Christmas is a time filled with emotions and actions that provide beautiful images; and it’s up to you to always keep your photographic eye on your toes to capture each scene that will one day become a memory. You can take advantage of daylight to photograph the festive atmosphere, that family lunch, the natural elements or whatever. The night, therefore, also brings with it many beauties that can become captivating photographs, for example: the festive atmosphere, Christmas decorations, artificial and colorful lights that decorate the environment, among other possibilities.
Christmas lights and decorations
These two are the most common decorations to be found at every Christmas celebration. You can come up with different creative ideas based on the criteria of light and shadow, singular frames or significant portraits. Don’t be afraid to take risks and generate new concepts from your ideas. If you are attentive to the details around you, you will see many chances to put your knowledge into practice and better develop your skills. You can take advantage of good opportunities through the famous “clichés” in a creative way, for example: make some Christmas decorations in the foreground, making it outline the main object of your photo – establishing depth in relation to the planes.
“Bokeh effect”
You can also use a very common strategy to photograph Christmas tree decorations or lights using the “Bokeh” technique. Simply put, this technique refers to some part of the photo that is purposely out of focus. This blur is produced by the lens so that the background is blurred and the main subject appears sharp and highlighted. This effect can be produced as follows: just place a piece of black cardboard cut-out (the shape you want) in front of the lens. The blurred lights will take on the shape of the cardboard you cut out – if you cut in a circular shape, for example, the lights in the background of the photograph may appear circular and blurry. This technique adds personality to your photo results.
Christmas Photography Tips
Camera Settings
Possibly there will be a lot of practical additional light sources “turned on” during the Christmas season that will be able to increase the ambient light level to some extent, but not so high that you can shoot at ISO 100, so remember to adjust the light settings. From your camera. Don’t forget to use a faster speed when shooting spontaneous scenes if your intention is to “freeze” the main subject of each image. Remember the basics of camera setup to achieve the highest quality shooting Woodlands Photography Session performance.
Capture the family moments
Photography provides the opportunity to perpetuate moments by registering each action or expression. From the preparations to the moment of the Christmas celebration, take advantage of every moment to take pictures of people interacting with each other, of smiles and gestures, of unity and companionship, of gratitude. During the celebration, offer suggestions on how or where family members can position themselves for photos and capture the bonds between them. Be sensitive and attentive to the looks, gestures and behaviour of people to photograph. And don’t forget to position the camera on a tripod and use the self-timer to capture some of those moments when you’re there.
Christmas Photography Tips
Types of framing
You will need to choose which type of framing you will use. You can fill your photo with the most interesting elements you can find; or simply choose to record the image with the main subject completely and distant, surrounded by “dead zones”. When capturing the image of your main subject, define the plane that will be used and record noteworthy details. It is essential to think about photographic composition before shooting, as it determines whether you will achieve good results.
The wide or wide shot, for example, is the type of frame in which the main subject is photographed in full, showing the environment around him (which can highlight several “dead zones”). The detail plan, on the other hand, frames a specific part of the subject to emphasize and enhance the object. From this knowledge, you will improve yourself with each photographic record and will provide concrete memories of events that remain only in memory.
