I’m doing that Mom thing right now. You know the one. Moms whose children are not little and not doing adorable little things but instead, Moms whose kids are teenager and are doing the sports thing.
And I LOVE it.
Cole is not always thrilled at the idea of being, oh how does one say, scrapbooked. But he’s all over having me take photos of his Ultimate games. This is all well and good but right now, I have a serious case of lens envy.
I have this zoom lens. I want this one.
And although this would be a very legitimate business write-off for 2015, I have no justification for spending that kind of money—nor do I have that kind of money—and so, I’m going to rent one for the next tournament. Although it won’t be the new version of that lens, it will be the older version. Still, it’ll be fun to take it to the State Championships and see what I can do with it. Moving right along…
Note: Do you think starting a Kick Starter campaign for that lens is a tacky idea?
OF COURSE I JEST.
Here is the page I made.
STORY OF THE PAGE: It’s the first major tournament of the year. Ergo, I document. I know. I probably should blur out every face on the team, but what the hell. Hopefully no Moms out there will be pissed. Man, these young men are just a great group of guys. Seriously. Also, these are the dark versions of their new uniform and yep, Cole designed these, too.
DESIGN STUFF: This is such a straight up page. Symmetrical, more or less. Plain, definitely. But it just tells a very direct story. I don’t know if it’s laziness or just that I’m really just being unapologetic for the way I want to save stories, but this page is going to be perfect for his album. I’m using their star logo three times, creating a visual triangle to unify the page.
TECHNICAL STUFF: The only techie thing I did here was to lower the opacity of the star logo. That, and I added more sky to the top of the team photo, so I’d have room for a title. I work primarily in Photoshop CC and there is a great feature called Content Aware. Content Aware is under the Edit > Fill Layer and it will fill your space with what it deems to be surrounding it (i.e. more sky). It doesn’t always hit the mark, but for this area, it totally worked. Actually, there is one more techie thing I did: I combined layer masks. The lower photo was actually two layer masks. To combine them, I simply enlarged the width of one until it overlapped the other, then I merged layers. You can do this to create different looks to match your photos at hand.
I realized as I was writing this post that I’m starting to amass a handful of digital pages, so I saved them for print and uploaded them to AdoramaPix.com. I was thrilled with the book they printed earlier in the year and their prints are just as fantastic! I need to make sure that my digital pages don’t just live in the digital realm.
LEARN THE BASICS OF DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING! I have a new e-course called Digi Basics with Cathy Zielske, and it will give you the skills and confidence to save your memories in fine digital fashion.
SUPPLIES:
Layered Template No. 122
Berthold Akidenz Grotesk font
This template plus everything else is all on sale at Designer Digitals. Save 40% on everything in the store until May 22 at 6 a.m. EST. Shop my collection here.
Holly Corbett says
I love this template, and have used it many times! Very versatile!
Cathy Zielske says
Thanks, Holly! I do, too. I knew I didn’t have a ton of shots that I loved, or that featured Cole, so I flipped through my binder (I keep a binder of all my template previews) saw this and thought, “That’ll do donkey.”
Cathy Clifford says
What a great idea of keeping a binder of templates!!! I may just have to do that…thanks Cathy!
Michelle t says
Great layout. Your photos are awesome, so crisp and clear. I admire your work so much. Michelle t
heidig says
Great page, as always. Good luck with the lens.
JennieB says
Always love your templates and what a great idea you mentioned about keeping a binder of template previews. I’m going to start one today. I also wanted to say how much I’m enjoying your new e-class, Digital Basics. I’m learning a lot and love your teaching “style”.
Audrey V says
May I suggest a compromise on a lens choice? I have this lens:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?=Canon+EF+70-200mm+f%2F4L+USM+Lens&N=10183198&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pi
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I used it for all of my boy’s outdoor soccer and track meets and it totally rocks! It’s not an indoor sports lens because it only opens up to 4.0, but outdoors it is fabulous! There is a more expensive version that is F 2.8.
Cathy Zielske says
Yeah, I wondered about that one. In fact, I think I will rent it for the upcoming State Tournament. One of the other parents is going to rent the 100-400 (the older version, not that newer one).
I knew about the 70-200 2.8, but not the 4.5. Crap! The choices!
Elizabeth says
Hi Cathy!
Any chance you could let us know how you made your binder of previews? I have lots of your templates as well as Ali Edwards’… and I spend way too much time clicking on different files. A binder is a perfect idea… do you print an 8.5 x 11 and put it in a page protector?
thanks!
Elizabeth
Cathy Zielske says
Hey Elizabeth! Well I made mine in InDesign, but… you’re giving me a great idea for a free template.
I do print on 8.5 x 11. I think i’ll do a post plus a free template for doing your own. It’s really not too hard if you have PSE or PS! It would work just like a template! Watch for the post either later this week or next week!
Diana says
Design filing and labeling is always of great interest. Stash management is an ongoing challenge for all.
christi says
Cathy, have you thought about renting the lens of your dreams instead of buying it? Especially when that kind of mega zoom lens it isn’t one that will get a lot of everyday use.
I rent from BorrowLenses.com and it’s great to have a chance to try some fantastic glass without the big dent to the wallet.
Cathy Zielske says
Christi! Yep! I’m going to do just that for the State HS tourney. Well actually, one of the other kids’ Dads is going to rent and share with me. I’m going to rent a 70-200L series and see what I think of that!
Amanda S says
Make the splurge. Buy the lens. I have the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens and I love it. It’s heavy so I don’t use it all the time but I’ve gotten amazing pictures (landscapes, wild life and portraits) with it that would have been completely impossible otherwise. The L series of lens is just amazing glass. The extra f stops are worth the cost. SERIOUSLY.
If you’re not sure try renting from a local camera store or borrowedlens.com, which I’ve used to check out lens I wasn’t sure I’d like or use like the 10-22mm wide angle. Awesome site.
lori says
I really like this page and template – looks like I would use this template a lot. I am glad dd is having their sale right now!
Kim L says
Lens envy . . . . sigh . . . . so many on my wish list!!!
I’ve been looking at renting for my son’s upcoming baseball tournament. Loved hearing Audrey’s recommendation on the 70-200 f4 for outdoor sports. May have to give that one a try! Seriously have never shot with any L glass before, this could be a game changer 🙂
Audrey V says
Thanks for the inspiration. I bought the template, made a 2 page spread, and now I’m on my way to make another!
Keianna says
Thanks for the info about content aware. Going to try that this week. So you think it is best for sky and open white space?
Cathy Zielske says
Keianna, it’s kind of trial and error. Sometimes, you’ll hit the filter and it’s perfect. Other times, it misfires and does crazy things. Then, you simply hit the old Undo command. 🙂 It’s worth playing with for sure!
Heidi says
Cathy, I have the old version f/2.8 70-200 IS, and man, that is such an amazing lens (I was going to say bloody fantastic, but is that swearing?). You should take that (or the II version) out for a walk and see what you can get out of it.
Gorgeous bokeh, I use it for portraits as well as sports.