pages, my favorites marked on this site are a a combination of all styles for the reasons listed above.

If we all scrapped the same way, how would we get new ideas?

• Quote:

Exactly!!!!
I love doing pages that take three days and pile on embellies and use a lot of technique but I can't do that for a majority of my pages. They have to be flat. I also don't enjoy journaling but I have entire pages of journaling for my Ancestry Books.

I enjoy having more than one project at a time so my attention is diverted around and I can keep challenging myself.

I love it all! Some pages are about the photo and some are about the photo and the art.

Absolutely, Peg - variety is the spice of life and all that jazz!

(And I can't wrap my head around birdcages or cogs with beach photos either... )

• CrimsonMama Said:

LOL! Well, inspiration sometimes leaves me so I work on something else. Honestly, my only "finished" projects were done as gifts. So I had to finish it! Is that bad? LOL

• pugs223 Said:

I, too, have to have embellies that "make sense and/or match" the paper and theme of what I am scrapping. I see other pages with the gears, cameras, mustaches, etc and I really like them. I just can't make them work for me. One of my friends that I scrap with regularly does that kind of stuff. I love it, but it isn't me. I have tried it. I just can't make it look or feel right for me.

• RedSquirrel Said:

Love love how you said that !

I have a hard time with one photo layouts. Heck, I have a hard time with one page layouts! I came into scrapbooking with a background in design and illustration, so for me it feels weird to have two unrelated page themes side-by-side even if the color schemes are similar. I've seen many beautiful layouts with one photo but I just can't do it myself.

Most of my layouts are two pagers with multiple standard sized photos, but occasionally one of the pages will have a big enlargement on it with smaller supporting photos on the opposite page.

Mary

I usually work around the photos I'm using. I lay everything out, move it around, add or remove more photos & embellies, move it around some more and repeat over & over until it just clicks. I try to mix it up a bit so I feel like I'm being creative.

• RedSquirrel Said:

I know exactly what you mean, Red Squirrel!

Two things matter to me with scrapbooking - having fun and putting together books that will remind my kids of the vacations and fun times we've had together. Most of my layouts have been multi-photo pages, and I struggle to fit lots of photos and do something fun and artistic with them. I've found that limiting myself to two or three of the best photos from an event on one page works well for me. I've been working on my daughter's wedding album, which has given me the chance to work with a single lovely photo on each page, but I'm still too frugal to layer lots of papers for each page. I do love looking at the lovely layered pages in the gallery, however!

I am the exact same way If my paper does not "match" my photo I just do not use it and the same with embellies! I have some really beautiful bo bunny Isabella paper i bought here but i have about 15 photos of the dallas stars hockey game (there colors are green and black) so i refuse to scrap them got to go to m's and buy green paper!
I do multiphoto usually but the other day i did a pretty pink layout with just a single photo!

We need a "agree" button on here. I think Rosey aka Red Squirrel really nailed it for me. I have been trying to put similar thoughts into words for a while now. That post articulated feelings perfectly.

I wish the design teams for these manufacturers would read this post. Its great that they are branching out but when they do a scrapbooking layout I would like to see something closer to reality and our budget. We don't all get things sent to us for free.

I think that I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel the same way.

• mindygail Said:

I've printed photos in black and white to get around this problem!

The only time I do a single photo layout is when I have only a single photo to use. Single photo layouts were all you used to see in the magazines because they (companies) wanted to hightlight their products versus the photos or the story. The less photos, the more your eye looks at product. Marketing ploy. Do what you love, they are your memories and scrapbooks.

I do both. But one photo layouts are easier for me to do heavier or more extensive journaling. Often when I do a multi photo, I cannot fit in what I want to say. And though I love others double page layouts, I don't like doing them myself.

I love to look at every kind of page, myself. And what Rosey said is correct about the design aspect of it all.

I also have been doing collage photos when I want to put a lot of photos on a page. I print them out this way, in a size that is easy so I can fit it all on one page!

My daughter HATES when I only have one picture per LO! Her style is, multi pics, journaling about the event etc. (She's a world traveler aka missionary) Which is fine-that's her style. It's just not particularly mine-and BOY does she let me know it!! (Just recently AGAIN, as a matter of fact!) I say, to each his own, and because of the variety, we get to experience LO's in all types of variations & styles. That's what make this site so much fun! Thanks for the insightful topic btw:)

I do a little of both. Depends on how many "good" photos I got of an activity. But when I use multiples I print them in smaller sizes.

But the one thing I don't understand is when people use two or three of the EXACT same photo. The layouts look beautiful but I would like to know the reason.

Crystal, I think it's just a different technique that is appealing to some people is all. I've seen it done and was curious so I tried it too. I did one copy in color, one in sepia and the other in black and white and then overlapped them a little. It actually turned out pretty cool. Try it, you might find that you actually like it.

I tried that too, a while ago, with different colours and different sizes. I liked it for that LO but I wouldn't use it with all.

I'm really enjoying the responses here! I don't have kids, so I don't have a zillion pictures to scrap like most everyone else. I do take a zillion pictures of my fur-kids, though, and then scrap "moments" on one-photo LOs. Since I'm scrapping a moment with a title that pretty much describes it, and since I'm not anticipating that anyone will see these albums but me, I don't do journaling. But I like to leave a lot of "white space" just because sometimes I like seeing the pretty patterned paper. Sometimes just because I "feel it" artistically. But I don't think I overembellish anything unless it's on purpose - for instance, I hate the phrase "here kitty kitty" and it comes in every single cat-related kit or package or stamp kit, so I made a LO of my cats being especially static and NOT responsive, and I used every single embellishment, stamp, rub-on and what not that said "here kitty kitty." Very over-embellished, but I get the joke, even if no one else ever will.

And that's the key. Do the LO you feel, no matter the number of photos. Your LO should always reflect you, not someone else, and not whatever happens to be in scrappy style at the time. If you're wanting to put gears and birdcages on a beach LO, you probably know the reason why, so go for it! It's your LO!! Don't worry about validation from anyone else. Please yourself first!!!!

I think there is an artistic quality to all the layouts exhibited here. Rather than focusing so much on how many pictures I use in a layout, I strive to use the BEST photos. What that means to me is the picture that depicts something special or unique going on; not usually posed. For example, I recently caught my granddaughter blowing her first bubble gum bubble. I thought about how hard it was for her to learn to do that, and I ended up with a series of pictures.

The other thing I think is important is balance. What is the focal point, or are the colors harmonious? Is the layout shaped like a triangle, square, or is it linear (vertical or horizontal). Sometimes, thinking about those things helps me get started (and then I end up someplace completely different!).

Both styles are wonderful...but I tend to go for multiphotos. Love to tell the story outloud!LOL!!!

See that sounds good. At least they are a little different. All of the layouts I have seen it done on are gorgeous. I just never understood why.

• olleharr Said:

• crystalmorse Said:

Crystal, my reasoning for using more than one of the same photo is simple. I inadvertently had more than one printed of the same picture, once I had four of the same pose, and I refuse to discard what I paid good money for!! I will also use the same photo to make different style pages. Again, I had more than one printed but figure I will use the other layout in a siblings album. I also like trying new techniques in different styles I see, sometimes that is with more than one of the same pose.

I always thought that it was some artistic thing.

I have just read this topic and as a beginner found it very interesting and agree with all ,
I think it really depends on what lo you are doing and what photos you have to how many photos you put on ,
And like someone else had mentioned which i say on other things in life if we all done the same had all the same what a boring world this would be ,

• bonprof Said:

LOL I did it once, three of the same photo. I'm soooooo artistic I thought I would try it for fun. Two are sepia and one B/W. there really doesn't need to be a rhyme or reason.

• CrimsonMama Said:

I think it definitely can be an 'artistic thing', much like anything else we do when we're being creative.

A lot of scrappers look upon their pages as creative art rather than just recording data so why not?

I do both, but I prefer Multi photo LOs. Some of the singles I see are very beautiful but the picture gets lost on the page. I want my scrapbook to highlight my photos.

so i can actully say that my scrapbooking is "art" thank you

I don't do LOs often, but when I do, they're single photo,,,,,

I can't seem to get more than one photo and all the embellies that I WANT to put on there all on one page

I really admire multi photo LOs, but I can't seem to do them for the life of me,,,,,,

I tend to lean more toward one photo LO's. For me, I get overwhelmed with picture placement when there is more than one. I've been trying to get out of my comfort zone a bit, but it's not always easy for me.