This is probably the only time in the year that I actually look forward to checking the mailbox on a daily basis. We have entered the Christmas Season and our mailbox starts receiving Christmas cards from friends and family from all over the world. My wife's aunt, uncle and cousin in Tasmania would be the card that travels the furthest.
It seems like more and more of the cards we receive each year are family photos and as a photographer these are the cards I appreciate the most. It is great to see the kids grow each year.
We have been sending out family cards for as long as we have been married. Just like the rest, we started sending out photo cards about 6 years ago when I got my first digital camera. There are vendors everywhere that make sending out photo greeting or holiday cards as simple as shoot, click, and buy. My preferred vendor for all my prints and photo cards is MPIX.com. After a couple of years of sending out the standard family photo in front of the fireplace, Christmas tree, etc., I decided to experiment with my photoshop skills.
So in 2005 we sent out our first themed Christmas Card which was a hit to all the friends and family.
It seems like more and more of the cards we receive each year are family photos and as a photographer these are the cards I appreciate the most. It is great to see the kids grow each year.
We have been sending out family cards for as long as we have been married. Just like the rest, we started sending out photo cards about 6 years ago when I got my first digital camera. There are vendors everywhere that make sending out photo greeting or holiday cards as simple as shoot, click, and buy. My preferred vendor for all my prints and photo cards is MPIX.com. After a couple of years of sending out the standard family photo in front of the fireplace, Christmas tree, etc., I decided to experiment with my photoshop skills.
So in 2005 we sent out our first themed Christmas Card which was a hit to all the friends and family.
In 2006 we sent out a high contrast black and white family portrait
which was trendy from the GAP ads at the time. Then in 2007 Michele
and I started thinking of ideas for the next card during Thanksgiving.
At that time there was a documentary on TV about Andy Warhol and the
theme of the 2007 card was set.
This year we started thinking about our plans for the Christmas card at the start of November. I knew I was going to create a composite image so I setup a white seamless backdrop in one of the spare rooms in the house. We had all kinds of ideas on what we wanted to do. Then at lunch we were talking about memories of Christmas and I mentioned that my Grandmother always had ribbon candy in a bowl for Christmas. It is the kind of candy that looks ohh sooo good, but in reality is sticky, hard, and not that tasty. We both laughed at the memories of Grandma candy and our theme was set.
The next step was to find some, which surprisingly wasn't very hard. The local CVS had it and we bought a box. When we got home for the shoot I opened the box and found most of the pieces were broken, and the ones that were not were terrible colors. So back to CVS and we bought 2 additional boxes hoping for a good piece. After some test shots of the candy we started doing some mockups for the various poses we wanted to try. Here is one of those mockups. My plan was to shoot each person individually and then composite it into a single image for the card. Check out the mad drawing skillz in my mockup.
After several test shots and different versions of composites, we have arrived at the Christmas card for 2008.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year.
This year we started thinking about our plans for the Christmas card at the start of November. I knew I was going to create a composite image so I setup a white seamless backdrop in one of the spare rooms in the house. We had all kinds of ideas on what we wanted to do. Then at lunch we were talking about memories of Christmas and I mentioned that my Grandmother always had ribbon candy in a bowl for Christmas. It is the kind of candy that looks ohh sooo good, but in reality is sticky, hard, and not that tasty. We both laughed at the memories of Grandma candy and our theme was set.
The next step was to find some, which surprisingly wasn't very hard. The local CVS had it and we bought a box. When we got home for the shoot I opened the box and found most of the pieces were broken, and the ones that were not were terrible colors. So back to CVS and we bought 2 additional boxes hoping for a good piece. After some test shots of the candy we started doing some mockups for the various poses we wanted to try. Here is one of those mockups. My plan was to shoot each person individually and then composite it into a single image for the card. Check out the mad drawing skillz in my mockup.
After several test shots and different versions of composites, we have arrived at the Christmas card for 2008.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year.
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