Drop perfection. If you want to capture the true heart of Christmas, forget staging every moment by overdressing and posing everyone in it and instead focus on documenting. Aim for candids. Keep your phone or camera handy for those special moments of erupting laughter, silly games, decorating cookies, the kid’s excited faces as they’re first checking out the tree on Christmas morning, etc… If you want the professional photo of everyone staged and smiling - hire a professional who specializes in this and save yourself the stress. Let yourself have some fun with it!
Get those details. Don’t forget to zoom in on the details that make the holidays special. A close up of a couple cookies made with grandma’s signature recipe, the angel that tops your tree, the 2 rolls of scotch tape holding your present together by your 4 year old… All the meaningful things that make Christmas so special deserve a place in the Christmas memory album.
Be sneaky, not obtrusive. Sometimes, the best candids happen when someone doesn’t know the camera is on them. Try turning the flash and sound off and taking a few captures of your loved ones in the moments from a distance, even if they’re not looking at the camera. This is the key for capturing those in your family who hate the camera being on them. There’s no bigger bummer than someone hiding from the camera all day because they’re aware it’s on them. Get creative, (but not weird).
Don’t get frustrated. For every 10 photos I take, maybe 1 will turn out great. Photography is a learned skill so don’t get upset if your photos aren’t turning out as Insta-worthy as you envisioned. Focus on what matters and learn from your mistakes. If the photo was too bright, turn off the flash. Cut out half of someone’s face? Re-frame and re-take. And if you miss a shot? Be grateful you got to capture it in your memory and move on.
Get in the photos yourself. As a photographer, I often get asked to take the photos of everyone else and end up being left out of family photos I’d loved to have been in. If you’ve been the one taking all the photos this season, hand over the phone or camera or set up a self-timer so you can be in the moment with your loved ones! Kids LOVE being handed a camera and asked to take photos (I know because this is how I started taking photos as a young child) so let go of control for 20 minutes and allow yourself the gift of presence and existing in photographs.
Use a disposable film camera. You know what I’m talking about! Those old quick snap cameras you used to buy and have developed at Walmart are still around. This is one of my favorite tips, partially due to the nostalgia of them. The beauty of capturing your holiday on film is that you get a limited number of photos so you really learn to make them count. The images are more intentional and you don’t totally know how they’ll turn out until you get the scans back. It’s like one last Christmas gift to yourself when those mystery prints arrive!