This year, I wanted to take a family picture to send out as a holiday card. However, our busy schedule did not permit the booking a professional photographer to take our pictures with enough time for editing, printing, and actually getting them sent out before the holidays. And then, I casually mentioned the cost to my husband and he said that we could buy a nice camera for that amount and take our own pictures! And he’s right.
So, I ditched the professional photographer idea and decided to turn my living room into a photo studio that I could reuse year after year instead. And in case you need a little inspiration, I’m going to share how we did at a fraction of the cost.
I’m excited to partner with Olympus to offer you this DIY option for your family’s holiday card photos. The bonus is that you’ll own your photos, print as many as you want, and be able to share them with family and friends!
As someone who takes a lot of food and lifestyle photography, owning the rights to the photos I take is very important. Something I can’t do with professionally taken photos. So, to take today’s photos, I used my new Olympus camera, turned my living room into a photography studio, set up a tripod, and snapped away!
After a few days of stalking Pinterest, I decided I wanted to have a backdrop that was timeless, that we could use year after year regardless of the theme and color scheme we chose to wear. Eventually, all the idea searching gave me the perfect vision of what I wanted for this year.
So here is how we did it. I went to the fabric shop and asked for the most affordable, non-see-through, white material that would drape nicely. Then, I purchased strands of white holiday lights to hang over the white backdrop.
To create a “studio” in my living room, I moved all the furniture out of the way and hung the backdrop over a very large mirror that already hangs to the wall. Otherwise, I would have draped it over our bookcase. We secured the lights to the fabric with office clips and plugged them into a power strip. The lights over the white material provided the perfect glow I was after.
The biggest struggle was figuring out how to squeeze six people into a frame, with our teenager being over six feet tall and the little one barely three feet. Our dining room bench came to the rescue, and we squeezed ourselves into the frame. I also held the sides of the material with pushpins onto the wall and blurred the sides with free editing software.
If you are wondering how exactly did we manage to take our pictures on our own without someone else snapping them for us; I’ll tell you that the secret is “in” the camera. The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has a built-in WIFI. So, I downloaded the OI Share app to my phone and synced the camera to it. This way, all I had to do is push the button on my phone (hidden behind one of my kids), and the camera would instantly snap the picture. This feature is much better than the 3-second auto-timer built into most cameras, eliminating the infamous “run” back.
The built-in app also allows me to sync my photos with my phone to either edit them in one of my apps or share them with my friends and family on social media.
Using my Olympus camera, I was able to get all the shots I needed and a few very candid ones that have already become favorites.
The best part of the shoot was our family laughing together as we took extra silly photos and dancing to holiday jingles. I had a great time talking pictures with my family, at home, and I get to keep some incredible pictures for many years to come.
Happy Holidays!
Vera says
Last year’s pics were taken from our church’s studio session, which was a very sweet memory of the 2 girls cuddling. Usually, I pick candid photos from over the course of the year. My children are young enough that they look a bit different every few months from growing. I only use the camera on my phone, and since we live on opposite coasts from both families, it would be just lovely to win a good camera.
MaryAnne says
Hi Laura! First, a great big “THANKS” to you for your incredible efforts to help myself and other busy moms make wholesome and delicious foods. We loved your Skillet Lasagna recipe! I am the photo taker in my family of 4. I love taking pictures all year long…always with the thought “Is this Christmas card worthy?” My two children (ages 12 and 10) are camera shy as is my husband. After a particularly difficult photo session one Christmas, I implored my husband to do this one thing for me. He did! He rallied the troops and our picture was the best ever. That was my favorite memory, certainly not the picture, but our family working together. I keep photo sessions simple with clear instructions. One year we dressed up in our finest, one year we all wore a hat, one year year we all wore a college sweatshirt. Keep It Simple Silly! Anyway, my first digital camera was an Olympus and has since been replaced with a Kodak that is now near retirement. New this year is my iPhone, so I have tried to use it only. It is fine for snapshots, but I really like a camera for more important pictures. I am putting the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II on my Christmas wish list! Have a wonderful holiday! BTW: Are your husbands shoelaces red?!! Awesome! 🙂
Laura Fuentes says
Thanks MaryAnne! I am glad you like the skillet lasagna! I made it last week and added a bunch of diced carrots and zucchini to give it more “veggie” substance. I love that you think year-round if something is “Christmas card worthy” LOL. I don’t think about it much until other people’s cards begin to show up!! 🙂 And yes, his shoelaces are red. He has a thing about matching shoelaces with his socks… ties. sigh.
Lisa says
Love this! We try to do our family pictures throughout the year so we have a few from which to choose. Every time we’re somewhere together, and somewhere we love being, we grab the chance for a picture. My youngest is not yet 3, so he’s changing a bunch throughout the year still, and sometimes we include a picture from January…not too close to Christmas! But then we include individual shots from much closer to December, with the kids doing something fun. Love it!
kristi says
my favorite card was when my son was 7 and my daughter was 2 and he leaned over and kissed her cheek and the surprised reaction smile captured was one to never forget it was a sweet moment that now at 13 and 8 they would never replicate
Gwen @ ButtercupsBabies.com says
This sounds like an awesome camera. Love that you can use your phone to “take” the picture, but with real camera quality!
We try to take pictures each year, but with 3 littles (8, 5, & 3 now), it can be very challenging to get everyone smiling. Probably the best luck we had is the time we decided just to stack everyone up: Dad laying on the ground on his stomach, then me, then each of the kids, with the then-1-year old on top. We were even in our nice Christmas clothes. The kids thought it was so funny, that at EVERYONE was laughing or smiling. We just had to take the pictures fast before everyone toppled over…. 😉