Welcome back to True Life! With this twice-monthly series, I’ll be posting helpful tips on taking better pictures of your kids, learning to use your camera, fun ways to display family photos, custom photo gifts, etc.
Ahh, is there a better photo op than Christmas morning? The anticipation, the excitement, the magic in the air…and you can forever cherish those memories with your photos of the day. Here are some tips to improve your Christmas morning photo story-telling:
1. Make your list and check it twice.
Get everything ready the night before, once all the presents are under the tree. Get your camera ready, with freshly-charged batteries and a clear memory card. Nothing kills some Christmas excitement more than the family photographer yelling, “wait! my battery is dying!”
While you’re at it, go ahead and set the coffee pot, throw some easy breakfast into the crockpot, and grab a pretty picture of the tree before all hell breaks loose! (Oh, and straighten the lamp shade. Oops.)
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2. Making spirits bright.
Turn off your flash! Pump your ISO way up high to get your shutter speed where you need it, and enjoy the ambient light. Or, if you really want or need flash, find a way to diffuse it. If you have an external speedlight, you can try bouncing your flash off the ceiling or wall behind you, or you can try a flash diffuser like this one: Opteka SB-1 Mini Universal Studio Soft Box Flash Diffuser
3. Rockin’ around the Christmas tree.
Clear some space around the tree for everyone to sit, and make sure to leave room for yourself. You’re going to want to get down on your kids’ level so you can capture all the excitement! And zoom in a bit – either with your lens or with your feet – until you fill the frame with your subject. There’s usually a lot happening on a busy Christmas morning, and this will help you focus on your subject without a lot of distraction or cluttered backgrounds.
4. Fa la la la la la, la la la la.
You’ve decked the halls with boughs of holly and donned your gay apparel – now capture all those details! Grab a photo of what’s cooking in the kitchen, the aftermath on the living room floor, those stockings that were hung by the chimney with care. These little details will bring memories of happy Christmas mornings flooding back again one day, for both you and your children.
5. All I want for Christmas is you.
Finally, take some time to enjoy the moment. Put the camera down and just drink in a little bit of that Christmas magic for yourself. And of course, hand the camera off and get in a few photos with your kids. Sure, your hair is a mess and you don’t have make-up on. But trust me, your kids don’t care! And more importantly, you can’t go back in time and insert yourself into these precious family moments.
I’ll leave you now with one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time, sung by the inimitable Nat King Cole. Now go and have yourself a merry little Christmas!
~ xoxoxoxoxo ~
If you would like to learn more about taking better photos of your kids or simply learn how to get more from your camera, check out the Be True Everyday Beginner DSLR Camera Workshops!
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Thank you for these helpful tips! I struggle with the flash on my camera (and I know nothing about photography). I’ll try what you suggested in terms of turning it off and moving the shutter speed up. Merry Christmas!