Holiday Fun and Family Photos: A Bullhorn of Tips

Holiday Fun is coming your way with a Big Bullhorn Media blast of our warmest Christmas and New Year greetings. Happy Holidays from our Bullhorn Family to you and your loved ones. May all of your dreams come true this Holiday Season! We wish you the warmth of family, friends and fun as we approach the blessed and beautiful Christmas Holiday Season.

Holiday Fun with a Bullhorn Blast of Gratitude Comes Your Way This Winter

Without your trust, we could not achieve the success we have enjoyed this year. The owners and staff of Bullhorn Media believe that Christmas is the perfect time for gratitude as well as gifts. Therefore we wish to express our heartfelt thanks for your patronage, friendship, and support.

A Bullhorn Blast of Family Photo Pointers

We also believe this is the perfect time for Photography Fun with Your Family. Sadly, we also know that we cannot personally photograph every family in our vast Orlando neighborhood.  So the next best thing is to pass on some family photo and group photo pointers.  We hope you make your camera part of your Holiday fun.  You only get one chance to capture those memories. For additional photo tips, check-out our recent Halloween blog.

Five Photo Tips that Work with Holiday Fun Groups —No Matter What Kind of Camera You Have!

We know you can’t always pick out your favorite location for a family group. Grandmother’s yard might be less than ideal.  Mom’s living room might not be perfect—especially if her Christmas colors are Pink and Orange this year.  However you do not have to look far for beautiful greenery, trees, parks and gardens in our area. And we are green, or nearly so, all year long.

1.      Our Number One Background Advice for Holiday Fun Groups:

Choose an uncluttered area.  In the living-room, clear away the ugliest “everyday” clutter, unless of course you’re shooting presents being unwrapped.  The magic here is to find or make an uncluttered space.    Move magazines or dirty dishes and distracting junk, from the coffee tables and end-tables in a living room. Be aware of tall things that look like they are coming out of your subjects’ heads. Adjust your angle and avoid sky outside, unless it is part of the story.

Why is background a big deal?  

•  “With so many different faces and competing outfits, your group shot can end up looking very messy if the background is also complicated.”
• Secondly, if you are shooting manually, you want to keep the group in focus. So you need to shoot a higher number f-stop.  This procedure will tend to make the faces sharper and the background softer. Otherwise, you won’t get that nice soft blurry background so beloved in outdoor shots.

2.  A Bullhorn of Lighting Basics

Once again we cannot stress how important soft, even light is in group photography.  Shoot at early morning or late afternoon. The light will be gentle and warm. Open shade is your choice if you must shoot midday. The shadows of buildings and large trees are very helpful.  Just make sure light falls evenly on your group.

In a living room, sometimes just removing the lampshade can cause nice “fill lighting, and minimize shadows.” (However, remember, you don’t want a naked lamp actually in the frame of your shot.)

3. To Use a tripod or Not to Use One

If your group is small and lively and you all want to change up cool poses, you may not want to be restricted by a tripod. But you can brace your camera on a lot of things, for at least a few shots, can’t you?  Outside, you might use a car or a fence to lean on.  Indoors, a big desk or chair can be ideal for family Holiday Fun Groups.

A More Advanced Tripod Tip:

“However, when photographing a large group, you’ll probably want to keep your subjects in one position while you fire off lots of similar shots. “A tripod has the benefit not only of preventing camera shake, but allowing you to take a number of shots at the same angle and focal length. So, when you discover that your perfect image is marred by one person blinking or doing something weird with their mouth, it’s easy to take spare parts from the other images and transpose them in Photoshop.” (For example, Do a head-swap).

4. Put Heads on Different Levels!

If you just line everyone up, you get a huddle or a boring line-up on one level. People at the back might be hidden or out of focus.

Look for graduated surfaces, like steps or a sloped surface. Indoors, just pick a place with chairs or add chairs to stagger the group.

You can place put some people standing behind the chairs, some on the arms of the chairs, some on the ground. Likewise, you can use a ladder, chair, riser or balcony to get above the whole group and shoot down on them while they look up at you.

5. Lens and Apertures

Every photographer has different ideas on favored Lenses and special aperture preferences. To photograph a large group, we often recommend a 50mm lens. If your group is not too deep, utilize f-9 or higher. That way everyone is sharp. Of course we always to test shots.

With a 50 mm, there could be distortion on the sides of the frame. So make sure you have lots of room between the people on the outside of the group and the edge of the frame.  No one wants to look wide, and that is what a wide-angle does on the edges of shots. In fact, as you look through your camera, leave some space around your group. This will permit different cropping ratios, no matter what lens you use.

6.  Get Everyone in One the Act:  Holiday Fun with People

When you are the photographer, everyone in your family group is your assistant.  Have them check hems and collars, stray hairs, lipstick, crumpled shirts and skirts. And last but not least, wipe those runny noses.  Part of your job as a memory creator, pro or amateur, is to make it holiday fun to create a family photo.

Our Special Thanks!

And now, we thank you once again as our friends, colleagues, clients, blog-readers and family.

May you enjoy this beautiful holiday season!  Happy Shooting with a bullhorn full of Holiday fun and Family Photos!