Every year, The Holiday Card Photo causes mothers everywhere undue stress. Why, WHY, is it so difficult to get your whole family looking pleasant for 1/1000th of a second? Children in terrific moods are suddenly pulling hair and crying. Perfectly clean clothes get mysterious stains from thin air. It’s a mystery of the universe for sure.
Thank goodness Shutterfly just launched the amazing Family photo site, Shutterfly Family Photos! This site is such a great resource – I immediately added it to my bookmarks, since I always have trouble getting great family photos. They have tips on dealing with difficult children (and difficult husbands), tips and tricks for lighting and backgrounds, ideas for indoor and outdoor settings and (my personal favorite) an entire series of style tips from a fashion and style expert, Jenn Falik. Among the top style trends for this season’s holiday photos, Jenn Falik has great recommendations for photo styling – and we came up with some examples you can pick from!
Color-Blocking
Group photos can bring one of the season’s hottest trends, color-blocking, into action. Arrange your family in different bold hues for a stylish, runway-ready look! Recommended color choices this season include jewel tones like rich purple, cobalt blue, emerald green and lipstick red. We went with reds and pinks paired with neutral gray!
Bright Holiday Picture Outfits by allthingschic featuring knitted shawls
Get Comfortable
Cozy knits, specifically in shades of ivory or chocolate brown, will be trending this holiday season; and the textures of sweaters can play beautifully in photos. Pair with similarly colored bottoms for just the right amount of coordination. How cozy is this?
chunky sweater family photo! by allthingschic featuring a toggle sweater
Accessorize
Opt for one large statement piece and one small accent piece per person, such as a hair accessory or scarf – minimal accessories with maximum impact.
outdoor photo shoot by allthingschic featuring sheer scarves
Thanks to Shutterfly, we can all have gorgeous family photos in our holiday cards… in more ways than one!
WIN IT!
We are thrilled to offer our readers a chance to win 25 of Shutterfly’s darling new 4×8 cardstock Holiday Cards!!
Mandatory Entry:
Share your tips for getting a great family photo!
Additional entries:
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About Melissa
My kids are 4, 2, and 1, so finding a photographer that is good with little kids and has a chance at getting a natural smile out of my 2yo is key to a good family photo for us this year.
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My tip: don’t be afraid to use a picture that is different. I used a picture a few years ago of my middle daughter sticking out her tongue. To this day, I get so many comments on how people loved that card. It was funny and super cute and totally my family.
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snow makes a great background!
be sure they all had naps and ate before going for pictures
getting a family photo tip, wear the same color of clothes on a contrasting background!
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We always try to take our family picture in October with a fall theme then use that picture for the Christmas picture. To avoid stress of getting it organized with a photographer, I simply set up our tripod and use a remote on a 3 second delay so I can hide the remote in the picture.
We bribe out kids to a dinner at a restaurant if they cooperate. It works great usually, and we usually have at least 1 workable family picture at the first attempt, but by starting in October, if we end up not liking them, we still have time to attempt another family shot before the Christmas cards need to be sent out. 🙂
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the most natural ones are the best
My tip is to have the picture taken at the beach. Great light and scenery and everyone looks natural and happy 🙂
My tip is begging them to all smile at the camera and keep their eyes open. Begging usually works! Thanks so much for the fantastic giveaway!
Renee Walters
Bored2quickly@hotmail.com
My tip- try to schedule for after naptime
I follow Shutterfly on twitter- denimorse
Try to take the pictures after nap time and make sure you eat before hand.
Make sure everyone is well rested. NO PICS close to nap time.
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill12@gmail.com
We just took our first family photos for the holidays, and they were a success. My advice is keep it short and sweet,feed th child right beforehand and bring a change of clothes. We all wore shades of dark blue based on my 15 month’s old blue Ralph Lauren dress!!
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Zoehunter
I am a monthly subscriber 🙂
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Wear similar color clothes i would say is best advice for pics ! No clashing sweaters!
lisae819 at yahoo dot com
i subscribed to your dail emails!
lisae819@yahoo.com
patience, some times the best photos are the ones that are not staged or planned!!
ashleygatewood1(AT)gmail.com
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Don’t say cheese. That will just get a fake looking smile from kids. Instead, try to get them talking about something that makes them excited and happy!
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My tip is not to all wear the same color, have coordinating looks in the same color scheme, but not exactly alike.
nursemommypaige at yahoo dot com
We try to take family photos a couple of times through out the year so we have options come Christmas card time.
My tip would be to take numerous photos throughout the year, also say “on count of three everyone SMILE and have eyes OPEN”. Works pretty well
Everyone getting a good night sleep is essential for our family photo! I would LOVE to win these cards! it would be a huge blessing
our best family photos are created when we aren’t feeling pressured to get a good one, just relax
It’s not horrible at all to practice your smile. How else are you going to correct disappearing eyes when you smile big or the over-correction bug eyes? Practice in front of mirrors AND family for feedback. It helps.
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ilovetoclap
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ilovetoclap
We still haven’t perfected this, I guess make sure everyone looks good and have a nice backdrop
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Put Futurama on the TV behind the photo taker LOL.
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