Creating a Gymnastics Yearbook for Your Special Gymnast

By using a photobook you can create a great Gymnastics Yearbook for your special gymnast.  Getting the right pictures  is just the beginning -- you must bring it all together in an organized package.

Getting the Photos

With a digital camera and a good plan you can create a Year Book for your gymnast to highlight the competition year. In order to provide this Year Book you will need to start planning it now to make sure that you get all the pictures that you will need. With this plan in hand you can be sure to capture some moments that you might not usually capture, but will be really nice to include in the Year Book.

Gymnastics is such a visual sport and photo opportunities occur throughout the year. Snapfish, Photoworks, Picaboo all offer photobooks that are inexpensive and fun to make. The pages of these books can also include text. It is easy to put a book together, but it is much nicer if you have a plan than just throwing a few pictures on a page.

A good Year Book will have several candid shots and planned group photos. Since it is important to start getting the pictures from the beginning of the year we will discuss what types of shots to get in this first part of the article. In months to come we will discuss how to make the book and which photo company will be the best fit for your book.

If you think back to your school days or extra curricular activities some of your best memories may not be the most obvious ones. That is why some of these pictures are included in the log. Your daughter spends a lot of their time with the whole team, so anything reflecting their year will not be complete if it just shows pictures of your daughter at meets. Teammates, coaches, and practices are a big part of their gymnastics life. Teammates may have left your gymnast's life over the years and they will appreciate pictures of them in years to come. In september you may not realize what will become important by May, so start now! Once you get started looking at the type of photos listed you will be sure to think of some of your own.

Log of Photos:

In gym photos

• Candid shot of your gymnast interacting with each teammate
• Practice photos
• Office staff
• Gym decorated for each season (if your gym does this) 

Competition photos

• March-in
• Cover from each program
• Gymnasts standing during the national anthem - both long shot and one focusing on your gymnast. (Many teams link pinkies during the national anthem, and this makes for a nice shot.
• Coach talking to the gymnast before an event. This is great if you can get a good expression from either the coach or the gymnast.
• Girls hugging or congratulating each other after an event
• Flags at different gyms (US flag and any other interesting flags)
• Coach reacting to a good performance (by anyone)
• Dismount on bars and beam from each teammate
• Several scores as they are flipped
• Judges scoring your daughter (especially if there is a judge that they really like or dislike)
• Audiences at a meet
• Candid shot of your gymnast interacting with each teammate

Miscellaneous photos

• Gym bag
• Grips
• Good luck charms for all teammates who have them
• Snacks
• Special talents of anyone (my daughter could stick her stomach out so far that it was quite unusual)

Putting It All Together

If this is your first photobook you should look at a few photobook publisher's websites (Snapfish, Photoworks, Picaboo, Shutterfly) and and start a book (you don't actually need to order it) with any pictures you have just to see if you like a certain publisher and the layouts and backgrounds that they have. Also check out the sizes of books they offer to see which one has the size you like.

You will now have a lot of pictures to review. It is easiest to make your photobook if you have an idea of the 'story' you will be telling on each page. When reviewing the photobook publisher sites you could also see how some of the layouts would fit some of the pages that you would like to have. It is easier to review your pictures before you upload them into the publisher's software. Go through the pictures and remove any that are repetitive, out of focus, poorly lit. This will save you a lot of time.

When deciding on your story line remember that although it would seem like the gym year could best be told by what happens at the meets, that only a portion of your daughter's time was spent at meets. Most of the time was spent in their own gym learning and practicing. So some of the story could be told by what happened in practice.

Be sure to add text to the photobook. Identify some of the people in the pictures. Make a comment like "Coach Dave enjoying Jill's performance." "Judge Judy looking for deductions." Even include catch phrases that your daughter may be using that year. Our daughter would have a "theme" for each competition season. Something that she could focus on to prepare for a meet. One year it was listening to the song "Wiggle it Just a Little Bit" and another year it was the saying "Carpe Diem". Once you start organizing the pictures different story lines will show themselves.

By combining the wonderful pictures you have taken all year with the layouts and text you will be sure to have a Yearbook that your daughter will enjoy for years to come.