On this second part of the series, I will be discussing the workflow on how to take the pictures of your layouts in the two locations I mentioned and the most optimal camera settings.

Workflow
As mentioned in the first part, there are two locations and time where you can take the picture. The first is between 10am and 3pm in a bright shaded place. This is considered to be the ideal location and time. The second is at night in a room with bright and even lights.

For the ideal location and time, there are two approaches that can be used. For the first approach, you need the 15’ x 20’ illustration board and a low flat surface (e.g. chair). The black side of the illustration board should be facing up. The black color will absorb the sunlight instead of reflecting it thereby reducing glare and improving contrast of your photograph. Position the low flat surface and the scrapbook layout based on the instructions shown in Figure 1. Afterwards, position yourself to take a picture of the layout making sure that the camera is at a perpendicular level to the layout to ensure the straightness of the layout in the photograph.

For the second approach, you need again the 15’ x 20’ illustration board, Tack it (Faber-Castell) and a tripod. Secure the scrapbook layout on top of the illustration board using the Tack it. I am using this since it does not leave any marks on the paper or on the remote chance it does leave a residue, you can easily rub it off. Once the layout is secured, put a large amount of Tack it on the back of the illustration board and secure it to a post. Make sure that the sunlight is coming from behind the post to ensure that you have enough illumination to work on. Figure 2 provides an example for this.

Now, when you need to take a picture of your layout at night, you must ensure that it is well lit with bright even lights, preferably fluorescent lights. Avoid using incandescent bulbs since the colors in your picture will not be natural-looking. Again, put the scrapbook layout on top of the illustration with the black side facing up. Position the lights, if it is movable, as high as possible to reduce or avoid reflections on the layout. Another way of reducing the reflection is to wrap the light with kitchen paper towel. This will help the light to be more diffused. Afterwards, position yourself similar to the first approach discussed above. If you cannot position the camera perpendicularly to the layout, you can step on a stool to increase your elevation as I have used in Figure 3.

Camera Settings
There are two camera settings that you can use in the approaches discussed above. The first setting is for cameras with manual controls where you can use Aperture-Value or AV-priority setting (Please see Figure 4). This setting is found on all digital SLRs and semi-pro point and shoot cameras.

The AV-priority setting is directly responsible for the depth of field or the area where everything is sharp. If the aperture has a high value (e.g. f/1.8), the depth of field is thin meaning the area of sharpness is also thin. If the aperture has a small value (e.g. f/8.0), the depth of field is thick meaning the area of sharpness is also thick. Now, applying this in taking pictures of scrapbook layouts which are composed of several layers of paper, coupled with embellishments and embossed fonts, one needs to have a thick depth of field to ensure sharpness in all areas of the layout. This means that the ideal AV-priority setting to ensure a sharp scrapbook layout picture should be from f/4.0 to f/8.0.

When the location is directly lit by sunlight, I prefer f/8.0. In a brightly lit room, I normally use f/4.0 to f/5.6. When using this setting though, you need to apply the 1/F rule to ensure sharp photographs most of the time. For a detailed discussion on this rule, please refer to part 4 (Shutter Speed) of my article on Maximizing Sharpness.

For the second setting, it is applicable to cameras with automatic modes which are present in almost all cameras, point and shoot and DSLR alike. This setting utilizes the Landscape mode, the one which has a mountain icon (Please see Figure 5). Using this mode is similar to using the AV-priority setting. The only difference is the camera automatically chooses the appropriate AV setting which is about f/3.0 or higher.

In the last part of this series, I will be discussing the post-processing and file-size reduction workflow for the digital pictures using Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.