Cutting Corners

Shaping Pictures without too much frill

The photo albums I created 15 years ago contain "naked" photographs and some notes. No cropping or shaping, no embellishments, no backgrounds, and really not much information (nor much story).

Since then, I have learned that there are an infinite number of ways to shape or crop a picture, and there are hundreds of special tools to make this task easier.

Alas, some people seem to believe that if a tool is available, it must be used. And some folks can't imagine learning a new technique without actually using it on their very next scrapbook page. One result is what I call "excess frill."

At left is one such tool and technique: the "complex corner punch," or in this case, the "zig-zag corner punch." I would never claim that this tool, or this style of corner, is never appropriate; an ideal use would be to signal a mood or to carry a theme along through a page or album. However, adding this much visual complexity to the corners of a picture (especially if used on all four corners or on multiple photos on a page) seems likely to distract attention away from the content of the photo, and make the scrapbook page seem "busy." In addition, a complex corner treatment is more vulnerable to damage (I can easily see the corner ripping away, even if it is initially well-adhered to the page.)

I write this a lot, but it's worth repeating: a scrapbook should tell a story, and every element of your album should support that story. Sometimes, a "frill" can add to the story, by providing visual cues that help set a mood, or by adding emphasis, or even by removing another distraction.

At right are a couple of pictures from the "Portraits of Hawaii" gallery that illustrate some opportunities for "shaping" pictures.

The top picture shows three women on a beach, clearly posed, probably after a wedding. I immediately see several problems with the picture. First, the subjects are not quite centered. Also, the background is dark and complex (sand, waves, sky), distracting us from the women. And the background is not pretty or interesting enough to justify being saved.

If I were putting this photo into a scrapbook, I would certainly crop it considerably, and I would probably consider more drastic shaping: probably a rounded rectangle much smaller than the full photo, or perhaps a tall oval shape if that would work on my page, or possibly even an arch or triangle shape. Another option would be to leave the picture intact, but cover it with a dark paper frame (perhaps a black, dark gray, or dark brown oval, possibly even vellum) that would help bring out the light in the center of the picture.

The lower photo absolutely demands to be cropped. People are cut off at the right and left; the debris below the subjects is quite distracting; the building and sky at the top are slightly distracting; the subjects seem very slightly off-center and perhaps not quite vertical; and the photo seems unbalanced because the bride's white dress combines with the white along the right edge of the picture, and is not offset by the off-white at the left edge.

If this is the only picture we have of the couple being pelted with confetti, we might choose not to crop the sides, to retain the "action" in the scene, and thus we might limit our "treatment" to cropping the bottom to remove excess clutter and to center the couple vertically in the picture. We might reduce the distractions by overlaying a translucent paper or vellum to fade or soften the edges.

But if there are other pictures of this scene, I would certainly want to also crop or cover the sides, and I would probably use a rounded rectangle (an oval shape may not work unless we are willing to crop part of the bride's veil flowing to the right) to restore balance and focus attention on the happy couple.

Returning to my first example, I will concede that photos of the "confetti" scene at a wedding might be properly emphasized through the use of the "zig-zag" corner, if the corner is evenly colored; the corners of this photo will probably be too complex, so that using a zig-zag cut would probably be more confusing than mood-setting.

These entries (reviews, critiques, commentaries) are written by Mark J. Welch, and reflect his personal opinions. They are not the opinions of this site's advertisers and sponsors, who are not responsible for this content.