10.19
2012

Trying to Get a Christmas Card Picture Part 1

Do you ever see pictures and wonder how people get kids to sit so still and perfect to capture it? I do! Just about every “pretty” photo of children that I see I wonder how in the world they got it. Seriously, it is so incredibly hard to take a half-way decent picture of one child, never mind two! Every once in a while I get a shot of one of them that I love and I get so excited about it. I know Jon thinks I’m crazy when I get so excited about one photo, but I don’t think he has any idea just how difficult it is, or realizes that for every one good shot there are nine hundred and ninety bad ones! So, I thought for fun I would share with you my attempt to get this year’s Christmas card picture (which I have to admit I don’t have yet, despite quite a few tries!)

There is a really cool old barn in a fabulous field that we drive by
every now and again when we are up in New Hampshire. I never really
noticed it much, though, until I was up there back in September and
ended up driving by it quite a bit. I thought it would be such a great
setting for our Christmas card photo. Well, when the girls and I
were up in New Hampshire in October it rained basically EVERY DAY for the entire
week we were there except for the last day. It was hurried and rushed
but I figured it was worth a try so we got the girls in matching jumpers
and out the door and over to the barn we went.

With help from my mom and Jamie we tried to get them in the general spot I had in mind (we didn’t have much luck!) and then just when I was about to start taking some pictures poor little Lola got her foot stuck on a vine and that was the end of that. This was the one shot I got before she started crying. (In her defense, it had prickers on it and I would have cried too!)

Lillie smiled nicely for me for a minute or two, but it’s kind of important to have BOTH of your children on your Christmas card! Haha!

Now it’s time to get down without getting scratched…
 
After that failed attempt we headed to the apple orchard. I generally try to do very little posing with them and have them be in a setting they find fun to help it go smoothly. Well, I couldn’t even get them to walk in the same direction there! Ugh!

They did have fun, though! Here are my parents with the big giraffe:

Lorelei checking out the goats:

Lillie playing some bocce ball:

And then there was a brief moment when Lola sat down in the middle of the road and we got Lillie to sit down next to her. Their faces show pretty much how I was feeling at this point:

With some help from my parents and Jamie and Josh all standing behind me we did get some smiles:

Now I do really love this photo of them so if I don’t get anything else I can always use this, but it’s not at all what I had envisioned. After the apple orchard we tried a third location which I will show you in my next post.

I am hoping to give it one more attempt this weekend! Wish me luck! =)

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday!

Trying to Get a Christmas Card Picture Part 2
Pilgrim Boy Pillow Covers and a Winner
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23 thoughts on “Trying to Get a Christmas Card Picture Part 1”

  1. I have two little girls the same age as yours and I can completely relate to how difficult it is to get both of them smiling and looking at the camera…nearly impossible! I love these locations though…adorable girls as always.

  4. I used to bribe my two with m&m's. To this day, when I take a picture of the two of them they tell me they won't give me a smile unless I hand over and m&m. By the way, they are 18 and almost 21.

  6. This post made me smile and brought back so many memories of trying to get a good photo with both of my girls. Before digital cameras, I can't tell you how many rolls of film we went through. We have a box we keep of all of the "rejected" pictures and we look at them today and laugh and laugh at the expressions on our sweet girls' faces. Looking forward to seeing your final shot for your cards. The girls are so adorable.

  7. My favorite is both of them climbing the ladder. I look at these and think to myself " can I ever take pictures this nice? I can barely coordinate my children's clothes and lets not forget to mention I don't have a nice camera" one thing I have learned from blogs is that if its been done before then I know it's possible and I know I can do it too. Thanks for the inspiration.

  10. You have such a beautiful family! These pictures are so adorable, I hope you're able to find one you like for your card! I've been reading your blog for a while & have gotten such amazing decorating inspiration from you. I started a fashion blog a few months ago so I'm just now following you via GFC 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    Katherine

    http://mintedglam.blogspot.com/

  11. They are DARLING- all of the pictures are precious! I have 3 little girls and have the same issue- the two older girls are always trying to get the baby to smile so I have one smiling and two looking at her in every picture! 🙂 You are so talented- they will love looking back on those pics!

    Jenica
    http://www.delightfulmomstuff.com

  13. What lovely pictures!! I like the ones on the road. I took some pictures of a friend and her family (three kids- 8,5,2) and it was challenging to get all of the kids looking at the same time. 🙂

  14. Oh girl I totally feel your pain! Trying to get my 3 together for a good pic is asking for a miracle! Keep trying and keep sharing because I love looking at your pics 🙂 xoxo Prencie

  15. I LOVE the pictures 🙂 How cute are those cowboy boots & both of your girls are just beyond gorgeous! I think it would be so so cute to have a card made with the pic that looks like they are yelling- and put bubbles above their head that makes it look like they are saying HO HO HO 🙂

    Have you seen the pics ppl are pinning where they have a pic of themselves as a child and they redo it as an adult? I can totally see that happening with the same pic 12 years from now 🙂

  16. Love all the pictures, and yes I wonder the same thing! I have 3 to try to get looking at the camera at the same time. I don't even worry about smiles anymore, just as long as they still look like they are having fun. Good luck! I'm still trying to figure out where ours will be taken this year!

    Meg

  17. Hi there!
    We met a long time ago at Kidsburg. 🙂 I have been following your blog and really enjoying it! I understand your pain on photographing your own children, as that is the hardest thing to do! It is much easier to capture other peoples children!! lol Anyway, if you are interested, check out my website http://www.KBSphoto.com. I would love to get the chance to photograph you all!
    ~Kerry

  18. Your girls are adorable! I have 5 kids aged 3-9 and I am not even going to try to get them all in one photo. Well, maybe I will try but the chances of it actually going well are slim to none! I feel just like you, if I get one good photo occasionally, I am ecstatic! 🙂

  19. I have to say, i like the one with them sitting in the middle of the road… it's funny and cute! I know taking photos of kids and pets is impossible, they're always moving! I really enjoyed these two posts!

    Cindy

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