12 Brilliant Tips For Taking Magnificent Pictures In Christmas

It is time to get the best of the pictures! The holiday season has kicked in and you must say goodbye to 2013 in style. All you need to do is grab your camera and get ready for the most amazing photoshoot of your life. There are going to friends, family and a lot of fun. The Big Day is coming closer.

Here are some of our best tips for taking great pictures this Christmas. Use each one of the tips and see how 2013 gives you the most beautiful pictures of your life.

1. The Environment matters

Whenever you are shooting during Christmas time, you must always make the backdrop of your pictures festive enough. Remember, Christmas is all about glowing lights in the dark, some great family fun, and an even better environment to boast about. Therefore, whenever you are taking Christmas pictures, make sure that the background is properly lighted. We love the bokeh effect of colorful lights in the background the most. Use these lights in indoors or outdoors to get the best effect. Christmas trees and holiday wreaths may look clichéd to you, but the truth is that they present a better backdrop to shoot against. Remember to use them in your pictures.

2. Capture the details

Some people really feel that there has to be more to Christmas than just Santa and the Christmas tree. If you are one of those, then simply go for the details in your pictures. Pick up smaller objects like cookies, Christmas decorative balls, the golden star on top of the Christmas tree, provide them with a natural or totally dramatic backdrop, and get ready to take a great shot. One of our favorites is when beautifully shaped Christmas cookies are decorated with colorful icing and converted into vibrant butterflies, snowmen or even Santa faces. The choice is entirely yours.

3. Focus on people

The more people in your pictures, the more festive would the occasion appear. Capture candid moments, let the children be curious and the parents be considerate. Capture moments when families and friends meet after a long time and exchange gifts. Again, keep the backdrop as festive as possible and go ahead. You can even take a family picture using the timer. Just set up the backdrop, position the subjects, and set the timer. You are ready with the best family pictures ever.

4. Focus on objects

You might keep the Christmas gifts for your child in different colorful packets, boxes, and bags. Try to capture the images of these objects. Though they are lifeless, they still portray some really cool emotions in totality. As a result of this, you get to use better photographic moments. The perspectives can be used differently. Even vignette and fisheye distortions would look great with these pictures. Plus, post-processing would be a breeze. Try to focus on objects as well. Buy a macro lens for this purpose.

5. Create Photo Essays

Yes! They look really good. You can use a Christmas tree or a Christmas cap as a prop to showcase the changes in your photo essays. This helps in creating photo traditions year by year and you keep on improving your traditions as well. You can maintain a singular theme so that things look more connected. This kind of essay works best when you have little kids. They would make for great memories for their later years.

6. Posing is not allowed

We know that it feels great to line people in a space and ask them to pout and smile. Yes, it is definitely good to look at such pictures, but they are not natural or spontaneous. This time, you must go for random shots. Click people just the way they are and don’t request for a pose. This would help in capturing their most real and natural emotions which makes your pictures come to life. Some pictures would be funny, some would be warm while some may end up different than what they were expected to be just because of a flash change in the expressions of your subject. Let it be natural, come what may!

7. Focus on the lighting

We would suggest you to avoid flash and unnatural lighting. Do not go for a dark backdrop and use a flash to highlight your subject. Also, prefer not to use backlights. They might ruin your picture if you don’t pay attention to the other type of lighting in the room. If the room is dark, go for dimmer light. If the room is brighter, focus on the different colors that can be incorporated in the picture to make it look more vibrant and festive. This would help you in bringing the best of Christmas photos with the least amount of effort. Never go for harder lights. Children holding dim decorative lights against a dark background give you better pictures. Try this at home.

8. Multiple shots are more candid

Everyone likes to do this when they are around their family and friends. Take multiple shots of the same people against the same backdrop with little changes in every picture. These pictures can either help you chose the best or create a beautiful showreel for some funny moments later. Try them today for getting the best pictures. If you are a fan of selfish, then these pictures would work well for you.

9. Adjust the white balance (and more)..

You will be shooting both indoors and outdoors and under different lighting conditions. If you don’t perform a white balance, your pictures might end up hazy or blurred which reduced their impact and ruins all your efforts. Don’t be afraid of manual settings. They give better results than the rest. One of the best ways in which you can get instant cool pictures is to shoot them in the RAW format. You can adjust the white balance later. However, manual adjusting before clicking is still our choice.

10. Before and After shots

This type of picture has become very popular lately. People like to take pictures of their rooms before and after a certain event takes place. You can take the picture of your living room before your Christmas party begins and after it is over. You can also make a photo series by taking the picture of the living room on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. You can be more creative in finding the event. Just make sure that the frame composition remains largely the same and you shoot from the same angle each time.

11. Time-lapse Christmas

Find a suitable spot in your room where your camera can rest comfortably. Then set it to take pictures every few minutes. For example, set the camera in the living room console and make it click pictures every 10 minutes. You would be getting a beautiful series of events captured in the camera. These pictures would be random, beautiful, and quite adorable. Process them like a showreel later.

12. Kids, Pets, and Christmas

If you have kids and pets, you would probably have many interesting pictures to take. Use kids and pets in your pictures and let them pose naturally with some of the best Christmas symbolism, like gifts hidden under the Christmas tree. This would help you in getting really cool pictures that would certainly be providing you great results. The expressions of children and pets are quite innocent, spontaneous, and real. Therefore, clicking them always gives you an edge in your photographs.

These tips would help young in getting the best Christmas pictures ever. Don’t wait anymore. Start planning for your shots right now. Make sure the battery is charged and the white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and aperture are set at a comfortable mark. Now, just start clicking and have fun.