As the festive day approaches, across the country keen photographers are polishing their lenses, checking their film and digital memory cards, and getting ready for the big day. After all, it\u2019s not every day of the year that you have the whole family together, and you need to record those memories so that you can treasure them for years to come. Right?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Photograph Everything<\/b><\/p>\n
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Actually, you don\u2019t need to record absolutely everything. Remember, life is meant to be lived, not simply seen through the viewfinder \u2013 so keep your camera handy for those must-catch moments, but don\u2019t keep your eyes glued to your viewfinder all day or your relatives might forget the face behind the lens!<\/p>\n
Use the Light<\/b><\/p>\n
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Because Christmas falls on one of the shortest days of the year, a lot of your Christmas photography is likely to be taken indoors by artificial light. It\u2019s important to take this into consideration and use it well. In the picture above, the lamp in the background doesn\u2019t help the picture at all \u2013 it\u2019s not lighting the figure in the foreground, and ends up competing with him for the focus.<\/p>\n
In the picture below, the lighting is also low and artificial, but because it\u2019s in front of the subjects, it helps to light their features and doesn\u2019t detract from the focus.<\/p>\n
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Capture Moments, not Poses<\/b><\/p>\n
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\u201cOkay, Mum, if you sit over there and Dad, just lean on the sofa behind her, no not that far forward, can you just crouch a little bit, too? Right, now if Auntie Sue sits there with Jenny on her lap, and Uncle Bob holds the baby \u2013 can you wipe his nose first? Great. When I say go, put the antlers on the dog, then everybody say Cheese!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
This is a scene that\u2019s likely to happen in many homes across the country \u2013 but it\u2019s not necessarily the best way to capture that perfect family Christmas moment. After all, once you start directing everybody into poses, you lose spontaneity and personality. Instead of trying to direct your family into a stiff group picture, try to capture natural moments that express their personalities and individuality.<\/p>\n
A few posed pictures can be OK \u2013 just don\u2019t try your family\u2019s patience with too many!<\/p>\n
Other Tips:<\/b><\/p>\n
* Check your frame \u2013 a beautiful Christmas tree in the background looks great, a bin bag full of discarded wrapping paper less so!
\n* Take pictures of Christmas lights when there\u2019s a little ambient light still around to show the details around them \u2013 early evening is a good time, and can give you a better result than full darkness.
\n* The traditional \u201copening the present\u201d shot can often result in forced smiles \u2013 try to get pictures of the kids playing with their new toys instead.
\n* Find good all-round settings for your camera so that you can point and shoot \u2013 this helps you to capture those all-important spontaneous moments.<\/p>\n
Whatever you\u2019re doing this Christmas, here at the Camera Exchange Store we\u2019d like to wish you a healthy, happy and joyful one. If you happen to find a new camera underneath your tree, remember that you can sell second hand cameras<\/a> to us quickly and easily \u2013 helping you to fund January! For more information contact us<\/a> today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the festive day approaches, across the country keen photographers are polishing their lenses, checking their film and digital memory cards, and getting ready for the big day. After all, it\u2019s not every day of the year that you have the whole family together, and you need to record those memories so that you can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photography-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":563,"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameraexchangestore.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}