There’s no question that quality photography is an important element in successful scrapbook submitting. But a recent forum post by a member of the DesignerZine forum triggered me to do a little analysis of recent magazine issues and I was stunned at what I found. Apparently it’s not only quality photography that counts. It has to be the right kind of quality photography to make your layout publishable.
The forum member alluded to the extremely high number of close-up photos on published layouts where the subject is making eye contact with the reader. It struck a chord with me that that did seem to be a dominant recent trend and so I pulled out my most recent magazine issues and did a survey of the published layouts containing photos (only in the editorial content, not in advertising). I expected to find a high percentage but still was amazed at the resulting tallies of total layouts compared to the ones containing predominantly eye-contact close-ups.
The percentage of editorial layouts with predominantly eye-contact close-up photos was:
Making Memories April 2006: 57% (35/60)
Scrapbook Answers Feb/March 2006: 54% (19/35)
Better Homes & Garden Feb/March 2006: 63% (63/100)
Creating Keepsakes March 2006: 53% (42/78)
Simple Scrapbooks March/April 2006: 70% (70/100)
Those numbers would increase at least another 15% for all of those publications if layouts were factored in that were close-up photos of faces without eye contact being made with the camera (and thus the reader).
So what is driving this trend? Is it simply a fad that will go the way of Paperkins and mulberry paper in a few months? Or is it a longer-term preference of magazine editors because large, close-up photos look better when layouts are shrunk down to print size? I would certainly be interested to hear opinions on that from some editors so that I and other designers could best tailor submitted work to publications’ needs.
So how long will close-up mania last? Only time will tell…but in the meantime, I think I’ll buy stock in Neutrogena because I’ll be going through an awful lot of foundation staying close-up ready. Or in the digital age, is that what Photoshop is for?
About Nancy Nally
Interesting Nancy! I have seen a definate trend to this style of photography. Good to know that its not just me being paranoid!
As for how long it’ll last? who knows. I hardly take people photographs much, not having kids, and my less than co-operative husband.
I favor photoshop over foundation, good for crows feet too!
Di
I’ve noticed this too, and try to take lots of close-up pictures of my kids – their skin is flawless!! But are we losing something if ALL our pictures are close-ups? Isn’t it fun to look at pictures of our youth and remember the curtains, the table, the plates on the table, the kitchen carpeting, the cupboards, etc. I hope everyone is taking these pictures too, and only scrappin’ (or submitting) the close-ups!!
I’ve noticed it and honestly, I think it’s a product of 2 things:
1–the popularity of photo manipulation software…so many people have gone digital and it’s so easy to cut away all the extemporaniuos materials and go with what you love in a photo…I think this trend will not be such a trend when we all get over the newness of our toys.
2–I don’t know about you but 99% of the photos my family took before say 1980 were from way-too-far-back. Maybe this is an overcompensation for growing up without any close-up shots.
Great blog as always.
Outdoor shots
I really love Nancy’s banner showing off her outdoor layout. It’s a really great page and give me all kinds of ideas for my sister’s wedding pages. Link: Inside Scrapbooking: Are you ready for your close-up?.
fascinating!
So happy to know that it wasn’t my overactive mind thinking this up! Great article