Every year I like to spend a few hours grabbing portraits of my family around the farm. We are left with memories to hang on the walls of how much our family and farm have grown. In this guide I am going to share with you all of my tips for capturing these moments on your own, without hiring a photographer.
This post is sponsored by Walmart. All opinions are my own.
Plan your location
When it comes to location for family Christmas photos, I like to keep things fairly minimal. The smiling faces in the photo should be the stars of the show here. Some people like a lot of props, but I personally prefer a few seasonal elements, like pumpkins in the fall and greenery in the winter.
When we are taking photos around the farm, I like to have the barn or silo in the background. I prefer to keep the f stop low (more on camera settings a bit later in the post) so the background is slightly out of focus.
Take advantage of natural light
Lighting is also key. Make sure faces aren’t staring directly into the sun, so that no one is squinting. Also, try to avoid shadows for the most part. When you are brand new to photography, standing in the shade it the most straightforward. It makes it easy to adjust your light, since you aren’t trying to accommodate for bright sun and shadows all within the same photo.
Shadows at certain times of the day can actually be sort of charming. I like to capture the light in the early morning and late evenings, when the sun is low in the sky. I took these photos for Theodore’s first birthday early in the morning. I think the shadows in these photos actually give the photo more dimension.
Plan your outfits
I want to say a huge thank you to Walmart for sponsoring this blog post!
I put together some beautiful clothing options that would mix and match perfectly for family Christmas photos. I love minimal and classic colors, and Walmart did not disappoint with this year’s selection.
From festive dresses in greens, blues and black to the denim and flannel options, my whole family is looking well coordinated in this year’s photo.
I am especially loving my new wide leg jeans by Free Assembly. The high waist makes my legs look longer, and the wide leg is a trendy cut that I think looks so cute with a turtleneck and mules.
You can shop my collections below to coordinate your family’s Christmas wardrobe:
Womens
Baby
Girls
Boys
Mens
Put your camera on a tripod
Get a remote or shoot the photos in video
Although the video method won’t yield the highest resolution photos, sometimes it is the best fail safe against active toddlers and fussy babies.
I start recording, and then we all jump in front of the camera. If we hang out for several minutes we are bound to capture at least a few moments worthy of a screen shot.
I drag the clips onto my MacBook Pro, ‘hit shift command 4’ (the keyboard shortcut for a screenshot on Mac) and capture the best stills from the video.
I then drag them into Lightroom and give them a few edits.
Learn how to shoot in manual mode
Photography can definitely be a little intimidating when you don’t know the first thing about shooting a camera in manual mode, but it truly makes all the difference in the final product. Though you can most certainly get great photos with an iPhone alone, it is worth learning the basics of photography. I have definitely seen many people argue that the iPhone camera is just as good, but I can for sure tell a difference! Taking photos of my family is one my favorite hobbies.
Shutter speed– For family photos you will want to start with shutter speed. Since your subject matter will be moving, as opposed to the settings you would use for an inanimate object, you will want to set your shutter speed at 1/125. I use slower rates for objects that aren’t moving. If you are taking a photo during very bright daylight, you will likely have to increase the shutter speed just to accommodate fort the brightness.
The last setting to adjust is ISO, but it can only go down to 100. So if the photo is too bright, you will have to accommodate with a faster shutter speed. If all of this sounds like gibberish, make sure to watch the video where I explain more.
F-stop/ aperature– Ever notice how professional photos have a blurry background? This is because the photographer used a low f-stop. When I take photos with my canon 80 d and 16-35mm lens, I prefer to set my f-stop at 2.8. Anything lower will get some aspects of the subject matter out of focus. Any higher will result in a photo that does not have a blurred background.
ISO– This setting adjusts the light in the photo. If the photo looks too dark, you will want to increase the ISO. If it is over exposed (too bright) you will want to decrease it.
I hope this post gives you the confidence to take your own family photos this year. Merry Christmas!
Leave a Reply