If you're signed up for one of my holiday mini-sessions, plan on signing up, or are planning on booking a regular session to get those holiday photos done, you might also want to know that one of the awesome things that you get is a holiday e-card! And to show you what a good sport I am, you even get to see my family Christmas photo! Our little family has been taking the same photo for the last several years - the three of us sitting in front of the Christmas tree, next to the fireplace. If that doesn't get you into the holiday mood, I don't know what will!

I really wanted to get the Christmas photo done this week, so that I could order my cards to send out to family and friends. We tried to get our photos done twice. The first time well...SUCKED. I had the camera set on a Gorrilapod on my dining room table, and because I wanted the whole image to be sharp, I used a small aperture. Which meant that to compensate, I used a slow shutter speed. Unfortunately, between me deciding to take something away from my daughter just as I hit the button on the self-timer, and her inability to stay still for more than a few seconds at a time, the photos were a disaster. First, we had to calm her down. Then, we had to try to convince her to sit still long enough for the shutter to fire off. Needless to say, she was blurry in all of the photos. That and the camera wobbled way too much every time I hit the shutter (even on the self-timer), which of course, did not help.

I decided to try again a few days later. This time, we were all a lot more relaxed. I also decided to hook up my flash, in order to avoid using a slower shutter speed. To avoid the camera wobble while resulting from pressing the shutter, I used a shutter release cable. Most importantly, everyone was in a great mood. We weren't dressed up all fancy, and we decided to wear funky hats. Well, at least my hubby and I did. My daughter wore a Snow White dress. We also had a friend tag along for the shot - Ollie Bear. Ollie has been a constant companion of my daughter's of late, so it only seemed fitting that he would join us for our photo.

But enough yapping. You probably want to see the picture. And remember, you get an e-card just like this one, if you book a mini session or a session for the holidays. So what the heck are you waiting for???