The Art of a Timed Family Photo

On a whim, just a few minutes before Sophia's friends were set to arrive for her birthday party, Steve offered to use the camera on "timed mode" and take a quick family photo. 

This is never an easy task, and it often results in several botched photos before we end up with one that I deem is "acceptable."  The challenge lies in propping the camera up on something that is an appropriate height, setting the zoom just right so as not to cut anyone out of the picture ... and more importantly, getting all members to at least look at the camera (smiling is even better!) before the flash goes off.  Throw in a baby that is two weeks old and things can be a little dicey.

I present Exhibit A, the picture that was used to line everything up and set the zoom feature.  Upon seeing this photo, Sophia needed to be reminded to stand up straight and to "lose the pillow" on the floor.

Then there's Exhibit B, one that cracks me up every. single. time.  Everyone was actually looking at the camera when Steve jumped into his spot 10 seconds before the flash was to go off.  The problem?  Steve forgot where James was propped up in the chair and completely covered him up.  Epic failure.

Exhibit C might be all right; after all, I decided that it would be best to hold Jimmy at this point, but my massive amount of curly hair was covering up Jack just a bit.

And finally, the best of the bunch -- Exhibit D.  Our family.  Not professional by any means, but a pretty decent representation of our life right now.  Oh how I love this little crew.