Holiday Card Tips for Busy Parents

We get it. Holiday cards are another thing on your ever growing list of things to do before the end of the year. After all the concerts, pageants, parties, and classroom gift exchanges, the last thing you want to do is sit down and create a holiday card. Do people even do this any more? Does it matter?

The answer is yes. The holiday card tradition isn’t going anywhere. And yes, it matters. Because every opportunity you have to celebrate your family and share your story with those you love matters.

That said, in order to make holiday cards more manageable, and to make creating and sharing your holiday cards a fun holiday tradition, rather than a tired holiday chore, try these tips.

Be Real

Stop aiming for overly staged moments that don’t feel authentic to your family. This makes it so much easier for your kids (and your partner) to participate comfortably. And it makes the experience enjoyable for all of you.

Drop your notions of “supposed to be” and share who you are. That’s what your loved ones want to spend time with - and what you deserve to celebrate.

Be Simple

No props, no costumes. This is a holiday card, not a magazine spread. Enjoy the moment and share who you are in a way that feels natural. Step away from the pressure you impose on yourself, or the pressure you perceive others are putting on you.

Take this opportunity to sit down with your family and have a conversation about what the year felt like for each of you. What moments mattered the most to each of you? What did you learn? What do you want to celebrate.

We find that family conversations like this are especially helpful for getting ready for your holiday card video shoot. While we never recommend “rehearsing” for holiday video card shoots (or any of our Portraits that Move film shoots!), it is always a good idea to take a moment for conversation with your family.

Whenever you can center yourselves and share what your individual and collective experience feels like - what your life really is like - you are not only participating in the power of storytelling, you are getting a real sense of the powerful, beautiful, simple ways all of your moments add up together to create your life.

Make it Move

One of the things that our clients appreciate most about our take on holiday cards is that they are moving video messages that they can share far and wide. Gone are the costs of mailing, the long lines at the post office, or the many trips to the mailbox.

With our videos, families send and share their real voices - their moving images - with the ones they love.

Get Help

You don’t have to do it all yourself. If you’re designing a card, use templates. Encourage your kids to design and create the card themselves - to make it more authentic, to give them a chance to share their creativity, and to take some of the load off you. And call us!

For a Portraits that Move holiday video card, all you need to do is open your door to us. We do all the rest. And we are grateful to be a part of your holiday traditions.

A Gift From Us

From now until December 23, book a Signature Portrait Video (to be filmed any time in 2020) and get a FREE Portraits that Move Holiday Card Video.

How to Prepare for Holiday Card Shoots

You want your holiday card to be perfect. You want it to celebrate and document your year together as a family, and to share your excitement about each other, and the coming year, with the ones you love.

These are great things to want. But they can put some pressure on you when it comes time to rally the family for your holiday card shoot. We suggest you make things as simple as possible. This keeps the holiday card experience stress free for you, and it helps to create an authentic, beautiful portrait of your family as it is right now.

With that in mind, here are our three basic tips to prepare for your holiday card shoot this year.

1. Pick Colors that Look Good on You and in the Card

Certain colors work better on film and video than others, not because they are on trend, but because they work best with light to bring out your natural beauty.

When it comes to colors, choose colors that you like, that you are comfortable in, and that are bold enough to appear on camera the way they appear to the eye in natural light.

2. Get Everything Ready the Night Before the Shoot

Just like one of our favorite Back to School tips, make sure that everything you need for your holiday card is laid out the night before the shoot. Once you have agreed on what to wear, make sure that you have it ready to go.

Not only does this save time, it frees up your energy on the day of your holiday card video shoot. What is most important for us - and for you - is that we create a holiday card that is as authentically you as it is aesthetically pleasing. Anything and everything you can do to limit stress and keep from feeling rushed heading into the shoot, helps to create the holiday card you want.

3. Go Easy on the Staging

Clearing out space for your thoughts and your feelings to come through is more important than clearing every surface in your house. Some of our clients ask about how they should stage their home for holiday card shoots and other Portraits that Move video shoots. Our recommendation is always the same. We want to document you and your family in your space in a natural way. There is no need to transform your space to look like the cover photo of Architectural Digest if that is not your family’s aesthetic, or your home's natural state.

Use the time that you would have spent meticulously staging your space to have a brief conversation with your family about high points of the year, what you are grateful for, and how you feel about your friends and family. This opens up the channels of gratitude and puts you in the mindset you need to create a heart warming, honest holiday card.

Special School Day Offer!

For all of our New York City friends who are off from school on Monday, 11/12, we are offering $50 off the price of a holiday card video if you schedule your shoot for that day. We have limited spaces available. Please contact us right away to schedule your shoot: suzlud@gmail.com or (917) 750-0031

Holiday Card Video: November and December Bookings

We do have a few shoot dates still available for your holiday card video shoots. Please contact us to schedule.

Halloween Treat

Happy Halloween!

Enjoy all the moments today with your children. Listen to their stories. Revel in their imaginations. And share their joy.

This Halloween we have a special treat for you. Book a holiday card video shoot in NYC for 11/12 (a perfect thing to do with kids on the day off from school!) and save $50.

No trick. All treat!

With delight,

Susannah and the Portraits that Move Team

How Can I Make Holiday Cards Easy this Year?

Is is just us or is 2018 flying by on the wings of To Do Lists?!?

If it’s not one thing, it’s the next, with careers, kids, families, projects, obligations, challenges (we see you, parental burnout). The holiday season is coming up fast, and, if you feel like that brings with it another competing To Do List, you are not alone.

Now is the time of year when you start looking at every photo from summer vacation, fall break, back to school, and last Tuesday, with that critical eye, thinking…

“We should do a holiday card collage!”

“Let’s combine our own photos with professional holiday card photos!!”

“Look, we can add a photo ornament to our holiday card!!!”

“How much are stamps?”

After days of planning, you realize you spent all your energy trying to imprint something and all your time packaging it. You have no time to enjoy the cards or the moments they’re supposed to capture. The holiday card that you painstakingly designed, packaged and sent is another item checked off your list. And there are so many more items stacking up.

You gave yourself more work and less joy. Your holiday card didn’t preserve a moment from this busy year. It didn’t give you a real sense of who your kids are right now - who they became over the past year.

Try Something New this Holiday Card Season

Carve out a few hours, invite us to your home or a favorite neighborhood spot. We’ll talk with you and your kids. We’ll slow down time for a little while, and in the end, you will have the perfect, moving holiday card video.

No stress, no stamps. Ready to share with friends and family, and with each other, when you just need a minute to count your blessings and see how great your life really is (buys-ness and all).

Schedule your holiday card video shoot or contact us with questions: 917-750-0031.

Where should I schedule my holiday video card shoot?

We've been asked by some of our clients about the best places to shoot a holiday card video.  Over the years, we have found that the most important thing is for your kids to be comfortable.  After all, our holiday video cards are as much about celebrating the season and the milestones of the year in your family's life as they are about giving your children the opportunity to speak freely and comfortably about how they are feeling and what they are experiencing at this exciting, sometimes frantic, hopefully magical time of year.

Sometimes that means scheduling our holiday video card shoot outdoors at your favorite park, where we can get the full beauty of the autumn leaves and catch your kids in action running, feeling free, and enjoying a place that is special to them.

Other times, it means scheduling a family video shoot at home, where your kids can show off some of their favorite toys, tell us the stories behind their favorite holiday decorations, and feel totally comfortable in the space you have made for them.

Wherever you choose to schedule your holiday video card shoot, we will be there to help you celebrate your family, your year, and the unique and beautiful voices of your children.  

That's our kind of holiday magic.

We are all booked up for this weekend, 11/4.  Reserve your spot for Sunday, 11/19 by filling out our registration form or calling us directly: 917-750-0031

Modern Answer to the Snailmail Family Newsletter

Do you remember your mom writing holiday newsletters every year?  Do you remember reading the letters from her college roommates, following the lives of families you may never have met but felt you knew?

Fewer and fewer of those beloved newsletters arrive in the mail, thanks to social media, our busy lives, and the picture-perfect cards that so many of our friends and family seem to favor.

With that, some of the magic has been lost.  We've lost the chance to make a special connection around the holidays, to celebrate along with family and friends, and to share the accomplishments, changes and milestones that make up a year in the life of every family.

Our Portraits that Move team has come up with the answer.  Our Holiday Video Card lets you and your children talk about what happened over the whole year in your own words.

We're using modern ways to recapture traditional experiences of family, love, celebration and connection.  And our clients and their friends and families are loving it.

At the end of the day, the beauty of new technologies are that they offer us new ways to tell our stories.  The Portraits that Move Video Holiday Card is our cool, modern answer to snailmail family newsletter.  It is also a beautiful way to celebrate and remember a year in the life of your family.

Create your Portraits that Move Video Holiday Card

There is no better time to create your family's video holiday card.  The fall weather is gorgeous, and we are sure you have much news to share!  

Schedule your 90 minute holiday video film shoot on one of our two remaining days: Saturday, November 4, or Sunday, November 19.
 

Overcoming Shyness: Tips for Working with Kids on Camera

People often ask me what happens if their child is shy or does not want to participate on the day we arrive to film their Portraits that Move video. I always respond with complete sincerity that this is not a problem at all.

Our main goal for the film shoot is to create an open, loving space for the child to be who they are. If they feel pressured, pushed or coerced in any way, it will not work.  We want your kids to know that we love them exactly as they are.

We recently did a holiday shoot for two girls, Savannah and Derby. For the second year in a row, we documented the sisters for their family's Holiday Video Card. We had spent time with them last year, we cherished them and the entire family loved their first video.

Still, when we arrived to shoot the video the next year, one of the girls, Derby, was not into us being there. Initially, she refused to talk to me. She did not want to do anything we asked of her and, at one point, she even hid from us.

I showed Derby love at every turn, letting her know that her feelings were normal.  I assured her and made her feel comfortable with the filming process in the following ways:

• I let her know that she could show us and tell us what SHE wanted. All of her answers were up to her.
• We loved her and smiled at her even through her protest. It is a weird situation to have a camera there - we acknowledged that, and we acknowledged her feelings.
• We encouraged anything that would bring her comfort. You will see a purple stuffed snake throughout the video. She wanted it close to her, and we agreed.
• When she said it was over for her, we wrapped it up. There is no reason to push a child beyond the point they are willing to go. Safety and comfort are most important.  Children need and deserve to feel in control of their own experience. After all, how can our kids show us their best selves if they feel uncomfortable?

Ultimately, the film captures Derby’s spirit beautifully. She is sparkly and loving and filled with fun. I loved spending the afternoon with her. I hope she felt the same. 

What Do You Really Need this Holiday Season?

The lists are long.  A list for entertaining, a list for baking, a list for gift giving, our children's wishlists that seem to get added to every day....

In this crush of planning and shopping and rushing towards the moments we want to remember, we know that at some point we will end up feeling lost and overwhelmed, as if all that we are supposed to be enjoying is passing us by. 

So how do we slow it down?  How do we find a way to give what really matters, what our loved ones really want?

We focus on the moment.

Think about why we are rushing and planning and making lists for the perfect gift, the perfect meal, the perfect celebration.  It is because we want to treasure our families.  We know this time is fleeting and we want to embrace it, celebrate it and slow it down enough to enjoy it, to look back on it with a warm heart, and with a calm heart.

This is what we do at Portraits that Move, we help you to slow down and savor the moment.  We help you to give the gift of more time with your family, the gift of celebrating who you are and who you are becoming together, every day.  

For the ones you love on your list, for your own family, choose the gift that we all want, the gift we all need, a moment in time that celebrates your children, your family, your life, right now, before this moment, before this holiday season, slips away.

Portraits that Move Gift Card

Our new Portraits that Move Gift Card is the perfect way for those of you who love what we do to give the gift of Portraits that Move in an affordable way, helping to make it easier for all the people on your gift giving list to own a Portrait Video or any of our other offerings by offsetting the cost, or by gifting the full price of the product.

Portraits that Move Signature Portrait

Give the gift of our Signature Portrait, what one mom calls "the perfect holiday gift."

Portraits that Move Holiday Video Card

Perfect for sending New Year greetings and holiday messages and guaranteed to be enjoyed by all the family and friends you want to share your love with, near and far.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Now that holiday card season is upon us and we are shooting and scheduling holiday video cards and beginning to book Signature Portrait videos for holiday gifts, we at Portraits that Move are enjoying one of our favorite annual traditions.  We are spending quality time with our clients, the members of our growing Portraits that Move family.

What joy it is to make documenting your families an annual tradition.  And what amazing and beautiful changes we witness from behind the camera.  Whether it is bringing a new baby into the family, starting a new school, or sharing the observations, emotions, dreams and ideas that your children have this year, at this moment, documenting your family as you travel through life is one of the truest blessings we know.

Thank you to all of you who come to us and come back to us to document this time in your children's lives and your own.  We want you to know that, above all, we understand the trust that you put in us to reflect back to you the magic and beauty of your family as it is in this moment.  And we treasure this gift you give to us as we know you treasure the gift of your Portraits that Move family films.

We have some Holiday Video Shoot slots remaining.  Book yours now, or contact us to schedule a Signature Portrait shoot.

On the Celebration of Getting Older

I had a birthday this week! I love my birthday because I love celebration, friends, family, and of course, cake. I have so much to celebrate this year, my son is flourishing, my work is going well and I have a new, incredible love in my life.

I also have had some health struggles this year, which have, for now, gone away. After a rough summer with them, I am left feeling appreciative for feeling better and excited for another new year. I have a deep and profound gratitude for more time on the planet with those I love. I look at getting older as a privilege and as something that is exciting. 

I already wrote about the wonderful surprise party I had a couple weeks ago. The celebrating did not stop there!  I had an amazing vegan dinner with my family last week and on the actual day- a romantic dinner with my cherished boyfriend.

Fortunately for me, my guy values documenting life just as much as I do. He often has a camera in his hand and savors the good moments of life. And luckily our dinner was no exception.

Having a birthday of course brings up things we constantly talk about at Portraits that Move; how short life is and how fast it goes by. We have a need to experience the moment and also to capture it. We love what we do and get excited about the opportunity to do it this time of year.

Halloween is coming up and just beyond it, the holiday season. We are doing our holiday work now, so that our clients will be ready for the season with their Portraits that Move Video Holiday Cards. They will have the image, the sounds, the movement, the documentation of their beautiful families.

I have gratitude to you for allowing this work to be part of my life. I celebrate that and now is the season that I get to help you celebrate your family.

We are hosting two Holiday Video Card Shoot Dates: Saturday, October 15 (2 hour slots from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm) and Sunday, November 6 (2 hour slots from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm).

Complete the form below to get more information and to reserve your timeslot.

Add Movement to Your Holiday Cards

Time is moving more quickly than ever, Back to School season has shifted into the daily intense busy-ness that makes up our lives as parents, and the holidays are just around the corner. 

This year, our Portraits that Move team is dedicated to helping make your holiday season moving, in every sense of the word.  We want to make it as easy, and as enjoyable as possible for you to create and share the perfect holiday message for your family and to move through the season with no stress and plenty of celebration.

Our Portraits that Move video holiday card is the alternative to traditional holiday cards that you have been looking for.  No more stress over staging and snapping picture-perfect moments, no more distilling the growth and energy and excitement of an entire year into a single image or a collage that never feels complete.  With our video holiday cards, your friends and family can hear and see your kids as they really are, a moving holiday greeting, and a gift to everyone on your mailing list.

To make things even easier, for our clients who live in and around NYC, we will be hosting two days of Holiday Card Video Sessions, starting at $600.  Sign up now and get your entire holiday greeting taken care of, by us.  We film, we edit, and we deliver the link directly to you, ready to share.

These are our only dates for video holiday card filming and they fill up quickly, so reach out now to secure your place.

Video Holiday Card Sessions with Portraits that Move

Spots are limited, register now for your Video Holiday Card Session

Saturday, October 15

TIME: 10am - 4pm (2 hour slots)
PLACE: YOUR HOME

Sunday, November 6

TIME: 10AM- 6PM (2 HOUR SLOTS)

PLACE: YOUR HOME