Say Fruitcake! Tips for Taking Amazing Holiday Photos

November 7, 2012 | Mark Goldstein | Photography Techniques | Comment |

With the Holiday season upon us, we've teamed up with Best Buy to bring you 11 ways to make your holiday photos better than ever before. Take great photos of your family and friends with these easy to follow tips and tricks, and be able to look back at the best holiday memories that you've ever captured.

1. Place your subject off-centre

The number one cause of boring family photos is positioning the subject slap bang in the middle of the frame. For an instantly more dynamic image, try and place them to one side, about a third of the way from the edge.

2. Capture those candid moments

It’s important to take the more formal shots well, but the images that your family will most love are those more candid moments where the subject is enjoying themselves, rather than being subjected to yet another photo.

3. Don’t forget to include yourself

A common mistake made by the family picture taker is to never include themselves in the photos. Take a look back through your previous holiday shots – how many times do you appear in them? Make sure that other family members take a few pictures that include you, or even better, use the self-timer or smile shutter function on your camera so that you can join in the fun.

4. Use a tripod

For the formal pictures that certain family members demand, use a tripod or at least rest your camera on a solid surface. This will help keep the picture sharp and enable you to be in the picture.

5. Forget the flash

If at all possible, try not to use your camera’s flash. It usually results in unflattering photos with harsh lighting that your subjects will probably tolerate rather than like. Instead set your camera to a higher ISO speed than normal – sure, you’ll see some noise, but the resulting photos will look much more natural.

6. Fill the frame

Getting up and close and personal with your subject is a sure-fire way to make the photo more interesting. Try and move a few steps closer than you would normally take a picture from – you’ll be amazed at the results.

7. Focus on the children

Everyone likes to see pictures of their children, so make sure that they’re the main focus. You’ll never get them to sit still, so try and take as many photos as possible and don’t worry if a lot of them end up in the virtual bin – just a few good shots will make all that effort worth it.

8. But don’t forget the adults

Remember not to entirely neglect the older members of the family, as they’ll want at least a record that they were there. Try and take a photo of each family member individually – they’ll love being the centre of attention for once.

9. It’s all in the detail

It’s not just the people in your family that are part of the holidays – it’s things like the food, decorations, and the venue too. So take some close-up shots of these to at least serve as a record of all the effort that went into the big day.

10. Share quickly

The days of waiting for your film to be developed and prints to be made are long gone, so take advantage of your camera connectivity  and hook it up to a TV before your guests leave. You can all then ”enjoy” editing them as a group, naturally selecting the winners and losers.

11. Print the best photos

We may live in a time when most photos are now shared online, but your family will still value seeing the best photos as prints that can be framed and hung on the wall.

”Best Buy Holiday Deals

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