Dec 23 2009
Christmas ~ Photography tips and kids tell all
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We asked a few children what Christmas means to them. We asked the questions early - mid December aged 2-6yrs. We just asked the simple question
“What is Christmas all about?”
Miss Jayne: 4 yrs “Santa flies in the sky and brings presents if you are good.
Miss Tammy: 4 yrs ” If you have been good God and Santa know and you get treats.”
Master Jinton 6 yrs ” You put a tree up as a sign of respect to Santa”
Miss Jaimee 2.5 yrs “um… Santa comes in the back door and leaves present and gets to eat biscuits”
Master Reece 6 yrs ” God gave his Son to us and we celebrate his birth by giving gifts to friends and family.”
Miss Annleise 3 yrs ” I don’t want to sit on Santa’s knee!!!”
Miss Laura 5 yrs ” Santa, presents, food, presents and stuff!”
Lol… its always so fun watching and listening to kids around Christmas. They are all trying to be good, writing out Christmas lists and posting them to the North Pole, though I hear Santa has email now and many kids are emailing him too. See Santa in his workshops at the North Pole.
I know This Christmas will be great to spend with family and friends. I am guessing, like me, you will be taking lots of happy snaps and great photo’s to look back on years later, or to proudly display in an album or frame. The kids will be sparkling with excitement, wearing their best designer kids clothing, eating the best cooked Christmas lunch and dinner. So what can we do to take some great lasting memories with our camera this year?
Rachel Richter photographer who took the above photo helps all us with great suggestions when taking our happy snaps this festive season:
Words by Rachel….
As the person in charge of the camera in my house, I’ve experienced many Christmas mornings and I’ve picked up a few tips along the way.
I believe the most difficult part of the day to photograph is the Christmas morning present-opening-frenzy!
My advice for successful shots at this time….
- Have each family member wear plain clothing. There are usually enough distracting elements with the wrapping paper, presents, tree and general chaos. Our family tradition is for each person to wear new (plain) pyjamas to bed on Christmas Eve.
- Make use of the Zoom function on your camera. Frame the expression on your child’s face as they discover what lies beneath the wrapping paper for the first time.
- Position your subject directly in front on the Christmas tree –
the foliage makes a great background.- If you’re lucky enough to own an external flash, then definitely use it. You’ll avoid harsh shadows and glare. If you want to avoid flash altogether, open all window coverings/blinds etc and turn on all room lights.
- Vary your camera angle and keep shots interesting.
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Christmas Light Photography
There is something magical about a Christmas tree lit up at night and there is no better time of year to capture photographs of light.
You’ll need a steady surface for this technique, so dust off your tripod. (Otherwise an ironing board will suffice)
Mount the camera on the tripod
Turn off any distracting light (ie, fluorescent tubes, room lights etc)
Set your camera to Manual and choose a long exposure (the shutter speed of the image here was 2.5 seconds. Typically anything over ½ second will work –
remember the longer the shutter is left open, the more the “glow”) Choose a high ISO (ie, 800 if possible)
Turn your Flash OFF (unless you want to photograph a subject in front of the tree or show how the tree has been decorated)
If possible, to avoid camera shake, set the timer on your camera.
Line the tree up, press the button, sit back and wait.
To get the best result, I recommend taking a series of photographs, varying the settings each time. Compare the differences between each and choose your favourite (don’t forget to write the settings down for next year!)
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