10 Tips for Taking Better Christmas Photos

Christmas and holiday parties mean getting lots of family and friends together. And getting the family together usually means lots and lots of pictures! Here are some of our favorite tips for taking better photos this holiday.

You might use a tiny digital camera, your smartphone, or a DSLR. It doesn’t matter, because the principals of photography are pretty similar regardless of the equipment you’re using. With these few tips, you can improve your family photos, and have the perfect Christmas pics for which your whole family begs for a copy.

First, Shoot Test Shots

Before people start showing up, take a few shots of the ambient light in the room. If you use manual settings, this is especially useful, because you can figure out the best aperture, ISO, and shutter speed settings for your images before your family comes around.

Although light through the windows will probably change after several hours, electric lights won’t fluctuate. Given this, you should be able to stay within a range of settings, provided you stay indoors and in similar light settings.

You can also use these test shots to start thinking about possible composition for your photos (which we’ll talk more about in just a bit).

Don’t Make Your Family Pose

Read the remaining 39 paragraphs