Burns Family Christmas 2017

A Family Portrait

Merry Christmas from the Burns Family! Yes, it is not quite Christmas yet. But we now present you with our 2017 Christmas family portrait.

This goes along with our previous photo from last year. Because Christmas was on a Sunday that year, when we got home from church we took a family photo in front of the Christmas tree before changing into our clothes for lounging around the house the rest of the day.

This year, Christmas is on a Monday. So it would make sense that we would have taken this photo on Christmas Eve, which is a Sunday, right? But because of family plans, we knew that probably would not work. Instead, we decided to take our Christmas family photo this past Sunday, which was a little more than a week before Christmas. No big deal either way. I just thought I would throw that explanation out in case you were wondering.

Laura had been working on getting everything decorated. While there was still some left to do, the tree was complete when we took this. Unfortunately, you can’t see that much of the tree here. Either we need to crouch down on our knees or get a bigger tree. I don’t think that either one is a good idea actually, so this is what you get.

An Alternate Version

Actually, the above photo was not our first effort. Instead, we tried standing in front of the tree, but I never was all that happy with the results.

There really is not that much wrong with this photo. I just like the other one better. In this one, you still can’t see much of the Christmas tree. And the photo would have benefitted from a taller tripod to get a slightly higher angle, but that was as high as this tripod goes. Oh well. I still like it, but I prefer the other one better.

By the way, Jaylin keeps thinking that he is as tall as we are now, but I just don’t see it. But if he does get any taller, we will definitely need that taller tripod!

In case you were wondering about the hat on top of the tree, it was sort of a spur of the moment decision. Laura had bought the hat to be the centerpiece on a table she had decorated. We had thought about getting something new to top off the tree when Laura suddenly had the idea to put the hat on top of it, and that is where it stayed. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Interesting Thought

Remember when we thought it was a bad thing to be bored?

Bible Verse

Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. - 1 John 3:18

About the photo

For these photos, I went back to the Canon EOS 60D, which is not the main camera I use these days. But the Canon camera works well with the external flash that I used, and it has a handy remote control as well. I aimed the flash at the ceiling because I feel like that looks more like natural lighting than pointing the flash directly at us. Also, I used the standard lens that came with the camera instead of one of the many other lenses I have for it. That lens was just wide enough without being too wide, and despite how some people may feel, the lens does an adequate job for most things.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips. Camera: Canon EOS 60D Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm Date: December 17, 2017 Location: Our house, Williston, Tennessee