There are a ton of specials going on this month by our favorite Brooklyn documentarians. This is the time to get your family shoot in and make your holiday cards at the same time. Some of these deals are real steals. Our family did a photo shoot last month and I designed our card on Kodak Gallery. Let me tell you that I wasted countless hours doing so- but I can’t deny it satisfied some of my creative urges that have been crying out for attention lately. We just got our cards back. The color shift is fairly off on the image (too much yellow), but Papa Tree doesn’t concur. He thinks they are “just fine.” For the discerning, I would suggest an actual photo paper for your card. Ours was printed on cardstock. Heck, I guess I can’t be so picky anymore, at least all of us had combed hair! (PHOTO: Birch in DUMBO at our photo shoot, done by Justine Cooper- see her listing below).

Before selecting our card design (a Martha Stewart- yes, MS is even doing card designs!) it took me a long time to find a good one. So, to help save you time, I am posting about my favorite ones that I found. See info at the bottom of the post.

Brooklyn mom and editor, Maya, has a video editing business that helps people organize and archive their digital pictures. She takes peoples’ digital pictures and edits them together onto a DVD. Think of it as a video scrapbook! She can also edit your old home movies, vacation videos, etc. Oh, oh! I want to get all those old slides from my grandparents on a DVD soon….. Maya is offering holiday specials for the December holidays: as long as you contact her and start working on your video before December 1st, she will take $75 off the package of your choice and make 2 additional copies of the final DVD movie for free (usually $10/DVD copy). You can see samples on her site at www.creativepictures.tv. Contact Maya Noren at [email protected] or 917.749.6847

Justine Cooper is offering a holiday special on Saturday & Sunday November 22nd and 23rd- that’s this weekend! Justine does beautiful portraits using a mix of natural and studio lighting. She is offering a 45 minute photo session in her studio (located between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope) which includes an online web gallery you can share with family and friends, a $50 gift certificate towards prints, plus one digital negative to make your holiday card with the company of your choice. $250. Call or email for additional information and to reserve a space. 917-309-2133 http://justinecooperphotography.com

I know Juliette Conroy as a fine artist who shows in galleries and also makes custom art from your child’s wearables. What I didn’t know is that before she had her 2 daughters she was also an editorial photographer. Leading up to the holidays she is offering a 45 minute session (1 child or more) with a CD of images, and no obligation to buy prints for $150.00. Images and full details can be seen at this link.

Sarah Sloboda has taken Birch’s photographs a couple of times: she shot him in a quintessentially quirky image watering our dying garden. I love it. She is offering a kids holiday portrait package: Includes 1-hour session, online proofing, two 8x10s, three 5x7s, and 20 holiday cards. The most direct way to book a slot is to make a date request at [email protected] or call 718.388.5786. *Price excludes sales tax. Dates are available throughout the month of November at the special rate. Additional family members (parents, siblings, etc.) may be added to the shoot for an additional $150.

Once you get that photo shoot done, why not enter for a chance to have your baby appear on the cover of Happy Baby: The Organic Guide to Baby’s First 24 Months, by Dr. Robert W. Sears and Amy Marlow, RD MPH CDN, nutrition adviser to HappyFamily? Happy Baby will be published by HarperCollins. You can win over $1,000 in other prizes too! Enter now through December 30th, 2008. Register here to fill out a form and submit a link to your child’s picture. All winners will be notified by January 30th, 2009 and announced on April 15th, 2009. Please read the Official Rules.

So for my favorite finds in holiday cards:

Tiny presents is one that I wish I had seen when our first child was born- I probably would have done this one. Get it at Tiny Prints.

I love this preppy, funky card from DoodleBugDezigns. This is the same cost as some of the Kodak cards, but you can get this printed on your choice of photo paper or cardstock and they offer lots of customization, including mini pics on the back and font changes.

This photo card from Pear Designs is printed on 100% post-consumer fibers- its recycled! Love it.

This one is cool from Beeyondpaper. It comes in green too! (and blue and chocolate)

“I Believe in SantaPaws” card is available at Snapfish. They start at $1.49 and go down to 65 cents if you order more. This is 5×7 card, the 4×8 is less expensive.

On Kodak Gallery you can get a 30% discount off of photo cards right now. I just did this and it cut our costs dramatically. I like this cool one by Bonnie Marcus for the New Year. Peace, dahling! How about this hilarious one from Sour Cherries with tree ornaments run amok? My last favorite from Kodak is this deer scene by Elum that is printed over your photo.

Happy Snapping everyone!

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