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I simply love taking pictures of my girls. Like, I easily take 1,000 pictures a month. Today I wanted to share with you some easy tips and tricks on how to do your own Christmas photo shoot.
use my DSLR camera (a Canon Rebel ) and a 50mm fixed lens (this means it
doesn’t zoom. If I want to get closer to or father way from my subject,
I have move). The 50mm lens really helps to get those pictures where
the subject is in focus and the background is blurry (aka bokeh). I also always shoot in manual.**
ONE:
First up, you need a stand to hang your backdrop from. Check out how I made mine here.
TWO:
Hang some twinkle lights. I used two strands.
THREE:
Hang a white sheet over the lights.
**Note: you could also hang the sheet first and then the lights for a slightly different look. Since the stands on my are green they need to be hidden.
FOUR:
Set up a pillow and boppy in front of the sheet. Notice, it’s not backing up to the sheet, but is about 1-2 feet in front of the sheet.
FIVE:
Place a blanket over the boppy.
SEVEN:
Snap away! Here is a little more information.
Other tips:
1. Try to take your pictures where you have lots of natural light. I find that natural light produces the best pictures. It’s usually tough to get the white balance right when I have to turn on a light. The pictures are either to cold or to warm.
2. Set your camera on either manual mode or aperture priority. That way you have control over the f-stop (or how open the shutter of your camera is). The lower the number, the more open your shutter will be, and the more blurry your background will be. If you are interested in learning more about how to use your camera in manual mode check out my photography series. I give a ton of helpful info!
**Note: In manual mode you control everything (shutter speed, f-stop and so on). In aperture priority you control the f-stop, and the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed for you.
3. Snap, snap, snap, and keep snapping pictures. Don’t stop to look after every picture, esp. when taking photos of kids. Kids like to move, and you could miss some great shots. When I’m taking picures I stop every 10-15 times to make sure my pictures aren’t over or under exposed and look nice. I took about 100 pictures of Autumn in her Santa hat, and a handful turned out.
4. A fed baby is a happy baby.
Not to shabby right?
Hope this can help you snap some cute pictures of your little ones. What kind of tips and tricks do you have to add?
Stay tuned next week when I talk about pictures in front of the Christmas tree.
Linking up with Beth, you should join the party too. 🙂