Tiny Prints and Shutterfly, even Minted, are flooding our inbox with their holiday card promotions – highest quality paper, foiled holly leaves and perfect family photos – of course perfect family photos.
Whose family do they use for those stock photos, anyway? Maybe child models who are used to posing? Our best attempt at photos usually has one of my children intentionally frowning and the other trying to pick my husband’s nose while we are cheesing at the camera, hoping this photo will be THE ONE for the card. Some can pull off their own photo without an expert photographer’s help, but if you’re like me and need a few pointers or even want some last minute DIY ideas from local photographers, see a few tips below:
Christmas card photos are usually best with faces large enough to see them.
Full body and landscape type photos are pretty, but the viewer wants to see the face of their friends.
The card usually goes on the fridge and the the smiling or giggling and silly faces are fun to see when they are zoomed in.
With people with paler skin, it is best to take photos of people with a darker background. This will help some people’s faces to contrast with the background. If it is white or pale, lighter faces usually blend in. However, if someone has darker skin, lighter backgrounds are ideal. It’s also good to have all subjects on the same plane of focus and usually touching or holding arms and hands or even tickling.
I like to see emotion in my photos, so the typical poses are nice, but Christmas card should deliver some emotion and joy when viewing it. If the light in a photo is not the best, pushing up the contrast and going black and white is always a quick fix.
A Christmas card photo can be achieved with a normal DSLR zoomed in – just pick a spot outside with clean light, no shadows under the eyes if possible. We did our family Christmas card photo using a tripod on a very cloudy and dark day, and I will probably use the one that brings the most reaction…Noah wandering off and acting like a teenager….I set the camera to a burst of 10 shots, ran to my spot, said smile, then tickle and hug and voila!
“My advice for any family photo is to stay engaged with your family. Don’t worry about whether or not your kids are looking at the camera! That’s our job as photographers to get them to look and to get the shot. As long as you stay connected to your family, the shots will be amazing. Most of the time the candid photos are what we love the most anyways!” –Alex Felker of Alli Rose Photography
Lighting is key – stick with shade! If you’re taking photos of your own family, be sure to put everyone in even light. The easiest is to put everyone in the shade away with no harsh light on anyone’s faces. You would hate to get THE photo only to realize there are some crazy shadows all over everyone’s faces.
Dress in a way that is cohesive, but isn’t perfectly matched. Think through your outfits and make sure everyone is dressed on the same level. Don’t be afraid to play with textures and patterns. Consider everyone’s outfits individually and how the group will look as a whole.
Relax. If you’re feeling stiff or your smile is starting to burn because you’ve been holding it so long, relax. Talk to each other, laugh and make jokes, get some wiggles out. Some of the best photos are the most candid ones. So don’t be afraid to be yourself.
 Consider hiring a professional photographer. If you want to DIY some photos, more power to you. However, one of the best ways to get the Holiday photos that you want is to hire a photographer whose style is similar to yours. Look for a photographer who encourages you to be as natural as possible. Professional photographers in your area can recommend locations, outfits, and sometimes will bring blankets or props to enhance the experience. They can direct your family so you don’t have to, and can capture in-between moments that can turn out to be the one you absolutely love.
Choose coordinating colors to create a cohesive look without perfectly matching your outfits. Also, dress the hardest person first and then coordinate the rest of the family around that first outfit.
Always make sure children are well rested and well fed. Although, it never fails that your good little sleeper will resist nap time on photo day.
Don’t put too much pressure on your child to sit, smile and be perfect. Let them be children and capture their little personalities in the process.
If taking your own photos at your house – open your blinds and/or curtains to let in as much natural light as possible. Also, get down on eye level with your children when photographing them.
Ladies, put on more make up than usual because the camera will wash you out and will make you look like you are wearing much less make up than you truly are. If it’s in your budget, get your make up and hair done professionally to treat yourself.
Hire a professional. It is hard being mom/dad/photographer, so give yourself a Christmas gift and leave the portraits to a professional photographer!
 ALLI ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY
CHRISTINA HUSSEY PHOTOGRAPHY
