Let’s Break It Down: Holiday Family Photo Tips and Photo Recipe
PREP: Choose their outfits the day before. What to wear? Mom, you first find something to wear that you feel beautiful in–no matter how casual or dolled up. The only thing that matters is you feel super comfy and beautiful. Once you have your outfit figured out, have everyone else wear something that compliments YOU! (Court, you are glowing in this photo! I love it!)
Right after breakfast have the kids run and change into their outfits. Think of yourself as a ring leader, raise your voice to a higher, fun tone and rally them, getting their energy going while you are the one who is obviously steering this ship. Make sure you smile a lot and really take the kids by surprise in how excited you are (not stressed) to do this.
Consider your location. Your backyard will work great, but prep before so there isn’t any distracting objects in the background. Ask your neighbor to take the photo after you’ve set it up. If you want to drive to a fun location, make sure it’s within five to ten minutes of your home. Since this is a holiday photo that you are taking and not a photo shoot that has been set up and paid for, the kids’ motivation to cooperate is going to be shorter. We want to take advantage of their initial excitement and make this photo happen as fast as possible.
FOR P&S USERS (point and shoot users): Turn off your flash and get down at eye level with the kids so you are shooting straight on. Set your camera to Continuous Shooting Mode so you can capture ALL the action.
FOR DSLR USERS: Put your camera in Aperture Priority mode so that you can pick your lowest f-stop (for the most buttery, blurry backgrounds possible) and your DLSR will automatically figure out your shutter speed. If you are outside, you will have plenty of natural light for a fast enough shutter speed with minimal motion blur. But if you are getting motion blur you don’t have enough light for your shutter to move fast enough to capture a crisp shot. Easy fix; raise your ISO one or two notches for my light and sharper photos with action.  Make sure your DSLR is in Continuous Shooting Mode to grab ALL the action, like the ones to follow.
My DSLR Setting: Aperture was f/3.2, 1/500th of a second Shutter Speed and 25o ISO
MeRa! These are amazing – I love them so much! I especially love the one of my two boys smiling together – the best photo of the two of them of their lives so far! It is amazing you captured that because they got wild and silly quick! Love the wild and silly ones you got of them, too. All of them are so good; I can’t wait to see the rest! Thank you so much – what an incredible experience!
YEAH Courtney Dubois Byrnes!!! Wait till you see the rest!! 🙂
I just had to tell you again I can’t stop looking at these photos! You have such a gift. These are more than just pretty pictures, each one tells a story. I could write a whole page about each one. I don’t know how you do it, but you really captured each of us. Thank you again!
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