4 Christmas Photoshoot Ideas

Happy Holidays! Whether you're a professional portrait photographer or a generalist who takes photos in their free time, the Christmas season has plenty of creative photo opportunities for you.

In this mini post, I'm going to share 4 Christmas photoshoot ideas to help you find creativity in this wonderful season. 

#1 Use Christmas Lights as Backdrops

A wide aperture creates blurred backgrounds. If you manually focus away from Christmas lights, you'll get a stunning view of colourful bokeh. If you add a person or object to the frame, you'll be able to create a festive atmosphere very easily. 

You don't need an artistic portrait lens for this. A standard 50mm f/1.8 prime lens is good enough, but work with what you have. Just remember to use the widest aperture possible and to focus on your subject manually. 

#2 Tell a Christmas Story Through Diptychs

Diptych photography is undoubtedly one of my favourite ways to tell visual stories. A diptych is made up of two different photographs. When placed side by side, they tell a story.

Through a diptych, you can highlight similarities or differences. You can also describe a scene by showing it from different angles. I've seen photographers use diptychs in different genres, so feel free to approach them in any way you like!

Diptychs also come in handy when you feel that your photos lack something. You might have a festive photo of a Christmas decoration that looks dull on its own. If you place it next to a photo of someone holding the same decoration, you might get a more appealing composition.

#3 Take Family Photos Next to Christmas Lights

Christmas lights come in different colours. As you can see in the photo above, I like experimenting with a mix of colours. Not all of them are suitable for traditional portrait photography, but they're perfect for artistic portraits in the dark.

Turn off all the lights except for the Christmas lights. Ask your model to get as close to the lights as possible so that at least a part of their face is visible. Use a high ISO to compensate for the lack of light.

Christmas lights in the dark + people = a dynamic and eye-catching photograph that you can treasure for years to come. Bonus points if you can include your pet in the photos!

#4 Silhouette with Christmas Lights 

I'm using portrait photography as an example, but you can use the same technique in any genre as long as you can include Christmas lights in the frame.

Silhouettes are created with the help of contrast. If your subject stands against a light source in a dark environment, you'll get a beautiful silhouette. The brighter the light source, the stronger the silhouette. 

If you have a bunch of Christmas lights, you can use them to create backlight. Even though the light won't be intense, it will create a soft and festive atmosphere. 

When you take silhouette photos, you can decrease your exposure to create more contrast between the subject and background. A high ISO isn't necessary when taking photos like this. 

I hope that you take some time to enjoy Christmas photography this year. Do you have any special photography plans for the holidays? Let me know in the comments!