I love to capture photos of my kids at any time of the year, but Christmas is a super special time and I love to take super special photos. I like to use props, backdrops and set little scenes to capture my most favourite time of year!
I will share with you some great tips, tricks and ideas that you might like to use to take happy Christmas snaps of your cuties!
I have a Canon Digital SLR (Canon 650D SLR Camera) that takes amazing photos and I also have some great lenses BUT you can still use all of these ideas using a SLR, a digital camera or even your iPhone (the results will vary).
Photo Idea Number 1
Bokeh imagery capturing the Christmas lights in the background
Bokeh (pronounced bo-kuh) is the term used for “the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens”. This means that the subject of your image is in sharp focus whilst the background of your images (such as the Christmas lights) are blurred.
To achieve my ‘Bokeh’ image above. I used my Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Portrait Lens (which as I mentioned in my 5 ways to capture beautiful portrait images of your child blog, I am in LOVE with).
It has an aperture of 1.4 so it lets in a LOT of light and creates a very shallow depth of field – this means that anything I am not focusing on will have that beautiful ‘blurriness’ that we all love.
I positioned my ‘subject’ (my very adorable 6yo son – if I do say so myself ) about 2 metres in front of the lit up tree – this creates even more depth of field. The more space you put between your subject & the tree, the blurrier your background will be. The same rule applies using any camera – even an iPhone. I then set the focus on him and snapped away. EASY.
You can obtain the Bokeh effect using the Canon Ultra Wide Angle Lens (Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM) too! It makes for a totally different story! I love to play with PicMonkey too! I played with the ‘Brighten Eyes’ tool in the above images.
Photo Idea Number 2
Use a backdrop using Christmas Wrapping Paper
I just love the simple easiness of this! All you need is a roll of Christmas Paper & some masking tape and ta-dar, you have a professional looking Christmas shot (that probably cost you about $4!).
Simply roll out your Christmas Paper and hold it on the wall to make sure it’s higher than your subject. Tape to the wall and roll out the remainder so you have a ‘floor’ if you need it.
I used my Canon 50mm Portrait Lens for the above photo. As you can see, again, my subject is crystal clear and the background is even slightly blurred – even though I was right up close to his cute little freckled face (did I mention I love this lens?….oh yes, think I covered that!).
I used my Canon Ultra Wide Angle Lens (Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM) for the above image to show you what it looks like ‘behind the scenes’. Cool right!
Photo Idea Number 3
Blowing Glitter
I LOVE this idea! Again, another simple little trick that looks fantastic!
To this yourself you will need to:
1. Make sure you are far enough away from your subject that glitter does not ruin your precious baby (in this case my Camera)
2. You need to make sure you are working with a lens with a wide aperture to not only capture the individual glitter pieces but to add in more light. I used my 50mm Portrait Lens again for this one. Make sure you head outside to get lots of light AND not tonnes of glitter all over the floor ; )
3. Make sure you shoot in ‘sports mode’ so you get all the action, not just an image of your child with fish lips.
Now you are ready to shoot!
Simply fill up your kiddies hands with glitter and let them go crazy! (I did quite a lot of experimenting and found the chunky confetti works the best).
Oh and just as a side note, you WILL have some ‘fails’, it takes a while for some kids to get it right. This was the case with little Miss 3 lol! I must say though, it does make for a pretty funny pic 🙂
Photo Idea Number 4
Mistletoe Kisses
Nothing is cuter than a sweet sibling moment! Dress them up in beautiful Christmas attire, hold up the mistletoe and get snapping. Nawwwww!
Photo Idea Number 5
Santa Bubble Beard
There’s nothing cuter that a ‘Bubble Beard’. Have fun at bath time and sculpt the ultimate Santa Beard complete with Santa Hat & Glasses (I got these from my local $2 shop). Total frugal fun! I love the softness of this shot, my Canon 50mm Portrait Lens really is versatile 🙂
I then changed my lens to the Canon Ultra Wide Angle Lens (Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM) for the second image. You can see that if you change your lens you can change your story. I love to add wording to my photos a lot of the time so the Wide Angle Lens is perfect for this!
I hope you like the ideas we have for you! All of these image ideas would make wonderful Christmas presents! Either framed, blown up on a canvas or made into Ornaments.
I think that it’s important to have different lenses to help give you different ‘stories’. You can check out some more hints and tips on our recent blogs 5 ways to capture FUN Vacation Photos with your family and 5 ways to capture beautiful portrait images of your child.
Jenni x
Whilst your here, you may like to check out some of our Christmas crafts such as:
Santa Hands Christmas Ornament
Adorable ‘Snowman’ & ‘Penguin’ Thumbprint Baubles
Glowing Christmas Trees (made from Party Hats!)
This post is coordinated by The Remarkables Group
This post is sponsored by Canon
