These holiday cards were just submitted by the Bale family and they are some of the best series of cards I’ve seen this year. I adore how this family really goes for it every year always with a creative sense of fun and flare. It helps that Dad is pretty skilled at Photoshop, though it should be noted that the photos for all of these cards are taken by themselves with a timer. I am in awe.
This was their card in 2007. It’s a fabulous Christmas card where they are helping each other get a star on the tree using in the style of “Cirque du Bale”. I’ve seen many cards with this theme. but this one is particularly imaginative in the way they lean against each other. Lori Bale (Mom) says that they did this in 5 shots all photoshopped together by Dad. The dog was separate, Mom and Dad were taken in front of a green screen, then one of Mom and her daughter, then one of the kids, and finally, the tree was added into the back ground as the 5th shot. This card is a huge success; it’s one of my all time favorites Christmas cards. It’s incredibly creative and incredibly well executed, a perfect combination.
This is the Bale family Christmas card 2000 of the family reflected in an ornament. This is a wonderful idea which I’ve seen quite a lot, but this one is very well executed. I think I may do a blog posting soon showing all of the ornament reflection shots I’ve come across.
Here is their card in 2001. Great Christmas card of kids inside of a snow globe. This is a fun twist on the snow globe card with the kids looking at it from outside as well as being inside. I did a posting on snow globe Christmas cards which this card would fit into perfectly.
Here is their 2003 Great Christmas card of two kids looking inside their fish bowl decorated for Christmas. I have never seen the fishbowl theme, I love the hats on the fish. I wonder if the line inside the card was “Fishing You a Merry Christmas”?
This is the Bale Family Christmas card from 2004 of a photo of their dog stealing a slipper of one of the kids. It’s such a cute idea for a Christmas card. I am curious if this was one shot of photoshopped together.
Here is the Bale family card from 2005 where each member of the family holds a blank card and they are photoshopped one within the other. Photos of frames within frames are another theme I may explore in another posting.
The Bale family Christmas card 2009 made with Sparklers with time lapse photography. See more cards using light and time lapse photography.
And here is their card form this year, 2010. I love it! They posed the family into a scene mimicking the Norman Rockwell painting, “Freedom From Want”, but with a modern twist. This reminds me very much of a card by Theresa Thompson mimicking the same painting. Notice the dog, the lizard and the rabbit at the table. I also like the original Norman Rockwell painting in the background.
And finally in honor of the day, here is a New Year’s Day card from the Bale family from 2002. On this one they photoshopped more confetti into the picture.
A huge thank you to the Bale family for taking the time to share these with me. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year.
Happy New Year!
More Christmas cards are coming they are still coming in and I am struggling to keep up.
A clever idea can make or break a holiday card photo shoot. From giving children building blocks to play with, or angle wings, props can be a useful tool to getting that perfect holiday picture. In my experience, we parents only have about 5 minutes to shoot a decent photo, after that the children have lost interest and are in danger of being uncooperative at best, at worst, of having a complete meltdown. The best way to get around this is to give them an activity or a prop to get them to cooperate. Lets face it, unless we’re super models, it’s tough for ANYBODY to pose comfortably in front of the camera with somebody saying “smile”. The photo is always much better if they’re smiling already, right? The following photos use props in a variety of ways and get that fabulous shot worthy of any Christmas mantle.
Let it Snow
I know I’ve shown this photo before, but for me, Marc Battaglia’s picture of his kid on a sled with the dog in a harness is one of the best examples of using props that I’ve seen. The caption is great as well. And how much do you love the V of the Geese up in the sky? This child has building blocks spelling the word “JOY”. I love the Christmas message being already in the photo.
Cute picture of a baby in the tub with words spelled out behind him in plastic letters. I think this is a very clever idea for a Christmas card… or any card for that matter. You could spell all sorts of things with these letters, from “Happy Birthday Daddy” to “Please Come to my Party”
I love the Santa legs in this photo shoot, the kid is, of course, going to look up engagingly and all the photographer has to do it shoot. What better prop than Santa?
This is a fun card where the kids have tape on their mouths with the Caption, “Silent Night”, it’s a clever idea if your kids are up for it.
Found at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150315070990#ht_8962wt_1141This is a cute idea for a Christmas card shoot with props of a baby in a tub with a teddy bear and a washboard.
This is a cute concept for a Christmas card, putting your family or pets inside a snow globe. It’s hard to execute, it takes great photoshopping skills and if you get it wrong the thing looks a little awkward. I found quite a few that were well executed though, so I thought I’d show them to you as inspiration to give it a try.
Here is another snow globe Christmas card idea made by
Jennifer DeDonato. She used cardstock, ribbon, large glitter, acetate and a sewing machine. Read more about how she did it at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/colorfly/3127004864
If you make a snowglobe card and would like to share it on this page, please let me know.
The Brady Bunch image from the opening credits on the show is great inspiration for making a Christmas or Holiday card. Many people are doing it. Some of you may be too young to understand the impact that The Brady Bunch had on the generation that grew up during the 70′s. Back when there were only a few networks, it was a big deal to have an amusing show which was appropriate for groovy young people like myself. This show has a real sense of nostalgia for many other groovy baby-boomers it seems. As I searched, there were loads of cards out there, some better than others. I think that these below are some of the better examples. What makes these cards work in my opinion is having good lighting and a consistent plain background. This is the original opening credit image of the Brady Bunch Show.
This is pretty a pretty cute Brady Bunch Card. I love the pregnant belly in the middle.
found at: http://home.348north.com/archives/our-family/
Again, this is by Theresa Thompson, I’ve shown this card before, but it is such a great Christmas card that I had to include it. I love the fact that she also shows the back of their head son the back of the card.
I love the polk-a-dot background on this Brady Bunch Card.
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skg/4320130833/
It’s a nice twist on this Brady Bunch image to make it in Black and White.
FOund at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/krissypics/4989302211/
And I love the bright colors on this version of a Brady Bunch photo.
FOund at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bananaketchup/4528973485/
This looks like it’s a Corporate card. I love the idea of doing a funny corporate card in the Brady Bunch theme.
I love the addition of pets in this Brady Bunch Card
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35124656@N07/3279207369/
I love how this guy in the outer photos are all zoning on on the middle guy, It’s a good twist on the Brady Bunch theme.
I think this is all the same person in each square on this Brady Bunch Card.
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/snelly23/3066701103/
A fun way to make a boring beach shot fun for Christmas is to pose with a sand snowman. What better way to winterize a beach photo? Here is one I did once. The kids loved posing with the sand snowman they had helped make (and RE-make every time it collapsed). Hint: bring a spray bottle of water to help keep the sand moist.
Taken by Karen Robert
All it needs is a kid next to itFound at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamk/2398891839/
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamk/2371842490/
How do they get the sand to stick together like that?
I have shown you images before of people writing on themselves in a photo. I think it’s a great way of getting a message across. This time I am posting about writing on the knuckles as if they are tattoos. It’s a concept I am thinking of using for our Christmas card this year. The knuckle tattooing trend was, I think, started by gangs where they tattooed hateful things on their knuckles. I have been seeing photos of all sorts of non-hateful things being written on knuckles and a few fun cards like that as well, so I am thinking that MAYBE my teens wouldn’t mind doing something like that this year. At least they don’t have to stand there and look attractive. I did some research and found the following photos inspiring.
After my posting a few days ago on the Sigler family Christmas card using long exposure in their photos, I decided to do a little more research into this new art form. People are calling it light graffiti. It is similar to graffiti tagging, but the good news is that the effect created by the light is no longer visible after the artist moves on. What a great concept to use for your card. An image like this would make for great invitiations, Christmas cards, or even as a way of sending a message like, “I love you” or “will you marry me?” How original would that be?
In order to make light graffiti all you need is a light source, such as a flashlight, light saber, glowstick, blinking LED light or sparklers. For the best results you should use a tripod when taking pictures. The exposure on your camera should be set to between 10 and 30 seconds, but can be as long as you need to get the effect you want. Set the camera to iso100 and close the aperture as much as you can. By standing in front of the camera and moving around you will become nothing more than a blur. Or, if you choose to stay still and interact with the light image, you can still be seen in the photo. Wherever the light is moved a streak of light is created that will show up in the photo later.
Light graffiti message saying “I am here”Light Grafitti New Year’s MessageLight Graffiti saying “Happy Holidays”Light graffiti showing hearts
Light graffiti of a guy losing his cool
Light graffiti of an angel….…and a devil
Using light to show the statues enjoying a little music,
A Light Ghost resting
A lost city of lightsLight graffiti of pac man
Light Graffiti SpiderLight graffiti of a soccer goal
Light graffiti of a car chasing a manLight graffiti of a people crossing a crosswalk
Light graffiti of a girl showing her aura?
Light graffiti of figure making crop circles
Light graffiti of a rocker and his guitar
Light graffiti of the word “sky” up in the sky
Light graffiti of a couple using long exposure and light
Light graffiti of a VW van looking ghostly
Of course, with this time of year upon us, I am thinking everyone should go out and make a Holiday card like this, I’m thinking about it…but I have other ideas as well. More to come.
We are throwing our annual football party a few days after Thanksgiving. So I scored and found this old vintage photo to make our invitation.
Pretty Mad Men, right? Don’t you love the way the man and the woman are looking at each other? I feel like she’s thinking “don’t even THINK of messing with me buddy”. I feel like just after this shot was taken she ripped him to shreds, resentful after years of being treated badly in the workplace. Anyway, I am going to be making it available to use as an e-card or as a print card on my site when the programmers are FINALLY finished building it. We are very close to making it work, but sadly, it will be ready a tad bit too late to be up for this Christmas. In the meantime, I’m going to continue to throw out ideas for Holiday cards on this blog to get everyone’s creative juices flowing. More to come, in fact, tomorrow.
I know this is a big weekend for taking that family picture for the cards. It is for us. (My kids are so NOT excited). One thing to keep in mind, have a plan before you bring out the camera, give little kids a prop or an activity for the photo. You can give them a sign that says “Merry Christmas” or each kid letters which spell out NOEL, Or you can write something on their t-shirts, hands, or knuckles. You can also do things like put them on a sled on a sand dune, or have them build a sand snowman, or wrap them in Christmas lights. Whatever you decide to try, just think about it ahead of time and then taking the picture will be MUCH easier. Remember, little kids only give you 5 minutes to take the shot. Use those 5 minutes wisely. For more card ideas and inspiration, go to the Card Gallery and take a look at all of the cool cards I’ve been collecting over the years. These will not be for sale on the site, they are other people’s wonderful cards from previous years. On this side of the site I am merely a connoisseur of amazing Holiday cards.
I found these great Christmas cards on Flickr done by a guy named Doug Barlow. He has great ideas, he takes great photographs, and on top of that, he has talented photoshopping skills. All these talents are put to good use for the making of his creative and fun Christmas cards.
“Strobist:
Strobes left and right pointed at a low white ceiling.
2 exposures put together in photoshop. 1 of my daughter and the setting and another of my wife and I
I have so much fun putting together our Christmas cards every year. Our families have come to expect something a little different from us and we usually get a great response.
If you look close you can see the camera remote between my fingers ”
Last year (2009) we wanted to make it more about Evinn, so we came up with the concept of her blackmailing santa. Technically the whole family is in the card. My wife is the mommy kissing santa, and I’m the lucky santa
We both loved the idea of Evinn showing the pictures to santa while eating the cookies and milk that she left out for him. She’s at a very manipulative age
This is a composite of a couple of pictures
• Evinn, cookies, milk table and background in one
• hand with pictures (really holding polariods, but pics photoshopped in)
• hand and book (naughty and nice on book photoshopped in)
Strobist: all shots were done with the same set-up, just pieced together so i had more freedom to move things around.
can’t remember my shutter speed, but it was fairly long to let the christmas lights in the background burn in a little.
sb-28 with a makeshift snoot with a white diffuser, behind subject camera left.
sb-25 in a white shoot through umbrella camera right, above, just out of frame”
I can’t wait to see what they come up with this year.
Welcome to HoHumCards.com, formerly Merry Christmas From. Here you can check out creative cards, submit your own unique creation, and get creative card-making tips. Learn more about HoHumCards.
by Karen Robert
Here is their card in 2001. Great Christmas card of kids inside of a snow globe. This is a fun twist on the snow globe card with the kids looking at it from outside as well as being inside. I did a posting on snow globe Christmas cards which this card would fit into perfectly.
Here is their 2003 Great Christmas card of two kids looking inside their fish bowl decorated for Christmas. I have never seen the fishbowl theme, I love the hats on the fish. I wonder if the line inside the card was “Fishing You a Merry Christmas”?
This is the Bale Family Christmas card from 2004 of a photo of their dog stealing a slipper of one of the kids. It’s such a cute idea for a Christmas card. I am curious if this was one shot of photoshopped together.
Here is the Bale family card from 2005 where each member of the family holds a blank card and they are photoshopped one within the other. Photos of frames within frames are another theme I may explore in another posting.
The Bale family Christmas card 2009 made with Sparklers with time lapse photography. See more cards using light and time lapse photography.
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