Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the US! Now that turkey day has come and gone, it's officially the "holiday season" and time for some competitive shopping. If you haven't begun to feel the pressure to have gifts bought and wrapped, the house clean and decorated, and mountains of food made, you probably will soon! :) Holidays are great times to get into photography. Little kids especially love the snow, the dazzling lights, the music, the singing, the spirit of love and family. Dress them up and have some fun with them, or get into your warm clothes and take pictures of the beauty that is winter. Even if you aren't in a cold climate, you can still celebrate the season with pictures of your own holiday traditions. This week I've added two new articles for the Photography site. They are centred on holiday photos: props and backgrounds for your holiday picture cards, and tips for a painless photo session: ** Painless Holiday Photo Sessions You don't need to pull your hair out getting the best photograph out of your family! Follow these tips for easy, painless photo sessions. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37807.asp/zzz ** Fun Ideas for Holiday Card Photos Need a few ideas to take interesting & fun photographs for your holiday cards? Here's my list of unique posings, backgrounds, & props. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37512.asp/zzz I had the idea to create photo card templates and started on printable graphics for them, but I fear that they will be too late -- have you already gotten your photo cards bought or printed? I'd love to hear from you: photography@bellaonline.com If most people have their photo cards ready for this year, I'll have these ones in line and available for next year :) If you'd like to suggest a topic for an upcoming article, or have a photography-related question you'd like to ask, drop by the BellaOnline forum: http://forums.bellaonline.com/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=228 Enjoy your week, and feel free to send me your feedback. Michelle Southern, Photography Editor http://photography.bellaonline.com