One of MY favorite things about the holiday season is CHRISTMAS CARDS!! I just love going to my mailbox every day and getting that little gift from my friends and family. As many of you know, my family goes ALL OUT with our Christmas card. So I thought I’d put together some a short list of tips to create an amazing holiday card.
Everyone loves to see how your kids have grown and changed. If possible, use a professional photographer (of course) and showcase your family!! In 2011 we created this lenticular card that showcases how much the kids have changed from 2009 when the old Memorial Bridge was taken to 2011 when the new Memorial Bridge was built.
Have fun with it!
This card was inspired by my nieces playing an old game that I played as a little girl. I put my own spin on it by adding the pictures of the family-including our dogs-because as you recall in the first tip, people want to see your family!!
Get nostalgic. The advent calendar card we created reminded me of my childhood Christmases.
Share the big milestones in your life.
Last years card was inspired by my daughter’s favorite childhood book. We took the look and feel of the book and told our own story about sending her off to her first year of college. It still brings tears to my eyes when I read it. I hope you find these tips helpful. You don’t have to go crazy, like we do every year, but keep in mind a few of these tips and I’m sure your holiday card will be one that people look forward to getting year after year.
Vera is one of the easiest kids I have EVER photographed! Every time she comes in she is so happy and animated!
This portrait is from Emerson’s one year session. It’s my favorite from this group. I have heard people say they want to wait until their baby is one before they bring them in for portraits-I say “What?!” Your child goes through SO many changes during their first year, it would be such a shame to NOT capture that. Take a look below at Emerson’s first baby portrait.
- Look at how her entire arm is the same size as her dad’s thumb! She was TINY, amazingly tiny! I am SO glad that we captured this moment, so small in daddy’s arms, completely sheltered by his hands.
- or sound asleep on mom’s shoulder.
- This is one of her mom’s favorite images of her from the entire year’s worth of portraits. This teeny tiny stage goes by SO fast, it is important to capture it in those first few weeks home from the hospital.
- This is the time to capture those little fingers and toes.
- By the time she came in for her six month session, I hardly recognized her. SO much had changed within such a short time. She was sitting up, smiling & engaging.
- Just look at those eye! Wow!
- This red couch is most popular with the 6 month portraits. I just LOVE it!
- This series, from Emerson’s one year portrait session, is being hung on one wall as a group of four. The wall space was too big for one image but a square grouping 4 similar images works PERFECTLY!!
- I can’t believe I won’t be seeing Emerson again until her second birthday! I will miss seeing her and her parents every few months.
Here is the second session of Ryan’s first year portrait package. He is 6 months old, (already) and sitting up by himself. I can’t believe how fast time has gone by and how much he has changed since his newborn session!
- Ryan LOVES hanging out with his dad!
I can’t wait to see how much he’s changed when he comes in for his one year portrait!
Emerson at 6 months old! SUPER CUTE!! This seems to be the shot that mom’s in the Baby’s First Year program look forward to having done the most-the orange couch! There is something about this orange couch that just works. It’s timeless. It is important that the baby is able to sit on his or her own for the 6 months session.
- This kid has SO MANY facial expressions. Her parents decided on a collage of three images to represent the “many sides of Emerson”. There were A LOT to choose from! None of them crying though-she is a very happy little girl 🙂
- This new gray chair has proven a valuable addition to my studio. I use it for babies-high school seniors. Emerson looks beautiful in it with her fancy little dress!
For her next session, at one year old, she should be able to stand on her own. I can’t wait to see that, she is such a peanut!!