For Better Family and Group Portraits
One of the most important things to keep in mind when photographing groups and families is this: you absolutely must take a lot of photos. There is often a great deal of pressure when photographing groups. A lot of people are uncomfortable having their picture taken and want the experience to be over quickly. Plus, you need to work quickly in order to get the job done (within the limits of their patience) and to try keep the experience as fun and friendly as possible. It seems like there is always someone blinking or looking off to the side or facing another member of the group. By having a large number of photos will improve your odds of catching everyone looking their best.
Shoot First, Ask Questions Later
This tip is especially true if your subject is a child opening a gift or playing with a gift for the first time. We all know that within a split second, the whole scene can change. There are often just a few brief moments when that "magic spark" appears. Of course this means having your camera on hand and the batteries fully charged. Remember, its always a good idea to have back-up batteries ready also. After all, you can't capture the moment if you don't have your camera turned on and ready to go right?. Remember, you have to be ready to press that shutter button in a moment's notice, anticipating when the magic spark will surface. If you have a digital camera that suffers from a bit of a delay when taking the picture, then you will have to become even more intuitive and skilled at anticipating the moment. Another good tip; make sure you have enough space on your memory card and carry an extra card with you. Too often people will run out of space and either have to delete some photos or end their shooting for the day. Remember, these days’ memory cards are very inexpensive, so pick up an extra one and you’ll be glad you did.
Fill Your Frame
One of the most common mistakes I see in Christmas photos (or any photo really) is that people often end up with shots of their subjects way off in the distance or on the other side of a room with lots of space all around them. One of the simplest tips I can give you is to just fill your frame with your subject. You do this two ways, either by using your zoom, or just getting up and moving yourself in closer. Easy huh? While this is one of the simplest tips I ever give it is one that can have the most profound impact on your shots. Try it out, you’ll be amazed.
Photographing Christmas Lights
The best time to shoot is before it gets totally dark, plus arriving around sunset will give you time to plan your shot before the good light happens. Try to compose your shots with as much sky as possible, getting down real low. It's always a good idea to be shooting in RAW mode, but if your not, remember to set your white-balance to Tungsten. All those little bulbs are tungsten balanced and as an added bonus your sky will look even better. Needless to say, you’ll need a way to steady your camera, preferably a tripod or mono-pod or even a beanbag for those long exposures. Plus a remote trigger or cable can come in real handy. Shoot a test shot every minute or so constantly checking the LCD. Sometime between sunset and full dark skies, your Christmas lights and the ambient light with start to mix beautifully. Usually you’ll have about a 10-minute window with nice light. After that, the good light will fade very quickly and you will know it is gone when your photos start looking like the "bad light" photos you used to take.
The best time to shoot is before it gets totally dark, plus arriving around sunset will give you time to plan your shot before the good light happens. Try to compose your shots with as much sky as possible, getting down real low. It's always a good idea to be shooting in RAW mode, but if your not, remember to set your white-balance to Tungsten. All those little bulbs are tungsten balanced and as an added bonus your sky will look even better. Needless to say, you’ll need a way to steady your camera, preferably a tripod or mono-pod or even a beanbag for those long exposures. Plus a remote trigger or cable can come in real handy. Shoot a test shot every minute or so constantly checking the LCD. Sometime between sunset and full dark skies, your Christmas lights and the ambient light with start to mix beautifully. Usually you’ll have about a 10-minute window with nice light. After that, the good light will fade very quickly and you will know it is gone when your photos start looking like the "bad light" photos you used to take.
Bonus Tips:
If you plan to use flash, nothing screams point-and-shoot like using a pop-up flash on-camera. We're not shooting motor vehicle photos right? Red-eye reduction is nice, but a shoe-mounted flash is so much better if you own one and your camera has a hotshoe for it. When shooting indoors, not only can you bounce off of a wall or ceiling you can add a diffuser and make it hard to know a flash was used at all. Of course you might be able to avoid using flash at all by using a nice wide aperture like f2.8 or f/4 and bumping up your ISO a little, but a little fill-flash helps to lighten up your shadow areas and can really add some dimension to your photograph.
Remember, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead, maybe even making a check list of the things to remember like batteries, extra flash cards etc. Another good tip if your using a new camera, take some time and read (or re-read) your manual and get to know its buttons and features so you can use them even better. I can’t tell you how important this is.
Well until my next post, I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season and remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!
If you plan to use flash, nothing screams point-and-shoot like using a pop-up flash on-camera. We're not shooting motor vehicle photos right? Red-eye reduction is nice, but a shoe-mounted flash is so much better if you own one and your camera has a hotshoe for it. When shooting indoors, not only can you bounce off of a wall or ceiling you can add a diffuser and make it hard to know a flash was used at all. Of course you might be able to avoid using flash at all by using a nice wide aperture like f2.8 or f/4 and bumping up your ISO a little, but a little fill-flash helps to lighten up your shadow areas and can really add some dimension to your photograph.
Remember, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead, maybe even making a check list of the things to remember like batteries, extra flash cards etc. Another good tip if your using a new camera, take some time and read (or re-read) your manual and get to know its buttons and features so you can use them even better. I can’t tell you how important this is.
Well until my next post, I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season and remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!
