5 tips for Christmas Photgraphy
Christmas is three weeks away. Dust off your camera and get ready to take some great Holiday photos with the tips listed below.
1. Prepare your tools!
A year ago, Brenton and I took a trip to Glacier National Park to celebrate my birthday. The scenery in Glacier is awe-inspiring, to say the least.
I had recharged my camera batteries, but I didn’t bother to check if my memory sticks were empty. I had not used my camera in a few months, so I assumed all was well.
You can imagine my dismay when I found all three of my memory sticks full with pictures from our vacation. We spent one evening of our Glacier trip driving to the nearest Walmart to buy another memory stick.
A few days before you leave for your Christmas trip, recharge your camera batteries and make sure your camera’s memory stick has room to hold your photos.
2. Frame and Focus!
When you put the camera up to your eye, think about how you are framing your photo before you press the shutter button. What are you trying to say in this picture? What is the focus?
When you take a picture, leave no doubt what the photo is about.
Here are a few composition guidelines to achieve this:
One of the most basic rules in photography is the Rule of Thirds.
Divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically. When you frame a picture, try to put an important element on these lines (i.e. when taking a head and shoulders photography, put the subjects eyes on the top 1/3 line).
If you are taking a photo of some detail, such as an ornament, put the detail on the intersection of two lines (called hotspots) rather than right in the middle of the photo frame.
Fill the Frame.
One of my photo pet-peeves is when a picture is taken with the subjects face right in the middle of the photo and half the image is empty. When you take a picture, fill the frame with the subject.
Take a look at this shot:
Because the faces are centered in the picture, there is a lot of visual clutter/discraction.
Now, compare this one:
This is kind of a sillypicture, but it illustrates the point. By filling the frame with the subject (as in the second picture) most of the visual clutter is cut out and your eyes are drawn to the faces.
3. Take more than you need!
That’s right, be greedy!
This is an old photographer’s secret. If you want to get a good picture, take more shots than you think you need. The more pictures you have the more likely you are to get one that turns out well.
As my mom says, “Pixels are cheap.”
4. Play with the Flash!
Don’t always stick with the hard fast rule that a flash has to be used for all indoor pictures. If you are taking indoor action shots, by all means, use a flash. If you are taking group portraits, try a few without the flash. If you need the flash, but want to soften the light, try taping a piece of white toilet paper over your camera flash. This will help diffuse the light and reduce some of the shine on people’s faces.
If you are photographing Christmas lights, you will want to do it without the flash.
5. Enjoy the holiday!
Don’t get so caught up in taking the “perfect” Christmas photos that you forget to be a part of the holiday. Get out from behind your camera and soak in all the memories. Without the memories, your photos won’t be worth much, no matter how great they look.
Tags: Christmas, photgraphy tips, Photography
