Have you ever photographed what you thought was Holiday Gold only to discover a lump of coal after viewing it on your PC? A wise sage once defined INSANITY as Doing the same things you’ve always done, but EXPECTING DIFFERENT OUTCOMES.

Generally speaking, photographers disappointed with old holiday images, wanted to take better ones, but didn’t know how. By using these eight simple tips, you can leave this “Insanity” behind…

I. Prepare For The Holiday

Decide before the event, your preference for WHICH group portrait poses to capture. Significant considerations are: who will be there, what is the environment, group combinations, and the lighting requirements (day or night).

II. Avoiding Fireworks

Face the facts… sometimes family members don’t get along (yeah right… “sometimes”). Keep this in mind when taking family photography poses.

It is also OK to take smaller group images that are “safe,” than a larger group picture which may ignite. Often just having some distance between potential combatants works well, but that needs to be accounted for when deciding which family photography poses to use.

III. Take Gobs of Image

Take more than one picture of EACH POSE. Regardless of what you say or do, people will close their eyes. Although you can virtually eliminate the blinking problem, too many photographers mistakenly rely on spotting problems by viewing the camera’s tiny LCD screen; which leads to…

IV. When to View The LCD Screen

The digital camera’s LCD screen can solve or cause problems. The LCD screen should only be used to review general framing of the picture, verify that all faces can be seen, and check the histogram. DO NOT USE THE LCD SCREEN to determine picture sharpness/out of focus, high/low contrast areas, or whether any blinking occurred (click the above link for more info on eliminating blinking).

V. The Power Of Humor

Remember what this group finds funny. It could be anecdotes, phrases, names, and family foibles that are humorously appropriate for your group. Then use it JUST BEFORE YOU TAKE THE PHOTO. It’s a fact that a natural grin looks three times better than “fake-photo-face.”

VI. The Big Bang

Each flash has a “flash range,” which defines the range of proper illumination your flash produces. Check your owner’s manual for how far away from your subjects you can be while still properly illuminating them.

VII. [spin]Plan “B”

If you need to be further away from your subjects than your flash allows, there are four things you can do (not counting “crying”):

1. Use a tripod with a longer exposure times
2. Increase the ISO
3. Move to a brighter location
4. Purchase an external flash unit

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VIII. What’s The Best Angle?

When using a flash, avoid shooting directly into mirrors or reflective surfaces. If an alternate location is impractical, take the picture in such a way that the flash is NOT PERPENDICULAR to the surface, but is at an angle (so the flash won’t be seen in the picture).

Don’t be surprised if your holiday images suddenly become sought after to make enlargements. When this happens, see how to both save money and insure that people don’t get “chopped off” when cropping is required.