 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
|
Bar Mitzvah Hints
Just
a few years ago, a 13 year old would expect their Bar or Bat Mitzvah album to
be a collection of single images, one 10x10 on a page, followed by another
10x10. The leather-bound book would be a very serious depiction of the affair.
What
a difference a few years make. What
led to the change?
First, there was the advent of 35mm photography, which increased the
number of shots on a roll of film from only 12 to 36. Recently digital
photography has increased the number of photos further. Then there came the
new trend in photography we know today as the “photojournalistic style.”
With more emphasis on candid and spontaneous moments and a de-emphasis
on static portraiture, there has been an explosion of images.
With
these new elements in the Mitzvah photography mix, the whole way of styling albums has undergone an enormous transformation. Taking their cues
from the world of magazine and graphic design, photographers began creating
books that express the same level of creativity as the photography itself.
Photographer-designers now use multiple images on a page and include
pictures that are floating over other pictures, ripped, chopped, turned to
sepia or blue, blown-up into giant panoramas, half-panoramas, or even
mock-panoramas. Things
can get a little complicated, and it’s good to
have some familiarity with the different types of albums before
beginning the daunting but extremely pleasurable task of working with
your photographer to create your own unique document. Here is a brief description
of some of the options: The
Slip-in album contains photographs that are taped behind a thin
paper matte, and this combination of photo and matte is then slipped into a
page. The page itself may be slipped into an album or permanently bound into
an album. Bound
Albums: There are two types of bound albums. A Flush album contains
photographs that fill the entire page. It has one picture permanently
pressure-glued per page. A Matted or Reversible album has photographs permanently pressure-glued on a
page and surrounded by a matte. With the surface of the picture slightly below
the surface of the matte, the pictures on facing pages never touch each other.
A page can have one matted opening or four openings. In addition, a matted
opening can be carefully laid out to hold more than one image, allowing the
creative photographer to put as many as a dozen pictures into one opening. It
is called “reversible” because the same page can handle either a vertical
or horizontal picture. Digital
or Coffee Table Albums:
The latest designs bring together elements from
the flush and reversible books, combined with graphic design techniques from
the publishing world. The result has been books with many more pictures per
page and details that were previously unavailable to the wedding public. A
single image can seem cast a shadow over another picture. Now a series of
photographs of dancing guests can be placed against a background made from a
picture of the table decorations. A page can be carefully laid out with scores
of small pictures that look as if they were thrown onto the page. The
photographs may sit in a matte or be flush to the edge of the traditional
thick album page. Some albums are printed on thin book-type paper. These
many new design elements can add dramatically to an album’s ability to tell
a story. The best albums contain surprises . . . the right amount of
surprises. Here is an important rule: A Bar or Bat Mitzvah album should not be overly
designed. It is tempting to throw every technique into it.
But instead of being a beautiful storybook with carefully planned out
surprises at just the right moments, an overly done album crammed with one
dramatic effect after another dilutes the visual impact of each effect. This
is where good taste and artfulness come into play. The sequence of pictures in
a book must have the right tempo. Balance is essential. A series of simple,
dignified pages sets up a more elaborate “surprise” page. An album with a
surprise on every page lacks subtlety and has no sense of timing; it is like a
musical piece in which every note is played super loud.
Working with you, the photographer lets the photographs inspire
him or her to create a book that presents all the moods, the rituals, the
action, and the faces in an exciting, artistic representation of the Bar or
Bat Mitzvah. The
goal in designing a great album is to create a document--a family
heirloom really--that artfully tells the story of an amazing day in the life
of a family. HOW TO ARRANGE FOR AIRLINE DISCOUNTS
|
|
|
|
|
