For the 10th Day of Christmas today I’ve chosen the winner for the Echo Park Paper Christmas collection giveaway. Plus, I’ve put together a list of the Top 10 Must-Take Holiday Photos. Enjoy!
The winner of Echo Park Paper’s The Story of Christmas collection, and the Dots & Stripes Christmas collection is…
Top 10 Must-Take Holiday Photos
1. Photograph the holiday concerts you attend. Whether it’s at your child’s school, or the local symphony, you’ll be glad you captured it. (I shot this photo with my cell phone before the concert started so I didn’t disturb anyone.)
2. Photograph holiday decor details. As you’re decorating your own home, and as you visit other places during the holiday season, be sure to photograph details about the beautiful decor.
3. Photograph holiday mishaps. If you have a little child, pet, or hubby that likes to “help out” with holiday decor, be sure to document it. Even though holiday “oops” moments can be stressful, capturing those moments can help you look at them in a more humorous light.
4. Photograph holiday weather. No matter where you live and what type of climate you experience during the holidays, it’s important to record it. Whether it’s palm trees and cactus, or snow and ice, get it down in your holiday scrapbook.
5. Photograph holiday church or worship services. If you attend mass or another type of church or worship service for the holidays, make sure you capture that with your camera in some way. You may not be able to photograph the actual service, but you can photograph your place of worship before or after the service.
6. Photograph the bokeh effect of holiday lights. This is a favorite shot among photography enthusiasts and is really a simple process. HERE’s a tutorial if you’d like to give it a try.
7. Photograph holiday outdoor fun. While the kids, grandkids, friends, and cousins are out of school over winter break, be sure to capture their outings and outdoor adventures.
8. Photograph holiday visits and the relationships involved with them. For us, the holidays are all about family gatherings and the relationships involved with those. I love capturing that part of the holidays.
9. Photograph the last view of the tree on Christmas Eve. This is probably my favorite shot to take during the holidays (other than family relationships). Every Christmas Eve after “Santa” has finished his work and everyone else has gone to bed, I love to turn off the lights and photograph the peace, stillness, and abundance that surrounds the tree. It represents so many things to me–the love we have for each other as we exchange gifts as a family; the love God has for all of us in sending the gift of His Son to the world; the blessing of work that my husband, sons, and I have; the love and generosity of extended family. It fills my heart with gratitude to see.
10. Photograph play on Christmas Day. I don’t know about you, but at our house the kids wake up well before the sun does to open presents. In the darkness and excitement of it all it’s hard for me to focus on getting some good shots of opening presents. Plus, I’d rather focus my attention on the moment. So, instead of worrying about getting the perfect shot on Christmas morning, I wait until later in the day when the kids are in the middle of enjoying their new gifts to capture them on Christmas day.
I hope this list has given you some inspiration for your holiday photography. I always find I end up with the photos I really want if I make a game plan ahead of time. Happy holidays, and happy memory-keeping!
Congrats to Gina!
That is a great list of must have photos. I think the "mishap" one is sometimes overlooked, but the time my son got frosting all over his shirt as it went the wrong direction in the piping bag (not on the cookie) and I remembered to snap a picture… it is one that always makes me smile : )
Yippee! What a fun Christmas surprise. I'm so excited to use this great collection to scrapbook some of this years memories.