And now for something a little different

Instead of sharing a project or a page with you today, I'm going to do a post about something that goes hand in hand with scrapbooking: photography! More specifically, we're going to talk about the ever-popular Christmas card photo. It's definitely that time of year!

First, here are a few technical hints for taking a great photo.

1.) Try to take your picture during the first two hours after sunrise, or the two hours before sunset. The light is softer and downright beautiful during these times.

2.) If you must take your photo during the brightest, sunniest part of the day look for open shade. Open shade is found in the shadows cast by buildings, tress, etc. But watch out for dappled light under trees! This photo was taken at about 1:00 p.m., under some trees. I had to move my subject around until I found the perfect light, but the results were just what I was hoping for.


3.) Even during the morning and evening light, look for shaded areas. It will expose all your subjects evenly and beautifully. If you are in a sunny spot, place the sun behind and slightly to the side of your subjects (I sometimes use a clock mentality. Directly behind your subjects is 12:00. Place the sun at 10:00 or 2:00.) In this photo, you can see the sun streaming in at 2:00. Experiment and play around with the light, and you might just capture something really cool!


4. If you have a DSLR camera, don't be afraid to take it off of auto! Most dslr's (and even a lot of point and shoots) have different shooting modes. Try using the portrait mode or aperture priority (AV on Canon or A on Nikon). Set your aperture to a small number to get the blurry background. Just watch your shutter speed...you will want to keep it above 1/125 when shooting kids. For the photo below, my aperture was set at 2.2, and my shutter speed was 1/320.



So now that we've discussed a few technical things, lets chat about a few pointers for the actual photo shoot.

1.) First and foremost, don't stress! Stress never photographs well, and trust me, if parents are stressed, then so are the kids. Try to keep the atmosphere fun and light. Talk, play, tell jokes, and try to get your kids to forget about the camera. If that doesn't work, the promise of a little candy or small toy never hurts, either. :)


2. Don't be afraid to go with a more fun picture. I love pictures that capture the connection children and families have with one another. Don't worry if everyone isn't looking right at the camera and smiling perfectly! Showing personality in a photo is a great thing.

This is probably my favorite picture ever of my kids. It might just be on this years Christmas card because it makes me smile, and I'm guessing it would make others smile, too!

3.) If the group photo just isn't happening, go for individuals and choose are card template that showcases several photos. I've done that more than once...sometimes the family photo just doesn't come together in time! I also find that it's much easier to photograph my children one at a time. I make it a special, fun, mommy date night. They get special time with mom and a treat like ice cream at the end. And I get the photos!




I hope these photo tips have helped you. If I had to give one tip that I think is the most important, it would be to relax, have fun, don't stress, and resist the urge to "say cheese". The result will be photos of your family or kids that really capture your true personalities. Good luck!