Find a Location

Maybe your town has a nice park that has some wonderful fall foliage that you can set up a shot in. Or maybe there’s a place that is special to you that is also beautiful, like a waterfall or rock formation. No matter where you go to obtain the shot, try to scope it out ahead of time to make sure that it’s accessible, easy to maneuver, and shoot at easily.

Prepare Yourself

If the whole family is going to be in the photo, you will need a tripod, and possibly a wireless remote switch for your camera. Most cameras have a self-timer for these instances. Practice at home, beforehand, inside or out to get comfortable with using your equipment. You never know, your test run might yield that perfect photograph. Make sure our memory card is clear and ready to fill, and you should familiarize yourself with how your flash works, as well as the red-eye reduction feature. These are important things to consider when doing your own portraiture.

What to Wear

Think simple. Avoid busy patterns or graphics and try to match colors on everyone as much as possible. If you want a theme think about what you want your family to look like, and plan it out. Keep in mind that busy clothes will detract from the subject matter of the portrait.

Be a Poser

Look around the web at various family and child portraiture sites, and familiarize yourself with various poses for your photograph. This will help make you feel comfortable with doing your own session. You’ll gain inspiration and maybe even be able to come up with your own ideas from it.

If at First You Don’t Succeed

Try and try again. Whether you are taking your portaits in your home, in your back yard, at a local park , or on Main Street USA, the best bit of advice would be to keep shooting and having fun until you get that perfect picture to print and include in your holiday cards. If you get multiple shots that you love, you could go for a variety of prints or create an interesting storyboard for your cards. There are tons of options for printing and you are bound to find something that suits you and your family.