Christmas Gifts | Custom Canvas Print and Wall Portraits

Now that Christmas is over, I can share some of the beautiful photography gifts we were able to give this Christmas. The first is a custom 30" x 16" custom canvas from my family's shoot this summer. Gorgeous! My parents live in the midwest, so I didn't even get to see the canvas before it was shipped to them. Fortunately, it turned out beautifully. Maybe someday I'll have a chance to see it in person!

The next set of gifts was two framed wall portraits of my grandparents and my aunt. They are the only family we have nearby, so we've become especially close. Their house is filled with family portraits, but no really recent ones of them. So, when Thanksgiving time came and I took their pictures, I knew that a wall portrait for each of them would be a great gift. I had the metallic prints mounted and sprayed so they didn't need glass in the frame and the linen texture would be visible. They loved them!

 Here's how it looked in the frame:

Christmas Around the Corner: Family Portrait Session, Sandy Springs GA

Christmas is next week! I'm been very busy doing the last sessions of the year and Christmas photo editing for clients. I have to get everything done before our family leaves on vacation, so I'm getting these edits done as soon as I can after the shoot.

This season, I've really started to love post-processing. It's fun to take a great image and make it something really special. I love to make the images "pop" using levels and saturation. It simplifies the colors and adds a real portrait look to a photograph. I have also been getting very good at cleaning up backgrounds (like fixing a mark in the wall or a scratch on a rocking chair as I did in these photos. Oh, yes, and getting rid of electrical outlets.)

Of course, the best part of being a photographer is taking the photos themselves. After all, I still believe that a good image is made at the shoot, not after. My favorites from this session? Definitely the 3-year-old in her rocking chair (shot in a small spot of wall space in the dining room). The couple shots are fun too. I had trouble picking which ones I liked best! Then, there's the family shots--really gorgeous all of them. I especially love the long shot of the family in front of their door. Including the background to provide context for an image is one of the things I'm working on in my photography lately.

Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas Card

Our family spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents' home in South Carolina last week. While we were there, I did a very short portrait session so we could get the photo for their Christmas card done. Once I'd taken the photos, they chose their favorite pose and left the rest up to me. It's always nice when clients (or family) trust my judgment with a design. It leaves me room to experiment and get it just right. Well, they were thrilled with the design, and I've just heard they ordered the prints tonight. Merry Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa!

More Christmas Card Pictures: Indoor Family Portraits

Lately, the weather has been okay during the beginning of the week but clouds begin to gather around Thursday, and Friday breaks into rain. Most times, Saturday is clear enough for a photo shoot, but it can be an iffy situation, even the day of the shoot. This Thanksgiving week was no exception.

Knowing this might be the case, my clients and I planned on an indoor location and an outdoor one. When we saw that the rain wouldn't ease up that morning, we went ahead and got some great portraits indoors at grandma and grandpa's house. I'm actually really glad we stayed inside. First of all, my camera gear didn't get wet, and we were able to use some of the really fun painted walls in the house as backdrops. I'm sure Little Miss wouldn't have been as agreeable in the damp weather.

Mom and I talked about whether or not to have her daughter wear her new glasses. My suggestion was to do some of both. When my son had to wear a helmet to correct plagiocephaly like the kids in these photos, I made sure to take lots of pictures of him wearing his helmet. After all, I wanted to remember what he looked like everyday. That was my reason for suggesting this to mom, and she seemed to agree. And don't those little glasses look cute?

Besides the beautiful family portrait at the top of the post, I really love the second one with Little Miss peering outside. I love how you can see her reflection in the glass. The kid-level portrait with mom and dad's legs was a special request from mom. It turned out to be quite a task to persuade Little Miss to pose for that one. Finally, that Santa hat just begged to be in a spot color photo.

Christmas Card Photos: Family Portrait Session

Ah, it's getting to be that time of year when we all start feeling a little anxious because Christmas is coming! So, it's time to get those Christmas photos done. This family had two poses they definitely wanted: the heads in the leaves (which took a good 5 minutes to set up) and a formal family portrait for 8x10 prints.

Despite the chilly weather and low light, we were able to get the shots in before any of us got too cold. (I did have to do a bit of head swapping during post processing, but I think the finished pictures look great.) I especially like the shot of mom and baby in red.

I can't decide whether I like the formal family portrait (bottom) in color or black and white. The color is so warm and friendly, but the black and white is clean and crisp. (Here's a trick to get your black and white photos looking this crisp: adjust the levels so that the dark tones end at pure black and the white tones end at pure white. It makes a big difference!)

In any case, I don't have to decide which photo is going on the family Christmas card. I can't wait to see what one they pick, though.

Special Edit: Greeting Card

We love adding custom-designed text to a photo to use as a greeting card for Christmas, birthdays, birth announcements, weddings, etc. This is an especially cost-effective way of getting your cards done. Please visit our Pricing page for rates on adding a custom-designed words or sayings to a photo from a session or a personal photo from your own collection.