The holidays are one of the few times you’re allowed — maybe even obligated — to walk around with your phone in hand at all times. Such power is not to be used for Snapchat, though. That phone (or
actual camera) you’re balancing in between eggnog and sugar cookies is to capture all the joys of the season. We’re talking pictures here! Lots of them.
It can be unfortunately rare to find so many family members and friends in one place at the same time, so you’ve got to celebrate — and capture — the occasion. This year, take it upon yourself to be the person documenting all those memories.
But don’t just shoot indiscriminately. Come prepared to every gathering with our tips for taking the best holiday portraits and general party pictures. From ensuring everyone in the group looks good, to including fast-moving kids and pets, take note, unofficial party photographers, of these best practices for most photo situations you’ll find yourself in.
For Overall Gorgeous Shots
Aim a camera at most people, and they freeze. Their normal, relaxed smile is replaced by a forced “Did you take the picture yet?” cheeser. Keep festivities comfortable by staying as candid as possible. Hit the kitchen and take photos of the food prep in action or capture the group attempting to frost a gingerbread house before it falls apart.
One important aspect of getting candids is to avoid using the flash. You may be inside with dim lighting, but blasting a flash will usually only result in some very washed-out faces. Instead, play with the ISO setting on your camera — use at least 1/100 — to bring more light into the photo without the drastic results of a flash.
You can also subtly up the brightness by using your phone's built-in editing software. On iOS, tap Edit, the knob icon on the right, and then tap Light; on Android, tap the Edit icon, and then Light. Or you can use a photo-editing app such as Camera+ or Instagram's Brightness setting.
For Group Shots
When posed photos are required, take a lot of 'em. No — we mean a lot of photos. When tasking a group of people to all hold their pose and smile at the same time, you’re going to end up with quite a few outtakes. Pro tip: Spare everyone the task of untagging themselves from the photo on Facebook later and put your camera in burst mode so that there will be at least one frame in between Aunt Miriam's sneeze and your toddler nephew's wriggling that has miraculously caught everyone with their eyes open (hopefully).
For Selfies
We are not going to hate on you for the selfie stick. Hey, it works. But if you’re sans stick and have never been satisfied with your personal selfie game, try holding the camera at slightly higher than your eye level. Look up at the camera and pull a Tyra by totally embracing the smize.
For Children
Kids move fast. So even though you might not be lacing up to play some touch football in the backyard, you’ll want to put your camera in a sports mode that can keep up with children’s light-speed motions. For point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras, sports mode is often denoted with an icon of a person running. Many Android devices have a sports mode than can be found in its native camera app. For iPhone users, try holding the shutter down to put the phone in burst mode and get plenty of photos mid-action.
Also, get on the kids’ level, literally. Avoid photo perspectives that are an entire adult taller than the child by crouching down and photographing from their viewpoint.
For The Pets That Steal The Show
Sure, you want to capture the house’s pretty decor along with the cute pup sitting by the fire, but viewers don’t want to play Spot the Cool Thing in This Photo. Help them see how adorably precious your pet is by getting close to the animal. Put your camera in macro mode and slowly (don’t want them to run off!) move in toward your dog or cat. The close-up view of your pet wistfully staring up at a dinner table overflowing with rich foods will be so much more interesting than trying to fit everything in the scene in the photograph.
Taylor Swift shows us how it's done with her cat Olivia.
refinery29
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