This post is part of my 10 week Christmas Preparation Plan for 2011.
Each year since we have had a couple of kids, we (me really!) have made a photo based Christmas Card. Over the years I have improved on the card and for the last three years, I have had the talented Kate from Picklebums work her magic and create a design from the photos of the kids I send her. This was last year’s card:
Isn’t it amazing! I said to Kate last year, I thought she raised the bar too high and it would be so hard to improve on this. Well from her end it might be, but from my end and my photography skills I still have lots of room to improve.
Thankfully before I took my photos for this years Christmas card, I received a copy of CLICK! How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids(aff). CLICK! is an e-book from Digital Photography School written by Rachel Devine. I was a little bit worried that this e-book would be way over my head when I read in the introduction that it was “designed for those who are familiar with the basics of light and exposure beyond auto mode” <- that isn't me!
But I did read many tips that I could apply when photographing my kids and I have been loving the results. These are some of the tips which helped me take better photos during our "Christmas card shoot":
The real picture
Rachel shares in the e-book a black and white photo that she took of her kids. When Rachel shared it with her readers it received a fantastic response and it is a personal favourite of her own, now hanging as canvas in her home. The photo wasn’t planned, the kids clothes didn’t match (black and white helped remove that from the equation) and she directed the kids only briefly for the shot. It took less than five minutes and the kids were back to running and having fun.
I think when taking previous Christmas shots, I have tried so hard to have everything “right” that it becomes a chore for everyone involved. It generally starts of with me requesting the kids wear something I have chosen. What I have chosen is not what they want to wear and it gets us off on the wrong foot to start with. This year I wanted to use black and white photos, so I just asked that they wear a pair of jeans, then whatever else they liked. This almost worked. The toddler cried and cried when I put his jeans on, so I gave up and changed to the pants he wanted to wear and didn’t even bother to do the shoe battle with him (he hates wearing shoes)!
Look for inspiration
“Take a moment to stop and breathe in all the inspiration that’s out there….Influences are everywhere; one just needs to learn how to see what it is that makes them compelling to us.”
So I knew I wanted to use black and white photos, but did not have many other ideas on how to take the photo. At the gym one morning, on the TV they were showing a series of photos, one of which had a couple standing in front of a brick wall. I loved the photo and thought it would make a great background for the kids.
Keep the composition of the photo simple
As the photos are for the Christmas card, it can be tempting to make them look Christmassy by adding extra stuff to them. I had it in my head that I wanted to try and photograph the kids altogether and thought about having them hold presents or have a Christmas tree near them, but decided to take the advice in the e-book:
“Keep. It. Simple……The fewer elements you include, the stronger your statement.
While the photo above isn’t going to be on the Christmas card, I love it. Without even seeing their faces this tells me so much about them and the day – the fact the toddler just did not want to co-operate at all! (I used Picnik to add the Cinemascope affect to this photo.)
Fun first
As Rachel is also a mum as well as a photographer, she really gets how kids work:
“let these kids run off a bit of the excitement first. You can still be taking photos, but consider this time as more of an introduction to you and your camera”
So once we arrived at our brick wall, I let the kids run, wrestle and just be themselves. I took photos throughout and took some magic shots – not what I wanted for the Christmas card, but gorgeous moments of my kids being themselves.
This year I am not showing the photos that will be on the card. Going for a surprise, but Kate who is designing the card for me at the moment, said they have turned out brilliantly in black and white, so cannot wait to see the card when she is finished.
Do you make a photo Christmas Card? What tips do you have for taking these types of photos?Tweet
19 comments...read them below or add one
Oh wow, your card last year was absolutely gorgeous. I love that it isn’t over the top Christmassy and the photos of the kids are great. Good job with the lighting too.
They look like they are having so much fun in these photos.
Can’t wait to see this years card.
Thanks Kellie. This was far the easiest and most fun time we have had taken photos for the Christmas card.
these photos are just gorgeous. I especially love the last one, seems to be very comfy and not posed! beautiful x
I love the smile on the littlest one’s face in the last photo.
We haven’t done photo Christmas Cards (but it’s a great idea); every year we create a photo Calendar for the next year that we give to family around the world as a Christmas gift. We use all our best photographs from events throughout the year. Actually, it wouldn’t be too late to use your photography tips and take a series of photos for this year’s Calendar!
Calendar is a great idea and I haven’t made one as a gift before!
Oh Nicole, those kids are gorgeous. And such a useful post!
We also create a Christmas card from a photo. I have had to collage a lot of times as I can never quite get a great shot of all three of them together…arggh!
I am heavily hoping that the family school photo this year is sensational – but I won’t hold my breath!
Thanks Lucy, I think that but also know I am probably slightly biased. It is so hard to get a decent photo of your kids together!
Fab tips and gorgeous photos… I was going to buy Click as a Christmas present for myself but I think I will have to make that an EARLY Christmas present.
And I have to say, working with your photos, you really captured the spark in your kids with your shots. As I look at each one of them and try to arrange them they just make me smile…. they really make me think of your lovely family!
Hmmmm now you’ve got me thinking that we should give a Harvey Circus Christmas card a go this year… Thanks for the pointers and ideas! xx
I too have done a photo card every since since having kids. My photo session is usually about 5 seconds long, I set everything up first and use the auto timer as I’m in the shot too. I have a little something special up my sleeve this year to ensure the photo is done in November and sent out very early in December with minimal fuss and $$$ output!
Wow Nicole – it was lovely to see your kids as I haven’t seen them in such a long time! All grown up! What a lovely idea and great photos too!
Oh so sweet. I am still yet to get the perfect candid shot of my 4 children but we’re not into Christmas cards, i’d just like one to send to my husband in Afghanistan!! I will get there, i am always camera ready!! I think a nice one snapped on the beach in Qld on NYD might do the trick, seeing he’ll be in -25C temperatures by then??!! Love Posie
A couple of tips …
Always focus on the eyes – the human brain reacts best to photos with sharply focussed eyes even if the rest of the photo is less sharp.
If you’re not going to use complex/pro lighting gear for your photos, photographing on cloudy days will give the smoothest, most consistent light for your photos – with no cost.
Sunny days give harsh light/shade contrasts, and flash photography even more so. Natural light is better than the small flashes on most point-and-shoot cameras.
You can use a white sheet or basically anything large-and-white as a reflector to increase the amount of light hitting the children (even on a cloudy day). Large-and-silver reflectors give a different colour to the light – not as good for skin tones. Try it and see!
Grainy shots with good depth of field (higher ISOs, larger f stops such as f8 and reasonable shutter speeds to stop the action) can look good when printed in black and white – the grainy look is redolent of real B&W film (you did take B&W film didn’t you?
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Seriously fab tips Sam! I so need to come and spend a day taking photos with you. I don’t even know what ISOs means…..
Such a great idea! I will be making these up with pictures of my nieces and nephews for their parents Xmas cards – should be a nice surprise for them!
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Such wonderful photos
I’m always keen to get extra photography tips – especially for children as I find them very tricky to capture.
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