The sun isn’t even up yet and everyone is ready to rip open gifts. Before the stockings come down and wrapping paper begins to fly, have your camera ready and read through these tips on how to photograph your Christmas morning.

 

1. Check your camera settings the day before. Specifically, white balance, shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

 

2. What is one item you always need on Christmas morning? Batteries. Make sure you not only have batteries for the toys and electronics, but for your camera too!

 

3. Double check your SD card or Compact Flash card to make sure you have plenty of space for all your image files.

 

4. Make sure the room has plenty of light. While it might be tempting to only use the ambient lighting from the Christmas tree, your photos will come out dark. Open the blinds, turn on the lights and whatever you do, don’t use on-camera flash! Use as much natural light as you can.

 

5. Always have your camera within reach. You don’t want to miss that special moment when the kids see the gifts under the tree or that perfect gift is opened.

 

6. Think about your Christmas morning as a story. While capturing the shots of family and friends, don’t forget the detail shots of the stockings on the mantel, the ornaments on the tree or the bows on the beautifully decorated gifts.

While these six tips are not exhaustive, they will go a long way to helping you capture those precious moments of life even after Christmas morning is over. Merry Christmas!