Ask the Expert
Six tips for a great Holiday photos
- Hire a professional! We have mastered the craft of understanding light, angles, getting a lot of people to pose in unique and natural ways, our equipment, and editing. Be sure to hire someone whose personality you enjoy and makes you feel relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera, edits in a style that you like, and is easy to work with. There are many photographers in town with a variety of budgets, and run specials for mini sessions just for holiday photos.
- Do you want to take your own photos? Learn how to use your camera. Whether you have a professional set up, a point and shoot camera or your cell phone, learn what all the buttons do, and how to make adjustments depending on the lighting situation. If you have a teenager, I bet they are great at understanding how to use your cell phone camera! Since technology advances so quickly, the newer the phone, the better the camera! You can easily print a quality image that is 5 x 7 with a newer cell phone.
- Get a tripod. If you don’t want every photo to be a selfie, up close, and just your faces, then I suggest getting a tripod. You can either use the timer and run into the photo or get a remote. Or have a friend join you that is willing to take photos for you. Allowing the environment to be in the photo with you makes for a much more interesting photo.
- What should you wear? Decide on a color palette. I typically suggest 2-3 colors and go from there. Do you love neutrals, warm fall colors or bold and bright colors? Or even black and white with a splash of red? Pick something that you love! If just a couple of people have a shirt or a scarf with a pattern that has all of these colors in it, than everyone else really can go well together if you stay within the color palette chosen. The trend of wearing white and khaki on the beach is so over done! Plus when you wear white on the beach you can easily blend in with the sand! Get creative and showcase, your personalities!
- Have fun with your family! Posed pictures can be great where everyone is standing up straight and looking at the camera, but are often stiff and feel forced. Capturing laughter and your family looking at each other smiling, hugging and relaxed are often some of my favorite photos! They feel so much more real and candid! Pay attention to your background, and make sure trees aren’t coming out of peoples heads or cropping any body parts off!
- Edit your favorite photos with apps that you can download for free or a minimal cost to your phone. Most phones also have internal editing software in the camera app already installed. Be sure to straighten out the horizon, wait to do any cropping until you know what size prints you want, and don’t overdo any sort of facial blurring or retouching. Removing a blemish is totally understandable, but making it look like your face has zero texture looks ridiculous. There’s definitely an art to editing, so take your time and be selective with your choices.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me!
Carissa