It’s the most wonderful time of year!  Cookies are being baked. Presents are being wrapped. Families are gathering together.  Joy and happiness abound on our children’s faces (well, for the most part).  Each year as my boys get a little older I start to appreciate the season just a bit more.  These are the days and moments I will cherish forever.
This is a great time of year to have your camera handy all the time to capture some of these special times with our friends and family. So in the spirit of this magical time of year, here are some ideas to inspire your Christmas photos.
Use Easy Seasonal Props
There are so many fun props you can use this time of year to set up a winter or Christmas scene. You can use ornaments, s small Christmas tree, chalkboard signs. Anything you have on hand to help set the theme of your picture.
You can also pick up some fun fake “snow” for the kids to play with at craft stores like Michaels. Kids just love throwing it in the air and pretending it is snowing.
Another fun prop this time of year is simply a Santa hat. Who can resist that little face with a cute Santa hat? Oh and a quick little tip. See how my son is holding ornaments? There is a reason beyond just trying to make the photo more festive! He is 15 months and will not sit still for three seconds. Giving him something to hold, as I describe in this post, is a must for giving me a quick minute to snap the picture.
And how about a picture of a real Santa baby? I picked up this basket from Hobby Lobby for $10 a few years ago and just love it. Just remember safety first whenever you are using a basket to prop your little one. You want to make sure it is nice and secure before you put your child in it. You don’t want them toppling over. I use a small 5 lbs. weight in the bottom of the basket to make sure it won’t tip over.
I also have a wooden sled my dad bought us as a baby gift that I love to pull out this time of year for pictures.
#XMAS Jammies
If you are anything like me you love dressing your little ones in special Christmas jammies this time of year. Why not snap a picture of them sporting those adorable jammies?
Get Outside to Play!
Kids love to get outside and play no matter what time of year. So bundle them up and grab your camera for some fun playing in the snow. You have the perfect natural background and the lighting should be perfect for your pictures.
On mild days, step outside and use scenery such as pine trees for a pretty background to a holiday picture.
Although I love the above picture as is, if you are looking for an easy way to transform a picture to a wintery scene, try “adding” snow after the fact with some editing. It is very easy and requires no fancy editing software. Head on over to picmonkey and click on edit a picture. Upload your picture to the site. This program allows you to adjust exposure, crop your picture and do a whole bunch of other edits but for our puporses we are just going to add some “snow” to the picture. On the left hand column click on the last option – “themes” (looks like a snowflake). Click on the second theme – Winterland and then the first effect, snowfall. You can adjust the strength of the snowfall and can “erase” the snow off of your subjects face by clicking on the little paintbursh in the bottom right (above cancel). When the dialog box appears click on Original and then use the paint brush to remove the snow from where you don’t want it to appear.  and then click on original. I just removed the snow from the face and some other parts of the body. Here is what my final product looks like.
This time of year Picmonkey also has a lot of other fun effects you can apply to your picture such as borders, overlays and text.
Don’t Forget the Detail Shots
This time of year is filled with special “moments.” Decorating the tree together. Baking cookies. Frosting cookies. Making ornaments with the kids. Be sure your camera is handy during these special times with your little ones.
While I have gotten better over the years, I am no expert on taking my children’s pictures in front of the christmas tree. The lighting always seems a bit off and no matter how hard I try, those little munchkins just move so fast my pictures are always blurry or too dark! So if you have a DSLR and are interested in learning how to take better pictures in front of the Christmas tree, here is a great post with some great tips to help you out. SPOILER ALERT: You don’t want to use your flash! 
Gather the “Family” Together
The holidays are a wonderful time to take some updated pictures with family members. When you can, step outside if the weather allows and try to find a natural backdrop. Inside pictures are fine when you have to but be sure to remember a few of the tips discussed in this post, such as watching your background to remove any distracting objects. You also want to use natural lighting (from windows, doors, etc.) instead of the flash whenever you can. The result is a much more flattering picture.
And don’t forget to include your pets in some pictures! Â The kids will be happy to have some pictures of them with their childhood pet when they grow up.
One final thought to share. Â This season, be sure to take a minute and jump in a few pictures with your children. Whether it is asking a neighbor to snap a picture or setting up a tripod (they are very inexpensive to buy), you should be a part of the picture as well. I am terrible at following this advice and have very few pictures of myself with my kiddos but am working on changing that!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. We would love to see some of the pictures you take over the next few weeks with your family so be sure to share them with us on our facebook page.
For more photography posts, be sure to check out this post and this post for some tips and tricks for improving your momtography.
*All photos copyright of Kara Hilburger Photography
