Our Turkey Point Lighthouse Christmas Photoshoot.

Where I'm from (Winnipeg, Canada), taking family Christmas photos, getting them edited and printed, and handing them out to everyone you know at Christmas family gatherings is a huge deal. Huuuuge! Like, you should see my parent's house. They have two walls covered in friends and family's Christmas photos! (I can only hope and dream to have that many photos when I am their age, heehee)!

Christmas card photos are just a fantastic way to update loved ones on changes in the family, whether that be through pregnancies, birth, or weddings. Personally, I love to see the families grow in numbers and watch the kids get taller and taller each year.

In Maryland, it's a different story. During my first Christmas here,

I said to Jarryd: "let's take Christmas photos and send them to everyone!"

Jarryd: "...huh?"

Me: "You're JOKING!"

After a whole big explanation, and because Jarryd wants to be a Mennonite-German-Canadian convert so badly, we decided to take some shots (photo shots that is). And here is a photo of our very first Christmas together as husband and wifey (2014):

I love that photo. I think it's the matching shirts that does it for me. ;) Because we knew we weren't going to be spending Christmas in Canada, and because international postage is so expensive, we only printed out photos for my immediate family and Jarryd's family. It was good enough at the time.

As for this last Christmas of 2015, we knew we were coming back to Canada for the holidays, so we had to bring out the big guns!

So after work one Saturday in early December, I straightened my hair, did my make up, picked out an outfit (choosing an outfit is always the hardest part, right?!), grabbed the Canon, and we raced to the Turkey Point Lighthouse. We had absolutely no doubts about taking our photos here, because it's probably the most beautiful place in this area of Maryland.

(Turkey Point is also where we got our engagement photos taken!)

Click here to see!! :)

To save--a lot of--money we just used the Self-Timer option on our camera. Guys, this is an awesome way to save some coins, because you don't have to pay for a session with a photographer. But if I could offer one bit of advice, use a tripod. Unfortunately, we do not own a tripod, so this resulted in us having to set our expensive Canon camera on branches, uneven rocks, stumps, benches, ect. It's slightly terrifying when you feel the wind coming around and you are just praying that it doesn't knock your baby over. Thankfully, our baby lived to show and tell the tale!

We had exactly one hour before the sun was about to set so we had to move quickly. The few hours before sunset is a GOLDEN time to take photos because the lighting is magnificent. (This is because you have the sun level with you, therefore it is shining AT you. This is better than taking photos at noon where the sun is on top of your head, creating a ton of unwanted shadows on your face). Having such a limited amount of time was slightly stressful for me, but once I actually took a look around and grasped how freaking beautiful the Chesapeake Bay is, I realized it was silly of me to not enjoy this moment. And because this place is so breathtaking, I couldn't resist stopping to take some landscape photos.

Have you ever seen such perfect lighting? :)

The handsome bearded fellow, my husband.

Ooo thanks Jarryd for the photo! :)

This above photo was our second choice for Christmas cards, the complexity of the trees in the background is just gorgeous! But I think the trees take away from the whole point of the photos, us.

 There she is: the Turkey Point Lighthouse!

Fuzzy boots!

Such a beauuuuutiful sunset!

 I also love this one. Third choice!

 Ooo la looove! This whole silhouette photo was Jarryd's idea, and it turned out beautifully! 

Yeah, I had no idea my scarf was doing that. None the less, this one is cute!

We had to take one WITH the Lighthouse of course!

Kissie kissie smoochie smooch! ;)

 Goodbye sun! Have you ever watched a sunset? It's incredible how quickly the sun actually falls! And it's kind of a sad moment once it disappears. Aww...

 A bench is always nice to sit on.

 I am in LOVE with this photo. What I love the most is how perfectly shaped the two trees are to give the illusion that it's one tree.

Ugh, wow.

Thank goodness he found himself an outhouse.... LOL!

I love all of the growth and vines in this photo.

And last but definitely not least, the photo we chose for our 2015 Christmas card was:

I love this one because it's up close, you can easily see our faces, and clearly WE are the subject and main focus of the photo, not the landscape! Also, I'm a huge fan of direct eye contact with the camera lens. :)

So it's official, taking Christmas card photos is fun and even Jarryd enjoyed the whole experience too! Next year, we are going to take our photos in either October or November so we're not pressed for time. Plus, there's pretty leaves on the trees and the weather is nice and warm. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed! I always love to show friends and family back home the beauty of Maryland! :)