I "shutter" to think how time does "fly"

Last year, we had a friend take many wonderful pictures of the kids and us as a family. I used 9 of them for our Christmas 2006 card and plan on enlarging and framing many for our home. You can see some of them embedded here and here and here

This year, time was limited as far as scheduling with someone, so I decided we would do it ourselves over the Thanksgiving break. We would have natural scenery available (with a few extra additions from me; that is unless you believe candy canes grow organically!) and time on our hands while we visited his parents.

If you didn't know it, I have a secret desire to be a beloved and in-demand photographer. I am hoping that my new digital camera will at least allow me enough practice that my friends will want me to take their pics for free. After that, the possibilities are endless ;)

I did ok on my first run with the new camera. Actually, I took spectacular pictures. It was the subjects who kept messing with my vision.

They actually did great for awhile, but things fell apart quickly due to cranky kids (ok, it was mostly a cranky little boy), dropping temperatures, and too many backseat photographers.

Anyway, for those that came back from yesterday to discover my tackle for the week (which I teased about here), this was it!

Taking family pictures for our Christmas 2007 card!!

For those that are here to find out about my WFMW contribution, well Shutterfly it is! Probably not a new concept to many of you, but one I only latched onto last year. I love Christmas and I pretty much send out A BUNCH of cards at Christmas. I just feel that it is my only connection with so many of my friends and distant family, that it is the least I can do. AND, I love getting news and photos from all of them as well!! For years, it was "the letter" and an occasional photo if it was warranted. With kids, the annual picture became mandatory! I have done everything from letter + photo to my favorite year where I took old cards (DON'T even ask how many I saved over the years!), tore off the front, added our picture on the back, then mailed them in old extra envelopes I had purchased from a card store for like a penny piece. Cheap but lots of work!

Shutterfly is easy, creative, and can be pretty inexpensive depending on how many cards you need. Right now, it is 20% off. And while I really wanted to do my cards here, I couldn't get the cost past my husband!! Maybe you can cuz they are so cute! I ordered my cards this weekend and they will arrive in just a few days!

It works for me!

I will show you my final product once they arrive, but for now, I hope this sneak peek will work for you!! And by the way, I am a big b&w kinda gal, so I can't wait to get creative with the ones for my b&w wall!

Stacey






I have a new interest in PhotoShop and would love to play with this picture once I find out more!










Here is where I start trying to direct a little! We had to practice several times to get the timing right!










We FINALLY captured the secret surprise look!






Probably killing somethin'!










You would never think it, but these next two shots reveal the upset of the century for my little man. For some reason, my wild man did not want to jump down and when I went for it anyway, he LOST it! Like I said, he was cranky! So, there would be no more creative posing for him! Can you see how cold A is getting? I had to wait until later in afternoon to deal with shadows which made tempertures a factor!