Holiday Traditions | Portland, OR Documentary Photographer

Ah Christmas.  My favorite time of the year!  In an otherwise dark and cold month, there are so many fun things to celebrate during December (or the second Thanksgiving ends, if we’re being honest).

It’s pretty well known that I can be a little Christmas crazy.  I love the decorations, the tree, all the fun activities happening and of course all the cheesy and not so cheesy Christmas movies I can squeeze in.  The Hallmark channel is on pretty much all month long in this house.

Christmas has always been special to me, even though some of the traditions have changed over time as I got married and had kids of my own.  When I was a child, I swear half of the Christmas season was devoted to baking Christmas cookies.  We would make at least half a dozen different types of cookies and double and triple the recipes so we had enough to share with family and friends.  We would listen to Christmas music or stories (on cassette tape – not to date myself or anything) and bake away.  Of course there was the family outing to pick out the perfect Christmas tree and cut it down.  My mom would have cocoa waiting for us when we returned to warm us up.  The tree would be decorated, the stocking would get put up and the Christmas village was meticulously laid out.  While there are a few pictures of our Christmases, the majority of the memories and traditions are stored in my head.  What I wouldn’t give to see pictures of us decorating all those cookies or traipsing through the mud at the Christmas tree farm to show my boys.

Now our Christmas is still full of traditions with my 3 boys.  We still pick out the perfect Christmas tree.  We make sure to spend at least 1 full day at Grandma’s house baking Christmas cookies.  There are Christmas stories read, gingerbread houses decorated (thank you Costco for the pre-made gingerbread house kit to make it easy on me!) and ornaments placed meticulously on the tree.  There are Christmas movies watched (the original Grinch movie is always a favorite) and lots of cocoa consumed.  There are advent calendars counting down the days until Christmas.  And I try to capture as much of it as I can.

I would love to capture some of your traditions as well so you have pictures to pass down as well as memories preserved.  This is why I am offering a FREE holiday traditions mini session to each of my families who book (or have booked) a 2018 session with me (see full details below).  I would be honored to be invited into your families to capture these traditions for you!

And with that said, here are some more holiday traditions and memories that I have captured for my clients and for my own family!

(I’ll let you in on a little secret.  While I was able to capture the above photo with all of us in the frame (with the help of a self timer) it wasn’t easy!  There was lots of running back and forth (because I couldn’t get my camera remote to work the way I wanted) and it was hard to stay relaxed and in the moment.  So I definitely could have benefited from someone helping us out!  While I ended up with something I love (and this won’t stop me from taking more self portraits), it’s definitely a challenge with the whole family!)

What are your family traditions?  What does your house look like this holiday season?  I would love if you shared some of your family traditions as there’s always room to add a few more!

Holiday Traditions mini session details:

As part of my business relaunch, I have decided to offer a FREE Holiday Traditions mini session for clients who book or have booked a session for 2018.  But Christmas is just around the corner, so you’ll need to act quickly to take advantage of this!  The details of this offer:

• The Holiday Traditions mini session is up to 1 hour and includes 15 digital files.
• The session is in your home or a location of your choice where your holiday tradition takes place (e.g. a tree farm).
• This is to capture any traditions you would find your family participating in this time of year.
• Need some ideas?  How about picking out or decorating the Christmas tree?  Wrapping presents? Reading Christmas stories or baking cookies?  Making a gingerbread house?  Watching Christmas movies or drinking cocoa?  Decorating or opening up the advent calendar?  Or??
• If you don’t celebrate Christmas, but have other holiday traditions, I would love to capture those too!
• Are you the one always taking pictures and never in the pictures with your family?  This is your chance to get in the frame too!

Some fine print details:

• Your 2018 session must be booked and reservation fee paid towards that session before booking Holiday Traditions mini session.
• 2018 session must be Classic package or higher – this offer does not apply to the Minimalist (weekday mini session) package.  See pricing details for 2018 sessions here
• The exact date for the 2018 session does not need to be chosen to complete booking.
• Holiday Traditions mini session must be completed by December 22, 2017.