Family Christmas Cards

Oh my. The thought of getting the kids dressed up and getting that obligatory Christmas card picture is enough to make me want to skip Christmas. Scrooge. Last year it took me an hour and about a 1,000 pictures to get something USABLE.   If you missed that educational extravaganza, you can still read – How to Take the Perfect Christmas Card Picture over at my personal blog.   You might think I would be better off visiting a professional {and I am using that title loosely in this case}, but I have had issues with that as well.   You can read my very favorite post of all time, which I re-post each holiday season for fun. It is my Christmas Picture Horror Story of 2007. Anyway, this year I decided to go get some education! I attended a Tiny Prints blogger event hosted by Connie at Smockity Frocks in hopes of gaining some Christmas Card portrait instruction. Local photographer, John Clinton, spoke about how he achieves a good family picture worthy of holiday display.   Here are some of the things I learned:

How to Get a Good Family Christmas Card Picture

• Start early.   Do NOT wait until Thanksgiving Day {or after} to try and rush through a family photo session.
• Give up if necessary.   Not all photo sessions are going to get a great picture.   If everyone is cranky or someone is throwing a tantrum, there is likely NO way to recover from that which is one of the reasons you might want to listen to the first recommendation!
• Dress in a coordinated manner.   You don’t have to have a family uniform, but coordination of style and color does pay off.
• No stripes, polka-dots or other wild patterns unless you want the viewer’s eye to look at the stripes, polka-dots and wild patterns.
• Choose timeless fashion.   Let your age, not what you are wearing date the photograph.
• When in doubt, dress up.
• Watch for when the light is the nicest in the area you want to pose.   If there is a pretty tree in your front yard, check out what time of day it looks the nicest.
• Don’t be afraid to use the flash outdoors to decrease shadows.   Take some with and without to see what works the best.
• Take lots of pictures.
• Get closer.   Fill the frame with faces.
• Set up the camera on a tripod with a timer.
• For smiling, always turn it up a notch.   You really aren’t smiling as big as it feels!
• Photoshop, photoshop, photoshop.
• Find a good local photographer if this is overwhelming to DIY!

Thanks so much to Tiny Prints, Connie and John Clinton Photography.   I am encouraged to try once again to get that “perfect” shot!