Getting The Best Christmas Photos
Even if your camera doesn’t come out for months on end, it’s practically guaranteed to be used over the Festive period – who knows you might even be lucky enough to get a new camera for Christmas!
It’s the one time of year when friends and family come together to eat, drink and be merry, and having a photographic record of the special times helps keep the memories alive. With Christmas fast approaching and to avoid disappointment over poor quality photographs, follow these tips.
Think Out Of The Box
Nearly everyone has hundreds of pictures of the kids opening presents on Christmas morning, and when they’re absorbed in a new toy or ripping off paper, they are not going to stop and pose for photographs. Think about capturing other aspects of your Christmas celebration such as decorating the tree, posting letters to Father Christmas or the board games after Christmas lunch rather than focusing just on the present frenzy.
Get on Their Level
As adults, many of us take pictures of our children without really thinking about how high we are in comparison, so we get lots of pictures of the top of their heads or with their face obscured. Sit or kneel down, or lie on the floor if you have to in order to get down to their level and capture those special Christmas moments in all of their beauty.
Don’t Say Cheese
The temptation is always to get everyone to line up or in a very fixed pose, then to look at the camera and smile. The problem with this sort of shot is that you’re not really capturing the essence of the day and there will be no particular memories associated with the photographs. Keep your camera to hand to capture the most important moments such as everyone sitting round the table having dinner, or Dad falling asleep after one mince pie too many. Don’t get people to pose or even to look into the lens; keep it natural.
Light
There’s no need to get overly technical about the light, and many of the modern digital cameras will do most of the hard work for you. Before starting to take photographs, take a couple of test shots to see what the lighting levels are like in the room. Try to avoid situations where your subject is standing right in front of bright lights, or against a very dark background. Take some times to play with your manual settings on your camera to see how the different shutter speeds and settings effect the end photograph.
Take Lots of Pictures
The joy of digital photography is that you can take thousands of pictures and if some are no good, they can simply be deleted. Take four or five shots of everything you are trying to capture, and keep on shooting throughout the day. The more pictures you take, the higher the chances of capturing that special moment. Remember though that you have to enjoy Christmas too, and not just record the events. Know when to put the camera down and when enough is enough, especially with young children.
Have a very Merry Christmas this year and capture the memories with some great photography.
Studio8 also have a wide selection of Photography Shoots available for you and your family in our Portrait Photography Gift Store.