Let's talk turkey about the holidays. Sifting through my snapshots, I always find the vast majority of them are like the one to the right. The salient feature? I'm not in it. in fact, when I go through my shots from any event, I'm often struck by this thought: I don't have any record that I was there. I'm sure many of you can sympathize. Ordinarly, it doesn't bother me too much. I'm not very photogenic, and most of the time, I don't care to be. Every once in a while, though, I realize it might be nice to have a couple of decent pictures of, say, myself and my parents at Christmas, so I occasionally try to make that happen. It's difficult, though. For the most part, I'm the one with the equipment, and I'm the one who knows how to use the equipment. So here are some pointers I've picked up over the years:

• Take a spare, small camera if you have one. I never miss my old Vivitar 110 instamatic than at the holidays. My Coolpix E4300 is the next best thing. No, dad and I won't look as good as we might with a different camera, but with a point and shoot, mom may actually take a picture of us.

• Teach someone how to use the camera ahead of time. There was a time when "point and shoot" meant just that. Anyone could pick up a 110 and use it. But with digitals, even someone who has a digital camera may not know how to use your digital camera. And nothing ruins a moment more than having to say "no, the other other silver button. The one on the left…no, not that far left, the other one."

• Get pictures of yourself in early, especially if you don't like having your picture taken. That way it may actually happen, and won't be hanging over your head all night. It also gives you the "hey, I let you take a picture of me" card with recalcitrant uncles.

• Take a tripod, even if you're not planning to take shots that would normally need it. That way you always have the option to use the time-honored father trick of setting the self-timer and quickly jumping into an empty spot on the couch.

At least that seems to work for me. What about everyone else? what are your holiday tricks?