Take memorable holiday photos

No Thanksgiving photos are complete without a shot of the dining-room table, complete with fancy place settings, the main course, and all the trimmings. The formal version of this shot omits people.

For the best effect, take this picture from above. That probably means standing on a chair to get past the tall glasses at the near end of the table and to include the entire spread. You’ll need to take the shot right after the last of the food has been served, but before everyone sits down. Try to lock the focus on the near end of the table; the rest of the table will probably stay reasonably in focus as well. If you focus on the far end of the table, the fuzzy foreground is likely to dominate.

Alternatively (and this is my favorite approach), get in low and close, as the photographer did for this shot. Focus on just a few dishes to give the impression that the food goes on forever in front of and behind the scene.

[Photo: CarbonNYC]

While you’ll want a few pictures with everyone in one big group, it’s often easier to get good pictures if you take smaller group shots—like just the spouses or the siblings—or even single-person portraits.

You can certainly position your subjects in front of traditional holiday backgrounds; but this year, try to stage some portraits in more organic, natural settings so that they look a bit more candid. Take pictures of people carving the turkey, lighting the candles, washing the dishes, setting the table, and refilling the candy dish. Such images can be more meaningful in the long run, because they strongly connect the people with the event.

If you go this route, though, be careful with the backgrounds. It’s easy to end up shooting pictures in front of backgrounds so cluttered that they’re a distraction. For the dish-washing pictures, for instance, you may need to move the huge stack of dirty dishes out of the way.

And though your digital camera tries hard, its built-in flash is designed to throw light only about 8 or 10 feet. What can you do? Avoid taking indoor shots of groups so large that you must stand halfway across the room. If you’re photographing more than a handful of people, take it outdoors—and shoot in the shade, where direct sunlight won’t shine right into the scene.

As you’re taking pictures of smartly dressed guests, fancy dishes, and horns of plenty, don’t forget about the lighting. Few lighting situations are trickier than Christmas morning, as an array of lighting sources compete to confuse your camera. At the same time morning sunlight is streaming through the window, room lights may be shining overhead, decorative bulbs might be blinking on the tree, and perhaps even a couple of candles may be flickering nearby, overwhelming your camera’s sensor.

Your best bet is to set the white balance manually using a white sheet of paper, before the festivities begin. Check your camera’s user guide to see how to adjust white balance. Try increasing your camera’s ISO setting, too. This control—which affects how sensitive the camera is to light—is usually best left in its lowest position. But rather than relying on the camera’s flash, try increasing the camera’s ISO to 400 so that you can properly expose your pictures in the limited indoor light of a winter morning. Another solution is to put additional light sources on your subject: I like setting candles near people because they cast a warm, flattering glow onto faces.

I’m a big believer in crisp, tight framing. My usual advice is to get in close, eliminate the clutter, and focus on your subject so that it’s clear what your photo is about. The holidays beg for a different approach, though. When the children are unwrapping presents, go wide. Include the clutter, because it’s part of the story. Take the picture from floor level, where you can see the wrapping paper, empty boxes, and other debris crowded around the kids, for example. Or climb up a flight of stairs and shoot an aerial view of the holiday in progress. It’s photos like these that capture the spirit of the day.

Make sure you photograph your Christmas tree or Hanukkah menorah in all its illuminated beauty. You should steady your camera on a tripod, since this is the kind of photo you’ll want to take at night.

Like most kinds of night photography, there’s no right or wrong exposure. Set your camera to manual mode, pick a midrange aperture (like f/5.6), and then try a several-second-long shutter speed. Check your results. If you want brighter, more dramatic lights, open the aperture a little. If you want the overall scene to be brighter, lengthen the exposure time. You can bracket the exposure for a variety of effects and pick the one you like best afterward.

If you ask me, closer is always better. I generally like shots that are tight and emphasize the subject, rather than wide-angle photos in which the subject gets lost in the background clutter. This is especially important in holiday photos, because you’ll find a lot of clutter then. Zoom in tight for your people shots, and look for subtle details to capture up close even when you’re taking still-life shots, like the tree, ornaments, and presents.

[Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paparutzi/ / CC BY 2.0]