Digital scrapbooking with phone photos

Michelle Batton’s kit is part of The Digi Files this month.

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If you’ve heard of Chase Jarvis, you are probably familiar with his book, website, and iphone app all based on the idea that “The Best Camera is the One That’s With You”. The general premise is that even a a lower quality camera is better than no camera at all. Because so many of us carry smart phones that include cameras, we are ending up with lower resolution pictures. Many scrappers wonder if they can scrap with these? The answer is YES! There’s no reason why phone photographs can’t be used for layouts, and as digital scrapbookers, we have a big advantage for making the most of phone pics.

I (Katie) love to digi scrap with my iphone photos. I don’t use them all the time, but I have no problem adding them to a scrapbook page and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well they print up! My advice is to keep lower resolution phone photos a smaller size on the layout. You won’t notice the difference in print quality as much if your pictures are smaller.

Layout by Katie. Anna Aspnes template. Times New Roman font.

I like to make a note right on the layout to let the viewer know that I used phone photos. I think it adds interest to the page and it documents the technology I used at that time. It also might explain to future generations why some of my pages have sharp and crisp pictures, while others have a distinctly different look. Of course, some photographers can do such an amazing job with their phone cameras that you might not ever guess where they came from.

Another favorite trick of mine is to use iphone photography apps to create pictures that have unique filters or effects that are only achieved through a phone camera. For this layout I used pictures taken with the Shake It photo app. I love the “polaroid” look of these photos!

Layout by Katie. Credits: Weeds and Wildflowers Life 365 & Find Your Bliss. Century Gothic font.

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Jenn says:

I haven’t gotten many decent pics with my camera phone, but did manage to scrap one last year with a picture taken on my blackberry that only had a 1 or 2 mgp camera. This layout was printed in a photobook, and I was surprised that the quality came out pretty comparable to some of my other photos. My only tip is to keep the resolution set as high as you can on the camera, so you can get the highest quality photo possible from it in case you do want to print it later on.

Layout by Jenn. Credits: JenLin Designs (Pewter Date Tag, Stamp Frame) Art Box alpa by Holliewood Studios Its Bath Time by Jofia Devoe Summer Memories by Holly Designs Fonts: Orator Std, Papyrus

Layout By Jenn. Credits: Pool Party and Splashtastic alpha by Kate Hadfield
A Beautiful Beginning by Michelle Batton Get Real Realistic Shadows by Jenn Barrette
Journal Away font by Fontologie

Phone Photos:
These are the original size of the photos as taken from my iPhone. The color was extremely orange, so I adjust them slightly by opening Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter and chose the “Cooling Filter 82″ preset. I then duplicated the photo and changed the blend mode of the top layer to “Screen”, with an opacity of 50%.

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Jenny says:

When my second son was born, we left all of our stuff (including my camera) in the car thinking my husband would go back out and get it after we got checked in to the hospital and figured out where my room would be.  Well, things progressed a little faster than I thought they would!  Thankfully, my husband had his Blackberry with him, and used it to snap a few of those first precious photos.  I did my son’s whole baby book at HowFastTimeFlies.com, and this is one of the pages.  The two photos on the bottom right (of our son being checked by the nurse and weighed) were taken with the Blackberry.  All the other photos were taken with my Nikon D40.  Even printed out, there’s really not a huge noticeable difference in the quality.  I have noticed that my husband’s Blackberry takes decent pictures, as opposed to our other camera phones (not smart phones), which don’t take decent pictures.

Layout by Jenny. This page was designed exclusively for How Fast They Grow by Hostess with the Mostess.  It is “Mod Squad” template #2.

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From Melissa S.

Layout by Melissa S. Squee by Flergs and mgl Scraps Font 2Peas Sunshine, 2Peas Scrumptious

Layout by Melissa S. July Songbird Ave kit

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From Melissa L.

Layout by Melissa L. Darcy Baldwin Inspired by Alexis templates
Zoe Pearn Bohemian Summer kit Digital Design Essentials kraft paper
Syrin stitching Miss Mint cardboard frames Font is DJB Lizzy Fizzy

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Are you ready to get scrapping with your phone photos? Here are a few great tips and links to explore:

• Digital scrapbookers have a big advantage when it comes to scrapping with lower resolution photos. Use your photoshop skills or other editing programs to make the most of your phone pictures. You will find lots of resources in our tutorials section.
• Remember, it’s NOT about the camera!  You can take great pictures with any camera. You will be amazed at the results in the “You Must Have a Great Camera” post!
• Check out Chase Jarvis’ website and/or book about phone photography.
• Read this National Geographic article on how to take better camera phone photos.
• Miz Booshay has a great post about phone photography on Pioneer Woman’s website.
• Try some fun camera apps to make your photos more fun. My favorites are: The Best Camera, Mobile Photoshop, and Shake it Photo.
• When I want to geotag my photos, I always snap at least one picture from the shoot on my iphone since it automatically adds the location to the file if you have the location feature enabled. There are times when I don’t want this recorded for privacy and safety reasons. I do like to geotag my travel photos though and map them on Flickr (after the vacation is over).

I hope you will be inspired to use any camera to capture the memories you want to scrap. Remember, a phone camera is better than no camera at all and with a little help, your phone photos can be mini masterpieces!