It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight -- taking Christmas card pictures is a pain in the ass. (Universal truth.) But I'm really glad we did it this year -- our first time!
Before we left for Virginia, Kristie and I set up the tripod in our backyard, bribed Samson with a ton of treats (one of them sat atop my camera to keep his attention there, which worked about 30% of the time), and got a couple good photos to use for our Christmas card this year -- out of like, 60. It was cold, frustrating, hilarious, and totally worth it.
Why was it difficult? Samson was in sore need of a walk and not very interested in sitting still/not eating sticks (I had to PhotoShop a few leaves out of his mouth). The sun was setting earlier and earlier and Kristie had to really hustle to get home from work before we lost "golden hour." In fact, this didn't work out at all the first day we tried it. The sun set as soon as she got home!
And if you thought this was the time of year where I stop taking pictures of miniature pumpkins, you're sadly mistaken.
I love that photo of Kristie above. The campaign has started in earnest to get her grandma in Virginia (MawMaw) to replace Kristie's high school graduation photo with this one on her picture wall.
So we literally got two good family pictures (both above) that have been deemed card-worthy. I'll post our official Christmas card when it's a little more seasonally appropriate. In the interest of transparency, this is pretty much what the other 58 attempts looked like:
Miracles do happen! I love my crazy little family.
A few tips for taking self-timer pictures with a dog (from someone who's terrible at it):
- Make sure they're tired
- Use lots of treats, and leave them around the camera/tripod
- Take as many pictures as you possibly can. It's likely that at least one will be decent.
- When posing with the dog, don't try to direct their attention to the camera by pointing or saying "Look at the camera!" They'll just look at you.
- Stay calm (the hardest one)
