12/17/2006

Say it with pictures

Holiday greetings get personal

More and more, people are taking their Christmas cards into their own hands.

Sending cards featuring a personal picture as opposed to the traditional store-bought variety has become commonplace. Ron Elzinga, photo lab coordinator at Meijer in Traverse City, said most of the pictures his staff sees are of families in various forms.

"They put kids out in front of the tree or something,” he said. "There's a little bit of cats and dogs, or a family with a horse. It's mainly families and pets.”

Heather Yonka, manager of Blue Photo in Traverse City, had similar observations.

"Lots of times, families just do the children,” she said. "And I would say they are along the lines of mostly serious (in tone).”

Yonka said one about a week ago stood out. It had a teenager — the family's only child — snorkeling or diving under water in a Santa suit.

Both Yonka and Elzinga said it can be hard to get just the right picture.

"A lot of people will shoot a roll of film or two to get them done,” Elzinga said. "With the digital stuff, a lot of guys are getting that in two to three attempts.”

Yonka knows what a challenge it can be. She uses a photo as her Christmas card, and takes the picture at Thanksgiving when the whole family — including her two dogs — are there.

"I have five nieces and nephews, so somebody's always picking their nose or screaming or crying or squirming,” she said. "It can be difficult.

"That's the beauty of digital, though. You can take 20 to get one.”

The Record-Eagle asked readers to send in the pictures they have used or will send as Christmas cards. Here is a sampling.

The good life

Maudie Anderson of Frankfort sent the photo she and husband Chuck, 74, are sending this year. It could be the Record-Eagle's Christmas card as well.

It shows Chuck napping in a chair with the Record-Eagle's Sunday Northern Living section draped over his head. It was taken by their daughter, Christine Baron of Fort Wayne, Ind.

"He was asleep, and we have south facing windows and a prow on the front,” Maudie explained. "A lot of light comes in, so he'll put a paper over his head when he takes a nap. The grandchildren — the little girls — will giggle and point at him.”

Maudie said the picture was too good to pass up for wider distribution. They're sending about 90 cards.

"We usually send out a religious card because we are Christians, but my daughters and I thought that was so cute that we couldn't resist sending it to our friends,” she said. "It said 'Northern Living' and I thought that was just a hoot. If it had been anything else, it wouldn't have been quite so funny.”

Reba and the Enchanted Tree

Jackie Winkowski of Gwinn sent her Christmas card picture, "Reba at the Enchanted Tree.”

"I had just decorated this spruce tree in a valley next to a frozen pond in the center of our 115 acres when Reba, my 9-year-old Siberian-Alaskan husky mix, decided to strike a pose,” she writes. "The early December winter light was no less than perfect.

"This is truly a magical place. Visitors to our sled dog kennel (called Snowy Plains) have enjoyed viewing the tree while riding in a dogsled. Even though it's deep in the woods, at night its colorful lights are aglow. There is always a small gift under the tree for each visitor. Some have even glimpsed Santa there!”

Getting it just right

Leila Pasbjerg of California, who lived in Buckley until about six years ago and still has relatives there, sent a picture her family used on their Christmas card of her five daughters in front of their Christmas tree. It was taken three years ago. The girls are now 15, 13, 9, and two are 7 years old; the twins were born at Munson Medical Center.

"This picture took about two hours to get just right between the girls getting bored and the animals interrupting, as well as calls coming into the house,” Pasbjerg writes. "It was not easy to do and the sun coming in the window didn't help either ... it was so hard to do that now we go to Wal-Mart for all Christmas photos.”

Not so typical

Kathryn K. Myers of Traverse City sent in two pictures she used for her family Christmas card in recent years. One is of her husband, Bill, with their sons David and Jack at the Old Mission Peninsula Lighthouse. The 2005 photo was of David and Jack at home.

"To me, it looked like they were sharing a special secret between brothers,” she says.

Myers said she has been taking a picture for their family Christmas card since Jack, 4, was born.

"I want to make it more of a not necessarily a portrait, but something that's visually interesting and maybe has a sense of family,” she says. "I shoot maybe 100 pictures to get something I like.”

This year's picture is of their family, taken during a trip to Hawaii earlier this year.

"It was a blue sunny sky and there were palm trees. It was lovely,” she says. "Everyone on our Christmas card list just loves the 'not so typical' photos of the family that we send.

A family tradition

Nancy Rader of Traverse City sent in a picture she and husband Richard used as their family Christmas card 2005.

It pictures, from left, their Airedale Sadie, miniature dachsund Kasey and another Airedale, Oliver. The Airedales came from an organization that rescues lost or abandoned Airedales.

"We take our dogs every year to the Cherryland Humane Society,” she says, "and this picture was one of the best.”

In fact, the Raders make a point of trying to send a picture of their dogs every Christmas.

"She has a thing about getting pictures with Santa Claus and the dogs,” Richard says. "And she likes to support the Humane Society.

"It's starting to be a family tradition. Everybody in the family wonders what we are going to do for a dog picture every year.”

Labor Day to Christmas

Amy Diment of Williamsburg said her family gets together for a picnic and "Picture Day” every Labor Day.

"We began this endeavor about six years ago and it is a challenge ... there are now 15 of us in all: my parents, my two sisters with their families and my family,” she writes. "With seven kids (ranging in age this year from 2 to 12), we consider it a minor miracle each year that we get a good photo. My parents send the chosen photo out each year for their Christmas card.”

To get the kids to cooperate for the picture, they offer a "bribe photo.”

"We have found that to ensure the kids' cooperation, we promise that if they'll be patient and take several 'good' pictures, at the end we get to take a goofy one,” she writes. "Needless to say, THAT one is always the kids' favorite.”

Home for the Holidays

Michael Thomas Impellizzeri of Cedar is a fine art nature photographer based in Cedar. He sent his Christmas card picture, titled "Home for the Holidays” and featuring his own house.

"It took me two winters to get a composition that I liked,” he writes.

A Holiday hobby

Jack and Kelly Jacobs of Elk Rapids like to use their favorite iceboat photos for their cards.

"Most of our friends and family iceboat northern Michigan through the holidays,” she writes. "This photo was taken on Elk Lake in Elk Rapids Feb. 2006.”

Who needs boots?

Bill Fagan, who lives on Spider Lake near Traverse City, sent in a Christmas card picture he and his wife of 36 years, Truda, took posing in bathing suits in the snow.

"Having just retired after 32 years of teaching in Baltimore, Maryland, we keep hearing from friends and family that we must be nuts to move up north and not to the warm south,” Bill writes. "But, TC is where our hearts are and, loving it, we wanted to let everyone know that warmth is just a state of mind.”

First snow

Carl Couturier of Traverse City sent in a Christmas card picture of his daughter, Ola (short for Aleksandra), 8, taken Dec. 1 with the first snowman they made this year.

"We had to use Smingos Dingos eggs (Smingos Dingos is a Polish tradition) for the eyes and nose,” he writes.

Pride and joy

Jennifer Nickerson of Traverse City sent in a picture of her two English bulldogs, which required taking "many pictures before getting this one right.”

"Bentley, the white bulldog, loved Santa's lap and would have sat there all day,” says Nickerson, who owns the dogs with Dustin Summers. "Belle, on the other hand, thought that playing sounded more fun.

"Often when this picture is shown to people they think it's a photo we purchased. What a compliment considering these are our pride and joy. They won an award for 'cutest' for this.”

Magic of Photoshop

Pat Colvin of Kewadin and husband Lee are using a photo her sister in Oregon doctored as their Christmas card picture this year. It's a picture of Santa and Mrs. Claus, with the Colvins' faces instead of the originals.

"She surprised us with it,” Pat said. "She just sent it last year to us for Christmas, and I've made copies and I've sent it on this year.”

It's not the first time her sister has had fun with their pictures, as in the time she replaced the faces of Lynne and Dick Cheney shown together with George and Laura Bush in a picture with the Colvins'.

"She sends it to us for a birthday or just to be funny,” Pat said. "Yes, she has a lot of time on her hands, I guess.”

A friend in the snow

Leslie Shacklette of Marble, Colo., sent an image featuring a snowman. Her then 3-year-old grandson, Tim Shacklette, of Traverse City, built the snowman with his parents while staying with Leslie and her husband before last Christmas, and she used it as last year's card.

The outside inscription read:

Over the river and through the woods to Papa's house we go,
When we get there, it's white everywhere..............
So we build a new friend in the snow.

Inside:

Meet Larry from Colorado