How to Take Beautiful Christmas Tree Photos
It’s the time of year when your Christmas Tree is up and it’s time to document this time of year through photos. So today, I want to talk about how to take the best Christmas tree photos.
How to Take Beautiful Christmas Tree Photos
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…..
So by now, you’ve got your Christmas tree up and you’ve been itching to get your camera out to take beautiful Christmas tree photos.
What You Need:
- A Christmas Tree
- Tripod( or a flat sturdy surface)
- Camera: DSLR or Camera Phone
- Lens( if you have a DSLR)
The main reason I suggest using a tripod is that you are going to need a steady surface. If you are shooting in manual/or aperture mode( which you are aren’t you???) you will need your camera to be steady so you won’t get blurry Christmas tree photos.
Plus, how else are you going to get in the photo?
**quick tip: but if you DON’T have a tripod, find a sturdy surface**
Tip 2: Close Down Your Aperture
To get that twinkle to your Christmas tree lights, you need a small aperture. So, set your camera to manual or aperture mode and change your aperture to f/16 to f/22.
( If you are in aperture mode, your camera will choose the other settings for you. You will notice very low shutter speeds which is why the first tip is to use a tripod!)
Tip 3: Get Creative with your composition and point of view
This is the fun part of taking Christmas tree photos! You don’t have to just aim your camera at the tree and shoot! Use different andgles, perspectives and the rules of composition to capture those fun moments that define the holidays in your home.
Step 3: Take your lens off of autofocus and manually focus your lens to get bokehlicious photos!
This time, set your aperture as low as your lens allows. For instance, I shot the photos for this post with my Tamron 24-70 mm 2.8 Lens The aperture I used was 2.8. Take your camera lens off of auto focus and manually focus your lens. As you do, you will notice that beautiful sought after bokeh.
SNAP THE PHOTO!
Bonus Tip:
If you are shooting with your iPhone, photographing Christmas lights will be harder, but it can be done!
- If you wantChristmas tree Bokeh, Set your camera in macro mode( usually the little flower on your camera or flower mode).,
- Look for the light. Even though most of the newer phones have great cameras, light is still the key to a great photos
- Distance from your tree can make a difference!
- Experiment and see what works for you!
Both photos were taken with an iPhone 7 Plus.
**Xtra Xtra Bonus Tip**
Notice your photos coming our more yellow than you like? set your white balance in-camera to Tungsten!
Doesn’t that sound easy? Go forward and SHOOT!
I can’t wait to see your Christmas Tree Photos!!!
You know I don’t have a tripod…..I had one but took it back cause I wanted my 40 bucks back *cries. I will stop being cheap and go get one.
LOL! you can also use a flat surface or even a bag of rice! You just want that camera not to move! And Kita, I’m going to need you to go ahead and invest in a tripod……..
Thank you so much for these tips! I can’t wait to experiment with my Christmas tree.
SHARE!!!!
I am here for this! Just finished the tree yesterday and I would love to get a few shots of the girl before the holiday’s. Late Christmas cards. I am going to give it a shot. Wish me luck.
you can dooooo it!!!!
Off to play around with my camera and see what I come out with.
I am bookmaking now. I’ve been trying to take pics for days and can’t seem to. Gonna try your tips
So I finally got a tripod months ago and have been wanting a pic like this. I’ll be practicing this weekend and will share! Thanks for the tips!
Great tips you have. I did a blog post on my Christmas decorations and I know I took about 15 pictures trying to capture that “perfect” tree picture. And, I used my camera phone so you can imagine how that went.
Great tips. I definitely have to play around with my aperture settings more.
This is such fabulous advice! I only recently started shooting in manual mode and I absolutely love my pictures. One of my goals for 2015 is to really improve my photography skills. Thanks for the tip on using the tripod, I’ve only used it for videos but this makes sense since some my manual pictures were blurry. I’ll also reduce aperture in the future. Now, you going to have all my Christmas pictures rockin’ 🙂
I just bought a DSLR and have a lot to learn. Seems a bit overwhelming. I actually like the p&S tree pics better!
These are good tips for new photographers like myself. My favorite thing is that you encouraged people to experiment and try things for themselves.
You all have the best tips LaShawn! I need to experiment more with my camera. Love your Christmas tree photos
I totally agree Vashti, LaShawn’s tips are the best! Hopefully we will see a lot more helpful tips and advice on photography in the future 🙂
Ok…so I will NOT be showing you my Christmas tree pictures. Wow, yeah I definitely have a lot to learn. And Santa is bringing me a new camera for Christmas (made the nice list) so I will definitely be bookmarking these tips and save myself the embarrassment LOL Seriously though, great photos especially the closeups 🙂