Holiday Family Portrait Ideas
I wrote an article a few years ago full of holiday family portrait location suggestions. A lot of the advice still applies, but with the pandemic raging, sadly some of the options are not available. Instead in today’s blog post I have a new list of more intimate holiday family portrait ideas to help you maximize Christmas. It’s a new year, and a new way of celebrating the holidays.
Holiday Family Portrait Ideas:
How To Maximize Christmas In Your Family Portrait Session
Precious pajamas are always a hit. Remember when you used to wear footie pajamas as a kid? I’m not sure why they felt so good, but put footie pajamas have always been a favorite of mine. Nothing looks better than a little one in footies. Extra points if they are Christmas plaid or covered in cute little reindeer. Having the entire family dressed in the same set of pajamas might be a bit much, but if you’re an adult I recommend the cosplay version. Who doesn’t love a six-foot tall man dressed as a dinosaur?
Be one with your Christmas tree. Christmas lights have come along way and the LED versions that are sold now no longer have bulbs that are as hot or as fragile as the old strands. Safety first, but if your kids can hold the light strings, then those Christmas lights can work wonders as a very unique lighting source for your family portrait.
Enjoy Christmas activities together as a family. Stiffly posed holiday cards are thankfully a thing of the past. Instead, go for a documentary style for your holiday card and record for posterity the fun Christmas activities you enjoy doing together as a family. Activities like baking cookies, trimming the tree, or decorating the house all work well in front of the camera as family photo essays. Get creative and let your photographer hang around if you’re going to be setting up the house before Santa arrives.
Time to play dress up. Your kid may want to kill you later for this suggestion, but I am totally on board for dressing up your little one in a Christmas costume. Nothing is cuter than a little elf or gingerbread man, and the Internet is an endless supply of costume possibilities.
Stage your Christmas morning. Seeing a child’s eyes light up when she or he opens presents on Christmas morning is absolutely magical. Since most photographers aren’t available on Christmas morning, you could do the next best thing and stage that excitement. Have one present set aside for the photo shoot. This could be a gift from a grandparent or something you know the child will love but not as special as those presents you want to save for Christmas morning. Set up your tree, get ready like it was the real deal, and then watch the magic happen in front of your camera.
Plan a visit from Santa. Thanks to Covid, no one is going to be sitting on a stranger‘s lap this holiday. But you can bring the magic to your own living room by having a family member come to the house dressed as Santa. Who’s that knocking at the door? It’s grandma and grandpa!
A Bay Ridge Family Portrait Session
For 2020, we all need a heaping helping of Christmas. Mary certainly provided loads of Christmas cheer with her precious little twins. Her family portrait session in Brooklyn really brought a smile to my face and I was so pleased to photograph her family.
I hope you all have a great holiday season. Personally, I’m going to be in New York City, and next week I’ll be sharing with you photos of the city during this surreal time. Until then, I wish you the best with your (online) holiday shopping.
Interested in scheduling your own holiday family portrait session? Drop me a line and let’s chat.
If you would like to see more images from my family portrait portfolio, then please visit my website – KellyWilliamsPhotographer.com
