Free Christmas Pictures
Carmela Stadtler
I hope you enjoyed seeing our family Christmas pictures as much as we enjoyed taking them. For our family Christmas card, I used Minted.com this year. They have so many styles to choose. Finding the perfect card that fit us was a breeze, plus they make the entire process so easy! As always, stay tuned!
We have a point and shoot that takes amazing pictures, the Canon G7X, but when it comes to our family photos, I always use my DSLR. It is just a lot easier to take creative semi-pro photos with a DSLR and the price point is just not that different. If you already have a DSLR and lenses, great! Feel free to drop down a few paragraphs to find out what other equipment you will neeed.
When I take our pictures I use my entry level Canon t5i that's about four years old now. You can still find new t5i's for sale, but if you want to dip your toes in for the first time, I'd just go ahead and get the latest model, the T7i.
The ability to switch out your lenses is what makes DSLRs so awesome. They usually come with one or two lenses called kit lenses. Or you can buy the body without lenses and use the cash you saved to buy specific lenses. I started out with the kit lens at first and only later moved on to buying separate lenses after I got to know my camera better. Here's one of the earlier pictures Joseph took of me with the lens that came with my camera.
Alright, now we are ready to get into the creative side of things where we hash out the creative details of our family photos. The best time of day to take your photos is during the golden hour. This is the first our after sunrise and the hour before sunset. The sunlight at these times is all golden and diffused, making it easy to take pretty photos. Full disclosure: I have never taken pictures during the golden hour and have still had great success. The next best thing is an overcast day.
Another popular option is to head outdoors for your holiday family pictures. Forested areas are an ever-popular option. Bonus points if it's a Christmas tree farm like the one that we visted last year for our family photos. This is a great option if your family usually purchases a fresh tree anyway. I love it when outings can do double or triple duty. In this case, we went to the Christmas tree farm, took pictures, enjoyed farm fresh donuts and hot cider, plus picked up a tree.
If you followed step one then you've already found plenty of inspiration and tips on Pinterest. You will want to choose a color scheme that makes sense for the holiday and for your chosen location. So you probably don't want to wear shorts and flip flops if you are going to take your pictures in the snow. Or if you are taking your pictures on a tree farm surrounded by evergreens, you may not want to wear all green.
Set your camera to remote shooting then head on over and take a couple of pictures using the remote. After that, you just rinse and repeat. Particularly with younger kids, it can be hard to get them to look at the camera and smile at the right moment. So you might have to take a number of photos before you get it right. For younger kids, candid shots involving tickling, walking, or tossing them in the air can work really well.
Shannon and Jonathan chose this location for their annual family pictures this year. They have two sweet kiddos, Emmalee and Connor, and two more on the way. Shannon is pregnant with TWINS! It was a perfect time to capture their family, get those Christmas card pictures ready, and even get a few early maternity shots.
Do you ever wonder what to do with all of the awesome Christmas cards you receive each year? I know for me I get so many good cards from great friends and I love seeing their pictures! So instead of chunking them we are starting a new tradition which will be fun to pull out each year to come! DIY Christmas Card Book
Thank you so much Tiffany! I need to share that in a post sometime! The pictures are hung on small nails and then I added some velcro to the top corners of the frames to hold them in their exact place! xo
Hi Christine I have a few sessions available this Saturday and next. You can find details and book them here: -beauty-photography.square.site/product/2022-christmas-mini-sessions/14?cs=true&cst=custom
The tree is trimmed and looking beautiful. Yet, every year I am beyond frustrated with how my Christmas tree pictures turn out. They are always flat and lack holiday warmth. Today Meg from Snap Happy Mom is going to share a few mom-to-mom tips with us on how to take beautiful photos by the Christmas tree!
Once you have decorated your tree and dressed your kids up all cute, you probably want to take a picture of them next to the tree... and it's harder than it looks! This is a tutorial for how to take a classic Christmas tree pictures of your kids next to the glowing holiday tree.
I tried a few pictures with the lights on, and few with the lights off. This picture was taken with the light on in the room, and it's definitely sharper than some of my others, but it lacks the festive atmosphere of the glowing Christmas tree.
For this Christmas tree pictures, I wanted a classic photo with my kids next to the tree in a cute holiday outfit (for Grandma). There are lots of creative options you can do to create bokeh (to make those lights flare big and blurry) but this type of picture shows your kids enjoying the atmosphere of that glowing Christmas tree.
I recommend you start with my Christmas tree camera settings and go from there! If your pictures are too dark, open up your aperture first as wide as it will go. This means you are looking for the lowest number possible: if you only have the lens that came with your camera, this will probably be f/3.5. Then try raising your ISO a bit higher, and then start opening up your shutter. Also, consider that you can still have that moody light from the tree with just a touch more ambient lighting; an extra lamp in the room might give you just enough more light.
My kids are young, and they don't particularly enjoy staged photo sessions. I think most kids dislike staged photos, no matter what age! So, it's really important to be as ready as you can before you ask them to smile, and then to be realistic about the kind of Christmas tree pictures you're going to get.
Before you ask... No, I don't have a perfect sweet smile from each of them, but I do have a real record of what life with a 3.5-year-old and 18-month-old is like. They don't like to hold still, they are a bit grumpy near bedtime, and they are extremely independent. Those are the things I'll remember from this year with these Christmas tree pictures, especially the outtakes!
I know Instagram is fun, but phone cameras simply cannot handle this low-light situation. Pull out your big girl camera, whether that is a compact camera or a DSLR, and you'll be much happier with the results! You can always post your Christmas tree pictures on IG later.
I always recommend that people keep a filter on their lens to protect it (read here about why you should use a filter) but this is one situation where you really want to take it off. Filters, ESPECIALLY cheap filters, can cause strange reflections and "ghosting" to appear in your pictures.
We will have a large couch set up for those who would like family pictures without Santa as well area for holiday photos of children without Santa. Families are welcome to come early and listen to Christmas tunes while enjoying hot chocolate, cookies & other goodies from the North Pole. We will have all the supplies available for kids to work on their Christmas list & pick up some magic reindeer food for Christmas Eve.
This is an important point because holiday lights usually look their best when shot without added light. In fact, this is Rule One when it comes to getting good pictures of lights: Turn off your flash. Let's repeat that: For most pictures of holiday lights, turn off your flash!
The point of taking a ton of pictures is to ensure that you do in fact get those handful of good pictures. Little kids move a lot, and it can be hard to get clear, focused pictures. A lot of my pictures turned out blurry, or partly blurry. But it was okay, because I took more than enough to ensure there were some good ones in there.
I also like to lower the temperature of my photos about 2-4 points. This just gives my photos a cooler tone, whereas raising it would give them a more warm tone. Again, this is my personal preference and how I adjust pictures for consistency within my blog and social media. If you prefer warmer or cooler toned pictures, by all means, do that.
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