Holiday Photos: How to Capture the Christmas Cheer

Holiday photos
Image by Digidreamgrafix via Wikimedia Commons

 

Holiday Photos: How to Capture the Christmas Cheer

Holiday photos are the perfect way to cherish your most memorable Christmas experiences. The joy of the holiday season, the Christmas lights and decorations, and time with family and friends are all essential parts of Christmas that you never want to forget. Besides creating new memories, Christmas photos can also be used for Christmas photo cards to send to family and friends. Perhaps some of the tips below will also spark some perfect Christmas photo ideas, too!

Holiday photos of your home's Christmas lights

Image by V Smoothe via Wikipedia

#1. Make sure you have the best lighting.

A camera lighting kit is a great resource for taking dazzling holiday photos. Adjusting the soft boxes and other gear in these kits will create the perfect setting for your holiday photos. Don’t forget to snap some photos of the beautiful Christmas lights at home and throughout the city, too. Always make sure your camera settings for Christmas lights are at manual exposure and a high ISO. Also, don’t be afraid to take Christmas photos at night. You can best accomplish this by adjusting your camera settings for night photography and capturing rare photos of Christmas nightlife.

#2. Take the picture now, play with the settings later.

You can always crop, add filters, change the exposure, and resize a photo, but only once you can capture a single moment. Take the time to snap some great shots of, say, your children opening presents or a group of friends at a holiday party. But never neglect to edit your photos later to add the greatest effect.

Holiday photos of unplanned moments

Image by Ernst Vikne via Wikimedia Commons

#3. Remember to take unplanned photos, too.

This is one of the best holiday photo ideas: take pictures of family members when they’re not looking at the camera. Not every holiday picture you take should be posed. Taking unplanned holiday photos will help you capture the essence of the Christmas season. Some ideas include pictures of grandparents with a smile on their face as they watch the grandchildren open gifts. Or, a Christmas photo of a family member in the process of delicately placing each ornament, one by one, on the Christmas tree.

#4. Make sure the picture is pleasing to the eye first.

Always double check the composition of your subjects, especially when taking photos of people. Organize your subjects by height, age, even what color of shirt they’re wearing for the most eye-pleasing holiday photo. If your subject is a Christmas tree, are too many ornaments of one color? Are too many gifts on one side under the tree than the other? It’s all about balance and composition if you want your pictures to look best.

Holiday photos of a horse celebrating Christmas with a Santa hat

Image by Alexas_Fotos via Pixabay

#5. Incorporate some holiday cheer into every photo.

In other words, don’t take a picture without first sprinkling some red, white, and green into your setting. In an outdoor group photo, make sure at least a couple of people are wearing a Christmas sweater or even some fun reindeer antlers or Santa hats! Mark every single picture with holiday cheer so when you look back on these memories, you’re reminded of the season.

Following these tips will help you accomplish your goal of remembering Christmas every year with your holiday photos. But instead of settling for an ordinary holiday photo album, imagine a stunning video to record the Christmas experience. Videos are not as bulky as hard copy photo albums and can provide a better viewing experience. Compile your Christmas photos into a professionally edited video right at Valoso and never forget the holiday magic again!