Any tips for a kids chrissy pic?

Hi there.

I am trying to get a picture of my 16month old and my 6week old together...in the same photo......and its not really going well.

If I am lucky enough to get a shot where 16month old isnt poking 6 week old in the eye, the pictures are blurry, too dark, too light...the list goes on :wall:

Does anyone have any practical ideas on how I can get even a slightly christmasy photo with DD's ending up with a belly full of tinsel or eating the Christmas lights?

I have a razzy dazz fujifilm camera thingy that I have no idea how to use :rofl:

TIA

:bump:

Haha it's hard getting photo's of babies I struggle with just the one. Try outside that way lighting will be best or in a well natural lit room. Maybe put six week old in basket with tinsel have 16mth old beside it with Santa hat on??? And give her Christmas baubles to play with taht way it will distract her from poking the baby. If photo's are blurry cos older DD is moving set the camera to sport mode that way it'll increase the shutter speed. HTH

It sucks LOL

I still struggle with a 3 and a bit and a nearly 23 month old!! 1 has fingers in mouth, up nose, poking other picnhing or just 10 miles apart!!!

When younger I would sit DS1 on couch in corner and then lie DS2 in his lap leaning back on him or across him and run and shoot really fast LOL found it useful to have a rattle or squeeky toy in my hand to distract him.
Have to work out what you want set it up click and pray for it to look ok!!

good luck

I would take a whole heap of photos in different places to find the best lighting and background and then give them some Christmassy stuff to play with and then shoot shoot shoot!!!! Posing never works here but I get the best photos when I just set myself up in a good spot and they are just playing.

any chance you could get little bub to sleep and lay in basket or even on a blanket, maybe with a hat/lights/tinsel? Basket is probably a little safer for stopping older kidlet from trampling i guess lol

is there some sort of "encouragement" you can use with older DD to get her be a bit more compliant?? My DD was about that age for her second christmas photos, and a combination of people and a small bribe of a chocolate freckle helped heaps!

Could you do like Tan suggests, take 1000's of photos of them together and one at a time and then photo shop them onto one card, itms? That is what I will be trying tomorrow! Lots of different places, props (fake pressies, chrissy paper, tinsel, decorations) ect and then hoping for the best! I will just be putting red and white clothes on them all, likely just a green singlet and red nappy cover for DS2, a white singlet and red undies for DD and some red shorts for DS1.

Outdoors in the afternoon would be best as it'd give better light which will make it easier to photograph.

If tinsel consumption is an issue, have it around but not in reach. I like the idea of a basket. Maybe use a red fluffy blanket in a big basket. You could even use a laundry basket if you haven't got a big enough wicker one. Put a pillow or two inside, cover it with a white sheet then a red or green blanket or whatever xmas color you're going for this year and add the little one on top. Let the 16mo play with some non breakable xmas ornaments sitting right next to the basket. Don't try and have them looking at the camera. Candid is always better, though I'm not too up to date on how well 16mo's respond to directions, you could try having the older hug the basket, or 'show' ornament to the younger. If you really want older looking to the camera, have her "show" the ornament to you. Have her saying "see" should get a grin same as "cheese"

Or you could try getting a 'naptime' shot and have it say 'dreaming of xmas' or something similar with ornaments scattered around. Once the little one is napping add to the basket then have the older sit next to it with their head on the edge and pretend to nap.

If you have some empty boxes laying around you could wrap them up and use them as some props. They'll be a little bit harder to consume compared to tinsel, though if your kiddos are anything like my cat they still might not last too long.

If you know how to set your camera to spot meter, you could do some cool silhouette shots against the tree (if it's set up). Be careful with too much white in the shot if you don't know how to set spot metering though. If you do photograph outside, you can still use the flash it can help fill in shadows. Try with and without flash.


Hope you're getting some good ideas!

My camera isn't the greatest, but it does us at the moment. When taking pics if the kids, I just take shot after shot after shot. Eventually there will be one good one. Anything squeaky is good for getting my little ones attention.


(Sent from my phone, so I apologise if it makes no sense.)

if you have the beach near by write Merry Christmas 2011 in the sand and try to get the 16 month old to sit near the words..

Otherwise I would dress them in something Christmassy and lay them both on green grass.. and go from there

you may need a helper to either take the pic or entertain the children. :)

Thankyou everyone. They are all really great ideas!!!

After 20million shots I finally found something to keep 16mo on track. Everyday I spray her hair with water to help brush it. sometimes us a treat I will spray the water in the air and let it fall on her- she loves it so, with this in mind......I called DH and made him stand behind me and I would countdown from 3 and on 3 DH would spray the water and 16mo would look up with a big smile on her face...it worked surperbly. Anyway, last night I went through the pics and as the photoshoot went on the sheet in the background that I used as a backdrop was getting wetter and wetter LOL. The last 20 photos or so, 16mo's hair is saturated and the sheet has a big wetpatch :rofl:

Ahh well, cant win all the time LOL

Haha that's hilarious delph!

If you can, try setting the sheet further back from the little ones, won't get quite as wet. Not much to do about the hair though :lol: Hope you got some good ones? The one thing I've learned photographing my niece is that you need to take more photos when you're dealing with kids, they move a lot faster than I expected even at only a few months.