Guest Blogger - Jason Anderson

How to Shoot the Holidays

As the holidays rapidly approach us, photographers have several options available to them for capturing those priceless holiday moments.  For many, there is the option to opt out and enjoy some time off from your busy photo schedule as the idea of “taking your work home” can often be something you may not want to consider.  For the photo enthusiasts though, the holiday season combines unique opportunities to try many different types of photography styles, ranging from family portrait work to candid shots of individual moments, and even going abstract and taking your creative eye for a unique spin of colors and textures.  So, what gear should you be using for these scenarios?  Well, as always, there is no one single set of gear that will work for all situations and for all individuals.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at the three above-mentioned environments and consider the gear options that are best suited to those ends.

Holiday Gatherings

When families gather for holiday celebrations, there are always the obligatory group shots organized by some aunt or uncle, niece or nephew.  Well, if you are that aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, the task presented can be challenging.  If your family is anything like mine, the celebrations bring people out of the woodwork, which means there will be scads of nuclear families asking for their holiday pictures.  In these environments, a nice fixed focal length lens, with a fairly wide aperture will work great for family portraits.  For example, a 50mm f1.8 or  f1.4 is wide enough to capture most group sizes (although you may have to move the camera back a little, but the wide aperture will put some nice soft bokeh into your images.

Candid Photography

Candid photography is very much a photojournalistic approach to capturing your holiday moments.  Most of the time the idea is to capture people as they are naturally.  There’s not stiff or awkward poses and/or fake smiles that you get from portrait work because your subjects don’t even know you are taking their picture.  To accomplish this, you will need a lens with a fair amount of zoom.  For my tastes, the 70-200 f4 from Canon is great.  Other good ones in the Canon lineup would include the 28-135mm, , the 28-200mm, and the 55-250mm.  If you are looking to add the lens to your lineup, the cost can range from a low end of $250 to upwards of $1500 depending on the lens and where you get it.  Typically, the greater the zoom range, the more expensive the lens will be, so plan your budget accordingly.

Abstract Photography

Last but not least, is the area of abstract photography, where you are capturing unusual or different visions.  Instead of going for the shots that everyone else is going to get too, take a different approach.  Instead of going wide and getting the group shots and scenes of the day, swap out to a macro lens and get up close and personal.  Zoom in on a few ornaments, or the icicles in the windows, or even the garlands wrapping the stairs.  You can also intentionally blur your lens.  Take it off manual focus and let the blur of the lights and shapes around you define the moment.  We all see the tree, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be sharp does it?  Artistic blur can be very appealing if done well, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Comments

[Julie McLeod]

I never photograph holiday gatherings because I always end up with the awkward poses and fake smiles. Thanks for the tips - maybe I'll get better results this year!