Snap the Perfect Holiday Card Photo

Photo by Evgenyatamanenko/Thinkstock

If all you want for Christmas is a share-worthy photo to put on those 5,000 bleeping holiday cards you have to send, do we have a present for you! Yahoo Parenting spoke with a photographer who specializes in snapping families and a design guru at Tiny Prints to get the inside scoop on how to capture a truly magical image.  

1. Relax, Seriously.
“If you’re doing a shoot and you’re worried that the kids won’t behave, or it’ll be hard for them to sit still, they will feel that pressure and get stressed too,” photographer Nathan Gindi, owner of Photo-Op in NYC tells Yahoo Parenting. The result? Wax figure poses and frozen fake smiles. So set the bar low, chill out, and stop forcing the “perfect” photo. “The best pictures are the ones that reflect the true personality of the family,” swears Gindi. Flawless isn’t what your friends will enjoy anyway, insists Tiny Prints Senior Trend Expert Meg Bohnert. “People don’t want perfect,” the designer tells Yahoo Parenting. “They want you.”

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2. Dress Everyone in Solid Colors.
Say away from outfits with logos or patterns on them. “You want to focus on the kids’ faces and their expressions, not their clothes,” says Gindi. Dressing in solid colors also gives the image a timeless quality. “You don’t want to look at the photos years from now and say, What the heck was I thinking?” he adds. 

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3. Put Away the Props.
Leave the antlers to the animals. “It’s kitschy,” levels Gindi, who says clean, classic photos always end up looking better. “Props are really just distracting.” Like the lollipops that always seem to sneak in when parents bribe kids to cooperate with candy. “Offer sweets as a prize early in the session and I guarantee every photo will end up with one in there!”

4. Find a Funny Photographer.
“Anybody can be trained to take great pictures,” he says. “But you can’t train to be great with kids.” A photographer who specializes in snapping children will make all the difference in getting an amazing shot because they’re experienced in bringing out little ones’ joy. “You need somebody who can make fart jokes,” Gindi admits. “Every kid laughs and you get great smiles! Is your Bar Mitzvah photographer going to yell, ‘Who just farted?!’ I don’t think so.”

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5. DIY with Pro Tricks.
Cell phone snaps can look just as polished as professional photos in cards with a couple of smart cheats. Turn images into black and white when uploading to a card creating website. “It makes everything work,” swears Bohnert. “You don’t have to worry about the colors of your photos and the card template clashing. Plus, if there’s something in the background, it looks less obvious.” Tiny Print’s Designer Review Service can even make photo bombers and intruding objects disappear from an otherwise ideal photo. Most important: Select an engaging photo. “It’s essential to showcase real emotion,” says Gindi. “Personality is the difference between a good picture and a great one.”