I was reading my friend Kim's blog today about her adventures in trying to take pictures of her girls for their family Christmas card. Her description of the process made me laugh because she captured the experience perfectly. In fact, she made me want to share our family Christmas picture adventure because getting a Christmas card picture is quite a feat, as so many parents know.
1. You have approximately 12.6 minutes to get the pictures taken. Schedule an hour session, if you must, but know that the extra 47.4 minutes are gonna be a big fat waste of time.
2. Do not (EVER) put the actual picture-taking
outfits on the kids before you arrive for the session. Even if you don't give them anything to eat or drink, something will be spilled in a prominent location on the garment. Let the kids ride in the car topless, and then slap clothes on them at the last possible second.
3. Have a game plan ahead of time. Don't worry about what the photographer tells you to do. When you get there, run like hell to your pre-assigned places, grab a kid and smile for all you are worth.
4. Do not underestimate the weather. Even if it is 70 degrees out, your child will begin to whine about how he is "FREEZING, and I can't even feel my feet" about 3 minutes in. Yes, the same child who will happily play in 50 degree water, swearing up and down that his lips are always blue.
5. Don't waste your time telling the oldest child he needs to always be looking and smiling. Because he won't. So you might as well save the frustration and just accept that when you finally get a great shot with the baby smiling, the oldest will be picking his nose or looking in the opposite direction.
6. When the photographer tells you she wants to take some shots at this great tree that is just "right over there," don't go. The tree is a mile away, across muddy sand, filled with bugs and your kids will break down in a puddle of tears before you are even halfway there.
7. Relax. Have fun. Remember that the quirky things your kids do in the photos, like posing like a princess or smirking with nose wrinkled up are priceless bits of their changing personalities that you will never get back.
So, without further ado, our photos:
LOL! And that last picture .... that's a heart breaker. AWWWWWW!!
ReplyDeleteGREAT pictures Ashley! I love the family one! I really need to have some family portraits made of us. Ira and I are both so camera shy, but we need to do it for the girls. One day they'll want to know what we looked like back in the day!
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