Creative Holiday Photos

Around the world there are millions of photo albums filled with holiday snap shots of children opening gifts, relatives seated around a table or living room and even some outdoor images. While these are treasured memories, they can become the “same old thing” year after year.

How do you capture creative holiday photos? There are many unique opportunities during the days and weeks leading up to the actual day (or days) of celebration, and these make for some excellent images.

For example, food is a big issue during the holiday season, and almost every family has some annual meal or food item that requires preparation. When preparing for such an event it might be a good idea to place disposable cameras at hand, or assign someone the task of capturing images of all the participants making the cookies, cakes, meal, etc.

Here’s an interesting (but corny) video for holiday photography ideas –

Of course there are other preparations apart from food, there is gift wrapping to be done, decorations to hang, cards to be written, shopping and even “off” moments such as temper tantrums, snow ball fights and trees tipping over that all make for memorable images. It is important to remember that all family photographs are memories and are only valuable if they are looked at and if they return people to the moments when the images were “snapped”. Using such a definition can serve as an inspiration, and will suddenly open up a wide range of photographic moments.

There is a new trend in old-fashioned “photo booths”, and this can create a great method of getting guests and family members to participate in holiday photography. This can be done by creating a photo booth-type area in the corner of a home or event space and asking everyone to take their turn in front of the camera. While it is a good idea to have someone available to assist with the process, many modern digital cameras are very “user friendly” and if they are set on a tripod with a small “directions” card attached, the results can be wonderful. Especially because the images will be far less formal than a group or single portrait, and some people may greatly appreciate such a fun opportunity.

Finally, why not leave the camera on the tripod and bring it over to a dining area or living room where the automatic timer can take pictures at set intervals, such as every ten minutes. This time lapse record of a dinner or afternoon will make for some remarkable photographs and could become a treasured collection of holiday photographs for years to come.

Contributed by Amy Renfrey