The holiday season is one that most of us cherish and look forward to each year. It is a time for many of us to spend time with family and friends, and celebrate those things that we hold dear.
Since we were first married my wife and I have used the decorations on our Christmas tree as mementos of special occasions, and remembrances of our three children as well as of our extended family and friends.
Our tree topper is still the original one that the two of us made as newlyweds almost 40 years ago. A cardboard cut-out of a snowman to which we glued felt crafted in the shape of a hat, scarf, eyes and mouth, with sequin buttons and pupils.
My wife still hangs a small, felt Christmas stocking that she received more than 50 years ago from one of her brothers. The coin that was put in that stocking all of those years ago is still inside it today.
Budgets being very modest back then, most of our original decorations were things that we made. Many have survived over the years and we place them on the tree each year.
When we were fortunate enough to be able to travel we looked for souvenirs that we could use as decorations for the Christmas tree.
Our children have carried on this tradition and we have received a number of travel souvenirs from them that now adorn our tree during the festive season.
When the children were small they produced all kinds of crafts that they proudly brought home from school, and which found a place on the family Christmas tree. Regardless of how simple the design, or how suspect the quality of the handiwork, each was deemed to be a treasure.
Whenever possible my wife would dutifully put the date on the back of each treasure that the children produced. And, if she couldn’t put the date on it, she made notes about each piece so we’d always remember where and when a particular tree decoration originated.
This has been a tradition in our household for almost 40 years. A few years ago I began photographing each and every ornament on our Christmas tree and my wife and I prepared a digital photo album complete with notes on each decoration. When the time comes, this will be passed on to our children in both digital and printed forms.
This year we became empty nesters. The time had come for us to share the family legacy that had been growing for the past 4 decades.
My wife went through our collection of ornamental treasures and gave each of the three children a selection that would have special meaning for each of them.
Not only that, she was able to tell them where each piece originated and when it had been added to the family collection. The reverence with which each of those ornaments was handled was a joy to behold.
Often we think of our cameras as tools for our businesses, or something that we pick up to capture family events. One of the most important things that we can do with our cameras is to create a family legacy through our images. Something that can live for generations.
To all of our wonderful readers at Photography Life, we wish you a safe and healthy Holiday Season!
Technical note
All of the images in this article were taken handheld using a Nikon 1 V2 equipped with a 1 Nikon 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 non-PD zoom lens.
My V2 was fitted with a Vello CB-510 Dual Shoe Bracket with Silicon Rubber Grip. Lighting was produced with a Genaray LED-7100T 312 LED Variable Colour Light. Post processing was done with my usual process. RAW files were processed through DxO OpticsPro 10 with additional minor adjustments done in CS6 and Viveza 2.
Article and all images Copyright 2014, Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, reproduction or duplication including electronic is allowed without written consent.
Wow!! Now that is a wonderful family..! I know I am late, but still, happy holidays to you, your family and the entire photography life team!!
Hi Anirudh,
The best of the holiday season to you as well!
Tom
How sweet.That sounds like an amazing loving family!
Lovely pics as always, just the reds seem to be oversaturated in some photos.
Hi animalpalace3,
Glad you enjoyed the article! Not sure if it was due to the bright LED light I used – you’re right, the reds were a bit hard to control.
Tom
At least it’s not because of color blindness;-) Wishing you happy holidays with many more ornaments!
Petra
Great article. I have kept all the ornaments my 30 year old “kids” made through the years. What a great idea to photograph them and give them to them. I will probably need to have a family get to together so we can discuss and write down what everyone remembers about each ornament. I know their memories are better than mine.
I had started, even 30 years ago, the tradition of getting each child a dated ornament that held a photo. I’m doing the same for the grandkids, but now its much easier to get a nice photo ornament of each child from Mpix for about $10 and they are added to their stocking each year. I hope they will cherish them as much as I have enjoyed creating the memories for them.
Hi Diane,
Thanks for sharing your tradition with us! Luckily for me, my wife has been our family historian. She has an amazing memory for such details which has really come in handy with our family tradition.
Tom
Thomas, another interesting article. I’ve been doing similar things like this but with the grand children. I get my step kids to dress up my grand daughter and grand son in different costumes each day we are together and make photos of them. Fortunately, both my grand kids are hams and love to play in front of Poppi’s camera.
Hi Mike,
With two of our children getting married in 2015 we are hopeful that some day we’ll have grandchildren and create some traditions with them.
Tom
I’m sure you will and will love every minute of of it. Currently, I studding several texts on making video so I can record and edit to make CD’s for them. I’ve never done this before.
Lovely memories and lovely photos, Thomas. Happy Holidays to you as well.
One question, you said you took the images with the Nikon 1 V2 and the 10-30mm non-PD zoom lens. What’s “non-PD” mean? I’ve been thinking about getting the V2 given the images you’ve posted here and elsewhere. It would be nice to have a lightweight system for hiking and travel.
Hi Cindy,
Nikon produces two 10-30 zoom lenses for the Nikon 1 system. The newest one is a ‘PD’ zoom, i.e. it is a power zoom. This particular lens does not accept any filters. The 10-30 lenses I have are the manual zoom style which do accept filters.
If you are looking to buy a Nikon 1 V2 I’d suggest you pick one up soon as that model is being discontinued by Nikon and depending on the country in which you reside could be in short supply.
Tom
This is a wonderful tradition to continue and a great idea for days when the weather suggests indoor photographic opportunities. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Raymond,
Glad you enjoyed the article and that we could provide a bit of inspiration for you! One of the great things about holiday periods is the family traditions that are created and carried on.
Tom