What could be better than the holidays! Seriously, there are new, insanely priced beverages at your local barista just waiting to be discovered. (this year's fave is the eggnog chai latte...yummers!) There's sitting back with previously mentioned yumminess and watching all the panic-y people around you looking for that "perfect gift" when yours are all wrapped and ribboned under the tree. Ah yes, the holidays.
I think the list topper, one of my all-time favourite things, is all the extra mail that comes - reading letters from people filling me in on all the wonderful tropical locations they got to visit in the past year, seeing how many double's of christmas cards we get and most of all the family pictures!!!
I think it's so cool that the first of december rolls around and suddenly everyone is pulling out their cameras and snapping pics. I can just envision families trying to huddle closely enough so that everyone fits in the pic while holding the camera an arms length away. Or the really hardcore type setting up tripods and digging through drawers looking for their manual so they can figure out how to use the self-timer.
Each year I open my cards with anticipation hoping that this might be the year that I actually get a picture where the family has given up trying to get everyone perfect. Instead the shot is a depiction of what it was really like - someone running into the picture to take their place but not quite making it, a baby crying and someone sticking their tongue out at their brother. (ahem. not that I would know. that isn't what my family is like at all.)
If you haven't done it yet it's not too late to get those cameras out. I just wrangled my family up for our shot this past weekend and believe me, it's about more than getting the picture, we had some serious memory moments in the making of it. My tip is to keep shooting even once everyone has left their "pose" - take some shots of the interaction, the walking away and the laughing. (the shot above is my fave from our family session)
If you're feeling adventurous try some black and whites or cross-process your film. If you're REALLY adventurous add some neighbour kids in the shot and see if your friends notice. Or just huddle your family together, hold the camera at arms length and say, "cheese"!
Post new comment