Well it's that time of year again, isn't it? You know - when we just start thinking about getting the family pictures done for those Christmas card send outs. Being in the photography business for the last two years I've seen a lot of 'stressed' families come through my doors. Almost not a day went by without hearing those unforgettable words - "Do I have to?". And let me tell you it was always in a tone of please don't make me. So I thought I would offer some possible solutions as well as a small amount of advise.
Here we go:
As nice as it is, it is not always necessary to get professional studio style portraits for Christmas. I know that a lot of times we are looking to replace last year's photo on the grandparents' walls and we would like something similar so everyone can see how much the kids have grown. Don't get me wrong; this is great, especially when they are constantly changing. But I would suggest to change things up a bit every once in a while, say alternating each year with studio, style and casual. For example the picture to the left is my family. The last set of photos we had done was in fact in a studio. But to be honest we had more fun doing things this way, and all we needed was a camera on a tripod with a timer. (or you could ask a friend who has a good eye when taking photos) Contrary to popular belief the photos really do not need to be perfect; maybe it's just me,but I would rather have the fun smiles vs. the 'painted' perfect ones that you see on the studio walls. Not to mention there is only so much a studio photographer can do in a limited amount of space. They are also limited to choice in backgrounds which are not always updated yearly. (Another frequent complaint I heard in the studio).
Next up is if you are going to go in and have the studio pictures done try and do it as early as possible; even if you don't feel like Christmas yet, do them in October instead of the first week of December. This is for a couple of reasons at least. First reason is that most portrait studios will already have their Christmas stuff available in October including those greeting cards. You will have more time if there was an unfortunate problem with the photos to fix them or redo them and still get them back in time to send them out. Also, you yourself will hopefully be able to relax enough to enjoy them too. The last thing the family needs when doing pictures is to have the parents stressed as it does affect the children as well. To go along with that, if for some reason a member of your family happens to be out of sorts on the day chosen it is still possible to try again.
If you really like the greeting cards, here is something to consider. You can either use an old photo or take a new one, either yourself or use that friend of yours, and send it to the photo lab. It is cheaper to go through some of the photo labs and have them make greeting cards for you. Not to mention they actually have more graphic options for you to choose from as well, and you'll get them back faster too.
Lastly, if you choose the studio for your family portraits here are a few really important things for you to keep in mind:
1) Choose a time that works best for the youngest member of your family.
2) Come early so you don't feel rushed.
3) Be prepared with a list of what your photo needs are (it does truly save time)
4) If you do need to wait for your photographer:
- bring something to help keep your children occupied for 10 - 15 minutes
- be patient with the staff - remember they too have had a LONG day
- be as patient as possible with your children, but also keep them from doing a lot of running around as it will be distracting to the people in with the photographer and could make things take even longer.
5)Like before have something and or someone available to help keep your children occupied and not running around while you are making your selections.
(My mom and her grandkids)And Lastly
6) In the words from the movie "Beauty and the Beast" - YOU MUST LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR TEMPER! We are always going to hear things we don't want to hear and everyone has a job to do. If we want to be given every courtesy then we need to do the same with the staff that is trying very hard to get that picture you will love.
Well I do hope that someone out there finds this helpful and will be able to enjoy the Christmas season all the more.
