The Perfect Family Holiday Shot

 

Follow these simple steps and you can create
gorgeous holiday card pictures like this one!

As the holidays approach, we thought our readers could use some helpful hints to help make things more manageable. Today's blog is a guest post from Kate Rose, who brings us her expertise in today's post - The Perfect Family Holiday Shot:

What annual occurrence causes my pulse to race, my palms to sweat, and my lungs to constrict with each breath?  April 15^th, you ask?  Taking my kids for their flu shot? A visit from the in-laws?  No. None of these occurrences cause the fear, the frustration, the anticipation, and (hopefully) the eventual exhilaration of, wait for it…capturing the Perfect Family Holiday Shot.  That’s right, that picture which will go on our annual Holiday Card. That picture which will hang on the doors of friends and family for an entire holiday season.  That picture, which defines our family unit as well as my worth as a mother.  That picture which conveys all that we are pretending our past year together as a family unit to be (educational trips to the Botanical Gardens, flawless piano recitals, siblings embracing while singing at church).  In reality, though, what we want our family definition to be and what our family definition actually is (peanut butter causing an eyelid to stick shut, tantrums at the mommy-and-me music, goldfish-crusted car seats), are usually two very different things.

There are many steps that go into creating the Perfect Family Holiday card, from cropping, printing, mail merging, and stamping, to shoving those things into the big blue mailbox 3 days before Christmas.  While those are all important and tedious steps, today I am here to tell you about the most important, agonizing, heart-wrenching, wine-inducing step of them all.  We will refer to this step as “OBTAINING THE PERFECT FAMILY HOLIDAY SHOT” 

There are two schools of thought regarding the Perfect Family Holiday Shot, and I am going to briefly address both, and provide some valuable tips to help ensure your card will be the envy of all your family, friends, and of course, the all important frenemies. 

The first option (and one which my family has subscribed to for the past 5 years after 3 years of trying option 2) is:

OPTION 1: Starting January 1^st, take a camera everywhere, and torture your spouse and children by snapping shots ALL.THE.TIME. 

1.)    This option does require the entire family to dress nicely every day.  Or at least be showered.  Or maybe just have combed hair. 

2.)    You never know the time and place that the magic moment will occur…are you all together at the dentist, Dunkin Donuts, the grocery store?  Don’t hold back!  Snap, snap, snap and quite possibly you will end up with the perfect family shot (no one will ever know you were all at the DMV!)

3.)    (In direct opposition to number 2) Consider your background.  Hey, everyone looks happy at the beach!  Who doesn’t love walking through the woods! Even the most terrible-two-toddler can look cute making snow angels! 

4.)    Know your family’s limits.  If your 3 year old (for some God-forsaken reason) cannot understand how to ‘peak out’ from behind a tree, then he just can’t understand how to ‘peak out’ from a tree.  Leave it.  Don’t yell.  Don’t compare him to his siblings at that age.   Don’t take 80 shots.  Just leave it. 

5.)    Bribe, bribe, bribe!  (“I’ll give you an M&M if you’ll peek out from behind that tree!”) 

 

On to Option 2.  I’m going to be honest here…Option 2 is not ideal…I mean, go for it if you think your family has the wherewithal…I am going to give some tips, but really, I mean, really think about this before you commit…

 

OPTION 2:  Take your family to a photo shoot

1.)     Probably only have one kid (or less) if you are considering this option.

2.)     No drinks.  Nobody!  Or anybody.  Nobody drink anything for at least 24 hours before the appointment.  Parents—this is so there won’t be any puffy eyes or hang-over signs. You CANNOT be the limiting factor in these pictures.  Kids—nothing worse than breaking the photographer’s rhythm because Jonny “has to go potty”, or worse… “just did”. 

3.)    Identify the weakest link.  Does mom have a tendency to do “pouty lips” in pictures?  Does Bobby close his eyes when he smiles?  Does Mary scream when separated from her “My Little Pony” doll?  Whoever the weakest link might be…yell, threaten, and bribe.  Fix it, people. 

4.)    The photographer is joking when he asks if the family brought a change of clothes.  NO!  Are you kidding me?  You think anyone can drag three kids here in their holiday finery, snap a few shots, and then change their clothes? 

5.)    These professional places take 300 digital shots for a reason.  All you need is ONE.  Identify it.  Pay for it.  Mail it out. 

 

In summary, this post is titled “The Perfect Family Holiday Shot” for a reason.  Regardless of whether you decide on Option 1 or Option 2, I really wanted to call this post “The Perfect Shot”.  Because that’s what all parents will need after attempting to get the beloved holiday picture.