Tips on choosing photos for your family albums and some pretty images of Devon & Cornwall from our summer holiday

Do you regularly make family albums and feel overwhelmed at how huge the task seems to be? Despair not as I have some tips for you. But first, a little story…

Last week I blogged about my thoughts on how life changes as the kids grow… and shared a few things that I was not expecting at all when the kids were little and only realise as I stop, reflect and look back.

Today I was just going to share photos of our 18C degree summer Cornish holiday last year. But as I paused to reflect what nuggets of Mummy wisdom I can share, all I can think of looking at these photos is how far behind I am in making our family albums. It takes time sorting through and compiling the images that make the album cut and finding a good chunk of time is tricky when you are juggling everything else.

And of course there’s the extra hours on top of culling to be spent on designing the albums. Somehow, any automatic features promising to design your album in minutes never work for me. I end up restarting and manually dragging photos, choosing the right sizes I want for them as I decide the layouts. {And then of course the internet plays up and either slows down each design step or loses all unsaved changes altogether – a screaming-inside-moment}.

Sometimes though, these distracting thoughts can bring a brainwave..and so for today’s Sawyer Sunday post, let me share with you my tips in choosing photos for your family albums. These are the tips I give to my clients and ones that I also utilise myself for my personal family albums. It does not cut the design process by days but certainly speeds up the choosing and culling process from hours to minutes!

Tip #1: Know your numbers

Business gurus always say know your numbers. It’s the same for this process. Know how many pages you need to fill. A good album will have a variety of sizes and layouts on each page: some will have 1 photo on a page, others two and so on. For me, an average number on each page would be around 3 so calculate an average for a 10″ x 10″ or 12″ x 9″ album. The average would depend on the size of the album. Obviously if you have a very small album such as 6″ x 6″ or 8″ x 8″, you don’t want the photos to be too small that you would need magnifying lenses to see the photos!

Tip #2 Choose instinctively

This process will be made easier if you have 2 columns to populate: LOVE and LIKE and you need to be very strict with yourself. Scroll through your images and jot down the numbers of the photos that you strongly LOVE. If you have doubts about a photo skip it and don’t go back! Be very strict! If you LIKE it but not love it enough write the numbers down under the “Like” column or skip altogether if you are still unsure. Don’t forget to choose a variety: photos that show location, close-ups, groups, wide scenery, small but memorable details, expressions, action shots, etc. Don’t pick two of the same photos or photos that look very similar. One will do, unless it is capturing a new emotion completely, and move on.

Tip #3 Review your choices once only

Keep jotting down the numbers for your loves and likes until you reach the end of the album. And then review the numbers once only! Count the images to see if you have enough or want to choose more. Review them by crossing off those you’ve changed your mind about or adding new ones if necessary.

Tip #4 Design chronologically

Load the photos onto your album templates and design the album chronologically. Of course there are other ways of designing but I like a chronological account as it gives me a more accurate record of our memories. Make sure you emphasize portraits and emotions more by making them bigger photos, some details can be small, some location scenes can be large and small. The details don’t have to be chronological though, they can be used to set context and emotion or enhance a story. A good album will have details peppered across the entirety of the album, not just rows and pages of unbroken portraits. Variety of shots, angles and scenes will ensure you have a memorable story for your album.

I hope the above tips help! Lastly I want to thank our very good friends the Walkers for lending us their lovely caravan in Mother Ivey’s bay last summer. As you can see above the kids loved it – as did the adults! We all had a fabulous time and we are so grateful! It would really be great if you share your tips below or share this post to your friends.