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7 Tips for taking a perfect family Christmas card photo

outtakes

1. Take your photograph when your children are well-fed and rested. (Not right after church when the baby is looong overdue for a nap and everyone's low-blood sugar is resulting in impatience and grumpiness.)

outtakes

2. Make sure your husband is well-fed. (Because you'll need his help to wrangle babies, arrange children, shoo chickens, and hold ponies. And if he's hungry {see above}, he'll give up on your perfect holiday photo shoot way too quickly.

outtakes

outtakes

3. Find a clean, white pony to add something unique and meaningful to your family's photo. (Preferrably not one that was rolling in her muddy field just as you are all walking outside to take pictures.)

outtakes

outtakes

4. Make sure your children are well-groomed and bathed. (or else they'll be wearing handknits in all the pictures to cover up)

outtakes

5. Drain all tubs of standing water. (Because you know the baby will find them. And while you're directing the brushing of the pony and making sure noone gets stomped on by the same nervous pony, the baby will find the water and be up to her elbows in it before you turn back around.)

outtakes

outtakes

6. Lock in the chickens. (They distract the photographer.)

7. Remember that one of the things you love most about your family is that it's big, crazy and chaotic. But every once in awhile, you get a glimpse of almost-perfection. And there among the five hundred wacky outtakes, there'll be one that captures just that. 

DSC_0044

 

outtakes

 

1. Take your photograph when your children are well-fed and rested. (Not right after church when the baby is looong overdue for a nap and everyone’s low-blood sugar is resulting in impatience and grumpiness.) You can also just hire a professional family photographer like Sarah Drewry for professional photos, learn more about her on her website.

 

outtakes

 

2. Make sure your husband is well-fed. (Because you’ll need his help to wrangle babies, arrange children, shoo chickens, and hold ponies. And if he’s hungry {see above}, he’ll give up on your perfect holiday photo shoot way too quickly.

 

outtakes

 

outtakes

 

3. Find a clean, white pony to add something unique and meaningful to your family’s photo. (Preferrably not one that was rolling in her muddy field just as you are all walking outside to take pictures.)

 

outtakes

 

outtakes

 

4. Make sure your children are well-groomed and bathed. (or else they’ll be wearing handknits in all the pictures to cover up)

 

outtakes

 

5. Drain all tubs of standing water. (Because you know the baby will find them. And while you’re directing the brushing of the pony and making sure noone gets stomped on by the same nervous pony, the baby will find the water and be up to her elbows in it before you turn back around.)

 

outtakes

 

outtakes

 

6. Lock in the chickens. (They distract the photographer.)

 

7. Remember that one of the things you love most about your family is that it’s big, crazy and chaotic. But every once in awhile, you get a glimpse of almost-perfection. And there among the five hundred wacky outtakes, there’ll be one that captures just that. 

 

DSC_0044

 

 

19 comments on “7 Tips for taking a perfect family Christmas card photo”

  1. Great timing! “family photo” was on our weekend list and didn’t happen…Thanks for the tip about hand knits! All you pictures tell the story.

  2. oh molly, you have no IDEA how many grins this brought to my face.

    a good card photo is my one to-do for today (yes, i know, it’s december 22. my middle name is Procrastinate. also, these things bring me no end of dread. for while i have 10,000 photos of my kids from last year, not one (!) includes all 3 of them, actually smiling-ish.)

    i needed this. thank you.

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