Anatomy of a Holiday Card Photo Shoot
12 Comments posted by Kristi on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Taking a toddler's Christmas photo should count as an X Game because it's not for the faint of heart.
Then, I switched gears. I decided since she wanted nothing to do with holding the twins, that I would do a composite of their three photos. So, I removed the twins and attempted to photograph Isabella by herself.
At least the twins were cooperating:
After two hours and approximately 156 shots, we called it quits.
My sister and her boyfriend are in town and staying with us, my mom and her husband arrive today, and so I'll begin the marathon of family visits, huge meals, and copious amounts of leftovers that can be frozen and later defrosted, reheated, and eaten while standing up and jiggling the pack-in-play with a hip in the hopes that the motion will calm colicky infants.
I order my cards from Snapfish each year, and back in November they ran a deal where if you ordered by a certain date, you would receive 20 holiday cards for free.
My mom was still staying with us at the time, so one November morning, we dressed Isabella in her Christmas outfit, did the same for the twins, threw a tablecloth over the back of the couch and tried to coerce a very uncooperative toddler to sit still for approximately 3 seconds with one twin on each side of her and crack just the teensiest of smiles for mama's camera.
She was having none of it.
We bribed her with cookies, an extra viewing of Clifford, chocolate. You name it. We threw it at her in an attempt for just a few seconds of forced holiday glee.
Instead, we ended up with this:
Instead, we ended up with this:
And also, this:
Then, I switched gears. I decided since she wanted nothing to do with holding the twins, that I would do a composite of their three photos. So, I removed the twins and attempted to photograph Isabella by herself.Check out my success!
At least the twins were cooperating:
After two hours and approximately 156 shots, we called it quits. We started again once the hubs arrived home with hopes for a better outcome. It took an additional two hours, several hundred more shots, and the promise of nothing but chocolate for dinner for an entire month, but we finally ended up with the one passable photo that we used for our holiday card this year.
My sister and her boyfriend are in town and staying with us, my mom and her husband arrive today, and so I'll begin the marathon of family visits, huge meals, and copious amounts of leftovers that can be frozen and later defrosted, reheated, and eaten while standing up and jiggling the pack-in-play with a hip in the hopes that the motion will calm colicky infants.
Happy holidays, everyone!
Well, you did finally get a great shot.
I have a friend who sent a card with one of the 'not so good shots' and the caption 'It is what it is, Merry Christmas'. I loved it. I thought it was very clever.
I hope you have lots of helping hands (and hips) to jiggle the twins with. Have a wonderful Christmas.
I was kind of voting for the second photo down. I think it's awesome.
Happy Holidays from mine to yours!
This comment has been removed by the author.
You did get a really good photo in the end, but yea ... YIKES. It is hard to get them still, let alone smiling. Did you see Chas's card? I laughed so hard!!!
Love 'em all!!
Merry Christmas!!
I was voting for the second shot down, as well. Holiday cheer? Not so much. Reality? Yep!
The picture you eventually got is great! Have a great Christmas.
Well, you know how I feel on this topic. I am totally with you on the X Games thing. I actually just got your card yesterday...this time with an actual card inside :).
That final shot is great! I know how much work it is with just one! So I can only imagine... Hope you guys have a great Christmas!
It was all worth it!! They all look as sweet as sugar! Merry Christmas, Kristi.
LOL!!! I think all of those photos are adorable. I especially love the one with Isabella with the biggest frown I've ever seen on ANYBODY!!!
After all that hard work, you've finally captured a beautiful shot. You've got beautiful children...and you ARE doing a great job!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
I only have one kid and I knew that I would never get a happy shot like that lol... so I didn't even bother lol... but love the photos... they were great!
It was certainly worth it. The last photo is beautiful. Thanks for sharing all the pictures taken before that one. It's priceless!