Ideas for Scrapbook Page Storytelling with Staged Still Life Photos

Scrapbook page storytelling is often centered around photos of people. Many of the stories of your life, though, can be told with photos of things. Take some time to pull out old treasures, to stage an everyday item in your life or to find that item that represents a story of your life and stage a photo for the page. Use these layouts to get inspiration for the items you need to get staged and shot.[hr]

get into the way-back machine and photograph an old treasure

Sian Fair says, “This photo is of an old teenage-years bracelet I had made specially with my name on it because finding things with my name on is very hard to do.” “Last year I ran a blog series called Pick Your Precious as part of a storytelling linky. The idea was to choose special things in your life and record their stories, so that your family and friends would know why those things were precious. My bracelet was one of my precious things.”
 
“Creating a white background is easy with a roll of cheap lining paper or a length of white sheeting, but you need to make sure that it is clean and wrinkle free, so get the iron out: it’s worth it!”[hr]

take your protected family treasures out of storage and get a shot

Carrie Arick says, “Here I’m recording the story of two family heirlooms: a crystal sugar bowl and a lapis lazuli necklace from China.” “There are items that have stories connected to our family history often tucked away for safe keeping, and they don’t ever appear in our everyday photos. The care taken staging and photographing these items really drives home their significance.”
 
“I took these photos outside with my Cannon Point and Shoot camera, proving you don’t need anything fancy to get a great photo. Don’t be afraid to get on your belly, get up close to what you’re shooting, shoot from different perspectives and take more photos than you need. Even after I thought I’d taken the perfect shot, I took 50 more photos. I’m glad I did because that first supposedly perfect shot didn’t make it on my page.”[hr]

keep a “pack-rat journal” of everyday items when their time of usefulness in your life has ended

Katie Scott says, “My kids have outgrown their themed lunch boxes, and it broke my heart a little to get rid of them during a recent kitchen clean sweep – so I took a photo before tossing them into the donate bag.” “I find that taking photos of sentimental items helps me say good bye to them. I developed a “pack rat journal” for photos of those items that I’d love to keep but know I should probably pass along.” “I think that photos of items against a white background are beautiful, but life doesn’t always work that way. I took these photos in just a few minutes during a busy day, and I don’t mind that there is clutter in the background.”[hr]

photograph an item that’s symbolic of a time in your life

Devra Hunt says, “I celebrated getting my braces off by buying lipstick to show off my new smile. I have an irrational fear of the dentist. Every time I go to the dentist, I buy myself a treat. Having braces was a milestone for me in overcoming my fear. The lipstick is the treat I bought and represents this story. When I stage photos, I play around with the angle to give the photo more interest, as I’ve done here.”[hr]

stage a still life to make art

Andrea says, “I love making still life photos. For this staged still-life, I started with lemons. First I photographed lemons in bowls, and I kept working with it, changing the elements in the scene. This photo was my favorite version since it tells a story with all the props I used.” “If you are interested in still-life photography, start with inspiration, I find a lot on Pinterest. Once you have that and your subject, look around and find props that go with it. Good light and a light wall or background are important. Play around with the position of the items–usually 3 is a good number to start with. Finally, start taking photos, moving around from different angles and view. Enjoy!”[hr]

record an accomplishment with a staged still life

Jett Hampton says, “My friends and coworkers convinced me that the little balls of yumminess Id been sharing were so delicious that people would buy them. Thus the launch of Bliss Cake Bites. Meeting the baking demands of Bliss was hard work.  I made over 2,000 cake bites in one year–it’s an important story of taking a chance that I wanted captured.” “To get the shots I used patterned paper propped up on foam core sheets for an easy and inexpensive backdrop.” “The composition is a scraplift of Lisa Dickinson’s “Happy Girl” from the Masterful Scrapbook Design Oomph & Polish ebook.  I loved the use of pattern paper strips and found it was a great way to use my 6 x 6 paper pads.”[hr]

record a bit of everyday life with a staged still life

Heather Awsumb says, “This page tells the story of upholding the tradition of having mid-week sundowners (happy hour) with a friend at a local hotel.” “I staged my glass and tonic water can together because I wanted to send the picture to my friend as photographic proof that I was continuing our weekly tradition even after he left. I then realized that it was the only photo I had of our tradition at all so I wanted to document that part of everyday life before I forgot. You can use a staged stilllife to capture little pieces of everyday life. Don’t be afraid to put things together and snap a picture, even with your camera phone.”[hr]

ok – this one wasn’t staged but it is pretty

Rosann Santos-Elliott says, “This is the story of one of the flowers in my garden. There was a huge rain storm into the night and early morning. When I opened the door to let the dog out, the first thing I caught a glimpse of were these flowers. The sun was hitting them just so and the drops of water glistened. It was beautiful. And the beauty of it, was that the staging already existed. The sun was hitting it at the right spot at the right time. The flower pot was placed there weeks ago. I couldn’t resist and had to snap a photo.” “Sometimes the staging comes to you, and all you have to do is notice it, and grab the camera.”