Our Holden Beach Photo Book

I still haven't blogged all of the images from our Holden Beach vacation in October, but I did have this album printed. I'm so glad I made this. Having something tangible to hold and look at is much better than clicking through pictures on a computer screen.

(Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos!)

It is an 8x8 hardcover album. I made mine through MpixPro, but nearly all the other professional labs as well as consumer labs like Blurb have photo book options. I made the simple template in Photoshop. Every page is the same, just a horizontal photo with subtle decorative lines above and below. (I think I got the lines as part of an embellishment from another album template!)  I was originally going to make the pages white but made them sand-colored instead. I love how it turned out.

Next on my list is to print one that sums up our 2013. I plan to make one of Holden's artwork, too. There's so many things they can be used for, and I listed some of my ideas below. (Feel free to steal these ideas, because I think I speak for most photographers when I say that we're often too busy to print our OWN photos)

Photo Book Ideas:

Vacation. Just like I did above, make an album for each family vacation.

Family Yearbook. A lot of photographers and scrapbookers are already doing this. Compile your favorite photos from the year along with dates & captions for a book. Do this every year, and your children's childhood will be documented in a collection of nice albums.

Kids' Artwork.  Ok. We love the art our kids' make, but we can't keep every finger painting on our fridge forever. Photograph them instead and then print them as a collection. Easy peasy.

Holidays.  How fun would it be to make a Christmas album? Capture everything from putting up the tree, making cookies, to opening presents on Christmas morning.

Summer Vacation.  If you don't want to document the entire year, you could make a book from all of your summer vacation photos. Swimming, road trips, etc.

All About Me. Take pictures of all your favorite things, plus where you live, the people you love, what you drive, etc. Oh, and don't forget selfies. Years from now, your kids will get more than just a glimpse of what you were like when they were young.  Even better: you could do this for each member of the family.

Children's Book.  Make a book to read to your young children at bedtime. You could take pictures of their favorite things and people, or find something for each letter of the alphabet. Or even have their toys act out scenes and make a story about it.

Your town.  Document your town like you're making a tour guide. Even if you live in a small "boring" town. Think about what makes your town unique (the funky diner? the people living there?) and capture it beautifully for your album.


Good luck. And if you've made an album of your personal photos, please share a link here so I can check it out! xoxo