How do you choose which photos to document?

I use most all of my photos but what I do is make collage prints.  Sometimes I might have 5 photos on a 4x6.  I scrap 8.5x11 and this allows me to get lots of photos on a page and tell more stories.

Now frankly there is a whole lot to be said for picking the best photos, but with many of the photos I scrap I like to preserve the subtle variations in the photos.  With my granddaughter, for example, she is changing constantly and each of her little expressions is so cute I can't pick just one best photo.  So collage prints is what I do, and sometimes I print a really nice photo in a full 4x6 and augment with the smaller ones.

Well, since I have at least 1 photo a day ( for the most part ) I do have to choose. Since I keep a memory planner it makes PL both easier & harder. So first I deal with the memory planner picture if I have a choice ( if I even took more than 1 ) I choose something that I wrote down or something that made me happy or thankful or even mad that day. If all else fails there’s my dog or a sunrise or a sunset or even dinner. But each day gets something. And yes, some weeks are monotonous and boring but there’s usually something small that brought me happiness. The memory planner is more personal and more a daily reflection and not necessarily everything I want to remember.

That brings me to PL scrapping. Which I do monthly and include mistly pocket pages with some 12x12 thrown in. For PL I document the activities, the people ( or I did pre pandemic ) so I put all my photos for a month in a folder and I go thru and figure out what I want to use. I try ( pre pandemic ) to keep my pup pictures to a minimum in PL but pandemic PL is lots of pup pics because I don’t ‘do’ much. Then I make page sketches, sometimes in the PL app sometimes on paper.

Once I have all the things, activities & people I want for that month, IF I need more ‘filler’ to fill pockets then I’ll find pups or sunsets or sunrises. Frequently I’ll put a sunrise or sunset behind the month label ( which is why I like transparent months ) But mostly for the PL I try to focus on the people or the main story and for PL by ‘story’ I mostly mean events, PL isn’t where I get into the tiny personal things that make up daily life those are mostly in my planner. Which is why I’m struggling so much during this pandemic because I’m just not a here’s my morning cup of tea documenter ( or at least not in PL that might show up in my memory planner if at all ) So I’ve broken many ‘rules’ in PL during the pandemic - like scrapping pictures sent to me if things I wasn’t there for. I would normally never do that but pandemic I’m not at a lot of things I would normally be at. Pandemic PL is tough as there’s way less ‘people’ to picture.

Anyway, all that rambling on to say, there is no right or wrong, you document what YOU want to document, what you enjoy documenting and what you want to look back at. You should hopefully enjoy the process of making the pages or spreads and if putting a picture of your feet makes you happy - do it! Maybe you are a full 12x12 page layout about that morning cup, maybe not. But scrap what makes you happy. Find a process that makes you happy.

I hope you find your style - good luck!

Share pictures here if your work too!

I don't do a PL, but I do keep a yearly chronological album. Honestly, I try to include every photo I can fit. That includes pixelated photos, funny faces, garden finds, baking successes, baking failures, whatever.

I'm fortunate to have family who shares their photos with me, and these albums are theirs as much as they're mine. So, most years I have an overabundance of photos and I just need to choose my favorites. For events with lots of photos, I'll usually limit myself to a 2 page spread. For single photos, I'll combine them on a page for the month or season.

No rules. Just do what works best for you.