Photography Class 101

I had this picture in mind as The Perfect Christmas Shot, and I gave the kids' fair warning that it was going to happen. I was met with the inevitable moans and groans, and even a "What?! We don't read books. Especially not in front of the Christmas tree. It'll look totally posed."

My kids know that I'm all about the spontaneous captures, not posed shots. But I had this in  mind, and I was going to make it happen. I grabbed a photo book from our Disney vacation and handed it to the kids to "read." That was the most genius idea I'd had in a long time, even though it was purely by accident. The kids were enthralled by those memories, and sat through several dozen (or more...) pictures while I adjusted for lighting, and zoomed in, then out, then tried flash photography, and attempted a blurred shot... Even when I was done, the kids sat looking at the book.

That was the lesson that I learned over the holidays in Photography Class 101. Be sure the kids are sufficiently entertained to minimize the whining.

Under the tree

3 comments:

Trisha said...

What a wonderful photo! Even though I know it was "posed" you can totally tell the kiddos were enjoying the book!

Carol N. said...

Beautiful! Love the, "but we don't read books...." Made me chuckle :o)

Roger Miller said...

Love the shot, although you can tell that Micah was either excited about a picture, or just doesn't want to sit too still. ;)

I think I'll go and have a look at one of our Disney books now. :D