Thursday, January 5, 2017

Snap of the Month: January, 2017

Welcome welcome welcome to 2017! I've been on quite the hiatus but am ready to get back at it with fresh material and *hopefully* fresh thoughts. This month's Snap of the Month post will be dedicated to collages. Collages have been a fun DIY activity for a long time but smart phones and apps have made this activity more accessible than ever. With the touch of a few buttons, you can have a collage created using pictures that were digitally stored and posted to socially media within minutes.

There are many benefits to collaging. You can share many moments with one image so that for the attention-challenged millenials and globals, there is no scrolling through multiple images (ain't nobody got time fur dat!). Additionally, if you have some less-than-stellar in quality images, you can hide that by putting them in a collage and playing to their strengths. For example, if the image had an unsightly spot due to a dirty lens, window, finger in the picture, or whatever, you can hide it and still use part of the image. Now, obviously there are some images that are beyond saving, but in general collages are more forgiving for less-than-perfect pictures. Collages also allow you to strike a tone or mood in ways that a single photo will not. For example, you can  balance your collage by color so that the overall effect is nicely balanced with lights and darks evenly distributed. This concept is similar to what you would do with an ordinary photograph or image but because there are multiple photos involved in creating a single image, you can arrange the individual photos by color scheme to create an overall specific color effect (e.g., rainbow, all a certain color but different types shades, etc.) for the collage. I'm a proponent of certain cliches and especially this one: the whole is greater than the mere sum of its parts. A collage is created of individual photos but can also create a larger picture itself (this is more advanced than most run-of-the-mill apps will let you do right now, but it is an option for those overachievers out there).

Collages are also a way to reflect an entire time period or consolidate an outing or activity. They started as a way to commemorate specific moments, relationships, outings, trips, etc. and wrap them up as keepsakes.

There are a couple of do's and don't's with collages:

-DON'T overcrowd. Too many photos will bog it down and make it impossible to see or comprehend.

-DO use several images as that's what making a collage is all about! A good rule of thumb is ~ 3-7 images.

-DON'T bog it down with excessive stickers, text, or distracting frames.

-DO keep it simple. Allow your composition to speak for itself. All the accessories that apps allow can be overwhelming and distracting to say the least. Let your images and composition speak for themselves and keep it simple.

Collage composed of photos from Ecuador

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