Turkey Day: Looking to the true meaning versus what's actually going on. Plus, cool photo tips for the day!

I had the honor of being a guest blogger on Wrought Ink's site, which is a professional writing and resume website offering professional coaching for your career.  Check out the below article on the site as it should be posted soon.  I wrote with you all in mind too!  Thanks Wrought Ink!

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For weeks you’ve been thinking about it.   For a period of time, you’ve worked to set the table, make preparations and now the time has hit.

You’re in the homestretch, prepping your turkey for its defining moment: The Thanksgiving Dinner.  The turkey is about to hit the oven for it’s destined 4+ hours and before you send it on it’s way, you snap a couple of pics to document your success. 

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Now, some choose to wait till after the turkey has been baked to take a moment for photography. Either way, here are some helpful hints on how to capture your turkey in all its glory as well as the rest of the day’s photos.

Ways to Achieve The Ultimate Turkey & Thanksgiving Selfie

Make sure you have enough light.

Many times, photos taken in the kitchen (or inside) are under tungsten lighting, which emits a yellow light.  Sometimes, this yellow light gets to be too overpowering.  So, look around, if there is a window nearby, adjust the blinds to allow the daylight to come in. 

Daylight emits a blue hue, which helps to balance the yellow.  Watch out for hotspots though, where there might be too much light on the subject and create a white spot on the surface.

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Another idea is to turn on your flash, which can remove some of the yellow as well as reduce the noise, or grainy-pixels found in photos that don’t have enough light.  You may also need to use your red-eye setting, depending on your environment.

Position your bird.

Swivel your bird around to where it looks the best and put some fruit or décor of some sort around it.  It only takes a moment and gives a more aesthetic presentation. 

You could also place the turkey on the table before anyone sits down to capture those last quiet moments before the mayhem of the feasting begins.

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Look for obscurity.

Interesting enough, tons of action happens just out of the corner of our eyes.  Sometimes it is the three-year old dancing away, sometimes it is the cat laying in the windowsill about to fall off, or maybe it is the cranberry sauce with rosemary that looks so good.  Whatever the case, capture these! 

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In technical terms, these photos would be called “B-Roll” shots.  It’s these photos that tell different parts of your story and help your premise come alive.  Look for these.  Get up close and personal.  Shoot tight shots.  Snap photos of your Granddad laughing or your Mother’s hands.  These documentations relay a far greater story and emotion than you’d ever expect.

Course, your turkey may steal the show with its fantastic golden butter façade.  Capture that too!

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Make a funny face.

Let’s be honest.  After baking, sometimes the turkey may not come out just how you wanted it. 

Never fear! Laughter is near! 

Take a step back and try to remember, it’s ok.  The moment can turn around, if you just add some laughter, which is one of the most important ingredients of the day. 

Even though you might have feelings of inadequacy, frustration or stress, try to see that these are still timeless moments to be had.  Know that the perfection isn’t in the turkey but in the being together with those gathered around. This recalibration is essential and a day changer.

So take a breath, look at the smoke seeping from what could have been the biggest masterpiece of all Thanksgiving in all of history and just laugh.  Wipe away the tears, make a funny face and snap the photo.  The moment of glory is still yours; for you will have overcome and will continue to press on.  And don’t forget… everyone who has ever attempted making a turkey has been there too! 

Plus, regardless if the turkey is moist, chewy or charred, the photos of when you were cracking the jokes or jousting with the celery will conjure up warm memories for years to come.  And that’s what lasts.

Just Think Tur-key.

It is one thing to take photos with smiling, happy people who are truly happy on the inside and out.  It is another to take photos of grumpy people who plaster a fake smile just for the camera.  When another takes a photo of you, which side of the smile are you on?

In the face of whatever is happening, it is so important to keep a temperate disposition and to focus on what the day truly means versus what is actually going on.  Thus, probably the most important ingredient you can add to Thanksgiving photo, or any Holiday, really, is love.  Granted, it is probably the hardest one too. 

Let’s face it.  Loving others is hard work on any given day, especially on any given Holiday when the heightened festive time can rapidly turn fragile just as easily as the football game you’ll probably end up watching can go south.   In an instant, you can find yourself, phone in hand dialing 911 thinking: “Get me out of here, now!!”

That’s where “Just Think Tur-key” comes in.

As the going gets tough, remind yourself that you can be the key to turn things around.  Get it? Tur(n)-key or said with a silent “n”,  Tur-key!  Course, a turkey usually is in reference to a coward, but in my proposal, it is a one of a steadfast difference maker. 

Now, you may not be able to fix whatever is going on, but a hug, a decision to hold your tongue, making positive impacting choices instead of negative ones, can be hugely pivotal to your day.  Arguments, fights, spouts, demands can all be made later. The dog yack or baby spit up can be cleaned.  The clothes can be changed. The visitors will, at some point, leave. 

And while emotions can be sequestered, the precious time cannot.  Time will continue to run and the 24 hours of celebration will quickly pass if you aren’t careful.  Everyone around you has made a personal and financial investment of some sort to be there; even if it was just a gallon of gas… it was still something.  Their presence is the direct result of a personal decision to be in attendance with the rest of those gathered around, specifically you.  So, remember to honor people’s investment with wise, respectful choices: ones that elevate, uplift and encourage. 

“Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another,” 1 John 4:11.

So, as you snap your treasured photos and are in others snapshots, remember to be the tur-key this Thanksgiving season and may it benefit the many around.  After all, love is what truly matters and it will be remembered far above the taste of the food or the logistics of the day. 

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You can make the difference… just think tur-key!

Copy content and respective photography © Candice Irion. All Rights Reserved.