will be here before you know it, so let me be the first to suggest taking that photo this weekend instead of waiting until late November.

… First, she thinks it’s amazing that I bother with a tripod and also that I clean my lens obsessively with a little blower brush. … She’s partly right on that — we all need to break out of the rut, but there are some time-tested suggestions on taking photos if you want to get good results.

…Consider sepia or black and white over color Now here are my own personal routines that my wife wishes I’d shelve, but which have worked for nine straight holiday shots. … These photos are never going to make the Museum of Modern Art, but they accomplish my main mission: to capture the kids at a moment of time, happy and together, which is what we can hope every Christmas memory will be.