Home > Learn > Places and Events > Christmas photos
Christmas photos
Christmas. What a magical time of year! Here are some tips to take memorable photos of family and friends with a digital camera.
Be creative
Get close up and personal. Fill the frame with the subject to capture detail and facial expression.
For more natural-looking photos, snap candid, spontaneous shots when subjects aren't looking. Also shoot from various angles. Kneel or get down on the floor for more interesting and dynamic pictures.
Using a flash inside
Stay within the recommended flash range to help ensure proper exposure. If your camera has a flash compensation setting, adjust the output stronger or weaker as needed.
For better exposure, turn on extra lights in the room to augment the built- flash. Adjust white balance setting when needed. You can also change the white balance to create a mood.
Avoid red eye
Photos of people are always disappointing if red-eye is present. After taking a shot, review the image on the LCD and retake if necessary. Take steps to avoid or reduce red-eye.
Using a flash outside
When taking outside photos in the evening, if the main subject is in the foreground and there are lights in the background scene, use a Slow-sync flash or Night Scene mode. The flash illuminates the foreground subject but the shutter is slow enough to capture the background lights. Because exposure can vary from long to very long for this type of shot, steady the camera, preferably by using a tripod or other camera support.
When not to use the flash
To capture the warm glow of Christmas lights, don't use a flash. Unless you use a camera support, you may have to increase the cameras light sensitivity. When the ISO setting is higher, less light is needed to make an exposure. The trade-off will be image "noise" but noise is better than no photo.
When photographing through glass, don't use a flash. If there is glare, use a polarizing filter or shoot from a different angle to prevent reflections.
Most consumer digital cameras produce visible image noise at ISO over 100. The good news is that it can be reduced when processing an image by using noise reduction software.
Take some outside evening photos
One of the best time to shoot is at dusk. There is just enough light to capture both scene detail and Christmas lighting. If the shutter speed is slow or the camera shake warning comes on, use a camera support.
Night scene photo by Craig Hatfield Copyright 2005