I found this great website with 8 tips on photographing Christmas morning. Be sure to check them out because they are great! I love all the tips but have a few more to add.
1. Set your white balance. Don’t waste your time fixing it in PP when you can set it on your camera. Use a gray card
2. Keep your shutter speed at least at 1/125. Unless you are going for a shot with motion blur in it, you want to make sure your photo isn’t blurry.
3. Raise your ISO. The odds are your room may not have enough light that early in the morning (depending on what time your kids wake up). Don’t be afraid to raise it!
4. If you are photographing more then one person, check your aperture. Remember lower number less in focus and higher number more is in focus.
5. Charge your battery the night before!! Or go ahead and treat yourself to an extra battery
6. Be sure to stand by the tree when the kiddos come around the corner. You want to make sure you capture their faces when they see everything and not be walking behind them.
7. Don’t forget to re-read Creating a Photo Essay so your pictures can tell a story.
8. After you have captured all the photos you want, put your camera away and enjoy your family!
Check out 8 more Tips on Photographing Christmas Morning by Keith Pitts. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
If you liked this post, you don’t want to miss these other Christmas posts:
* 5 steps on how to photograph Christmas lights
* Tips to make your Christmas photos more than snapshots
* How to create beams of Christmas lights
* Christmas Tree Lights Photos: 5 Easy Steps
* Christmas Tree Lights Bokeh
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you if you decide to purchase something through these links and support Click it Up a Notch.
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Courtney Slazinik
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At Click it Up a Notch you will find tips and tricks to improve your photos one click at a time. 
Great tips! Thanks! Merry Christmas
Cute photo. Thanks for the tips.
Emma is so tiny!!
Thanks Courtney. I just told Sam I need to go back and re-read your white balance post, as I just can’t seem to figure it out.
Plus, I always set my SS by looking through the viewfinder, which means I am constantly adjusting it, but still end up with blur. Is that the best way to do it or should I try to set it permanently at 1/125?
I really don’t want to shoot on Auto over Christmas, but I also want the pictures and don’t feel confident enough to shoot in manual with so much stuff going on. ARGH….what to do!?!?!
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Oh, that is a tough one :O) Auto or manual? It definitely depends on your comfort level :O) If I’m shooting in a low lighting situation, then yes, I set my SS at 1/125 and move all the other settings to make it work. Hope that helps!
Not to butt in, but that’s my major hassel with shooting in Manual…always adjusting the shutter speed because it changes even if the light changes just a bit. I always thought when you shot in Manual you got the same exposure in every shot as long as you stayed in the same location. But, even if you do stay in the same area the light can shift just a tiny bit…haha. I’m looking forward to trying AE lock and see what happens. I just have to remember to hold down that button, instead of adjusting my shutter speed dial (I’m not that quick).
I have a post sitting on my blog waiting for the next I Learned post
Merry Christmas!!! Adorable pic with Santa!!!
Twitter: clickitupanotch
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Just to clarify, the AE lock does not lock in your settings. It only helps to lock on what you are focusing on. Make sure you change it in your menu settings as well :O) Yes, sometimes shooting in the same room but moving around does affect the light. For example, if a window is behind your subject and then you move so the window is to the right. You will need to adjust your settings. You’ll get quick about changing your SS. Just takes some time :O) Have a Merry Christmas!
Great website! I found you through Marah’s Diary of a Devil Dog Wife. I look forward to your future posts!
Twitter: clickitupanotch
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Thank you!
These are great tips! I can’t wait to use them!
Found you on pinterest! I love this! Thanks for posting it! =)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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It always seem too dark in our house to shoot without the flash. I often have the ISO set at 1600+, the smallest my aperture goes is 3.5 and that’s all the way zoomed out at 18mm. Any other suggestions? I can barely get a picture at 1/60 let alone 1/125. It probably doesn’t help we don’t have much overhead lighting as our house is 100 years old.
Twitter: clickitupanotch
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That is tough! Do you have another lens besides your one that goes at low as f/3.5? You may want to look into a 50mm f/1.8. That lens would allow more light in with the wider aperture. Do you have a lot of windows in your house?? If you do, I would suggest encouraging your kiddos to play by the window where there is more light.
Are these settings for any camera, or those fancy Cannon 400 dollar cameras?
Because we have a point and Shoot, and I am looking for tips for that type of camera.
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Hey Anna!
You can use these settings on any camera where you are shooting on manual mode. A lot of point and shoots allow you to use manual mode. I do have a DSLR though so all the images on my site are taken with that type of camera. I am planning on adding some more tutorials in 2013 that are specially for point and shoots.
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