Happy Holidays, everyone!

This picture was taken at the same place as the smiling bear. It's a huge lights display, with various different tableauxs.

This picture was slightly cropped to make it a little more balanced. Otherwise, it's untouched. I didn't have a tripod, and I was worried that the pictures would come out quite blurry because there was nothing to rest the camera on, but there were so many lights that the ambient light was enough to keep the shutter speed down to a reasonable point. I particularly liked the cleanness of the lights in this one, the simple white and blue.

Christmas photo tips

Christmas only comes once a year, so you'll want to make sure you get the best pictures you can - there are no do-overs!

Digital Photography School has posted 16 Digital Photography Tips for Christmas (I love tip #3 and will quote it at the bottom of this post.) Here are some of the great links they've provided as well:

• Taking pictures of Christmas lights from Strobist
• Here's a nice, season-independent set of hints for taking group shots
• Some great tips for taking candid shots

Best Family Photography also has a lot of great tips about taking Christmas phots - and they don't only talk about people.

The New York Institute of Photography has some good tips - some at a more advanced level. Holiday Photos

Overall, these are my favourite tips:

1. be prepared. Charge your batteries, have extras. Scout out the area ahead of time if you can to get a sense of the light you are working with and the layout - where is there clutter, where is there clear.
2. catch candids. These are almost always better than posed photos. Use multi-burst or continuous shot if you can.
3. out of the ordinary. You don't need to only take pictures while people are opening presents. Catch people chatting, wrapping presents, setting the table, or making presents.

This is Tip #3 from the Digital Photography School link provided first in this post.

3. Set up a DIY ‘Photo Booth’

While you probably can’t afford to hire a photo booth for your party you can set up a ‘portrait zone’ of your own where you’ll take photos of your guest.

I did this a few years ago and set up a little place where I asked everyone who came to sit for me so that I could take a nice shot of them.

I photographed everyone as they came in and then left the camera (a point and shoot) set up on a tripod and set to a short self timer time so people could photograph themselves during the rest of the party.

I set it up in a well lit position with a red velvet curtain looking background with a few Christmasy decorations around the edges. I left a few Santa hats and tinsel for people to decorate themselves with.

The shots were great – people went back to it throughout the party and the photos got crazier and crazier as time went on. It was the hit of the party.

Challenge Smile

Part of the challenge for me is to think of different ways to approach the subject.

In this case, I don't have many people in my life who like to have their pictures taken, so instead of stalking a stranger, I looked for a smile elsewhere! The bear in the middle of this scene is actually animated, and when his mouth is open, he looks like he's smiling. I cropped this picture to clear out the clutter and the noise.

Images of Fall

These two are from the same house, but they were a little set apart so I did two pictures instead of trying to fit it all in to one.

I'm impressed that I managed to take both pictures on a slight angle - how foolish! I shouldn't be making that kind of mistake any more. I'll blame it on the fact that I was standing in the middle of the road. Overall, not great pictures, but I still like the subject. Cheery and seasonal. Very nice!

Halloween!

You can't take a look at the colours and spirit of fall, without including Halloween!

This was taken with my cell phone camera, so it's not the best picture. The sun was also in an awkward spot, but I wasn't going to be around at a more convenient time, so here it is! This is a great yard for the holiday (IMO). It's not just random stuff, there's actually a bit of a plan and some unity to the whole look and design.

As for the quality of the picture... well, the best I can say is that at least it's in focus. The road here is too busy for me to feel comfortable going out in to the middle to take a better shot - not without another person with me to watch for cars.

                                                 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!