Closeness for Christmas

The holidays are a time to relax with cherished friends and loved ones.  This is the time for songs and cheer and reflection of the year past and the year to come.  This is the time to share gifts, food and stories.

The holidays are also a time many people find stressful, largely due to loved ones. Rushing around to shopping malls, planning dinners, figuring out whose parents you will visit on Christmas eve and who you will spend Christmas with. For young couples with new babies this is a time of change; change is always stressful and sometimes scary.

Let’s all take the time to make this Christmas special. It really is a magical time of year – even though we spend time together throughout the year, rarely do we make such a point of it as we do in December. Songs about joy and peace ring off the tongue so freely when lips are tight at other times.

Tomorrow I will follow up with a list ideas that will help get any family into the Christmas spirit.

Traveling With Baby

At one time, visiting our parents was as simple as making sure the lights and oven were off and hopping in the car for a three hour drive. Now that we have a baby, that same trip can take up to six hours between getting all of the baby’s gear loaded (he has more stuff than we do!) and stopping to feed him when he cries. Traveling is a big deal when there is so much to be responsible for; it’s a wonder we are able to make it anywhere on time.

Our latest trick is to wait until the baby goes down for the night then load him into the car seat and take off. This technique means we can drive straight through without stopping for bottles and the baby wakes up at grandma’s house so there is a smaller period of adjustment. It can be very tiring to arrive at our destination so late, but the benefits seem to outweigh the drawbacks.

I was concerned about the advisability of letting the baby sleep in his car seat for such long periods of time. Doctors warn against letting babies sleep in car seats citing increased risk of SIDS but the problem factors seem to be unrelated to the child sleeping in the car:

• The airway can become blocked if the head is flexed forward
• When the head is flexed forward, the jaw contacts the chest, obstructing the breathing pattern
• This can happen when the restraint is not used and the child has poor control of their head – normally they are younger than 6 months of age
• The particular cases being warned about involved children being placed in car seats to sleep rather than during use as safety devices in vehicles

Car seats here in Canada are designed for babies to sleep in comfortably even when being transferred from the indoors to a car and back. Being able to load the baby without waking him up is convenient for parents and healthier for the baby. When used properly car seats reduce injury by 90 to 95 percent.

Back to traveling – is it safe to keep the baby in the car seat for those long trips? The answer is yes, provided breaks are taken when the baby is awake so he can be released from the car seat and allowed to stretch. An 8-hour non-stop trip in a seated position places a lot of stress on the baby’s developing spine so it is important to move him from time to time.

The Family Holiday Photograph

As the year-end festivities start to kick into gear my wife and I find ourselves pondering the changes of the last twelve months, the growth of our loved ones, and the new year to come. Part of our tradition is the holiday photograph – that yearly snapshot of our ever-expanding immediate family. In our household photographs and videos are as much a part of the holidays as are turkeys and treats. I have scoured the net to bring together a list of tips for getting the most out of holiday photos.

Have a Good Camera
Obviously the average household is not going to have a professional camera setup on hand. However, there are huge variances between the quality of photographs produced by different camera models, even among similar price points. In the case of digital cameras, a 12 mega pixel camera does not guarantee a better photograph than a 6 mega pixel camera.

In our case we felt it was worth the extra money to get a decent digital SLR. After much research we chose the Nikon D40 and have been very pleased with the results. With an SLR, the photo you see in the viewfinder is exactly the final photo that will appear. The D40 is a little pricier than the more common fixed-lens digital cameras, but considering its construction and the fact you can swap lenses as your skills improved, this camera will be in the family for a long time. The auto-focus is quite solid – we have had this camera for a year now and have yet to take a bad picture.

Soft Light
The sun provides its softest (best) light early in the morning and in the evening. Your family will look their best if you are able to shoot during these times. If not, try to arrange for shade to prevent the harsh light of the sun from glaring off skin in the final photo. Of course if you are in the harsher northern climate this time of year, you may not be taking too many photos outside to begin with!

Talk to Each Other
Don’t have people say “Cheese” or count down – you’ll end up with photos of kids sticking out their tongues at the camera. Instead, keep everyone talking about upcoming activities, new toys, anything of interest. This will lighten the mood and give you a more relaxed photo as your family won’t be thinking of it as posing – they will be less intimidated by the camera and will look more natural.

Heads Together
Arrange it so your loved ones heads are close together. This will cause the final photo to appear warmer, your subjects will look happier. This is an easily overlooked yet simple way to get great family photographs on any occasion.

Clear Up the Background Clutter
Any object in the background will come out in the photo. We are used to perceiving the world around us in three dimensions, but photography is a two-dimensional art. If you don’t want your subject to look like they have a tree growing out of their head, make sure to place them in front of a neutral or solid background.

Wear Bright Colours
This is supposed to be a happy time! Have everyone wear bright, lively colours when taking photographs. This will add a great deal of visual interest to your picture and will make the subjects look more energetic and happy.

Take Lots of Shots
The great hockey player Wayne Gretzky said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take“. This sentiment applies to photography as well. When you are at your family gathering, take as many photos as you can – don’t always wait for people to pose. The result will be candid, relaxed shots that more accurately portray the character of your family; these are the photos you will most cherish.

Many digital cameras have a “cool-off” period between photos while they save your picture to their internal memory or card. During this time, you cannot take another photo. My advice is to look for a camera that has a large cache memory. A child may only smile for a split second – if you are able to rapid-fire press the shutter button you will be able to capture that smile.

Have Fun
Many people are intimidated by cameras – they may feel they don’t look good in pictures or they may just not want to have their picture taken. Respect your family’s wishes in this regard, but do try have fun with it and encourage everyone to get involved and take part in the photography. The holidays don’t last forever and the time have together won’t come again. Enjoy the gathering and take photographs that can be shared and cherished for years to come.