I like all the festive celebration and excitement of Christmas, and truly enjoy all the colourful decorations, the lights and listening to Christmas music for a whole month. Yes, I do like Christmas music.
I have also written about Christmas cards before.
All year long the photography social media sites on the Internet that I belong to have been filled with photos made by members, but images posted on the Internet quickly fade into memories and are easily forgotten when an hour later someone else posts theirs.
I like photographic prints. Prints have a life, whether framed and hung on a wall in our home, taped on the refrigerator, or thumbtacked in an open space in the workroom. To me a print of any size has more importance and life than a digital image on my computer or iPhone screen.
Christmas is a great time for photographers, and besides them just having fun taking pictures of anything and everything they now ave an opportunity to give friends and family their photographs.
I suppose that could mean a big framed photograph, but what I am writing about today is Christmas cards. Cards are easier and less expensive than framed prints, and any card of a photographer’s work is more personal as a gift than an email or little picture tagged to a text message.
I don’t want to believe that any photographer would ever be satisfied with mass produced generic Christmas cards. Personally, I want people to enjoy my photography, even if it’s only as a 5x7 card.
A card to someone I care about is so much better than having my pictures left languishing as image files deep in some computer hard-drive that hasn’t been backed up.
Right now I am going through my many files from this year’s photographs selecting those I want for Christmas cards. I’ll print up different subjects and place all sorts of greetings on them. It is rare that I give the same picture to more than one person. And not all the cards say “Merry Christmas”. Although I like “Merry Christmas”, what wording goes on a card doesn’t really matter to me. Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Have Fun, A Good New Year, and anything else I think fits a particular picture. It’s about the card, never the words.
I have written before that I always produce a new monthly calendar. My wife and I used to alternate our months.
Doing a calendar is a neat way to personally enjoy my photography, but cards are a lot more fun because they are for others to enjoy. I also make cards for all occasions, like birthday’s, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, etc.
My family has come to expect me to share my photography. Sometimes it’s only a picture of something we’ve done, but if it’s a special occasion they always will get a card. Even when I would go to my granddaughter’s school Christmas concert, I always took their pictures, made a card and sent it to them through the mail.
For those photographers that don’t have their own printer, it’s as easy as having a 4x5 print made at a local lab. Then get some construction paper, glue a picture on it, fold the paper, write something like Merry Christmas inside and give it away. And don’t make all the cards the same. What would be the fun in that?
These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net. Stop by Enman’s Camera at 423 Tranquille Road in Kamloops. I sell an interesting selection of used photographic equipment.
Don’t hesitate to call me at 250-371-3069.