How To Capture Great Photographs This Christmas

When you’re the designated family photographer, there can be a lot of stress involved in trying to capture great photographs as well as manage to celebrate and enjoy Christmas.

Luckily, there are ways around this.

Being a great photographer at Christmas is all about a little pre-planning, a smidgen of creativity, and a whole lot of Christmas cheer. Oh, and our simple tips for capturing great photos, which we’re supplied below!

Think About What You Want To Capture

Before the big day sit down and have a think about the photographs you want to capture so you can make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. It can help to look online for inspiration if you aren’t sure. Pinterest in particular is a massive source of inspiration for us, and we’re sure it will be for you as well. You can think about the posed photos you want to try, as well as the natural photos you’d like to capture. When you have a little list, you’ll have a better idea of where you need to be. For example if you want to capture your children’s faces when they see the presents under the tree on Christmas morning, make sure you’re already in the room standing near the tree when they walk in. That way you’ll capture their expressions!

Get Your Gear Ready

People often say that the quality of images you capture depends on the quality of your camera. Now, while this is true to an extent, and the ability of your camera might make a difference to your images, it’s still possible to get great pictures on any camera. It’s all about being prepared. So before the big day make sure that you’ve got everything you need for your camera from a full battery, to space on your memory card, and any flash items or lenses you need (for DSLR and mirrorless cameras).

Know Your Camera

Every camera is different, and many of them have lots of useful settings that you might not even know about. If your camera isn’t one you’ve had for long, or you’ve just never really taken the time to get to know how it works, the time to do this is before Christmas. The ability of your camera to take great photos might improve if you use different settings or modes, and knowing this is a must. So if you still have it take a look at your camera’s manual, or even have a look at tutorials online. Simple point and shoot cameras won’t take too long to get a handle on, while more complex DSLR and mirrorless varieties could take a bit more time, and practice.

Gravitate Towards The Light

In Australia we celebrate Christmas in the middle of summer, which is great news for photographers. This usually means that the sun is shining, and our spaces are full of natural light. So, take advantage of this in your Christmas photographs by moving towards the light whenever you can. Try to put the light behind you, or to one side of you and your subject so they’re well lit. You can rely on indoor lighting, but it can make the colours seem less realistic, and particularly more yellow. People also try to fall back on flash, but the resulting images are often washed out, and full of red eye. Natural light is guaranteed to give you the best images, so use it!

Capture Preparation As Well

For many people there are certain ‘big events’ in the Christmas season. There’s setting up the tree, decorating it, having the kids open presents, and of course Christmas lunch or dinner. But there are so many other activities to capture to really tell the entire story of your Christmas celebration. Consider getting the camera out to capture some of the preparation work of Christmas as well. We’re talking about the wrapping of presents, the making of the food (particularly decorating desserts!), and the general house fun that people get up to when Christmas rolls around.

Hand The Camera Over

You might have very clear ideas about what you want to capture at Christmas, but make sure you’re also in the photographs. Yes, you might need to hand your camera over to someone who doesn’t know how to use it as well, but that doesn’t mean the photos won’t be lovely. Get the settings sorted first, and be clear in your direction to make sure that you can have some nice photos with you in them to look back on as well. Of course, if there’s another photographer in your family you might also have the chance to capture candid photos along with posed ones, which are always nice.

Don’t Forget To Enjoy

It can be hard to switch off from being the photographer at Christmas time, but you don’t want to be trying so much to take pictures that you forget to enjoy the day. Once you’ve got the photographs you wanted, and even before, just turn your camera off and enjoy. You can always pick it up later if you want, but if not just be happy with what you’ve captured so far, and rely on your own memories for the rest of the day. That way, you get the best of both worlds.

How do you make sure you get great photos at Christmas time?