I was sooooo close. I almost made it through the holidays without having to take anyone in my family's Christmas card photo.
Unfortunately, my sister had other plans. She called me last night in a panic. Seems that she never scheduled pictures for my neice/nephew, and now it's too late. So, begrudginly, I agree to shoot some for her at her house.
So, when we get there, I find out that she wants me to shoot them wearing these God awful Packers outfits. I flat out refused. My neice was wearing a white/pink "packers" shirt, and my nephew was wearing the traditional packers jersey of Green/Yellow. One is mid key, the other high key. So after some arguing, my sister finally agrees to get them other clothes to wear. She comes out with a tank top and capri pants for my neice, and I stop her again. After a search of their closets, we finally find something that is long sleaved, and isn't bedazzled up the wazoo (damn 9 year old girls and their sparkly clothing). Seems my sister no longer beleives in buying them long sleaved clothing, or even sweaters that fit into a good holidy theme. Oh well, it's their pictures not mine.
Next, I get the deman that the picture be in front of the Christmas tree. That's not so bad, so I head downstairs to the very large basement. There, I find that my sister has converted this massive room into a Packers shrine. The walls are green/yellow in stripped patterns. Packers banners are everywhere. I've got plenty of room to work, but nothing to work with. So, I head back upstairs. The only thing we can do is take all the furniture out of the dinning area and use a second tree. Sadly, this space is incredibly small. I can only use a single strobe, and I can't get any seperation of the kids from the tree due to the space. Even worse, is the fact that I can't get a good shot of the tree, but only a partial. The good news, is that because of the cramped space, the strobe is very close to the kids. It will throw much of the empty space very dark.
God, I hate doing this stuff. I think I got one to come out okay. I was so pissed off, I didn't bother with a bunch of posing stuff.
On the upside, my sister made some Alaskan King Crab legs for dinner, and I got to try out the new 5D. [:P]
Nice quality for the price. Not too sure about Craig's List, but you can always keep checking and look at e-bay or buy from other photogs that are upgrading their equipment. 
