Holiday Lights, Cameras, Action

Each season provides opportunities for anyone with a camera to take fantastic photos that become family heirlooms, hilarious reminders of wonderful gatherings and touching mementos of milestone moments. But celebrating the winter holidays provides a number of challenges — whether you're shooting inside in candlelight, by the fire, around the Christmas tree, or outside in bitter cold, wind, or snow.

For years, I have taught the principles of winter photography at my International Photographic Workshops of Grand Fenway. Dozens of students paid thousands of Zeligs to learn these techniques (How fondly I recall when a Zelig was worth more than a plug-nickel.). But, to help you make the season bright, follow these tips and tricks to create lasting memories:

The Nature of Light as It Applies to Nature (And Your Lifestyle)

Each season's natural light has its benefits and challenges. Short winter days don't mean it's impossible to get great shots outside. The sun lies low, casting longer shadows, but golden light fills the morning sky and creates magnificent silhouettes against bare trees, structures, windows, roads, or your children having breakfast near a kitchen window.

While sipping your hot morning beverage of choice, keep your camera in easy reach, to shoot a picture or more through your home window, or of children running out the door for school, or while walking the dog before heading off to work during this special light of day. It will give you the chance to practice before family arrives for the holidays and you find yourself in the middle of the activity.

Same thing in the evening. Because the sun doesn't rise that high during the day, it casts a beautiful golden light accompanied by a dramatically deep blue sky. Shoot down your street, the avenue, on the train or bus ride from or to work. Look for silhouettes; they can be amazingly graphic — a glimmer of a warm highlight on a face, or a head lit from behind is dramatic and a beautiful alternative to the all-too-frequent "candid" shots of family members in their best forced smiles, standing straight as a post.

Getting In Gear

Applies to both Digital Still Cameras; either fixed lens or with interchangeable lenses, later to be referred to as DSLRs, and compact Point-and-Shoot cameras, later to be referred to as P&S.

OK. Beautiful day, clear skies, maybe even snow on the ground (or in progress):

 MUST-HAVES:

• Extra batteries: Nothing saps the longevity of any camera battery than cold ( sub-40ºF) temperatures. Use of camera flash for main or fill-lighting will exponentially decrease battery life. Some point-and-shoot cameras can accept AA batteries available at many locations. These are good in a quick-fix situation, but still won't last very long. Best is to keep a spare fully charged OEM battery in your coat or vest pocket; the warmer the better.
• Battery reminder: If you're giving a camera for the holidays, make the day perfect by taking the camera out of the box and charging the battery so your favorite shutterbug can get to work right away. Also, make sure someone's got another camera to shoot their reaction when they open an empty box!
• Cloth: I always pack a soft cloth, be it a well-worn hankie or soft microfiber, to create a barrier for moisture that's gotten on the camera or clearing light moisture from the lens. You also can cover the entire camera and lens if snow or sleet is falling or to protect when a spray of snow will be kicked up from skis, sleds, etc. Gently wipe the lens (see U/V filter next) in a circular motion, moving out from the center of the lens to the corners. For point-and-shoot users, dry off the retractable lens barrel itself, before you turn the camera off. Of course, if you're using a more advanced DSLR, you must be equally as careful to prevent moisture build-up.
• Plastic Bags. I always carry several plastic bags: to cover the equipment, in case of sudden moist weather. Those of you who wear glasses know what happens when you come back inside: your glasses fog up. To prevent that on your camera lens, place the camera in a plastic bag before you enter the house. The condensation will form on the outside of the bag, not on the lens.
• *UV or Skylight Filter. For DSLR users, it's essential to protect the glass on these larger-diameter lenses. Buy a clear filter; they're inexpensive and keep out moisture or fog that would otherwise appear on the glass surface. Cleaning or clearing a filter, instead of the lens itself, is a better and cost effective approach.

 SHOULD-HAVES:

• *Air Bulb Blower and Small Brush. I keep a large air bulb blower (or ear syringe) with me to clear any dust that might settle on the imaging sensor when I'm changing lenses, which can cause spots on the image itself — and force you to spend a lot of time in Photoshop touching up the imperfect image. You also could use a small makeup brush to keep dust and debris off the camera body or lens.
• Lens Tissue. When … not if … your lens (covered with the U/V filter of course) becomes dirty, fingerprinted or wet, fold a sheet of lens tissue into the size of a postage stamp, crumple it a bit, and lightly wipe off the offender, starting from the center moving towards the edges. Some folks will use a little lens cleaning fluid, but I find just applying a little warm breath works fine.

WOULD-LOVE-TO-HAVES

• A pocket-sized tripod can easily fit in your bag or case, and is most useful in taking group portraits indoors. Placed upon a stack of books or other solid object, it lets you frame your group shot, and using the self timer on your camera, will allow you to dash in and join in the photo. Imagine actually being in the picture, rather than the one who is always missing because you are the one taking it!
• Circular Polarizing Filter. DSLR users will love these for winter because they dramatically enhance the deep blue of clear skies. They're also great for reducing sunny reflections from snow or icy surfaces. Play with this one if you want to add extra richness to your photos.
• Gloves. Taking pictures in the cold can take a toll on your hands. I like to have one leather glove for holding the camera, and a fingerless glove for adjusting the controls and shutter release.

Talking Technique

Today's P&S cameras offer more "settings" and controls than can be found in a Blackhawk helicopter. When shooting where there is a lot of snow in the background, set your camera dial in the "snow-scene" mode. Camera meters are designed to provide an overall "good" exposure by averaging the incoming light to create an evenly exposed image containing highlights and shadows. Shooting in bright, reflective snow-filled areas can result in an underexposed image, making things look a bit muddy. The "snow-scene mode" compensates for this by increasing the exposure to brighten things up as they are seen through your LCD or viewfinder.

SET YOUR WHITE BALANCE

It's easiest to keep your white balance settings on Auto Balance, but manually adjusting this important control  greatly improves the overall color of your photos if you are going between indoors—primarily lit with household lights—and outdoors frequently.

THE NEED FOR SPEED

If you are shooting a lot of fast-moving action—kids ripping open packages, people skating, skiing, sledding, falling, tubing—use a faster shutter speed to stop the action. This might mean increasing your ISO setting to gain a faster speed, but since digital cameras give you the chance to review and edit photos immediately, you can experiment and refine on the fly. Helpful hint: The batteries get colder as you're shooting outside, which can make the camera slower to focus and not able to handle rapid-fire action shots, so plan your shots ahead of where you think the main action is going to take place. And get close, too, for that final action image.

HANDLING THE HOLIDAYS

Nothing is as fun as watching kids rip open their gifts (or grandpa unwrapping his Cutty) on Christmas morning. To catch all the action, prep ahead of time: have batteries charged overnight and get down and dirty with the rugrats. Shooting low, as from a child's view, helps you capture the excitement as the wrapping flies around the scene. Use your multiple-frame mode to be sure not to miss "the moment." Shoot "wide" and get close too. And keep an eye on grandpa. Cutty before breakfast? Not a good idea (but it could lead to more interesting photos).

When it comes time for the evening meal, the table is set, candles are lit, the fire is roaring... grab that camera and set your mode to "nighttime fill" or whatever mode your manual indicates that the flash will fire — lighting the foreground, but also letting the room's ambient light appear natural. Use your "red-eye" setting too (especially if the Cutty's been flowing!).

But technical tips aside, follow these other tips for getting memorable shots:

Find some guinea pigs. Try out shots and techniques in spots around your house where people will gather. In the living room, the kitchen, the back yard. Get family members or the dog to model for you as you check the lighting and backgrounds before your loved ones come calling.

Lights, cameras, and more lights… it's great to have everyone jammed at the tree or by the fire, but that setting makes autofocus go crazy, so get your subjects about five feet from the tree so that the lights take on a soft, out-of-focus glow instead of becoming a harsh backdrop.

The posed picture. They're great, in theory. But trying to squeeze everyone in the shot, getting them to stand up straight and smile perfectly leads to the, "Wait, where's Aunt Gert?" moment. Which leads to fidgety kids, cranky adults and the passing of a nice moment. Catch people in conversation, in laughter, in genuine moments. And if you are going for the group shot, practice beforehand with your auto-timer. Hey, you're doing all the work; don't you deserve to be in a few of these photos?

The moment after… Keep your finger on the shutter. Nabbing a photo right when people relax from their forced camera-ready smile will capture their personalities

THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Whatever you shoot now — and throughout the year, for that matter — don't let your digital photos languish on your hard drive or flash card. Now and then, organize your photos so you can display and enjoy them. Have prints made. Burn some images, burn them onto a DVD so you can watch them on your hi-def TV together. Have special events or vacations printed into a hardbound book. Remember those old Kodak magazine ads, where the family is sitting together, reliving memories through photos? It's a great reminder of why you got that fancy camera in the first place. Enjoy these moments, together.