Silent night
All is calm...
Oh, never mind.
Saturday morning I went a little (chest) nuts (roasting on an open fire) and decided to take Christmas card pictures at home. Thinking I was completely prepared, I laid out a number of outfits and accessories, prepared my husband for exactly how we would pose the children and grabbed my iPhone. I figured we'd have this project knocked out in ten minutes.
Stop laughing.
That's right. I don't know squat about taking photos of children and certainly don't have a fancy camera.
It did not go well.
Later, I told my hubby I was ashamed of myself for freaking out. Garrett said he didn't think the kids noticed my meltdown and that the concern for my mental welfare was contained to him. In fact, Max thought the chaos was great fun. I most certainly did not.
So, my Christmas gift to you is the following links. May they help you take family photos without tears, bribery, begging, threats, guilt, or any other embarrassing mistakes.
Family Portraits Do's and Dont's Don't #4 is Don't Let Mom Run the Show. Ha! Just let her try. She'll see who's boss.
Five Tips for Young Family Portraits Tip # 2 is avoiding posing. Um, yeah. Lesson learned.
Five Tips for Photographing Children The expression game idea is inspired.
Digital Photography School shares amazing tutorials. Perhaps if I'd found it before the photo session, I could have snapped more photos like the one below. Then again, if I hadn't exhausted her with the insanity, perhaps this shot would never have happened. After all, in a moment of desperation, I asked, "What do you mean you won't hold her? What if we put Baby Sister in your Tonka truck? Would you like that?"
I know this must have been extremely stressful for you, but the photos are so entertaining! :)
ReplyDeleteI love these pics. "Keeping it Real" pictures for Christmas are some of my favorites. I think your Christmas cards should be the photo strip from the top of this blog post. LOVE IT.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips. Do you think they'd work for pets? And I still think that picture of Alexandra is a treasure.
ReplyDeleteGood times! We still have Merry Meltdowns when it is a key photo. Love the post (love your kids too!)
ReplyDeleteSo you have a couple of reluctant Santas. They're still precious! Don't give up on your photography. The one of the baby asleep in the Santa suit is priceless. The others have personality,much more interesting than "cute."
ReplyDeleteIt's never boring or predictable.
ReplyDelete