- Joined
- Mar 7, 2010
- Messages
- 15,664
We are entering the final week of MOC13 "The Next Chapter" (yeah!!), so hopefully you are enjoying the challenges and working along to earn a prize and bragging rights! I've enjoyed seeing all the amazing pages produced by your hard work and creativity. I'm sure when you review your pages for the month, you'll be overjoyed and impressed with your personal gallery too!
I really love storytelling and preserving what's real. It's the reason I scrap. However, preserving real life gets messy. Sometimes stories are sad, embarrassing, or raw. It also means that sometimes the photo isn't perfect. This is our challenge today.
Maybe the room is cluttered... people are not well-groomed... a candid captures something less desirable (a person making an unflattering face or a stranger walking through your frame, for example)... or you realize too late that the photo was out of focus/poor lighting. Nonetheless it's your moment, your life, your vacation etc. and perhaps there wasn't time for a redo. It is what it is. Today we are going to include the photo(s) even if it's not ideal! Sometimes a picture does not do the moment justice because you just can't get the perspective you want. That works for this too. For whatever reason your photo(s) are subpar, please include that photo today for this challenge and share your issue with the photo(s) too.
The specific instructions for this challenge are simple!
--> Create a page using a photo you almost didn't take/keep following these "rules"
Here is my page:
My photo is not ideal because:
My husband got a black eye playing basketball, I almost didn't get any photos from his 40th bday celebration. The photos I did get were poor lighting indoors at night on an older phone camera (2008). I've never scrapped this story from 2008 because of these reasons.
Credits:
Creative Chronicles: totally him (bundle + fwp) by Little Butterfly Wings and Studio Basic
CU/PU - December 2025 BYOC Styles by Mommyish
You may have noticed that I helped make the photo issue better by editing/lightening the photos the best I could for the harsh indoor nighttime lighting. I made them smaller to also make them less prominently flawed. I told the story about the black eye and his not being in the mood for posing for photos. Don't be afraid to use flawed photos full sized too... sometimes blurry photos are fun and create movement!
Recap:
--> Create a page using a photo you almost didn't take/keep following these "rules"
Your page must contain Lilypad product (pages with photos and font only do not count). Product from other stores will not be allowed for MOC; your pages must contain 100% Lilypad product (current or retired product from designers or guest designers presently selling at The Lilypad). For more details, check out THIS post.
I can't wait to see all of your stories come to be, despite not getting the ideal photo! Have fun!
PS - Years later, I have found that the photos I looked at critically at the time are some of the most prized. They seem to capture something that is more the way it really was that evokes nostalgia in a way that something more curated just fails to do. We are often less critical of ourselves in retrospect too. Case in point, I have come across photos during times where I didn't really want to take a photo, because I was heavier than I wanted to be. Now I look at them and think, "what was I thinking?!" So if you are struggling at finding a photo, maybe look back some years.
I really love storytelling and preserving what's real. It's the reason I scrap. However, preserving real life gets messy. Sometimes stories are sad, embarrassing, or raw. It also means that sometimes the photo isn't perfect. This is our challenge today.
Maybe the room is cluttered... people are not well-groomed... a candid captures something less desirable (a person making an unflattering face or a stranger walking through your frame, for example)... or you realize too late that the photo was out of focus/poor lighting. Nonetheless it's your moment, your life, your vacation etc. and perhaps there wasn't time for a redo. It is what it is. Today we are going to include the photo(s) even if it's not ideal! Sometimes a picture does not do the moment justice because you just can't get the perspective you want. That works for this too. For whatever reason your photo(s) are subpar, please include that photo today for this challenge and share your issue with the photo(s) too.
The specific instructions for this challenge are simple!
--> Create a page using a photo you almost didn't take/keep following these "rules"
- Include at least 1 photo that was less than ideal, but tells part of your story on your page.
- Journal about the moment or story on your page. More than just word tabs or date and location. No set minimum, but please use your judgement.
- Though not a requirement, I'd encourage you to state in this thread what made the photo(s) flawed, sometimes at gallery size it's hard to see the issue.
- Remember you are preserving the story. Don't get hung up on the photo not being what you usually like to capture.
Here is my page:
My photo is not ideal because:
My husband got a black eye playing basketball, I almost didn't get any photos from his 40th bday celebration. The photos I did get were poor lighting indoors at night on an older phone camera (2008). I've never scrapped this story from 2008 because of these reasons.
Credits:
Creative Chronicles: totally him (bundle + fwp) by Little Butterfly Wings and Studio Basic
CU/PU - December 2025 BYOC Styles by Mommyish
You may have noticed that I helped make the photo issue better by editing/lightening the photos the best I could for the harsh indoor nighttime lighting. I made them smaller to also make them less prominently flawed. I told the story about the black eye and his not being in the mood for posing for photos. Don't be afraid to use flawed photos full sized too... sometimes blurry photos are fun and create movement!
Recap:
--> Create a page using a photo you almost didn't take/keep following these "rules"
- Include at least 1 photo that was less than ideal, but tells part of your story on your page.
- Journal about the moment or story on your page. More than just word tabs or date and location. No set minimum, but please use your judgement.
- Though not a requirement, I'd encourage you to state in this thread what made the photo(s) flawed, sometimes at gallery size it's hard to see the issue.
- Remember you are preserving the story. Don't get hung up on the photo not being what you usually like to capture.
- Uploaded to the TLP Gallery (no outside hosting will be permitted)
- Posted in your MOC 13 page thread you created in the MOC Layouts Folder, using the Copy GALLERY BB found on the right side of your page in your gallery
- You should have one post per completed challenge page. If you complete all 31 challenges, your thread should contain 31 posts
- Please do not comment in the participants’ page threads so we can keep them clean
- Posted in this thread using the Copy GALLERY BB found on the right side of your page in your gallery.
Your page must contain Lilypad product (pages with photos and font only do not count). Product from other stores will not be allowed for MOC; your pages must contain 100% Lilypad product (current or retired product from designers or guest designers presently selling at The Lilypad). For more details, check out THIS post.
I can't wait to see all of your stories come to be, despite not getting the ideal photo! Have fun!
PS - Years later, I have found that the photos I looked at critically at the time are some of the most prized. They seem to capture something that is more the way it really was that evokes nostalgia in a way that something more curated just fails to do. We are often less critical of ourselves in retrospect too. Case in point, I have come across photos during times where I didn't really want to take a photo, because I was heavier than I wanted to be. Now I look at them and think, "what was I thinking?!" So if you are struggling at finding a photo, maybe look back some years.
