It’s that time of year when many of us get together with family and friends to celebrate the holidays. Make sure you have a plan to get some great photographs of these special memories! Here are a few tips that might help:
- Imagine if you were magically transported to 20 years in the future, and were looking at the pictures you shot during the holidays this year. What images do you envision will matter the most to you then? Photos of loved ones? Perhaps images capturing family traditions, such as everyone gathering around the TV to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”, or maybe “too many cooks in the kitchen” making a Christmas meal, or shots of the kids being tucked into bed the night before Christmas. Sometimes you can best figure out what to photograph by not thinking “in the moment”, and instead envisioning what photos will really matter to you later on. This probably matters more than the particular camera settings you use!
- Use whatever setting is most convenient for you. If you only know the fully automatic mode, use that. If you know how to use Aperture Priority mode, that gives you great control over factors such as depth of field by the aperture value you choose.
- If you are shooting in low light, make sure to select a higher ISO value like perhaps 3200 or even higher. The reason for shooting at higher ISO values is to ensure your shutter speeds are fast enough for hand-held shots in low light. A general rule of thumb is to keep your shutter speeds faster than 1/focal-length of your lens. For example if you are shooting at 200mm, then make sure your shutter speeds are 1/200th or faster. Also if you have an image stabilizer, make sure it is turned on!
- If you use a flash (speedlight), make sure the flash is not pointed at your subject. Most of the higher-end flashes allow you to swivel and angle the head so you can point the flash at a ceiling or wall, to “bounce” the light, which makes the light much softer and natural looking.
- Some exposure modes allow you to set the White Balance. Generally, AWB (Auto White Balance) will do an ok job. If you find your photos are turning out too yellow/amber in tungsten living room light, change your White Balance setting to the little “lightbulb” (tungsten) setting.
- Don’t forget your smartphone/iPhone camera. Use that for more candid moments that will pass by all too quickly. (The “best” camera is the one you have with you at the moment when you need it!)
- Want a beautiful photo of your Christmas tree at night? Put your camera on a tripod, set it to Aperture Priority Mode (A/Av), then set the aperture to its highest value, such as f/16 or f/22, using a low ISO like 100, and press the shutter button. It will result in a time exposure and you’ll find the lights on the tree will have tiny “starbursts” on each light. 🙂
- I could go into SO many more details about all this. I just wanted to at least come up with a list of some highlights of things to consider!
Want to know more? Remember I teach photography workshops, including several classes that offer special discounts if you sign up by Christmas Eve! Also my classes make great Christmas presents!
Happy Picture-Taking Holidays!
Kevin Gourley
