Family Christmas Cards From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Josh Rossi has been a photographer for about 10 years, mostly shooting commercially for larger companies like Adobe, Nickelodeon and Acura. On occasion and just for fun, he likes to take this professional-level of photography and production and apply it to photo shoots with his family. When the official poster for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was released, franchise fan Rossi saw an opportunity to take his family’s Christmas cards to the next level – or galaxy – this year by recreating it with his wife and two kids.

“I’ve actually been wanting to do this for a few years since The Force Awakens, the first one came out,” said Rossi. “My daughter was just too young then and it didn’t really make sense until now. When I saw the official poster for The Last Jedi I thought it would be perfect to do a family photo since we’re a family of four and the main characters were four.”

The costumes, created and donated by costume designer Julie Whiteley, took a few weeks to make. He had his family come to a studio with a green screen setup for a one-day shoot and, using the Sony α7R II and 24-70mm f/4 lens, captured these not-your-average family portraits.

“It was super fun. My kids loved it. I’ve done a few photo shoots with my daughter by now so she’s like a pro at this point. I had an iPad with the actual posters on it so she could see how to pose. She would do one and I’d take a few clicks and then she would say, ‘OK on to the next one.’ I would say, ‘Wait, I need to get a few more,’ and she would say, ‘Nope, we’re done!’ It was really funny. She gets into character and knows that when we do a photo shoot she gets a new costume and gets to play.”

After getting the photos Rossi took a couple of weeks to edit them, making the whole process of creating the Christmas cards about a month and a half long. While his wife was obviously aware and a part of the shoot, Rossi surprised her with a big print and the fact that the photos would be what made up their family’s Christmas cards.