Picture Taking Guide for the Holiday Season

God's Warrior

Picture Taking Guide
Be sure to STUDY the Guidebook that comes with your camera! The more you study the guide, the better you will be at taking spontaneous shots without having to consult the guide.

How many times do children say, "Why can't EVERY day be a holiday?" Though there's not much anyone can do about extending the day itself, pictures offer a wonderful opportunity to keep memories of the holidays alive for the rest of the year. This season, remember these tips and you'll be sure to have the perfect photos to remember those special moments.

Practice makes perfect
Take the time to capture a few pictures before the holiday action begins. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with your camera, resulting in better pictures

Start early
The holiday season starts long before December. Begin to chronicle this time on the first shopping trip or when the family goes to buy a tree. Also, remember to get those great shots after the festivities are over. Photos of wrapping paper strewn on the floors help recreate the mood of the holidays

Go out in the cold
Don't expect great moments to come to you -- go out looking for them. If it's cold, don't forget to put on a hat and gloves and go outside.

Watch the background
A beautiful picture can become unintentionally funny if the background is wrong. When you get the photo set up, take a last look through the viewfinder to make sure you've considered the background as well as the subject(s). Otherwise, you might end up with an ornament or tree branch "growing" out of Aunt Becky's head

Stop at the red
Everyone knows that red means stop, so this holiday be sure to follow a few easy steps to reduce red eye. Before you take the picture, turn on the lights in a room, and consider posing your subject so they are lit by daylight at a window or door. Or, use a camera that has a red eye feature.

Elbow in for that shot
You may value elbow room at the dining table, but be sure to keep family members close when you're photographing them. A distance between four and six feet is considered optimal

Wait until dusk
The most common problem with outdoor Christmas tree and decoration photos is that they're too dark and the lights or ornaments are pinpoints of bright light that can't be seen clearly. Try capturing the tree at dusk or on a cloudy day.

Go overboard with light
You can improve your outdoor pictures by taking full advantage of the flash built into most cameras. It helps brighten your subject's face, provides good color in the shade and eliminates potentially irritating shadows, especially around the eyes.

'Tis the season to be jolly
But too often, your family just doesn't look jolly in over-posed photographs. So catch them when they're acting silly -- the candid, spontaneous moments are often the most precious of the season.

Memory maker
Don't miss those special holiday moments. When it's time for kids to open your gifts to them, have them sit next to you or on your lap. Have another family member snap a photo of the two of you together as the wrapping paper comes off, and their eyes fill with glee. These are the holiday photos you will treasure.

Family fun
Don't forget to get group shots of your family and friends during the holidays. If it's too cold outside, you can set the family up in the living room. For a large group, be sure to break the group into two or three tiers, rather than queuing everyone up in one long, endless line. Pose one row seated on the couch, another standing or kneeling behind, and youngsters sitting on the floor in front. Have everyone squeeze together as close as possible -- eliminating all the space between bodies so that when you preview the picture, you see (almost) nothing but faces! Position the camera so that you include everyone, with very little extra space on the edges of the viewfinder. Activate your camera's self-timer and step into the picture. Don't forget to take two or three shots -- you'll want to get the perfect one!

Get floored by amazing pictures
If you're going to be taking a picture of a child, get down on that child's level. Be sure and get down on the floor to take a picture of the little ones playing with their new train set or doll house that you had to search for from store to store.

Make snow angels of your kids
Try this great shot -- dress your children in warm, protective clothing and hit the snow. Choose an untouched area of snow and help your children place themselves in the snow (be careful not to disturb the snow too much). Then, let them go -- have them place their arms out to the side and wave their arms and legs like crazy. This will create a "snow angel" with wings and all! Don't forget to take lots of great shots. Be careful, though, because snow can make picture-taking tricky. Bright, snowy backgrounds can cause your camera's automatic flash to overreact to the brightness, and darker subjects (people, buildings, animals) will be underexposed. Make sure to move in close to get accurate exposure.