Two days before Christmas take the time to charge your camera’s batteries and place the camera in a convenient place near the Christmas tree. This way when you are stumbling out of bed at 5a.m. you won’t have to search for it, instead you can just grab it and start capturing those memories.

Lighting: When capturing candid images on Christmas morning it is easy to get really dark images or images with too much flash. If you have an SLR camera with an exterior flash try bouncing the flash off of the ceiling or other large white service. This will give you the light you need but with a softer effect. If you have the option to choose a slow shutter speed with flash this is the best as it will allow some of the ambient light from the Christmas lights into the image while the flash will still freeze the subject. This option can cause some interesting results though so have fun with it.

Placement: Try and prepare the area you will be unwrapping presents in before hand. Now obviously we expect the mayhem of a Christmas morning but try and avoid general clutter as this will detract from your overall image. Couches make great backgrounds but dining chairs often create a busy feel to an image.

Clothing: In our house we don’t often (never) get dressed before starting our Christmas morning. For this reason I often will buy the kids special pajamas just for the Christmas morning images we love to create. As for us parents, it is important to make sure we are in some of the pictures as well. I suggest wearing something you wouldn’t mind be photographed in and pony tails are great for taming the “morning” hair. I will also use a cute Christmas cap to hide my bed head since I have short hair.

Have Fun: These suggestions are only meant to help create images we will be proud to put into our albums. They are only suggestions, the most important thing is to have fun and Merry Christmas.

In order to be entered into the Christmas Eve and New Years contest you have to “Like” us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VisualImpressions and include a post with your favorite picture of yourself. This can be funny, serious, or just plain wacky (keep it appropriate though people this is a family business LOL). Along with your picture please include a few words about us or our work, make sure your comments/photo’s are public or I won’t be able to see that you posted. Once this is completed you will be entered into the drawing and a random name will be drawn on Christmas Eve and posted at Midnight! Similarly you will do the same thing for the New Years Drawing only this time you will also include your New Year’s Resolution!

This is going to be fun. Now about the fun little contest we are adding this year; We will be giving away a FujiFilm instax 210 camera!

This is a great camera and much better than the old Polaroids. To get your hands on this pretty little number just “like” our page (link above) and post a link on your page (public please) along with what you would do with it. Let the fun begin. The instax will be given away on the 24th of December at random. (One entry per day).

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

This will be a fun and high paced shoot. We will be using the four basic elements to create pieces of art. These images will be stunning and a great addition to your portfolio.

A day out with out a camera so I grabbed my camera phone

1. Clean the camera lens often.  Use an eyeglass cloth to wipe off spots and dust.
2. Use the highest quality settings.  Set your camera to save pictures at the highest resolution and picture size available so that you can capture all the details.   Note: High capacity memory cards are very reasonably priced and will give you ample storage space for more pictures.
3. Keep your subjects close at hand. Distance shots will often be blurry.  Try getting down to kid-height to record children playing or capture a group shot from a low angle.  Get close – but not so close that faces are distorted.
4. Hold the phone very steady while taking the picture.  We recommend holding the phone with both hands and keeping your elbows tucked in to the sides of your body for support.  After pressing the button, continue holding the camera still for a second or two.   You will get a better picture if your subject is also still.
5. Make sure you have proper lighting.  Outdoors, try taking the pictures on a cloudy day or in a slightly shady area. Indoors diffused light works best.
6. Use Flash to show more details. Using the flash when taking pictures in bright light will give you a clearer picture.  The burst of light will minimize distortion.
7. Frame your shot. Make sure that everything you want in the shot is in the picture and that the main subject fills the largest area of the display.  On some phones what is on the screen is exactly what will be in the picture. Other phones will capture more than the viewfinder shows.  It is better to put extra empty space  into your picture -  you can crop it later
8. Keep the background simple.  A busy background will distort the picture.
9. Edit your pictures.  There are many programs available which will allow you to sharpen the image, crop unwanted areas and/or enlarge the picture.    In addition to picture editing programs for personal computers, there are also some programs available that allow you to edit your pictures directly on your phone.
10. Share your photos. Don’t just leave your photo shots sitting on your phone. Share them with others.  Most phones have built-in options for uploading images directly to a website or social networking site of your choice.

I hope this is helpful for you and if you have any questions or are ready for that professional family portrait contact me via phone or email.

amanda@visualimpressions.org

503-320-3076