home | search

service: s. & c. america, mexico, caribbean

Tamron Pro Learning Center

Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | Article 4 | News | Contest

Season's Greetings!

Shoot, style, and send out your own personalized holiday greeting card.
by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano

Whether you opt for a traditional family photo in front of the tree, a playful outdoor winter scene, or a ceremonial shot lighting the menorah, holiday photo greeting cards can show family and friends that you're immersed in the joyful spirit of the season and looking forward to an exciting year ahead. But many people panic the day after Thanksgiving when they realize they don't have any ideas for an appropriate photo, or don't know what to do with the image they want to use once they've captured it.
Read on for tips on creating great holiday photos, as well as advice on how to actually put together your holiday card once you've got the shot you want. There's still time to get cards out by January 1—or even to plan ahead for next year.

Taking the Shot
Figuring out what you'd like to shoot is often the first hurdle—you want your card to stand out from the mass of routine greeting cards that make their way into your mailbox. If you opt to take the traditional route, pose your family in front of the Christmas tree or fireplace, or situate your children in a festively décorated basket in their best holiday attire in front of a plain background.
Or allow your creativity to take over: Think of a play-on-words and then conjure up how you can illustrate it photographically (see "Get Wrapped Up in the Holiday Spirit," above), or head to an unexpected photo-shoot location, such as a park or a beach, where sand can substitute for the snow you'd usually expect to see in a holiday card.
Make sure your subjects aren’t competing with the background for visual attention. Five or six feet is a good separation guideline between subjects and background—this will provide a shallow depth-of-field so the viewer's eyes go to the subject and not the busy background.
Props can enhance the holiday ambiance you're looking to showcase. Place your subject on a sled outside, or have your child lean on a stack of soon-to-be-opened presents in front of a plain white background. Don't fret if you don't have any gifts yet to showcase—they can even be tissue boxes you've wrapped just for the photo shoot!
Above all, don't be afraid to get in close: Many people try to get in full body shots (as well as the entire staircase or family room) in a picture that may be printed 4x6 or smaller. Put people close together and get in tight for the shot—not only will this make for a compelling portrait, but it will also show the connections that exist between your subjects.
Lighting can be tricky if you choose to shoot in front of the lit Christmas tree or by the glow of the menorah's candles. If you take a picture in front of the tree, shut off all other lights in the room (these extra lights affect exposure) and use a slow sync mode on your camera, which keeps the shutter open longer to capture the available light (a tripod also helps in this situation). You can also shoot in shutter priority mode, using the camera's built-in light meter to adjust for correct exposure. Set the camera's shutter to 1/60th of a second and take a photo of the background. Lock the camera's exposure in with the Auto Exposure lock button, then fire the camera's flash manually at the camera's aperture setting. This will create an exposure where the background and subjects are balanced.
Don’t use a flash when shooting in front of candlelight. Use a faster aperture, and optimize the appealing effect of the candle as the sole light source.

The Final Result
Once you have the perfect seasonal photo, it’s time to put together your holiday card. There are a variety of options, from using templates at home to print your own, uploading to online photo services for local pickup or delivery, or even sending an online digi-card using your favorite image.
For do-it-yourselfers, Epson's Print Lab Series (www.epson.com) offers the ideal creative outlet. The series' winter holiday greeting cards section allows you to download self-extracting archives that contain templates and instructions needed for each project. Just click to download (projects are available for both Mac and PC), save to your desktop, and double-click on the icon to start. Choose from additional clip art and fonts to jazz up and personalize your card.
If you're looking to design your own card without doing the printing yourself, there are several alternatives. Online digital photo services allow you to upload your images, select predesigned card designs, and insert your image with a holiday caption. Complete your order, and your cards will be shipped to you by mail (express delivery available in some cases). Some of the big names include Hewlett-Packard's Snapfish (www.snapfish.com), Kodak's Ofoto/EasyShareGallery (www.kodakgallery.com), Shutterfly (www.shutterfly.com), or Sony's ImageStation (www.imagestation.com). If you use any of these sites during peak holiday season (anytime after Thanksgiving), however, make sure to place your order ahead of time to ensure you receive your cards in time for the holidays.
You can also take advantage of the photo centers located in many of your local superstores, like Sam's Club (www.samsphotoclub.com), Costco (www.costco.com), Target (www.target.com), or Wal-Mart (www.walmart.com). Upload your images to the store's Web site, pick out colorful holiday borders and a personalized greeting, and then arrange to pick your cards up at the nearest participating store. Note: Many of these superstores promote one-hour printing, but don’t count on such quick return during the holiday season. You can also opt for the information superhighway (i.e., the Internet) if you don't want to spend an evening licking envelopes and stamps. Microsoft's Photo Story 3 (downloadable for free at www.microsoft.com) allows users to import multiple images to create a digital photo-story greeting card—an appealing option if you have more than one favorite photo you'd like to feature. Customize and create a virtual "card" by adding background music, titles, even voice narration to your image. The program then compresses your digital pictures to a small file size that can easily be sent via e-mail to family and friends. A typical photo card with five images and background tunes only takes up 300K to 500K of space, according to Microsoft. All that's needed for viewing is Windows Media Player (sorry Mac users, this one's for PC only). Not a bad solution if you've procrastinated and don't want to rely on the postal service to get all your cards out by the new year!