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How To Take a Beautiful ... er, Charming Holiday Family Self-Portrait
Published 10.29.2008 | Permanent Link | Comments (9)
By Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks
1. Pick a beautiful day, and make everyone get dressed in non-clashing clothes.
Of course, you could get everyone to dress in matching, holiday-themed clothing, but considering the number of groans and do-I-have-tos that will likely ensue just from announcing, "Hey, everyone! Let's take a picture!" I'd suggest you just make it easy on yourself: insist that everyone wear clothes with no magenta, orange, chartreuse or any other non-complementary colours, and be done with it. And if one of your kids happens to have a big jelly stain on the only shirt that will work for the shot, have him turn it inside out. Trust me, with what's about to happen, no one will notice the difference.
2. Get a large mirror and a tripod.
You thought I was going to just suggest that you adjust the self-timer on the camera and call it a day, didn't you? Well, that would be just too logical. Instead, set up the mirror in front of where you'll all be sitting (preferably in a well-lit area, or better still, outside), and use the tripod (or stack of books, or small shelf, or Fido) to set up the camera aimed at your reflections in the mirror. In my experience, having everyone watch each other in the mirrors (and, yes, laughing at each other's reflections) gets the most natural smiles.
3. Set everything up, and take a few test shots.
Make sure that you're all in the frame, even if you're not perfectly aligned -- you're going to end up editing the final photo anyway. Then once you're all in the frame, tell everyone to smile sweetly, and squeeze the shutter.
4. Give up on smiling sweetly, and just go with it.
Last year when my family did this, my then-3-year-old daughter Alex was a pro at standing still and smiling sweetly. This year? She became a crazy person. At first, I got frustrated, but then I decided to just go with it. We all made faces in the mirrors, we laughed at each other, and I kept clicking away. I figured, why not? This year will be the year we give out cards with images that show the Real Us.
Well, not exactly the real *me.* I did manage to put down the martini I was drinking to finish taking the photos and get through this ordeal. No need to tell the whole truth, after all.
5. Take tons of shots, pick a few that aren't too disastrous, and then edit them with photo editing software.
Crop the image as necessary, remembering that standards sizes are 3x5 inches, 4x6 inches, 5x7 inches and 8x10 inches. If you know how, edit the image in Photoshop, or check out some of the great online photo editors, like Picnik, or the brand-spanking-new Phoenix. Once you're finished, print and stick in all of your holiday cards, to spread laughter and good cheer to all your loved ones.
And then, for God's sake, pour yourself another martini.
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Comments (9):
Busymomma66 said:
I'd go with Margaritas myself.
Thanks for the great tips Karen!
Posted on October 30, 2008 06:55
Busymomma66 said:
I'd go with Margaritas myself.
Thanks for the great tips Karen!
Posted on October 30, 2008 06:55
bessie.viola said:
This is really cute... I much prefer the unposed look to the formal portraits! Thanks for the tips.
You have a beautiful family, btw - makes great pictures easy!
Posted on October 30, 2008 13:32
Grace said:
Even your "bad" pictures are lovely. The benefit of having such a gorgeous family. Alex definitely seems harder to photograph this year, though!
Posted on October 31, 2008 16:51
Elaine said:
I'm betting I'd have to actually clean the mirror first, right? Right. Oy.
But yeah, this is way better than trying to sweet talk a friend over to shoot for five minutes before everyone explodes. We shall have to have a go at it!
Posted on November 2, 2008 11:48
Suburban Turmoil said:
UR So PREtty.
Posted on November 12, 2008 16:56
camerashymomma said:
i love seeing the whole series like this! great idea to use a mirror :)
Posted on November 16, 2008 12:02
Monkey's Momma said:
Just finished taking our holiday shot. Needless to say, we had to just go with the flow. The end result result wasn't perfect, but we ended up with a few pretty good shot.
Posted on December 9, 2008 05:02
tanyetta said:
tooo cute!
Posted on December 16, 2008 03:17