Capturing Holiday Memories

By: Alina Oswald, DPA instructor in New York/New Jersey

alina.oswald@gmail.com

Shared by Digital Photo Academy 

Capturing your own style when photographing holidays, family gatherings, etc.

As photographers, we’re visual storytellers and, thus, we use photographs to tell the full story of a special day, etc.

Prior to the special day, think about it and make a list of the important moments you need to capture, the important people, etc.

Say, for Thanksgiving:

– sitting around the table, making a shopping list, maybe by yourself or with others around you; maybe you ask them to do/bring/buy something, maybe they have ideas; try to capture gestures, facial expressions, body language, etc. maybe capture a snapshot of the list, include a hint that tells viewers (of your story) something about the time/place of the story

– capture snapshots of people helping, maybe leaving the house w/ copies of the list in hand and empty grocery bags, etc.

– capture snapshots of people (family members, maybe even friends, you can volunteer them :-)), bringing/helping with carrying the bags full of groceries, maybe there’s a hint of a turkey or cranberry sauce or something in those bags, etc.

– capture the mess in the kitchen, maybe in the house

– oh, maybe someone is asking your granny or aunt something – advice – or shows them an item from the grocery list, ask if it’s ok or looks ok, etc.

– capture candid moments: maybe the dog does something funny, but also gets itself in trouble, or maybe the kids are playing everywhere, oblivious of the businesses of the day, around them, maybe there’s a giggle, maybe someone steps on/over something and is almost, almost about to drop a food plate, but thank goodness nothing happens, etc.

– capture environmental portraits in the kitchen (the chefs of the day preparing or instructing/inspecting helpers how to prepare something)

– don’t forget snapshots of the cleaning of the house, setting the table, decorating, etc.

maybe some artist in the family is busy decorating and paying attention to every little detail, while in the way of someone else who’s vacuuming or dusting or has their hands full of heavy stuff/items, etc.

– capture the kitchen–all the…madness, the splash of water+detergent, the turkey in the oven, checking the turkey, etc.

– capture the decorated house and dinner table; include a sense/hint of scene, time of the year, occasion, and smell, too; homework for you 🙂 – how would one visually capture ‘smell’ in photography – maybe there’re cookies steaming on a place, maybe the turkey is steaming on a platter, etc. capture not only glasses filled with wine or whatever drink, but glasses being filled with that wine, maybe include the neck of the bottle, maybe include a person’s hand holding the bottle, pouring the wine, etc.; maybe someone (the artist :-)) created a make-believe wine label for the kids’ bottle of apple juice, perhaps as fun pretend, w/ or w/o parents being let in on the joke, etc. Things like this.

– capture (a must-have) the turkey on a platter being brought to the table – capture the person bringing the turkey – how they’re dressed, facial expression, body language; capture the expression of the people around the table as the person arrives w/ the turkey; again, especially when photographing people, no matter the occasion, facial expression, body language, gesture are all very important, they add a human element to the story, and what is a family reunion if not a very human story

– capture people cheering with glasses in hand; eating, too, but nobody looks good while chewing on their food, so…but you can capture some funny expressions on kids’ (and adults’) faces, when, perhaps, trying/testing something for the first time, etc.

– capture the dinner table after dinner; (maybe have a diptych – a composite of two images of the dinner table captured before/after the feast)

– capture at least some of the cleaning up, look for candid shots

– capture the after-dinner activities – maybe some spend time chatting, others watch tv, go to see a movie, gather around people they haven’t seen in a long time, kids are tired, etc.

– again, include hints of TG – decorations not only in the kitchen, but also around the house

– maybe include a picture of someone who’s not with you all at the TG dinner – a picture by itself, maybe decorated, and also next to people talking, chatting, playing, spending time together

– capture wide-angle shots – maybe as intro and final images – and also detail shots

– you can apply this kinda thinking to other events you might want to photograph; it’s very important to know or familiarize yourself with the steps/rules/etc of the story you need to photograph

Also, I mentioned FINERWORKS for metal prints.

FINERWORKS if you want to print out some of your images. The metal prints are marvelous for family pictures and friends’ weddings, engagements, etc. FINERWORKS offers several other surfaces for print transfers.

 

Giclee Printing at FinerWorks

One of the largest ranges of paper selections, while using the highest level of archival print technology allowing superior detail and color, you can create custom giclee prints of your artwork and photos.

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