Christmas Greetings 2017

Salt Creek Outtakes

We had the quickest photo snapping session ever to get a family shot for our Christmas cards. We decided on overlooking the beach but it ended up being cold and windy so it was a good thing we had only set up a 15 minute mini session. It turns out that 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time to capture the best smiles from 4 boys. Besides, all we really wanted was a picture of us all together for our card. The rest of the outtakes were just a bonus.

2016 TanFam

My friend and I decided to be each other's photographers for our family Christmas cards this year instead of forking over the big bucks for professional sessions. I really only needed one shot, and after delaying for three weekends because of rain, we finally got our one shot the first weekend of December.

I edited my friend's session right away, but aside from picking the best shot for our card, I didn't even glance through the rest of our photos for three months. That seems to be my rate lately. I was happy to find both some sweet shots and some good bloopers when I went through them this week.

The orange grove is in our neighborhood and not only can we pick oranges any time we want, but it makes a stellar photo location.

Troy's face perfectly expresses how we feel most of the time with our four boys.

I was simultaneously taking photos of another family during our session, so while I had my camera in my hand, I gathered my boys for some individual shots.

Troy is about as cooperative as our boys are.

It's nice that when you procrastinate the Christmas card photo, you still have a chance at green, sunny outdoor photos in December when you live in SoCal. 

Fourteen Tanners

The last time we took photos with the Tanner family, Blake and Nash were the only grandchildren. There have been five more people added to the family since then, so it was time for an updated shot. It's rare for us all to be in one place at one time, so Troy's mom made sure to schedule a block of time to capture the family over Christmas break.

She had the vests, bow ties and dresses all purchased and laid out.

Blake entertained his brothers and cousins while we were waiting in between shots.

After taking lots of formal pictures outside where the light was beautiful, the plan was for all of the cousins to change into their Christmas pajamas and gather on Grandma and Grandpa's bed. After hours of being told to hold still and smile, there was no way we were going to get an ounce of cooperation from all of them at the same time. 

Too many little monkeys jumping on the bed.

So, we opted for individual shots instead.

Finn was acting the naughtiest of them all throughout the photo session. I mean, he's a toddler, but he was especially needy, determined, wiggly, hungry for fifteen snacks, etc. We saved his individual photo for last because even with three adults at the scene, we knew it was going to be a struggle. And what do you know, he shocked us all when we plopped him down on the bed and he gave us the most angelic pose you could think up. You just never know what you're going to get with two year olds.

Gathering that many people and expecting cooperation from seven kids under the age of nine was no easy feat. But the photographer did an excellent job thinking of new gimmicks to get the kids to smile. It was a nice break for me to not be the one behind the camera. And now the Tanners have some new photos to hang on their walls.