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Holiday 2011: Taking Holiday Portraits at Home


With the exception of one year, our family has always taken our holiday photo card portraits at home.  In fact, I am already thinking about this because we usually do this at the end of October so that we have our cards back in plenty of time to mail out after Thanksgiving.  When it was just our oldest son, we would simply put the tree up early, have him stand in front of it in a cute hat or holding a holiday plush toy and the results were always adorable.  When our twins were added into the mix, the whole portrait-taking experience began to be more stressful for me.  Suddenly, I was worried about matching outfits, poses, a suitable background, and don't get me started on getting all 3 children to smile and look at the camera simultaneously.

Last year, after 6 years of holiday portraits, I finally perfected my portrait-taking technique.  I took photos of each child individually first.  This helped them to warm up to the camera before the group shot.  Then when it came time for the group photo, I skipped trying to have a fancy backdrop and formal poses.  Instead, I asked our 3 children to huddle together with their arms around each other's shoulders on the sofa.  With the frame filled with the 3 children from the waste up, I did not have to worry about the background.  I also only had to coordinate their tops rather than whole outfits.  By allowing the children to be their silly selves, I ended up with some great photos!

Last year's holiday card layout had a place for the group shot and 3 smaller individual portraits.  This year, I am leaning towards the Little Berry Bunches holiday card in Rich Red by Tiny Prints.  I like this one because, once again there is a spot for a group photo and 3 individual photos, but there is an extra spot for a photo of my husband and myself.  We have only ever made an appearance on our Christmas photo cards once.  I think it's time we did again.  Now, I just have to break the news to my husband . . .


Tiny Prints provided holiday photo cards to my family as a thank you for taking the time to participate in this campaign.