Guest Blog by Melisa Cammack

Every Christmas, your mailbox is full of cards from picture-perfect families while you frantically try to blur your face out of your own hideous family photo to protect your identity. Turn things around this year. Skip the mall insanity, and don’t let a well-meaning relative convince you to put your Christmas card’s fate into his amateur-photog hands. Hire a professional local photographer with family portrait experience and follow these simple tips to capture the perfect Christmas card photo at last. 

Location

Hiring a photographer means you get to choose the location for your shoot. Consult with your photographer on the location, they will have a vast knowledge of the surrounding area, and will know where will look the best. You can also have the photographer come to your home where your kids feel comfortable, or choose a favorite outdoor spot in your yard or a nearby park, it’s all up to you. Cutting down on travel time means everyone will be less grumpy for the photo. 

Go Natural

Keep make-up to a minimum, and don’t put any at all on very little girls, who are pretty enough as they are. Extreme hairstyles are out, too, unless you want a tear-streaked face on your cards. For the little men, use a little pomade to keep their unruly hair at bay, even if only for a few moments, same goes for older men, be sure that they’re clean-shaven and clean-faced.

Clothing

You want everyone to look their best, but if you wrestle kids into their outfits, it will show in the pictures. Let them have some say in what they wear, and skip the necktie if he swears it’s choking him to death. Go for a theme in colors, like a deep blue beaded necklace on mom, same color tie on dad, and small accents on the kids. Just stray away from matching outfits/t-shirts, it will most likely come across as cheesy, but just be sure you compliment the whole family on how great they look instead of nitpicking so everyone feels good as the photographer starts shooting.

Posing and Smiling

Over-practiced posing and cheesy smiles have ruined more than a few greeting cards. Instead of telling kids to “stand straight,” try saying, “You look tall,” instead. They’ll naturally stop slouching to show how big they’ve grown. And don’t ask them to say, “cheese.” Just tell a joke to elicit a natural grin.

Candid’s and Action Shots

Maybe your family isn’t great at posing, that’s OK. Candid shots of cuddles on the couch or action shots of kids throwing snowballs can be even more heartwarming. Ask the photographer not to tell your family when he starts shooting so he captures a few shots that are completely un-posed.

Bribery

The ugly truth about getting family pictures done is that you may have to resort to bribery to get kids to pose for them. Just don’t allow them to have anything edible during the photo shoot unless you want to send everyone you know a photo of a stained outfit and a sticky smile.



Author Bio
Melisa Cammack has been freelance writing for a number of years, married for 13 years, mother for seven years, and is the biggest Christmas enthusiast on this side of the equator.
Melisa is currently promoting Five Star Holiday Décor and Christmas Lighting in Williston, and would like to wish everyone a beautiful and happy holiday season!