6 Simple yet Useful Tips in Shooting the Best Christmas Photos Ever
With Christmas just right around the corner, a lot of people are naturally interested on how they can get the best holiday shots ever. With all those holiday lights and decorations adorning the entire place, family and friends getting together, and children opening their Christmas presents, nothing else can be more inspiring. And that is primarily the reason why a lot of people are looking for tips on how they can capture the true essence of this joyous occasion on camera.
– So, what makes for the best shots? In a season like this – almost everything! Here are some ideas to help you get started:Take before and after shots. It’s really quite interesting to catch a party on camera during the preparation stages. And it’s fun to see how different the place looks after the party, too!
– Set up your own photo booth. While there’s nothing to stop you from hiring your own photographer to take pictures of your guests, you can save some money and have a lot of fun doing it if you’ll set up your own photo booth. Seems like a lot of work? Well, not really. All you need is to spruce up a little space using some curtains and some Christmas decors, a seat or two to accommodate your guests while you’re taking their pictures, and a digital camera set up on a tripod and you’re good to go!
- Take group photos when everyone has arrived and not when the party is about to end. Your guests will surely look good in these photos!
- Take picture of kids opening their Christmas presents. Is there anything else better than this? Make sure you set your camera to continuous shooting mode to capture all those heart-warming emotions on camera!
So, what does it take to take the best Christmas photos ever? Here are some tips that may help you accomplish your goals.
- Always be ready. Make sure the holiday rush doesn’t come between you and your camera. There is nothing more annoying than seeing the perfect opportunity for a great shot only to find out that you’ve left your camera in the house. Also make sure that your batteries are completely charged and you have some spare memory cards and flash in your camera bag.
- Check your white balance settings. If you are planning to take some awesome indoor pictures, you better check your camera’s white balance settings. Your digital camera has a whole range of presets that you can choose from so all you need to know is the type of lighting you’re shooting on. If you want to get the best results, do not rely on your automatic white balance (AWB) setting for it is not 100% reliable.
- Identify your point of interest. With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, especially when you’re shooting in a party, just how do you focus on a particular subject? Simple. You pick one subject and make it the strongest point of your photo. It doesn’t really matter if your chosen subject takes only a small portion of the overall picture. What’s important is that your subject commands attention – either because it is simply striking or there is that element of contrast that makes the subject stand out from the rest.
- Make sure to fill your frames. If you want to shoot great Christmas photos, always fill your frame with your subject.
- Reduce the impact of your flash. Nobody wants to have their pictures taken in bright, harsh light, right? It just wouldn’t look good! So, if you really have to use your flash, make sure you use a flash diffuser or reflector. Or if you have an external flash, you can try bouncing it off the wall or ceiling instead.
- Use the Aperture Priority Mode. If you are constantly changing your aperture settings to suit your subjects (you surely will on a time like this!), you should use the aperture priority mode (indicated by the symbol ‘A’ or ‘Av’). This is extremely important if you want to have a better control over the depth of field (DOF). A larger aperture produces a shallow depth of field and tends to blur the background images while a smaller aperture catches everything in focus.
With these tips, you’ll surely have a grand time taking great pictures this holiday season! Happy holidays!
I hope at least one of these tips will benefit you,
Ray Baker
