We've lived in Utah, Nebraska, upper Michigan and now we've settled in Colorado...at least for now! Marley is 10, Isi is 6 and Enzo is 4!

Life is great!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Family Pictures

Our family home evening activity this Monday was a photo shoot. 

It was time to update our family picture. 
Also, Marley had picture day at pre-school?
We opted to not pay an arm and a leg for pictures...that may not turn out. 
Crazy hair. 
No smile.
Etc.
AND that is the reason we got a nice camera so I could take my kids' pictures. 
We will probably order pictures once they start elementary school though.
And I do realize that is till a gamble with...
Crazy hair.
No smile.
Etc.

Please know.
I am still in need of learning a lot about photography. 
And photo editing. 
And everything. 

I got this CUTE frame from my sisters when we moved to Michigan. 
I LOVE it!
So, our family pictures have to be portrait...not landscape.
Same at the top of our blog. It's kind of a hassle to change that from portrait to landscape so we are trying to stick to portrait for that reason too.
(as you can see I am having a problem keeping it landscape and getting it to fit.)

I thought we got some good shots. 
Here you have it. 

Marley was a good test shot subject. 
I wish I took more of her.
 
 Nathan was a less co-operative test shot subject.
I think this is the best family one.
 Marley is super cute in this one.
 I am a perfectly natural super model.
 Wanna kiss?
 No?
 Time for the FHE treat?!?

 I think I prefer taking our family pictures outside in natural lighting and beautiful natural backgrounds but, I was too sick during the beautiful fall colors to bother.

Do you take your own family pictures?
Do you have any tips for us?

Do you have any special criteria for your family pics?
(portrait or landscape because you want it in a special frame?)

Please share.

6 comments:

Sandy said...

I like your pictures. Good job.

Kathy said...

Funny - your commentary on your self shots! The FHE treat must have been really yummy :-) You are beautiful.

I say mix it up. Don't take the original picture of the family out of the pretty frame. Some frames and some pictures belong together. It will hold the memory together.

Then just put the new family pictures up as they come along.

Greg's parents have always had a wall in their house dedicated to family pictures. Granted they have lots of walls - but I tried to do this too. But, here I'm saying this and I don't do it anymore. :-/ Whatever. So - you put up all these pictures of the family - yours and extended. every time you pass the pictures you're reminded of all these people you love and who love you. Greg's mom put together the big frames with multiple slots - each was dedicated to each child. Then there is the history of the family pictures over the years - these are all in random frames - nothing really matching, just the smiling faces inside.

When they moved into the home they have now they painted a stairwell to their finished basement with magnetic paint (is that what it is? - I guess it's not magnetic, it just must have some metal property in it) They bought these plastic sleeves that have magnetic backing and filled them with pictures of each of their children's families and various pics of the grand kids growing up. Nearly ever inch of this stairwell is these pictures. The other pictures, from the other house - I don't know where they have ended up. Regardless, everyone loves to stop and check out these pics.

So - I liked this family pictures covering a wall idea and did it at our Leigh home, just the little wall between the living area and the bathroom/bedroom area. Was a small collection then. And when we moved here I kept up with putting each new family picture up - this was on a wall in the family room. Each new child portrait. We never made it to the stage where each child had their own "multi picture frame" - but I put up my extended family's pictures as well. When we redid the family room they all came down. Some frames got messed up. The cabinetry took up the wall space. I tried to change some of the frames but unfortunately some of the pictures had stuck to the glass! I guess I should have just bought new frames the same size and just moved glass with pictures stuck to them. I don't know.

Sadly, we haven't had a family picture in over 4 years. Obvious reasons, the two missionaries being away, but they're back now and we should have taken the opportunity to do something more formal when we were together in August. We do have some silly ones though... Claire and Eric gave me one for my birthday, just kids - the one "tip top of Maui" in a pretty frame. It is in the family room waiting for pumpkins to come down. And as soon as they do, that picture will go up and sit next to the family pic from before Eric left and a picture of missionary Ryan and a picture of Missionary Eric. And if we ever have a formal pic again, I bet it will go up right next to those other pictures.

Wow. Blah, blah, blah.

So yeah - family pictures are great! Get them whenever however you can. Cover your house with them. And some pictures deserve to never be changed out. :-)

Pedey @ Do You Smell That!!? said...

We just did family pics 2 weeks back. Get outside & find some interesting backdrops - a brick building, a log fence, a cool doorway, a great tree.... don't be so concerned with the wide angle - you're only gonna see about 2-feet around you in any direction. Aim for a time of day when you won't have a face full of sun or heavy shadows - late afternoon is great!

As far as clothing - you don't have to be too concerned with everyone matching perfectly - just get fun colors that compliment each other - and textures, too. And layers. Add more depth to the flat portrait by dressing yourself with dimension.

We took almost 200 pictures to get roughly 25 that were OK - 11 that I liked enough to print! So click, click, click! We went with friends - they snapped our pics, we snapped theirs. Have fun!

Kirk Klippel said...

Becky, I agree with what your friend said above. And bet you have some beautiful places to shoot where you live.

I'm in the same boat with the camera. Kirk is an awesome photographer. Our good friend takes our pictures and shoots weddings, he's great.

But, either get outside really early in the morning or late in the day like your friend said above.

Matching is really cute, but so is being mismatched and eclectic. Good Luck, we are getting our family pics done in a couple of weeks for Christmas cards, always a bit stressful. Shauna

Nathan said...

Awesome! Thanks for all the family picture/photography help and advice!

Kath~I love the idea of leaving the original picture in that frame. Our first family picture in Michigan and that frame will hold a lot of meaning/memories.

We do need to just get out and take the shots outside...but again...don't feel like bothering. But, we WILL. I love natural lighting!

Love you ALL for your help and encouragement!

~Becky

Sarah said...

when I got my expensive camera my main goal was this: never use the flash... because it makes the subjects look washed out and never use the automatic mode. (obviously there are times when you HAVE to ) but with a good lens even in a dark cave you may not need one! I always use the manual mode to adjust shutter speed, aperture and iso myself. I read a book that was super helpful called "the digital SLR guide". it teaches you one aspect at a time and then he tells you to go out and practice just that one thing and master it before moving on.