5 tips to get professional quality Christmas pictures without hiring a professional
5 tips to get professional quality Christmas pictures without hiring a professional
It’s that time! Get your cameras- or camera phones- ready to snap a few pics of you and your family in cute, traditional, or even quirky poses to make great Christmas photo cards and/or memories for a photo album. If you want great Christmas pictures without hiring a professional photographer, though, you may be at a loss as to what you should do. Check out these tips to help you get professional quality photos (no matter the occasion) every time.
Learn to focus
No, we don’t mean your attention- we mean your camera! Almost every camera already has an auto focus feature, but you shouldn’t just rely on this to do the focusing for you. Have your spouse or one of your children sit where you’d like to have the photo taken. Focus on them and snap a few pictures to see what the focus looks like. If you choose to use auto focus after this, set it to “spot focus” after focusing on one person. This will ensure the camera focuses clearly on the center of the picture each time afterward.
Check out the flash
Just like auto-focus, flash is built into most cameras, but you shouldn’t just rely on it to get the flash quality you need. Use the manual flash to help brighten faces, and always make sure your area is well-lit to get the most of your flash. Try to take your photos during the day so as to get the most natural light in your picture as you can.
Learn to white balance
If you have decided to take your Christmas photos inside, you will need to white balance to keep a color from being cast across the photo. Auto white balance does exist, and usually works well, but there are times when you might need to manually white balance to get a better photo quality. Check your camera’s manual on how to do this properly.
Choose the best background
Many people are concerned with what’s in the foreground of pictures- the color coordinated clothing your family wears, how your makeup looks, and if your husband shaved. But the background can really make a difference in how your picture looks. Be sure to find one that is well-lit and compliments your outfits. Clashing colors always look terrible, as do bland backdrops.
Practice poses
Many people have a hard time getting gets to pose for pictures. Many people have a hard time posing for pictures, themselves. If this is the case for you and your family, practice poses together. Giggle, have fun, and look at yourself in the mirror. Taking Christmas pictures doesn’t have to be boring and lame- have fun with it to get everyone in on the action. Plus, you never know when one of those hearty laughs from being silly will make the perfect picture for your Christmas card.
These are great tips. I usually have an issue with the flash!
Great tips! Photographers are gonna send you hate mail! 😉 LOL I will def follow your tips when I take my boys pics 🙂
Those are great tips. I always try to do practice shots because it takes us a while to get it right 😉
Good advice. Background is really something to think about/
Great tips, photos are so much fun. I have a ton of them that we keep just to laugh – in the background of one our dogs decided to act up and we thought they were in another room.
These are great tips. We always end up taking our own to save money.
These are such good tips. We combined our Christmas photos and my son’s 3-year photos this year. It saved a little money, but I also didn’t have the time and patience to really focus on my camera to get the best shot.
I’m excited to try my hand at family photos with my DSLR this Christmas. With the right editing tools I’m sure they’ll look great.
These are great tips. I struggle most with the background. I have a hard time getting that right for the picture background. I will use these tips this holiday season!
As an aspiring food photographer white balance is huge for me and something I am still working on.
All great tips, especially the white balance. Now if I could only get a good photo of my tree lights!
I desperately need to get family pictures done. Maybe I’ll use your tips and try to do them at home!
These are great tips, and I can’t wait to give them a try. I tried doing my own cards a year or two ago. I ended up getting cards from the store…
Great tips! We need to take our Christmas pic soon.
These are all great ideas. I am going to give these a try this Christmas!
These are great tips for taking photos. My dad is always taking photos of all of us.
These are wonderful Ideas. I will for sure use them this holiday season when I take pictures.
I am bad about using anything other than auto focus on my camera. Right now I am just happy if my camera works.
My best tip is using natural light. Nothing looks more unprofessional that a white-out flash shot.
Great tips! I will be trying some for sure. I am not so great at photos and can use any and all tips!
I don’t take good photos. So hopefully, these tips would help me.
These are great tips. I would love to learn more about taking a good photo. I have a nice camera so it seems silly for me not to learn more.
Great tips. We always shoot our own holiday pictures.
i am so bad at taking pictures! I bought a new camera and that doesn’t even help
I have never done photos for the holidays, haha! I will once I have a little family of my own though. Great tips!
Oh thanks for the reminder’s I do have to start making Christmas cards and getting them out in the mail soon. Oh if only I had minions do them faster. lol
Great tips! I always do our own holiday cards, it’s great to have some more tips like this
My son and his wife invested in an awesome camera and some lenses, flashes, etc. The pictures really do come out every bit as nice as a professional.
I need stuff to keep the kids busy too! Gotta get xmas pics done
I think we often forget about the background and that we can take 50 shots to get the right one 🙂
I think I always go wrong on the white balance. Thanks for the tips.
Lots of great tips! I agree the background is important and using as much natural lighting as possible!
Great tips! I was looking at photographers in our area recently and they wanted up to $400 per session. I think I’ll stick to taking my own for that amount!
I’m usually happy if everyone is facing forward and not yelling at each other with eyes open! That’s about as good as it gets in my family.
haha Nicole! me too!!
Great tips! You are very right about white balance. Soooo important for indoor pics.
Those are some great tips. I think background can make a huge difference in photography. Also, we try to stick with natural lighting.
We did this last year and they turned out great, it’s so expensive to get your pics done.
We have Christmas pictures a week from tomorrow. I’m already nervous. It’s hard getting decent shots of a large family.
I’ve always been a point a shoot type of girl. But with blogging you got to learn a few tricks! =)These tips for taking Christmas pictures are really good!
My biggest issues are white balance and posing…it’s hard to get four kids to sit still. 🙂
Because I suck taking pictures I always let a professional do our Christmas photos. I might try doing some this year and see if it works out.
It is so hard to get kids to sit still for pictures.
Awesome tips – it really helps to know your angle too, haha! I always thought I am the best photographer of me, lol.. even without a single knowledge on photography lol.
This post is awesome! I was thinking of getting some Christmas pictures done, but now I will just do them myself with your tips!