It's the most wonderful time of the year
for PHOTOGRAPHY !!!
Christmas is a fantastic time for photographers. Whether you make a special trip out to a light display or shoot your local lights or the blow up santa on your neighbour's roof - or just keep your camera or phone handy for those special moments on Christmas Day.
These pictures are all shot by Click's young photographers - and by our tutors (the bokeh tutorials)
These pictures are all shot by Click's young photographers - and by our tutors (the bokeh tutorials)
Out in the street or at a Christmas Lights display
use High ISO (800-1600 and a slow shutter (1/30th or 1/60th ) in Shutter Priority Mode
or take a tripod and shoot in P or Manual with an ISO of 200 and slow shutter
Shop windows make great pictures and are brightly lit.
The Tree
Tips for shooting your tree and decorations
1. Flash kills atmosphere. Turn it off
2. Don't wait for it to get completely dark. First thing in the morning and just before dusk are brilliant times to shoot tree pics - when the tree itself is still lit by a little natural light. When it gets very dark your camera will struggle and the branches will be too dark
3. Get close to shoot details of the lights and decorations
4. Wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to shoot a wideangle picture of the whole tree - with presents piled high
5. Compact cameras shoot in Auto or Low Light
6. For Bridge and Dslr users use a relatively high ISO (800) and shoot in Shutter Priority at 1/60th of a second. Adjust Exposure using the exposure compensation button
7. If you have a tripod use this and shoot with ISO 200 or 400. Use Aperture Priority at F5.6 or F8 and let the shutter go as slow as it needs to go. Again use exposure Compensation to adjust the exposure. Use the self timer to stop camera shake
8. Smartphone photographers TURN ON HDR and explore the Camera App for nighttime settings
1. Flash kills atmosphere. Turn it off
2. Don't wait for it to get completely dark. First thing in the morning and just before dusk are brilliant times to shoot tree pics - when the tree itself is still lit by a little natural light. When it gets very dark your camera will struggle and the branches will be too dark
3. Get close to shoot details of the lights and decorations
4. Wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to shoot a wideangle picture of the whole tree - with presents piled high
5. Compact cameras shoot in Auto or Low Light
6. For Bridge and Dslr users use a relatively high ISO (800) and shoot in Shutter Priority at 1/60th of a second. Adjust Exposure using the exposure compensation button
7. If you have a tripod use this and shoot with ISO 200 or 400. Use Aperture Priority at F5.6 or F8 and let the shutter go as slow as it needs to go. Again use exposure Compensation to adjust the exposure. Use the self timer to stop camera shake
8. Smartphone photographers TURN ON HDR and explore the Camera App for nighttime settings
Christmas Day
Christmas Day is the time for SNAPSHOTS You won't have time or feel like taking loads of pics but you can still grab a couple of great shots. This might be the time when your phone comes into it's own. You have it there anyway, it doesn't require a lot of setting up or clever technique and modern smartphones will handle most picture situations really well.
Picture ideas
1. Presents under the tree 2. The table - before you start eating - or afterwards if you want to do a Martin Parr flash shot of the carnage
3. Table decorations 4. Lit Candles 5. The Bird !! (or whatever else you are eating )
6. Pulling crackers 7. Your Family Christmas Jumpers and people wearing paper hats
Picture ideas
1. Presents under the tree 2. The table - before you start eating - or afterwards if you want to do a Martin Parr flash shot of the carnage
3. Table decorations 4. Lit Candles 5. The Bird !! (or whatever else you are eating )
6. Pulling crackers 7. Your Family Christmas Jumpers and people wearing paper hats
Christmas Food
Shoot these on the day or whenever the Christmas baking is being done.
Use natural light whenever possible.
Use natural light whenever possible.
Christmas Lights Bokeh
This is a really cool technique for Dslrs and Bridge cameras and smartphone users.
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