Shutter Sisters

Gift Exchange

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Twelve dancing princesses twinkled, giggled and clickety-clicked in fancy shoes throughout my home yesterday. Twas my girl’s sixth birthday party. I’m not sure why, but I’m rarely thrilled with my birthday party shots. Perhaps because they often seem overly posed. Rushed. Yes, it’s great to be happy and smiling and posing in all silliness, but I prefer catching subtle glances at a slower pace. A spontaneous moment when my presence is long forgotten and they forget to say cheese.

Speaking of forgotten… I often forget December birthdays in the chaos of the holiday season. Do you? Well, Zazzle is the only super speedy, on-demand custom solution that produces products with your fabulous images and designs within 24 hours of ordering for great gifts like hip, fitted t-shirts, canvas prints, note cards, magnets and even skateboards. A perfect solution for last-minute gift givers. And in the sisterly spirit of gift giving, leave a comment on this post and FIVE winners will be chosen to receive 1 set of 20 cards and 1 sheet of 20 US postage stamps customized with your image and design. Use them for holiday cards, greeting cards or birthday thank you notes. Hey! Now there’s an idea.

AND…Congratulations to busymomma66 for winning the Tracy Joy bag. Fill it well.

Comments

  5. I’d just like to add that it’s great to only be the 5th poster instead of the 150th LOL.

    I would LOVE to have an image immortilzed =) (disregard the spelling plz)

  17. Love the candid photo. Lately I’ve been feeling rushed when taking photographs and I just assumed it was the season. Everyone seems to get so wrapped up in all the things they have to do that they forget to slow down and enjoy it all. Before you know it we’ll be clearing the wrapping and ribbons and wondering where the time went. C’est la vie I guess. My husband’s birthday is the 11th of December and this year the poor man has to have a CSCAN done of his sinuses. Not the most pleasant of birthdays that’s for sure.

    I’ll have to check out Zazzle because I always manage to forget my M-I-L’s birthday until I’m crunched for time and I love her to death it’s just that her birthday falls during Memorial Day weekend which is a huge deal for this family here on the east coast.

  23. I’d love to use photo gift cards– I’m thinking this is a wonderful way to have a "homemade" gift– even though my "craft" is photography!

  25. My husband’s birthday is New Years Eve. I always feel badly because his celebration gets lost. We’ve started a tradition where he gets treated special in the morning. Presents at breakfast!

  29. I always enjoy unposed photos. For me, they are frozen moments of real life, which is much more messy and interesting.

    Thanks for sharing. I aspire to create amazing photos like the ones that I find here. This site makes me happy.

  30. yes, candid photos at birthday parties are best, and I love yours with the excited little girls. You, ladies are so awesome for having a give-a-way everyday.

  32. I am not even kidding when I say I clicked over here from the Zazzle custom card section where I was contemplating what designs I’d do. Freaky.

  35. lovely picture, the perfect give away for those of us with a million projects(including kids)to get done at this busy time of year. I will have to go over and take a look…

  36. this would be GREAT for me since both sets of my girls grandparents live on the opposite coast…

  39. oh, i just adore that photo. i never got to enjoy birthdays myself. except for cake and all. my parents grew up poor in rural china without fancy things like birthdays so they raised me in that same manner. (though i’m pretty sure i was a spoiled child nonetheless). so candid or posed pictures of birthdays? it didn’t matter. i had neither. except maybe one or two for the cake-eating part. 🙂

  45. I should stop coming here, really. All these pictures I wish I’d been there to take myself! I can’t very well photograph the photograph, now can I?

  47. Hi there, I click ed on your link while reading my subscription to Zen moments on line.
    i had never heard of you but I’m glad I was curious this morning. This is great!

  48. I also much prefer candid shots to posed. Enjoy taking photos of her now when she is willing to participate. Mine are now at the eye-rolling and "well, if it will make you happy, but I’m not really here" stage.

    I have an uncle whose birthday is December 24. They celebrate by putting up the tree, and ordering Chinese.

    Thanks for sharing!

  62. What a fabulous photo! I’d also like to throw my name in the hat for the Zazzle giveaway!

  63. how fun! i remember on my 12th birthday i had 12 friends over and my mom later said "never again!" ha. your photo looks like pure fun and dress up.

    thanks for the linky for last minute ideas. i’m a terrible procrastinator!!

  65. My favorite birthday photo is of our son’s first birthday with the same swirling mayhem surrounding a little person who is just standing still, trying to take it all in.

  67. Love the photo, and good point about birthdays! My son’s bday is the 29th, which is way too close to Christmas, so we celebrate in June (his half birthday) so people don’t have to feel bad about forgetting his bday in the midst of crazy holiday schedules.

  69. I am pregnant and due any day now. I feel badly that my child’s birthday will be so close to Christmas, but hopefully we’ll find a special way to celebrate it every year. 🙂

  75. Oh, yes! Those December birthdays! My hubby’s is on Christmas and mine is 9 days later both his parents and my mother all have birthdays in December as well! I’d love some extra help!

  89. I’ve found my boys sometimes challenging to photograph – they can be especially non-cooperative! One has a December birthday; last year we took some boys tubing in January. That was fun to shoot – cold, at night! Yikes!

  91. I have started looking at this blog everyday because I am coming across brilliant artists and new websites to explore throught this blog!! Thanks!! 🙂

  92. My daughter’s birthday is exactly two weeks after Christmas, which has given us the gift of continued celebrating while others fight the January blues. She’ll be 18 this year. Keep capturing moments like these…they fly by.

  93. I’m used to the birthday in december thing, and being overlooked. I was born on Dec. 21 and don’t think i’ve gotten a decent thoughtful gift since i was 5. Cheers to this give away!!!!

  94. Sounds like something that should be an ah-hah moment in a real simple magazine. I thought I was the only one that forgot stuff during the busy season.

    Becky

  96. Wouldn’t it be fun to set up a zazzle exchange? Create a set of cards/stamps and then exchange a few with a few other people for a totally diverse selection?

  97. Love that photo. I am a candid girl too… I just don’t like posed as much. I can’t wait until my 17 month old daughter starts having her birthday parties!

  100. I hate feeling like I might have missed part of the party, while photographing it. Lovely shot.

  103. What a fantastic photo! It makes me nostalgic for playing dress up 🙂
    And what a great give away!

  108. That is such a cute shot! I often forget to take party pictures until cake time, and get the cheesy smiles that seem to mark every occasion where my boys have to wait to eat the cake! LOL!!

    And it’s true, December birthdays seem to really sneak up on you. My husband’s is exactly a week before Christmas.

  109. Since I’m an early Jan birthday I try really hard to remember the Dec birthdays. We are partners in being forgotten in the whirlwind of and the let down after. It ain’t easy, though!

  110. My brother’s birthday is 12/22 and I am very guilty of forgetting to wish him a happy birthday or sending a card. I won’t forget this year!!

  124. Just got engaged this past weekend (weeee!!!!) so I’m sure some customized note cards and stamps will come in quite handy in the next few weeks.

  126. Oh the memories….I’m a December baby and I hated having my birthday then when I was growing up…it was usually overlooked compared to my sister who was born on the 4th of July!…Now I just want to ignore it anyways as I am way too busy!

  143. I’ve been a lurker, but this brought me out of the shadows. I actually have a zazzle site but have never ordered any of my own stuff!! Would love to win this giveaway.
    Happy Holidays and Happy December Birthdays!

  145. What a fantastic giveaway! I so wanted to do those stamps for my wedding but sadly they were too expensive. One day, I will have an excuse to use them.