The holidays are approaching, which means its time to prepare for pictures! The next few weeks presents lots of photo opportunities.  Whether you’re in front of or behind the camera, here are some tips to make sure your holiday pictures come out top notch.

When you’re the photographer

Use the modes on your camera

While they work pretty well in “auto-pilot”, point-and-shoot cameras have a lot more versatility than most people realize.  Every camera offers shooting modes that tell your camera to make adjustments so that the picture comes out right.  Learn them and use them:

• Close up mode (a little flower):  This makes your camera focus on very small things very close up – within 6 inches.
• Portrait mode (a person): This is for taking pictures of people.  Great for indoor and outdoor settings of the kids.
• Landscape mode (a mountain): Use this when you’re taking pictures of far away scenes like the tree on the Boston Common or a snowy hillside.
• Night/Indoor mode (a person with a moon or star, or a party hat): For taking pictures inside or outside at night, or in any low-light situation.

Get high, get low, get the right angle
Most of us are conditioned to take pictures with the camera at our eye level, about 5 1/ feet off the ground.  But kids and pets are small, so squat down and take the picture from THEIR eye level.   Families gathered around the dinner table are large, so stand on a chair and get everyone’s face in the picture.  Use different angles and you’ll be surprised!

Choose a plain background
Holidays can be busy and loud – your pictures don’t have to be. Before you push the shutter button, look at the background.  Are there toys all over the place?  Does the Christmas tree look like its growing out of your husband’s head?  If so, move the shot to a place with a quieter background, or move the clutter.  Plain backgrounds will make your subjects stand out.

Know your flash’s limit
Most on-camera flashes only have a range of about 10 feet, so if you’re far away and in dim lighting, your pictures won’t look great. Is your kid on stage in the school holiday concert? Forget about it – there is no way your flash from 100 feet away is going to light her sweet face.  You might get lucky with a bright external light, but as a general rule for flash photography, stay within 10 feet of the subject.

Get closer
A lot of times, you should be within 10 feet anyway, so get closer!  Photographing your kid on Santa’s lap?  Why do you need to get the chair, the floor and the bored-looking elves? Crop in so that the picture is of Santa and little Tommy – all of those other details are just noise and often not necessary.

Be bossy!
Take a cue from the pros: when you have the camera, you’re the boss.  When most people get in front of the camera they freeze and smile blankly.  So make the picture.  Arrange people, tell them where to stand, tell them what to do with their hands, tell them to keep their eyes open. Your friends will appreciate your direction, and you’ll appreciate it when the picture looks right.

When you’re the subject

Turn your head and/or body slightly to one side
Nothing makes you look flatter and wider than being photographed straight on, so just angle a little bit.  Either turn your shoulders or your face so you’re at a 45-degree angle to the camera.  Slight turns will give you curves in the right places, make you look thinner and ensure that your nose is neither too flat nor too pointy.

Know which is your “better side” – and stick to it!
The photographer doesn’t know from which side you look best – only you do.  We all have strong opinions about how we look the best, so know from which direction you prefer to be photographed and remember to pose yourself accordingly.

Keep your eyes open
Closed eyes ruin a picture, and if there is a flash going off, it’s awfully hard to keep them open all the time.  But you must!  When you’re being photographed, force yourself to keep your eyes open until you’re sure the shot is done.

Just get in the picture
With the exception of professional models, few people like having their picture taken.  But it’s the holidays!  So stop complaining and just get in the picture.  In time you will only smile at the memories.  Also if you’re always taking the pictures, have someone else shoot for a little while. Get. In. The. Picture.  We all want to see your beautiful face!