We all want to capture the magic of the holiday season. Here are 10 tips to help you take better pictures this year:
To take a picture of your subject with a lit Christmas tree in the background:
- Use a tripod
- Turn off your flash.
- Place your subject 3 to 4 feet in front of the tree.
- Try turning off the room lights, especially if most of the light comes from overhead or behind the tree. Set up a light to illuminate your subject’s face – bring the light down and off to the side at an angle.
- To create a bokeh look (it’s that purposefully blurred, layered light look in the background) put your camera in manual mode, focus on something about 5 feet in front of the tree, set the ISO to 400, set the aperture to f/1.8 or as low as your lens will go, set the shutter speed to 1/20. Bokeh requires a wide open aperture (a smaller number f-stop), play with this setting to get the effect you want. You can make the bokeh balls bigger by increasing the distance between your subject and the lights.
Family Photo Solutions
To capture Christmas lights outdoors:
- Wait until 30 minutes after sunset. This will be dark enough to get the twinkling of the lights and still light enough to provide some textural contrast in the background. Turn off your flash and use a tripod. The light changes quickly so take lots of shots. With a DSLR try ISO 400 and aperture f/8. Sometimes the white balance will be off – try using AWD (automatic white balance) for LED lights or “Incandescent”, “Tungsten” or “Daylight” for different effects.
Try these General Tips:
- Shoot your photos from different angles – move above, below or at an angle to your subject.
- Get closer – capture some of the details of the season.
- Try taking more candid shots and fewer posed shots. See if you can capture more emotion.
- Get in the pictures! Most families have one person who takes the majority of the family pictures. Take your pictures then hand off the camera and enjoy the magic.
Bonus Tip: Charge your batteries the night before!