Composit Photo

[Ed_L]

I wasn't sure just where I should post this because it might also fit in the work/jobs category. Here is a sample of one that I made of one of my boys. Although I like the looks of it, I am open for suggestions for change, as always. I was thinking about making a family album with each of the subjects portrayed like this (and it might be a good idea for genealogy clients). This prints out as an 8 X 10, and there is room for the name of the subject in the upper right corner. Should this be included? What about birth and death dates? *Any* suggestions are more than welcome.

Ed

[kathleen]

next please

[kathleen]

hey ed

your son has the most endearing smile, and twinkle in his eyes. he looks like such a sweetie. and (gasp!) is that a snake i see around his neck?

to me, the contrast between the frames and the background is too strong, so it distracts.

i tried just removing all frames and leaving the background white, and to me that was easier on the eyes, tho not a finished product.

is there any way you could include more of his head on the one where he is oldest?

i think it's a great idea, to do one for each of your family. have been working on similar myself. gave a good bit of thought to shapes before i started, just filling pages with ovals and rectangles and fooling with the sizes and relationships and that helped

im attaching ( i hope) an example of how i handled the names/dates stuff on a family tree project if it is any help

[Vikki]

Ed,
I like the composition, but the background color and thick black borders seem overpowering to me. I would suggest a more neutral background and thinner, coordinating border so that the eye is drawn to the photos.
Just my opinion though.
Vikki

[Ed_L]

Thanks for the replies.

Kathleen, yes that's a snake around his neck, and he always had a smile on his face. A very likeable guy. I'll try the white background, and that should be an easy one to try. I'll have to take another look to see if I can include more of his head, but I think that's about it. The one you are working on really looks nice. Thanks for another idea.

Vikki, I'll also try a thinner border with a more neutral background. Since you mentioned it, I think a thinner border might be better. But I'll admit that I'm *terrible* with color!

Ed

[Sharon]

Kathleen,

I am really impressed by your example for Ed's family tree. I've been wanting to do something similar, but was unable to come up with a good design.

Thanks so much for posting your results. Now I can get started on my family tree project.

Sharon

[DJ Dubovsky]

Hi Ed
The composition is great and I know what you mean about trying to get that perfect color combo. I get that alot myself. I think the idea about putting wording on it is good too since there seems to be alot of space around the composited images suited for just that purpose as depicted in Kathleen's excellent example of a family tree.

Kathleen
Great example of how well someone could put together a collection of family photos and include historical information in a pleasing layout. It's a great way to document your family tree for future generationsd.
DJ

[kathleen]

hey sharon, dj

thanks!

i'm going to include an example of something that didn't work, mainly for lack of planning.

i was enamored with the idea of having actual tree on the bottom and set about drawing one on an empty layer behind the pictures, i.e., didn't worry too much about drawing in the parts that the photos hid.

but came to find out the whole thing @ 8.5x11 proved unreadable; when i enlarged the photos, the naked parts of the tree showed and i was flummoxed. back to square one. that's when i scanned the fabric for ready made background. used it for both sides of the family. so far everybody is pleased. (the very last Christmas cards with family tree included go out tomorrow

[Sanda]

Kathleen,
Your tree is much better than my pathetic attempt. I did something similar with the tree. But I went overboard and found a photo of a tree, copied it, cloned branches like crazy and ended up with a huge tree. After spending a couple of hours on it all it looked terrible. I was so over worked and made a joke of the whole project. It just proved to me the old saying "less is more", so now I try to keep things elegant and simple.
I love your final result, it is simple and elegant.

[DJ Dubovsky]

Just because it's called a family tree doesn't mean you have to go with the trend and put a tree in there. I actually like the idea of copying fabric even better because it makes it look like antique wall paper. Turned out your tree drawing wasn't so bad after all because it forced you to look else where for even better ideas. And as a drawn tree goes, it's not too bad either.
DJ

[jeaniesa]

Ed,
I really like your idea on this page. I do agree with others about the yellow background needing to be more neutral. I didn't have the same immediate reaction about the heaviness of the borders, but can see that point as well. Two other comments I have:

1. I like the idea of putting your son's name (and birthdate) in the upper right portion of the page. As for dates, I think it would be great to put the year that each picture was taken at the bottom (in the border area) of each photo. Or perhaps instead of the year, the age your son was.

2. The photos seem to have a wide variety of color casts and sharpness. Not sure what you can do about the sharpness, but the color cast should be correctable - esp. the orange cast on the bottom picture. It really stands out to me.

All in all, I like what you've done.
Jeanie

[kathleen]

sandy,

thanks so much. i share your goal of simplicity and elegance.

dj,

wallpaper. yep, that's what it reminded me of, hadn't been able to put my finger on it but that was it indeed. glad you like the tree. he wasn't done, but i was liking him.

[Ed_L]

I appreciate all the replies, but I haven't had time to do much on it yet. We've had company almlost non stop since Christmas. It's for sure I'll try many of the suggestions given here. Thanks again.

Ed