My Christmas tree

The trick to taking good Christmas tree photos is to turn off all the lights and the flash and wait until nightfall to take the photos.  Open the aperture as much as you can and use a tripod if you have one.  Use a high ISO and slow shutter speed.

How to take great Christmas tree photographs

• Switch off every light in the house except for the Christmas tree lights.
• Use a tripod if you have one or rest the camera on a steady surface.
• Use the two second timer to make sure the shots are steady.
• Use a slow shutter speed- the slower the shutter speed, the more light gets in.
• Raise your ISO as high as it can go – higher ISO means more light gets in in low light settings.
• Lower the aperture.   I used the lowest setting at f1/8.
• Lower the shutter speed.  It can be anything from 1/30 to 1/50
• Experiment to find the results you like best!

Common photography mistakes and how to fix them

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  Common photo problems

How to make great Christmas Tree Bokeh

• Set the aperture open as much as it can go.  I use a 50mm 1.8 lens which is a great and reasonably priced lens.
• Blur the focus -make your tree out of focus and you will get great bokeh

ISO 1000 at f1.8 and 1/60 sec.

Creative photo techniques

Don’t forget to focus on the smaller details!

Get up close

How to take great Christmas tree photos