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Less Stress, More Fun Holiday Picture Tips
Photography

Less Stress, More Fun Holiday Picture Tips

by Jill December 5, 2013
written by Jill

Sometimes the stress of getting card-worthy family pictures is enough to make us want to draw stick figures in Paint, I know. But before you make such a desperate (genius?) move, check out these tips on how to get holiday pictures without crying and sweating (too much).

HolidayPictureTips

1. Take the focus off your family. Literally put the focus of your camera on something else in the foreground of the picture, and have your family in the background.

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You’d never know that my son was whining in this shot, and that my toddler was not cooperating, either. I didn’t have to stress about smiles, hair, or other small details. I simply focused my camera on the jingle bell ornaments in front.

I shot this with my DSLR, so I could control the settings more. I think this was shot around a 2.0 aperture, with my focal point directed at the jingle bells.

But if you don’t have a “fancy” camera, you could still try to achieve the same look, though it might not be as pronounced. Try using the “macro” setting on your point and shoot (usually an icon of a flower), and be sure your family is really far back from the object you’re focusing on.

2. Put on your PJs and jump into bed.

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No need to stress about what to wear. Bust out those holiday PJs now, jump into a well-lit bed, and promise the kids you’ll let them jump around after they sit still for a few shots.

I posted this picture in a post I did recently on good holiday PJ deals. A few people wanted to know my settings and how I lit this. Nothing fancy. This was in my son’s room, and the window was to our right. The light was streaming directly into the room and onto the bed in front of us. I took his white duvet out of the cover, and it acted as a natural reflector.

Technically, part of the duvet and my hand are blown out, but our faces are well lit, and that’s all I was hoping for.

Here’s the shot straight out of the camera.

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Settings: f/4.0, 160ss, 1600 ISO, shot with my 50 1.4 lens on a Canon MK II.

I cropped it, and adjusted brightness and white balance in Lightroom.

3. Embrace real life.

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Courtney from Click It Up A Notch has a great tutorial on how to make your Christmas photos look like more than snapshots.

Embrace the mess and activities this time of year. Let friends and family see a little slice of real life instead of making everyone smile in front of the fireplace.

Don’t stress about not getting everyone in the picture. Utilize cards that offer collage layouts. I love Minted.com’s photo holiday cards, and they have a ton of designs that work for more than one picture, and their platform makes it super easy to customize everything.

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Love this Signed & Sealed design. It would work great with lifestyle shots.

So snap one of the kids doing something together, but also don’t forget to get mom and dad in there, too! Pass off the camera if you’re the family photographer. Get in the action!

4. Don’t tell them to smile at the camera!

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That’s half the battle with kids, right? They never want to smile and look at the camera. And if they do, they smile those creepy, forced smiles and give each other bunny ears. Don’t out yourself. Don’t even let them know you’re taking pictures. Just do so quietly. Be a documentarian. Capture them in their natural habitat.

If you’re attempting a remote shot with the whole family, just interact naturally and fire off some shots from your remote without telling them. See what comes of it.

5. Turn off your flash. Yup, even at night.

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I love this tutorial from Click It Up A Notch on how to take this picture, and can’t wait to try it out this year with my kids. Courtney does a great job explaining how to use the light that’s already coming from your tree to light up your subjects.

Morning, noon, or night, you do not need that flash on your camera. During the day, let as much light in as possible. Open all the windows and blinds. Be aware of where the light is coming from in your house. At night, let the tree and holiday lights in your home help dramatically light your subjects. The result is sure to make your photo card stand out in the stack of mail.

I presented all of these tips this week on The Broadcast. You can check out the segment below.

December 5, 2013 18 comments
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Crafty!Dallas/Ft. Worth

Repurposed Burlap Wreath Tutorial

by Jill November 5, 2013
written by Jill

Hey! If you caught me on The Broadcast on KTXD this morning, you might be here looking for a link to this tutorial. I re-made a burlap wreath that I created last year for Christmas, repurposing it for Thanksgiving by switching out the accent fabric.

Here’s a link to the original tutorial, featured in Emma Magazine last fall.

EmmaWreath-2

And if you didn’t catch the segment, you can check it out here.

November 5, 2013 2 comments
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Last Minute Pumpkin Decor Ideas
Crafty!

Last Minute Pumpkin Decor Ideas

by Jill October 23, 2013
written by Jill

I can’t let myself freak out that Halloween is about a week away. No, really. DON’T FREAK OUT. I just have an entire Skylanders costume to make for one very, very excited little boy. No pressure.

So instead I’m going to show you, my fellow procrastinators (or you super early birds already planning for next year), some super easy last-minute decorating ideas using everyone’s favorite gourd.

EasyPumpkinDecor

This first one was inspired by my friend Chelsey at ThePaperMama.com (swoon all over her beautiful creations!). She crafted a very adult-like Spooky Halloween Terrarium that inspired me to turn this idea into a kids craft.

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We followed her tutorial, but filled the inside of ours with stuff from the kids section of the craft store.

Instead of the floral foam, we used some Model Magic. We used paper shreds (used for gift packaging) in place of the moss. Then we got some lollipop sticks (you can find them in the cake baking section), and stuck them to the back of adhesive foam shapes and stuck them in our Model Magic. We also hung some adhesive bats with jewelry wire from the top of the pumpkin.

We added a safe pumpkin light and a mini pumpkin for some pumpkin cannibal action. It’s a pumpkin eating a pumpkin! Ahhh! (The kids found that joke hilarious. Many laughs.)

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The next few come together with the help of mini-pumpkins. They are cheap! I found a bag of 4 of them for less than $3 at most big-box stores. These crafts came together with $24 in pumpkins.

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First, I love this tall vase full of pumpkins and white lights. I got the vase with a 50% off coupon at Michaels, making it about $11. We just fetched the lights from the box of Christmas stuff. I can’t take any credit for this idea. I found it floating around Pinterest in various forms, and haven’t been able to track down an original source. If that’s you, let me know! Happy to link back.

I love this idea for those who want to forgo a traditional carved pumpkin on their front porch.

Also, think of other containers you already have that you can fill with mini pumpkins. What about a cake dome filled with pumpkins as an easy centerpiece?

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These chalkboard pumpkins can say anything you want them to. Just pick up a can of chalkboard spray paint, put them on some cardboard outside, and give them a good coat.

It’s helpful if, after the paint dries, you first coat the entire pumpkin in a layer of chalk, then wipe it off. That will prime the chalkboard surface. It will be easier to write on the pumpkins after that, and will give them a great dusty look.

They go perfect with our Bixby the Black Cat Wreath!

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This last idea is super fun. Once again, the creative cans of spray paint can do amazing things. This can of glow-in-the-dark spray paint really works! All I did here was spray a couple pairs of pumpkins, then freehand some eyes on them with Sharpie.

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How fun is that?! We have them resting inside of windowsills. They would be great sitting inside bushes and on tree branches, too.

I was on The Broadcast last week showing off these ideas. Click through to check out the segments! 

October 23, 2013 5 comments
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