My family loves getting the onslaught of photo holiday cards every year from all of our friends and family from near and far.  It has become a tradition that we all look forward to.  I have never thrown out one of these treasured photo cards.

Each year, when I open up all the containers of holiday trimmings, there is the one that holds those treasured holiday photo cards.  Within the next few days, our entire family gathers around; the kids with their hot chocolates, my hubby and I with our wine and we pour over the pictures and look at how everyone has changed from year to year.  There are always lots of laughs and “oh my gosh, look how big they are now” and “that’s a scary one!”  I even include my own children’s holiday photo cards that we have sent through the years.  It has become a ritual we all look forward to each season.

We keep all the old photo cards in a basket on a table and as we get the new holiday photo cards, we ooh and ahh over them and hang them around the house.  At the end of the season, when it is time to take down all the holiday decorations, we add the current year’s photo Christmas cards to the basket to await the next year’s opening.

Every holiday season we spend time as a family looking through hundreds upon hundreds of pictures saved on the family PC.  The reason: someone in our household must be good at taking digital photos to send out to friends and family!

Sure enough, every year it seems to be our kids who take the best pictures.  I am not sure if it is the angle of the picture due to their height, the focal point of the picture from the perspective of a youngster, or the steady hand of a child. (Dad, your pictures are all fuzzy.  You shake the camera too much!)

It seems no matter the technological advances of a camera, I cannot take a picture on par with my kids.  Even my wife does not take a picture worthy of putting on photo Christmas cards. (According to the kids anyway.)

So once again this holiday season, we are sending out our photo holiday cards with a picture taken by the kids.  As bad as our pictures can be, it sure is nice to be in the age of taking digital photos.  For every fifty pictures I take, one or two are good.  I can’t imagine paying to develop all those sub-par prints in this economy!

I love receiving photo holiday cards and love to send them, but getting that perfect picture of my children and our dog is not the easiest thing to do. First of all, getting a teenage boy to pose for a photo with his little brother without poking him or making faces or being disruptive in some sort of way is a bit challenging. Then, if you do happen to get lucky and are able to capture a moment where no one is being pinched and the dog is not licking someone’s face, is it a photo that the entire family can agree on?

Usually I like to use one beautiful photo in our family photo cards. The truth is, it’s not possible to capture the essence of a family in a single photo, and we can never all agree on one photo. So, this year, I have selected a collage photo card where I can use many photos of the family.

I used a photo of my teenager playing basketball, looking like the star athlete, one of my six year old in his Darth Vader costume, one of the dog in the snow, a vacation photo with the entire family and one that includes the boys and the dog, where the dog is licking his paw, my teenager is making a face and my six year old is smiling happily unaware of what’s going on around him.

I love the way it turned out. It gives a small glimpse into our family life and the beautiful personalities of each of us. I love looking back at our family photo cards from past years. I’ll be happy to add this one to the collection. I think it may turn out to be my favorite!

This past April, my family welcomed a new addition into our midst: a little bundle of joy named Gregory.  My nephew, without question, is the cutest little baby boy ever (sure, I’m biased, but can you blame me?).  But sadly I can’t play with the little guy as much as I’d like; my brother and his wife live 1500 miles away!  And while I’m eager to show the little tyke off to all my friends, it gets pretty difficult for all of us to hop on a plane and travel down to Florida (though it does make for a pretty good excuse to enjoy the tropical weather!).  Thankfully, photo holiday cards are a great tool to help me be the proud uncle I am!

Since a good amount of my friends have yet to meet Gregory, I have decided to send out a digital photo holiday card to introduce him to the masses.  My brother and his wife are always emailing us tons of pictures: we’ve got the baby-food-all-over-the-face picture, the first-corn-maze picture, even the first-Christmas-in-front-of-the-tree picture.  Emailing pictures to friends is always fun, but sometimes you just want something tangible that you can frame, or throw up on the refrigerator and chuckle at while reaching inside for a snack. Photo cards are a great way to spread some cheer this holiday season, and I’m busy picking the perfect picture of Gregory as we speak.  My sister-in-law has been great with the camera, so I’ve got tons and tons of pictures to choose from.  Living in this digital age helps me stay connected to my family, and I’m excited to see my little nephew grow right before my eyes.  We’ve decided to send out these photo holiday cards each year so that our families can cherish the memories being made right before our eyes.  Once I’m done customizing my card, I’ll be booking my flight to visit Gregory.  It’s been way too long, plus I have to take him his Christmas present!

I have to admit that last year was the first year I didn’t stress over my photo Christmas cards which I have been sending since my daughter was born eight years ago. Like a lot of you, I too dressed my children up (despite their protests) for the Christmas card photo shoot at the end of the year hoping to get that one good shot out of the many, many, many pictures taken (did I mention there were many!). But, last year, I took a different approach and decided to look through photos I already had. What a pleasure it was to look through the year’s photos again. Now, I can do this at any time but it made me feel good to know that there was a purpose and goal to my perusing.

I found so many great shots that would be appropriate for holiday photo cards that I didn’t want to just limit it to one so I chose a beautiful card format that would show three different photos. I used two great photos that we had taken on our vacations throughout the year and one from our recent pumpkin picking excursion. All were candid shots that even the kids had forgotten about. I thought it was a great way to highlight our year and briefly show what we’ve been up to for those that we aren’t in touch with as often as we would like. It definitely beats those lengthy Christmas newsletters but we won’t get on that soapbox now.

Those days of stressing over our Christmas photo cards are over for me now and I am very happy to say, I will not miss them. I do, however, look forward to more vacations since now part of the goal is coming away with great pics for our holiday photo cards.

Holiday photo cards don’t always have to be of people or pets. Although this is the most popular back drop, there are numerous subjects you can choose from. Wildlife, landscapes, sunsets, and flowers are some of my favorite pictures to look at. With today’s digital cameras, snapping eye catching photos is easier than ever.

Take flower photos for instance. Have you ever looked closely at all the intricate details? One flower can have multiple designs made up of magnificent colors. Taking a picture at different times of the day can result in a different effect. First thing in the morning, for instance, you may catch a dew-covered flower. You may even catch a beautiful spider web. No one can deny the artwork of the much feared spider. Try taking a photo of a single flower or maybe several together. Even leaves can have spectacular designs.

Experimenting can often result in an amazing shot. Shoot at different angles until you come up with your perfect photo. Try close up or even from a distance. Once you get your perfect picture you can use your flower photos for your next photo holiday cards or put them in frames to send as gifts. Framed flower photos can also add to the décor of any room. Most of all, have fun!

It’s 2011 and it seems that everyone is sending photo holiday cards. Aunt May and the kids out in North Carolina, Uncle Ben in New York, and just about every dog in the world wearing a Santa hat. I don’t personally own a dog, and don’t get me wrong I do like some of them, but enough already. Where are all the other adorable pets out there? I’m tired of Fluffy, Princess or Cujo propped up in front of a tree and decked out in their tiny reindeer sweaters.

I grew up with the usual array of run of the mill pets. A hamster, a handful of goldfish named Jaws one through ten. All with the proper burial, sent to fish heaven via my toilet bowl. My poor mom being so sweet sent them flushing every single time. Let’s see, what other pets did I own…… a rabbit, a turtle, a snake, an iguana and of course a dog. With all the different animals to choose from, why do we always get the picture of the family dog?

I would love to receive Christmas Photo Cards from my cousin Stan and his amazing pet spider. I could picture Gwen (his spider) sitting all pretty with a tiny red bow. But it always has to be the dog. We forget the less fortunate pets out there that maybe aren’t so cute and cuddly. These pets,  just like our cats and dogs, are members of our family. So this coming Christmas when you check your mailbox for holiday cards, count how many pictures of dogs you have piled up. Take the time to remember all the lonely snakes, iguanas and more that get pushed aside for another boring dog.

One of my favorite things about Christmas time is the photo Christmas cards that I receive. I feel kind of guilty saying it, but I don’t pay too much attention to the holiday cards I receive that don’t have a photo. I wasn’t always like this though. The change happened once I had kids.

I swore I wouldn’t be one of those Moms that become completely kid focused, but some how it snuck up on me and took over. What I find myself doing is tearing open the envelopes (those that are clearly not bills…I save those until I have a glass of wine in my hand and I’m sitting down in a comfy chair so I can handle the shock a little better, but that’s a whole other story), but the cards, those are what I can’t wait to open. I appreciate the card from Great Aunt Jane, but I’m sorry, if there’s no photo, I toss it to the side and continue my tearing until I find the photo holiday cards.

I truly cherish those. To see all those beautiful children’s faces reminds me of what the holiday season is all about. The innocence and love of a child is so pure, it reminds me of the basic things in life that are so important. Maybe I’m being a little dramatic or emotional, but as I said, once I had kids, it all changed. Having children put everything into perspective for me in life, but at times I need a little reminder. I would think we all do. And believe or not, something as simple as a photo holiday card is one of those reminders.

The holidays are all about those special moments we have with loved ones old and new, which is why I love photo holiday cards.  The other day when I was cleaning out my closet, I found a box stuffed with Christmas cards I’ve received throughout the years.  Although each and every card was special in its own way, there were two that stuck out to me.

They were photo cards of my nephew and twin nieces taken the past two Christmas seasons.  One card showed my nephew and nieces playing in the snow, while the other was a group shot of them in their best clothes.  My brother sent these to family and friends all across the country.  The quality and colors of these digital holiday photo cards were great!  The joy and happiness on my nephew and nieces’ faces reminded me how special the holidays truly are!

As I was staring at these two cards, I wondered, how did they end up in the box with all the other Christmas cards?  Of course there were some traditional Christmas cards that were nice, but these beautiful pictures of my little loved ones deserved much better!  They were certainly more of a keepsake than just a regular card.

I called my brother and asked him if he was planning on having another photo holiday card made for this holiday season.  I was so happy when he told me that it was on his list of things to do this Christmas!  I decided to start special album for all photo cards I have received and will receive in the future.  I know that one day it is going to be great to look back at all the pictures I’ve received throughout these years and re-live the magic of the holiday season.  I think it’s a great way of capturing those special moments and sharing them with your loved ones.  I’ll be looking forward to receiving many this Christmas season!

What makes a Family Photograph Special? You might ask yourself that question, just the same way I did. You might think that it’s the outfits you wear, location, background or even the price you pay to get them. But if you really think about it, all you need is the ones you love to make the family photograph special. Photo holiday cards are the best way to show off that wonderful photograph of you and your family. There is no better way to show your friends and relatives what a beautiful family you have. These cards are also a good way to show that special new member of the family or those special people that have left us but that always hold a special place in our hearts.

No matter how old the photograph is people are always happy to see the ones they love. Photo holiday cards are more than just a plain card. You can display a photo card as an ornament for your Christmas tree, a decoration for your house or office or just a simple way to have your family photograph close to you at all times. You can take the photo card out anytime you feel like remembering the good times that have passed or to see the present family you have now and what good times lay ahead.

So remember, a family photograph makes a photo holiday card more than just a piece of fancy paper with people on it. It makes it a window that tells us a brief story of that special moment or occasion that was captured for us to remember.