Although the holidays only come around once a year, no children’s photography course would be complete without some tips on photographing the festivities!
As they say, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! The festive season is here, and it brings with it a whole lot of fun opportunities for amazing photos. Lights, decorations, happiness… It’s a beautiful time and capturing it on camera helps you to keep those memories forever.
Celebrating the Holidays
Everyone celebrates the holidays in different ways. There’s no right or wrong. Every celebration is unique, joyful, and photo-worthy! However your family chooses to celebrate the holidays, we can guarantee there’s something to capture with your camera.
Remember, you’re making memories for yourself and your family, first and foremost. It doesn’t matter if your celebrations are different from others. Capture what you see, what you experience, and what you want to remember. That’s how you know you’re photographing important stuff!
This kind of photography can be artistic. But it can also be quite a journalistic type of photography—capturing life as it happens.
Capturing Holiday Celebrations
Whether you’re aiming for artsy photos or journalistic-style, there are some things that are great to focus on during the festive season. Aim to get a good mix of these in your photos and you’ll find that they tell a great story!
The People
Family and friends are one of the most important parts of the holiday season! No celebration would be complete without the people we love. So of course, you need to capture them in your photos.
There are a few ways to do this: portraits and on-the-go photos. Both are great. Taking those on-the-go photos is fun and you always get amazing, natural photos when nobody’s posing! But portraits or group photos are an excellent way to get everyone in the picture together.
If you’re going to be walking around snapping away, try using the Tv mode, or shutter speed priority mode, at around 1/125. This means you’ll capture any unexpected movement that’s bound to happen when people aren’t aware that their photo is being taken!
For portraits, group or individual, you can use the portrait setting on your camera. A tripod could be a good idea, especially if you’re going to use the timer so you can get into the pic too!
Whichever type of pictures you’re taking, you want to capture people’s emotions and interactions. Get pictures of them talking, doing things together, and having a good time! This is what memories are made of. Don’t forget the pets!
The Decor
Most families decorate for the holidays. Some go crazy, others are a little more relaxed with it, but chances are you’ll come across some Christmas-themed decor.
This is a fun opportunity to take photos! They’re cheerful, bright, and really bring the Christmas spirit. And you can find them in many places.
If you’ve got a tree up in your house, you can try some close-up shots of the glittery ornaments and feathery branches. Mistletoe wreaths, Christmas stockings, gifts… You can even take wider-angle shots of entire Christmas-themed rooms, like the picture below!
For still-life shots, you can Aperture Priority mode (Av), which will allow you to really take advantage of the lighting! A tripod could also be handy in low-light situations.
The Lights
There’s something special about Christmas lights. They bring out the cheer and twinkle of the season! They’re also awesome photo subjects.
Keep in mind that lights look best when it’s dark. Which means you’ll probably need a tripod if you want to capture them well, and Aperture Priority mode is your best bet to get that perfect exposure.
The Food
No event or occasion would be complete without some photos of the food! This is a huge part of the holidays… Food is a big part of community and celebration.
One of the reasons food photography is an excellent part of every children’s photography course is that it’s incredibly easy to practice. We eat every day!
Practice your close-up photography on the holiday snacks and meals. It’s another subject that you can use Av mode for, but if the lighting is low, you may have to put your camera on a tripod.
Focus on textures, colors, and make sure to get a true holiday feel in! There’s no point in taking photos of a sandwich, for example—but mince pies, gingerbread cookies, and other holiday-specific foods make for great memories.
You can also widen your view and take some pictures of the table setting and the food once it’s been dished up, as you can see in a photo below!
The Weather
Depending on where you are in the world, you might be experiencing snow, or you could be dealing with hot weather! Either way, the weather is a part of the holiday season that we don’t often think about… But that truly adds to our memories.
If you’re in a snowy climate, you can get very creative. Close-ups of snowflakes (if your camera can handle that!), or wide-angled pictures of the general landscape covered in a beautiful white layer.
If you want to capture falling snowflakes without a blur, use shutter speed priority mode (Tv), but make sure there’s plenty of light! If you find that it’s too light, you can switch to Av mode and the shutter speed should adjust automatically.
Don’t forget that you can also include people in your weather photos, like the picture below. Snow-people too! And don’t forget that black and white can also be striking!
Looking for Inspiration
A children’s photography course is an excellent idea, but we always advise going out and doing your own research! Sometimes, Instagram is the best place to find amazing photographers to learn from. Here are some photographers you can follow to give you inspiration for your holiday photography!
Each of these photographers are extremely talented at still-life photography. They each have their own style, but all of them are inspirational and you can mimic their styles if you want to have some fun and learn how to photograph things like food and people!
Happy Holidays! Give the Gift of Kids Photography Classes for Beginners
Looking for a last-minute gift for your kid? Why not give them a children’s photography course? Our kids photography classes for beginners will teach your child all they need to know to start taking amazing photos and making lifelong memories with their camera.