If you’re more of a do it yourself holiday photo person here’s some ideas. Around the holidays I tend to go a little over board unintentionally. I guess I just get a little wrapped up in the holiday cheer (no pun intended). Between purchasing gifts, and buying food for family & friend gatherings, to family pjs and then the family portraits. When it finally comes down to the family portraits I don’t always want to shell out the hundreds of dollars to pay for a photographer which I probably should because by the time I get finish buying all of the necessities for the photos I’ve spent for the diy photo it goes well beyond the money for a photographer. But if you’re anything like me it’s just the pure joy I get from putting the whole production together. So let’s go through the steps.
1st – Brainstorm & Research a theme or concept
2nd – Coordinate clothing w/ colors & pieces
3rd – Scout out a location (preferably w/o lots of people, low traffic) and choose props good for indoor or outdoor (chairs, trees, blanket) make sure the location has contrasting or complementary colors to your clothing
4th – Gather, Purchase, or borrow a high quality camera or camera phone & tripod
5th – Study camera settings for lighting, movement, timers, blurs (depth of field), and more
Lastly, choose a time, gather the props (if any), the peeps, and think of some prompts to get everyone laughing, smiling or feeling warm & cozy and don’t forget the music. And don’t worry you can edit the final images to enhance colors, fix blemishes, or any other needed changes.
Make it fun and have a bash!
Kim