10 Tips for Taking Holiday Photos

Attempting to take holiday photos is almost impossible, only if you're trying to capture perfectly posed photos with everyone in it. It's nearly impossible to get everyone together into a couple of photos. And even when you do get everyone together, the pictures comes out blurry from the lights in the background, the point of view isn't aligned properly, and overall they're all unprofessional-looking photos.

But in actuality, it's not totally impossible to take the best holiday photos. With the right camera and idea on photo compositions, all of your holiday photos can turn out amazing. Even if no one is cooperating with you, you can also take the best candid photos ever! To learn how to take the greatest photos during any holiday, these are the brilliant tips for taking holiday photos that will certainly help you out if you have a dysfunctional family!

Try to shoot the moments and not the poses.

From the best tips for taking holiday photos, try going out of your comfort zone and shoot moments rather than poses. Sure, perfectly posing for photos come out great, but nothing beats capturing the best moments during any holiday gathering. You'll shoot photos of people in the midst of laughing, bonding together, telling stories, dining together, and everything else that would revolve around quality family time.

Taking these types of photos truly brings more meaning to the photos and these are also the photos people enjoy looking at. They reminisce on that specific moment, and that's what photos in general are supposed to give off. Yes, you can get everyone together into a few posed photos, but fill your camera with stunning candid photos of your family!

Off-center your main subject.

No one usually thinks of this, but if you off-center your main subject, your photos will come out beautiful. Your main subject already has so much attention, so why not balance that out with the background and its surroundings? Center your main subject on the side of the frame and even capture the background's beauty.

This is a great tip if the subject's background is drenched in holiday decorations. If there's a Christmas tree in the back, try to fully capture that while the subject is focused on the side. Or if you're taking photos outside, grab the sunset, nature, or anything else that's occupying the background. This method will definitely make your photos look gorgeous all while perfectly balancing the appearance of your subject as well as the background.

Keep changing positions.

Always changing positions is among the best tips for taking holiday photos you can do. Honestly, it certainly gets boring after taking a couple of photos with the subjects in the same pose and position. Move them around! Tell them to get into a totally different pose, or move somewhere else with a different background. Constantly taking identical photos is a waste of camera storage and you can only take so many photos of the same thing.

This also goes for casually taking decor photos. Get into different positions and perspective. Take a photo of your Christmas tree from a bird's eye view or even up close. Constantly changing positions creates a more variety of photos to choose from and you're not always looking at the same photos more than three times.

Get down to eye-level with kids.

This one is really important from the brilliant tips for taking holiday photos—always get down to eye-level with kids! Nearly everyone looks past this tip and I'm telling you this right now, your photos of your kids or nieces and nephews will look so good. If you're taking photos of them from your level, the photos won't turn out great and it'll look as though you're towering over them.

Instead, get down to their level and shoot from there. This way, you'll fully capture their best sides as well as the background. And this tips just makes all of the photos turn out beautiful when looked at a kid's view point!

Avoid using flash indoors.

Believe it or not, using flash indoors can make the majority of your photos turn out too bright from the harsh lighting. Using a really bright flash can expose too much of your subject and background, giving off the most unnatural-looking photos ever. This is why most photographers avoid using a really bright flash for a subtle look.

Rather than a flash, if you're taking photos during the day, move your subjects by a window. The sun will give off the best and most natural lighting for all of your photos. But during the light, turn on whatever light is laying around, like lamps, room lights, etc. This way, the lights coming from the Christmas tree or any other holiday decoration can shine naturally rather than be hidden away from the harsh flash.

Search for hints of lights in a photo.

Searching and capturing lights in photos is definitely one of the cooler tips for taking holiday photos. Lights such as Christmas lights, lights from other holiday decorations, and decorations as a whole can give off gorgeous colors to all of your photos and a bit of star twinkling behind your subject! It's also the best way to capture the holiday vibe in your photos.

Even if you aren't take photos of a subject, simple decoration photos with lights are great, too. Especially for holiday photos, you definitely want some twinkling Christmas lights in your photos to really capture the holiday spirit. And nothing beats photos of the Christmas tree during the night.

It's time to invest on a prime lens! From the genius tips for taking holiday photos, using a prime lens on your professional camera can capture so many diverse photos for you. Since it doesn't zoom in or out, it's an ultra-wide aperture that allows in so much light, so you rarely have to use flash. This is also ideal for taking photos indoors.

This type of lens is also perfect if you want to capture those mesmerizing blurry backgrounds with a super-focused subject. When you're shooting up-close photos of your subject, using this lens can place your subject in full focus and beautifully blur out its background and surroundings. And the best prime lens you can use is this one by Canon. Plus, not only are you getting the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM prime lens, but you're getting a neoprene lens pouch 4.5 with a hook, 49mm multicoated protective UV filter, and much more. This is also one of the best accessories every photographer needs.

Get up close and personal!

Getting up close and personal is among the best tips for taking holiday photos! Capturing photos of the full subject are great, but have you ever considered getting really close? This technique is perfect when shooting holiday decorations. It's completely changes the perspective into a bird's eye view and even viewing a great amount of detail on anything.

You can even try shooting up close of your subjects. Not technically getting right in their faces, but almost filling the frame with your subject. It's all about changing view points that makes your photos comes out their best.

Don't stop taking photos.

Never ever stop taking photos! Once your camera is out and in your hands, keep taking photos. Even when no one is looking, like I said before, candid photos are the best type of photos. When you're constantly taking photos, you're basically capturing the moments during any holiday gathering.

If you focus on only shooting posed photos, you're not going to get the best out of your photos. It's important to always keep taking photos, because if you don't, you'll miss out on the best moments to capture in photos. So, when your camera is out during a holiday event, shoot away!

Keep an eye out for details.

Lastly, from the greatest tips for taking holiday photos, always keep an eye out for details. This means capturing top-quality details on patterns, texture, colors, and everything else when it comes to photography compositions. When you're family is about to feast on a table full of food, capture the food and its delectable appearance and texture. For holiday decorations, zoom up close and focus on the detail on the ornaments.

Capturing high-quality details from anything makes a photos fantastic. Not only will your photos come off as professional looking, but your viewers will get a sense of what something feels and even smells like. That's why details in nearly any photo bring the photo to life.