nate: blog 
nate's blog
holiday photo tips
Published Dec 3, 2007Views: 176
It's that time of year when your face hurts from all the laughing and smiling - which means lots of photos. If you're lucky, the person behind the camera has an idea of how to take a photo, but we've all been stuck with a quickly fading perma-grin, waiting for uncle Joe to fumble around until he figures out the camera. Here are a few pointers to pass along to uncle Joe - and some you may like yourself!
LIGHTING - most of the time holiday pictures are taken indoors, under incandescent lighting - which makes most photos turn out overly warm and usually blurry due to the low intensity of light. Try to take advantage of good light by opening blinds and letting in some sun, then shoot your photos at any angle except looking straight into the light. If you must take photos in dark conditions, try putting your flash on the "Night Mode" which will splash a little bit of flash on the scene but also allow the ambient light to come through making a more natural picture. Lean against something to keep yourself steady, or use a tripod. And ask those two year olds to hold still while you shoot (good luck on that one)!
MOMENTS - Anyone with a camera can take a picture of a group of people with their arms around each other - and these photos can be great (be sure to get as close as possible to have your subjects fill 90% of the frame). But to make your photos more memorable, try to anticipate important moments, like when your 2 year-old is about to open his or her first present or when aunt Betty is telling her famous story for the 100th time and you know everyone is going to laugh at the end.
ANGLES - Photos from any angle besides eye-level are automatically more interesting because it's a different view than we're used to seeing. Get down on the toddler level and get high above the rest for a view down.
DETAILS - Taking close up detail shots can really add some interesting variety to your shooting - take a look around and notice things like grandma's wrinkly hands to reveal her years of wisdom, or zoom in on an ornament on the tree. Get close, then get closer. One of my personal favorite details is food. Whenever I see a beautiful meal arranged beautifully around the dinner table I run for my camera and snap away before my stomach reminds me I'm hungry.
Finally, a word about taking your holiday light photos. It's time to drag the tri-pod out of the closet and put it to good use. Then, use the camera's auto-timer to take the photo that way the pressure from you pressing the shutter release will not shake the camera during the exposure. And it's worth mentioning - turn off your flash! If it's snowing (not likely this Christmas) then flash can be good to show the flakes, but otherwise it's useless and will just drain your battery.
If you have any other tips, feel free to comment below. And have fun with your photos and be sure to share them for all the golo community!
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December 3, 2007 10:53 a.m.
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