10 Christmas Photography Tips & Ideas To Help You Beautifully Capture The Season
Are you in need of some Christmas photography ideas, or do want some tips for capturing Christmas morning, or perhaps you’d like a guide to photographing Christmas lights?! Or all three?!
If you answered yes, then good news, because this week we’re talking all things Christmas, with ideas, tips and tutorials to help you beautifully capture the holidays.
I loooove photographing Christmas, because there are many lifestyle family moments to capture, traditions to record, details to focus on, and of course, the different lighting opportunities that come around!
So without further ado, let’s dive into our Christmas photography tips and ideas…
1.Photograph Christmas Lights
There are 3 different ways you can go with Christmas Light Photography - either make your Christmas lights sparkle with star bursts of light, or alternatively turn them into circles of light for Christmas light bokeh (like in the image below) You can also play with deliberately having your images out of focus, where you can create some lovely affects without having anything else in the frame but the lights.
2. Don’t worry about using a high ISO
This is a time of year where there is more low light situations than normal - probably because that’s when all the Christmas lights are at their twinkliest :)
Try not to worry too much about using a high ISO number if you need to, or indeed open up your aperture a bit more than you would normally. I frequently find myself shooting at F1.4, and with ISO numbers well over 5000, but for most type of images, having a bit of grain isn’t a deal breaker.
You can also read some tips about what grain is, and how to avoid it here!
3. Create Shaped Bokeh For Festive Photos!
Shaped bokeh is where you change the circles of light you would normally see background to shapes, such as heart shaped bokeh, or star shapes bokeh or even festive Christmas tree bokeh! Basically you can create any shape that your little heart desires, and all you need for this is to make your own DIY bokeh filter. (And don’t worry, that’s really not as hard as it sounds!)
You can read how to create your own shaped bokeh filter here!
4. Consider Using Overlays
There are some fun Christmas overlays to be had, for example a snow overlay that you could use over your images to give the illusion that snow is falling, or a christmas light bokeh overlay that you could use on your background to fake or enhance light bokeh, or a glitter overlay to give your images a sparkly look!
Etsy is a great place to buy these, but you can pick up free ones on the internet - to give you a helping hand I’ve linked a couple below. (Don’t say I’m not good to you!)
Snow Overlay - Mr Overlay
5. Learn how to take Awesome Christmas Morning Photos
Christmas morning can be a really difficult time to photograph - there's usually a flurry of activity, less than optimal lighting, plus of course you want to be involved with your family too, unwrapping presents (or at least tidying away the wrapping paper, which seems to be my main job on Christmas morning. Anyone else?!)
I have 10 tips for you covering everything from camera settings, and lighting to practical advice that's going to help you create awesome memories of your Christmas morning.
6. Capture The Details
Christmas is one of those seasons that is all about the smaller details - tree decorations, little hands decorating the Gingerbread house, the endless supply of sweet treats, what Santa’s note said and so on. Including some detail shots will help bring back memories of the season in years to come, and they make beautiful photos in their own right too!
Here are some tips for helping you capture the details in lifestyle photography - it’s not Christmas specific, but the tips certainly apply to Christmas photography too!
7. Take Wonderful Photos Throughout The Day!
Of course, the day goes on after the excitement of the morning, so I’ve got you covered there too :)
Remember, when photographing Christmas day, it's not necessarily about getting perfect shots, or making sure you capture every little thing, it's more about ensuring that you get the one or two shots that are important to you, perhaps along with some that help you tell the story of the day, or simply freeze special moments for you to look back on.
8. Use an On-Camera Flash Unit
There’s only one time of year that I always use flash, and that’s Christmas morning. It’s still pitch dark in the morning in my corner of the world, and will be for several hours after we’ve gotten up! Which means all the Christmas present unwrapping takes place with artificial lights. Now, I’m a sucker for a low light shot, but Christmas morning is one of those times when I’d love more light, but I don’t want to ruin the ambience of the day by putting on all the lights in the room….so out comes the flash unit.
The one I use is now discontinued (this is the current version) but you can get cheaper, off brand ones such as the one from Neewer.
If you have a pop up flash, you can also get diffusers to soften the light and stop it from ruining the mood of the scene. My favourite is no longer made (the LightScoop if you can still find one!) but these might be worth checking out.
9. Include Props
A fun thing to do is use Christmas props, as these are a great way to get people more excited about getting their photo taken!
I wouldn’t generally use these photo booth type of props, but a few funny glasses or headbands can be useful for getting people to loosen up a little, and for $10 for a pack from Amazon, it’s not going to break the bank. (The kids will have fun with them if nothing else!)
But other props might include Christmassy pyjamas, beauifully wrapped parcels, or even just clothes in festive colours, so even if you are not a fan of props, incorporating elements such as these will help give you photos that Christmas vibe!
10. Create A Bucket List
Before the season is truly upon us, have a think about what traditions you want to capture, and photos you’d like to try to get, and create a list to work from! Some ideas to include on it would be:
Letters to Santa
Picking out your tree
Decorating the tree
Your decorations
The Christmas Lights
Family traditions
Presents being wrapped
Cards being written
Christmas Jammies
I hope you enjoyed this festive themed photography tips and ideas!
