How to Take Great Christmas Holiday Pictures With Your Digital Camera On A Budget

Taking great pictures during the holidays is a must! However; how they turn out can sometimes be frustrating. With the right focus, a great editing program & some imagination you can have professional looking pictures to give as gifts, add to your scrapbook or to hang on your walls!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Digital Camera
• Memory Card or USB Cord to load pictures onto your computer
• Extra Batteries
• Computer
• Imagination!

1. 
    
   Winter Wonderland (this is a photo of my front yard w/ the driveway cropped out of the picture) Notice the beams of light from the sun :-)

   When you are taking a picture, look around first so you can notice things like, the beams of light coming down from the sun or holiday decorations in your home. Try to snap the picture so you get attractive objects and miss unsightly objects. If this is impossible, try a different angle or you can always crop the photo later on your computer.

2. 
    
   This was taken in front of my X-mas Tree using an stool & red fabric like you would see in a photo studio :-)

   Turn your living room/family room into a professional studio! Dressing your family in seasonal attire and posing in front of seasonal decor for props is all you need to do! Use a foot stool w/ fabric colors co-ordinating with the seasonal theme for seating

3. 
    
   This is Fancy! This photo was cropped using Picasa2 and changed B&W for a more dramatic & professional look :-)

   Download your photos to your computer and open to edit them with your favorite photo editor. Picasa 2 is one of the best photo editors I have personally ever used and it's free! (There is a new version Picasa3!! http://www.picasa.google.com) You can crop your photos, edit size, color...etc
   Any photo can make a GREAT gift!!

4. 
    
   This was a lucky shot! I made it into a gift by using Picnik.com :-)

   Have fun with your photos! You can print your photos at home or you can take your memory card to your local discount store: Wal-Mart, Wal-Greens, K-Mart, ect... to print copies. The dollar store always has nice frames for less and you can give as gifts. Or you can scrapbook your photos online for free at a really neat site like picnik.com or smilebox.com! I love them both!

Tips & Warnings

• You do not need a professional camera to get professional looks!
• If you do not have a digital camera, most film developing stores offer the option to have your pictures placed on a CD!
• Remember to take your camera w/ extra batteries when ever you know you are going to be somewhere where there might be a "Kodak moment".
• Before snapping pictures of nature, look around first to notice anything to help make your picture unique.
• BE CAREFUL! Editing your photos and scrapbooking, whether online or at home, is VERY addicting! Enjoy!!

Resources

• Picnik
• Picasa3
• Smilebox

[taskeinc]

on 12/8/2008 nice article .. thanks for sharing.

[JoyNmyHeart]

on 11/24/2008 Excellent advice. I get my kids pictures taken every year at Christmas time. I think I'll try it myself this year! Thanks!

[sunshine11219]

on 11/24/2008 good tips