Every Christmas I vow to start on my holiday to-do list early and my goal is always the same: Have everything on my list crossed off two weeks prior to the big day. And every year, without fail, I fail miserably! After some reflection, I realized the two big items that slow my progress are

1) shopping for Christmas gifts and

2) creating holiday photo cards.

While I can't provide any help with the first, I'm here to show you four easy steps to finish those photo cards early and feel the satisfaction of crossing each step off your list!

STEP 1: TAKE PHOTOS

Just...take...photos. I give you permission to let go of perfection! A lot of us feel we need the perfect setting, the children to be dressed in the perfect clothes with perfect hair, and to capture the perfect expressions. Want to know a little secret? It's not going to happen. Life's not perfect, so we shouldn't expect our photos to be either. Let go of the expectations this year, and just have fun with your photos using the following tips:

• Forget the stiff poses and capture personality instead. Go for candid shots of your family interacting or laughing.
• Reach for fun props to coax personality and let individuality shine. 

• Try shooting at interesting angles. Have children lie on the ground and photograph them from above, or line up your subjects and snap a photo from the end of the line--instead of photographing straight on.
• Hook your digital camera up to the TV so your subjects can watch themselves on television during the photo shoot.
• MAKE IT EVEN EASIER and use a favorite photo from 2011! Can a summer beach photo really live happily on a Christmas card? You bet! Who wouldn't love to get a slice of summer in the middle of winter?

Appeared in:

November/December 2011