Whether you’re capturing photos to send as greeting cards or share on social media, Christmas offers a number of opportunities for flexing your creativity. Sometimes, all that we need is a little inspiration to get in the spirit. For that reason, we’ve compiled ten Christmas photography ideas you can put to good use this holiday season.
Christmas Photography Ideas
- Create a Christmas Lay-Flat Photo
- Light Your Christmas Photos with Christmas Lights
- Gather the Gang for Christmas Group Portraits
- Pose for Holiday Portraits
- Make a Christmas GIF
- Highlight the Christmas Decorations
- Use Props for a Christmas Photography Photo Booth
- Don’t Forget to Photograph Santa’s Little Helpers, aka Your Pets
- Capture Candid Family Activities
- Look for Interesting Perspectives for Christmas Photography
1. Create a Christmas Flat-Lay Photo
Flat-lay photos may fall on the trendier side of things you can do when photographing objects, but they can also help tell a story. This top-down technique requires a bit of thoughtful design to have its intended effect while also drawing in the viewer.
2. Light Your Christmas Photos with Christmas Lights
If the ambient light is dark enough, you can use Christmas lights as the key light in your photos. These decorative lights work equally well for lighting subjects or being the subject. They can also create an amazing bokeh backdrop when you place the in front of or behind your subject with enough distance and the best settings to achieve this effect. Check out this article on how to photograph holiday lights for more tips on creatively using the lights around you for Christmas photos.
3. Gather the Gang for Christmas Group Portraits
Selfies are great for group portraits (and I recommend using this method, too), but be sure to grab a group photo as well. Christmas, like weddings or World Cup matches, represents one of those rare occasions when people make a point to attend. Look for a clean backdrop in a well-lit spot and pose the group for a memorable holiday portrait. Place your camera on a tripod and dial in the focus before setting a timer and jumping in the shot. Of course, if you can trigger your camera remotely, that would be ideal.
4. Pose for Holiday Portraits
You don’t have to have a Santa Claus outfit to create Christmas portraits, but it doesn’t hurt! Most households that celebrate Christmas typically decorate their living space with a tree, wreath, presents, or other items. Even if you don’t have Christmas decorations, you can hang some string lights in the background to create a festive vibe (and amazing bokeh). We can use these spaces like sets or backdrops for a quick Christmas portrait session. It’s a great opportunity to test your lighting skills, whether using natural lighting or off-camera flash. For the latter, check out this article with flash photography tips you might consider using for Christmas portraits.
5. Make a Christmas GIF
Put a little motion into your Christmas photography and make a holiday GIF. Candid group interactions make great GIF opportunities, or you can plan one with someone in the household. Follow these tips to learn how to make an animated GIF in Photoshop.
6. Highlight the Decorations for Christmas Photography
With holidays come decorations. We mentioned this above when looking to use the decorations as part of a backdrop for Christmas portraits. This time around, however, the decorations themselves will take center stage for holiday still-life photos. Look for interesting layouts that are already set up or, if you have permission, get proactive and rearrange the objects into a pleasant composition that tells a story about or clearly identifies the holiday. Use different angles (wide, medium, and tight) and switch up the perspective to keep it interesting.
7. Use Props for a Christmas Photography Photo Booth
This idea will get you through Christmas and New Year’s! Set up a photo booth station with holiday-themed props. Fortunately, no actual photo booth is needed. To manage it, you have a few options. First, you can place a camera on a tripod and have somebody handle the photography duties. Or, better, yet, place your phone or tablet on a tripod and use a photo booth app that anyone can use to take their own Christmas photography shots. Lastly, if the budget allows, rent a photo booth for the holiday party and take the effort out of your hands.
8. Don’t Forget to Photograph Santa’s Little Helpers, aka Your Pets
It’s been said that a dog is a man’s best friend, but really, pets are family. Don’t forget to include them in some of your Christmas portraits. It might be best to time these shots when you’re not hosting guests. That way, your pets can pose more freely without the excitement of visitors making still portraits an impossibility. Special Christmas treats may be in order to encourage better participation, but you know your pet best. If you don’t have props or outfits, like the Santa hat used above, just choose a location in your home that features holiday decorations.
9. Capture Candid Family Activities
The holidays are often associated with holiday activities, and as the actual day draws nearer, holiday parties. Jump into photojournalist mode and capture these activities and get-togethers to document the full story of the season. Whether you and the family are decorating the tree, baking cookies, or building a snowman for those in the snow, break out the camera and immortalize the moments.
10. Look for Interesting Perspectives
Whether close-up or wide, top-down or looking up, try to find a unique perspective to capture interesting Christmas photos. It’s one thing to walk up and photograph a scene as is, and another to look for unique angles. Cropping the frame a certain way can also add mystery and interest to an otherwise ordinary scene. For instance, the tight shot of the image above is likely more interesting than a wider shot that would’ve shown other people standing around and photographing the neatly decorated and lit tree with their smartphones.
Here’s another photo of the same tree to further illustrate how the angle we choose can impact the final image. In case you’re interested in learning how to photograph Christmas trees, specifically, this article will give you a solid starting point.
Tips to Capture the Best Holiday Photos with Family
Let ‘Em Know
Assuming you aren’t already famous/infamous among the family as the go-to person who always takes pictures at these holiday get-togethers, let people know ahead of time that you will be taking pictures. Many people will look at you like a vampire looks at daylight if you point a camera at them unexpectedly. They may think their outfit looks bad, they don’t have makeup on, they look tired, they have a pimple, or any number of reasons why they don’t want to be photographed. Forewarning people limits some of these reasons and may get people with moderate camera shyness to be OK with having their picture taken.
Eye Level Shots are Best
This is one of the most important photography tips there is! Shooting at eye level allows your camera to directly engage with your subject. This is especially true with the shortest of family members: the babies and children. When taking pictures of kids, crouch down to their level and see how much more you enter their world. I will, however, caution you to be on your guard as you have now put your camera within reach of their hands and feet which are not only dangerous but can be grabby!
This is by no means a rule, more of a guideline. There are many circumstances where you may want to shoot from a high or low angle. But more often than not, eye-level shots are exactly what the situation calls for!
Learn Your Camera
Knowing your tools is one key to getting the most out of them. The others are practice and self evaluation. Take an hour to read some articles or watch some videos about how to specifically use your camera. If you have a DSLR or mirrorless camera and don’t know how to control the exposure (the brightness of the image) check out this introductory video on the exposure triangle.
Also, as a good tip, you won’t want to use a flash when creating holiday images at family events. Nothing can ruin a moment like having a bright light flash people in their eyes. It also makes subsequent pictures with natural reactions much less likely. In order to get pictures that aren’t blurry or too dark you will either need to raise your ISO or have a fast lens (a lens that allows a lot of light onto your sensor), or both.
And once you take all these pictures, review them and think about how you could have done better. If you don’t know what that is, ask a photographer friend or even ask on the internet. Though do be prepared for some potential PhotoShopping requests from some family members.
If you recently purchased your camera, one of the first things you should do is customize a few of the settings. This is a great way to get ready to shoot holiday photos and family pictures. Most cameras come equipped with factory settings that need a bit of adjustment.
For instance, you may want to set the camera to shoot in RAW instead of JPG. Take a look at this article on how to prepare your new camera for tips. For newer photographers, it’s also a good idea to review key camera settings like shutter speed and aperture. After all, the time to troubleshoot settings is before you have the whole family gathered and smiling for a photo.
Fortunately, we’ve already assembled some great written guides and videos with photography tips for understanding shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings like auto ISO.
If family photo poses are the part of family pictures that overwhelms you, check out our article on family portrait posing ideas before you get started with holiday party photography.
Get Details
While people are clearly the main subject, make sure not to neglect getting some of the details that make these events special. Plenty of important details will pop out at you over the course of the day. Things like holiday presents (before and after you open them), holiday decorations, or a collection of family coats gathered together on a coat rack are all great details to capture. Each of them will help you tell the story of your holiday gathering.
Is there a family member who makes the best apple pie you have ever had in your life? Make sure to get a picture of that pie (and follow these food photography tips for professional-looking photos). When you look back at these pictures, it will remind you of tasting that heavenly dish and all the details of the shot will help bring you right back to that moment. Try to be aware of what makes these events special, personal, and timeless.
When photographing details, many photographers prefer to use a macro lens, but any lens will work if used appropriately. Try shooting with a shallow depth of field to draw focus to the details you want to highlight. A wide-open aperture like f/2.8 or f/4 should provide enough depth of field to keep the whole subject in focus while blurring the background.
If you don’t have a macro lens, the next best thing is a zoom lens or telephoto lens. You can zoom to crop your photo so you can focus only on the details you need.
Be Patient and as Unseen as Possible
Capturing real emotions is hard when people see you standing there with your camera trained on them like a sniper. Having a camera constantly pointed at someone can often make them uneasy and may not lead to the amazing interactions that you wish you could capture.
One way to get around this is to position yourself a little bit outside of the circle of action and use a telephotos lens (a lens that gives you a more magnified image). And don’t keep the camera perennially glued to your head. Get your settings right, then keep the camera at your side, and wait until just before the right moment to raise your camera. You will have to be fast as moments are often fleeting, but this will lead to more natural, candid shots. Also, again, keep the flash off.
Get Everyone Together
Make sure to get the group photo while as many people are still at the event as possible, and hopefully before anyone has had one too many eggnogs. Group photos are a family gathering staple for a reason. Having several generations in one picture that captures the family in a moment in time are photos that you will treasure and be able to share with the young ones when they’re older. Plus, as time marches on, they will become dated and vintage which, as hipster as it is, will always be cool.
The easiest way to organize a series of group photos is to start with the largest group and then ask people to step out. For example, start with your camera on a tripod and photograph the full group of gathered family members. Next, photograph just the kids before moving on to individual family photo poses.
The bigger the family gathering, the longer the posed group shots will take. Make sure you’re ready to go by setting up all of your gear before you start. Younger family members may start to get impatient, so try to get their photos done quickly.
For very small children, it’s helpful to have a noisy or squeaky toy available that you can hold over the camera to capture their attention. If you’re having a difficult time getting them to focus on the camera, ask everyone else in the room to keep quiet so your subject isn’t distracted or overwhelmed. If all else fails, ask their parents to help you catch their attention!
Be Present, and Put the Camera Down Sometimes
It should be obvious, but actually enjoying the experience of being around your family members is better than having a million photos of them. I know I have suffered from this, but I have learned to balance the amount of time I spend taking pictures and the amount of time I put the camera away and just hang out with the people I care about.
Conclusion
I hope you found these Christmas photography ideas helpful and are inspired to capture the holidays in a fun and creative way. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you can find new and exciting ways to let the winter season inspire your photography. For instance, don’t miss Peter Dam’s winter macro photography tips to capture the season in a way you’ve likely never seen before.
