Seasonal photography – What to shoot and how to do it successfully

From now to early January is a time for celebration and whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwaanza or Hanukkah, chances are that your house will be filled with fun and laughter and a decoration or two at least.

This fun time of the year is ripe for photographing opportunities and Christmas itself is one of the most popular topics for photography. I love to photograph this time of the year and there is lots to photograph – everything from the cards you receive to the tree, decorations, gifts and even carolers who serenade you with seasonal songs.

When photographing  indoors, for best results, make sure you have plenty of light. I like to use light from not only the Christmas tree itself but also from lamp shades as they cast a very soft and yellow light that warms the image.

Where possible, use a tripod and the night setting on your camera. If you don’t have moving objects or kids to think about, then switch to night mode, turn the flash off and take a long exposure. The light will be softer and the image will have a quality you simply can’t capture with the flash.

If you’re using a flash, remember its effective distance is around 3 yards so make sure anything you want to light is in this range.

Helen Bradley