I wanted to share an update about putting the kid’s artwork in a book. I shared about it in a previous post and was really happy to see that others have been trying it out. Anyway the photos here are from a recent book I’ve made of the kid’s art. It’s the second book, so I have a bit more of a system now.

• Kid brings home art.

• I gush over it and tell them that I am going to take a picture of it for the art book.

• I either take the picture then or wait for daylight (I take all the photos on our wall bed in the daylight).

• I washi tape the art onto the wall bed and take a photo. If the art is really detailed or special I take a close up shot as well. Then before I forget i save the photo to a folder on my phone.

• Once I have 50 photos I edit all the photos at once in Lightroom with the same preset so it’s quick. Then I save all the edited photos and delete the unedited ones.

• print an art book with Recently (my photo printing book of choice, because of the quality and that they do the layout for you). I use the Folder of edited photos and let Recently do the rest. Sometimes I order an extra copy for the Grandparents!

Some art is really special and I can tell it means a lot to the kids, those go on the wall in their bedroom. And after a few weeks or months it goes through the same cycle as the other art. Also I should note that I do not take photos of ALL the art. I find their art goes in waves or themes and I try to capture a certain type of art that is happening. For example Mae is really into rainbows and unicorns so I capture a piece or two that show how she draws that at this moment in time. As her style evolves I capture another one.

Sometimes I take pictures of special lego creations or sculptures.

So how are the kids with it? Well they seem to be doing great with it. Often asking me to take a picture of their latest work. They also like to look through their art book together and point out who’s art is who’s.

And here’s where I know that my system is working a little too well. Theo got a haircut the other day, which felt a bit significant because he had pretty long hair and I mentioned to him that I liked his new shorter haircut (his request) but that I still missed his old hair. He replied, “well good thing you have a picture of my old hair to look at”. Ouch.