How to Take Better Photos With Santa (and How Not to)

Even though my oldest is only 3, I have quite a bit of experience taking small kids to see Santa. Partly for my blog post where I talk about what it’s like to take photos with Santa at different  malls in Calgary and partly because I think it is just plain fun. My friends and family have kindly supplied me with some photos to round out my own to help you get better photos with Santa this year.

1. Prepare Your Kids Ahead of Time

Read your kids stories about Santa, show them movies with Santa (if you can find one with their favorite character, even better) and show your kids pictures of them or other family members with Santa to familiarize them.

Unless the photos looked like this.

It can also be worthwhile to seek out a Santa that is more natural looking and inline with their expectations.

If you wouldn't sit on that lap, why would you put your child on it?

2. Dress for the Occasion

Even if you’re going to get a free photo, consider what your kids are wearing.

This shirt of Gordie’s is really cute, but doesn’t look great in a Christmas photo.

This may be going a little too far.

At the very least, take off your kids’ coats!

You may also want to consider what you’re wearing that day… just in case.

If you look closely you can see Santa at the back.

3. Use a Partner

Especially if you are taking the photos yourself, bring someone with you so they can help you position and distract the kids to help keep them from freaking out.

Freaking out.

4. Try Backing In

If you have a really little kid, try holding them facing you and backing them into Santa, keeping their attention on you. Then back away and quickly take the picture.

Sometimes this works.


Sometimes, not so much

5. Time it Right

Arrive a bit early so your kids can see Santa from a distance before it’s their turn. Make sure they are not tired or hungry. Bring a snack just in case. Weekday mornings and evenings are usually quieter time to visit. Whatever you do, don’t go when your child would normally be napping.

Not a good time.

6. Give Them Some Moral Support

Having a friend, sibling or even a favorite toy may be all your kid needs to feel comfortable and stay focused.

Worked like a charm.

7. Be Flexible

You may be able to get a better picture by not trying to force a smile.

That’s a pretty cute pout.

You may also want to consider letting your kids stand beside Santa instead of on his lap.

Santa may be holding him back, but they are all in the picture.

8. Make use of Some Photography Tips

If you are taking the photo yourself, try setting the white balance to match the lighting (florescent or incandescent bulbs). Or you can adjust that on your computer afterwards.

Was 1982 really this yellow?

If the room isn’t very bright, bump up the ISO and hold the camera steady (close to your body, try to kneel or set the camera on something to use as a makeshift tripod). Also double check that your camera is focusing on your child instead of the background.

That tree looks great!

Position yourself so you can see your child’s face even if they are not looking directly at you.

Candid shots often show your child at their best.

Don’t forget to take multiple pictures.

So this isn’t the only photo you go home with.

9. Try Again

If your child is hesitant to see Santa the first time, don’t be afraid to go back (again) later in the day or on another day all together.

 
The first try.

Again after lunch.

10. If All Else Fails…

You can always take a family photo near Santa instead. Most malls have a Christmas display that would make a great backdrop.

This is the best ‘Santa’ photo this family has taken.

Or you could just take a picture of Santa!

Even if Santa looks a little confused.

11. Laugh it Off

Sometimes, even if you end up with a picture that wasn’t what you wanted, it can still end up being a treasured part of your family history.

That year’s Christmas card

As funny as some of these photos are, I hope this post helps your family get great photos with Santa this year. And if your pictures don’t go as planned you can always send them to me for next year’s post.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Dana Wheatley

What are your tips for taking better photos with Santa?

If you have a not-so-good photo with Santa you’d like to share, you can e-mail it to talkinginallcaps@gmail.com.

Are you from Calgary? Check out my website about the best indoor and outdoor places to take your kids –> http://www.calgaryplaygroundreview.com

Photos used with permission

Professional Camera Modes: How to Decide Which Professional Exposure Mode to Use

Learning to Use my DSLR – Practical Photography Tutorials

When I wrote my first photography post on taking better pictures of your kids in the snow, I realized that I didn’t know how to choose which professional mode to use. This seems to be a pretty fundamental gap in knowledge so I decided I should figure it out.

It became clear pretty quickly that understanding what exposure is would be a good first step. I won’t go into a lot of detail - hopefully just enough.

Put simply, exposure is how much light is falling on your camera’s image sensor (in the past it would be how much light fell on your film). To get a clear, crisp image you don’t want too much light (overexposed) or too little light (underexposed) landing on your sensor.

Three related factors impact what your exposure will be: ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. To get a good exposure these three factors have to be balanced correctly and making changes to one will necessitate making changes to one or both of the other factors.

ISO – This is how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light. With film cameras, you had different film ‘speeds’ that you had to change if you wanted a different level of sensitivity. For digital cameras you can change the ISO just by manipulating your camera’s settings. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive your sensor will be to light. This means you don’t need as much light for a good exposure but the image quality is reduced when your sensor is more sensitive.

Eg.
If you are outside on a sunny day, you may want your ISO to be as low as 100.
If you are inside you may want your ISO to be 400 (more sensitive due to less ambient light).
If you are taking a low light photograph you may need to set your ISO to a very high number. (your image will be more grainy but at least you can get the shot).

In general, you want to set your ISO to the lowest number you can to get the best image quality but to get a good exposure, you need to increase the ISO in lower light settings.

By bumping up the ISO to 1600, I was able to get this photo of Nicole is a very dark room.

When you zoom in on the picture you can see the trade off of using the high ISO - although the exposure is pretty good, there is more noise resulting in image that is grainy.

Aperture (or f-stop) – this is how much light passes through your lens at once. A larger aperture will result in more light passing through and a smaller aperture will result in less light passing through. Manipulating the aperture also effects the depth of field (how much of your image is in focus).

Eg.
To get a good exposure outside on a sunny day, you would need a narrower aperture such as f/4.
To get a good exposure in a low light setting you may need an aperture such as f/22.

In these pictures I manipulated the aperture. You can see how it changed the depth of field. In the photo on the right the background is quite blurry and the focus is just on Gordie. In the photo on the right the background is more in focus and pretty distracting.

Shutter Speed – This is how long light is allowed to hit the sensor. The shorter your shutter speed, the less light will hit the sensor. The longer the shutter speed the more motion you will capture as well.

Eg.
On a sunny day you may want a short shutter speed of 1/4000.
In a low light setting you may want to capture light for a longer period of time using a shutter speed of 1/60.

Here’s an example of a long shutter speed with a moving subject. Although in this instance it was not what I had intended, it can be an interesting effect. Kids move so fast it can be helpful to shorten the shutter speed to help photograph them without motion blur.

These three factors are inter-related, so when you change one you may need to change one or more of the others to get a good exposure. For non-professional photographers like myself (and I’m assuming you if you’re reading this) it can be helpful to let your camera make some of the decisions while you manipulate the one you are most interested in. Picking the right professional exposure mode can help you do this.

P – Program Mode:

This mode would be perfect if you want to make some manipulations but have your camera do most of the heavy lifting. In this mode you can change things like the white balance, exposure compensation, ISO, and metering. This would have been perfect for me to use for my post on taking better pictures of your kids in the snow (I used the Aperture Priority Mode instead). I wasn’t trying to change the aperture or shutter speed. This can also be a helpful mode if you are going to be taking photos in a variety of lighting conditions.

In these pictures I was only manipulating the exposure compensation, to brighten up the snow. That would be a great use of Program Mode.

A – Aperture Priority Mode

In this mode, you manipulate your camera’s aperture while your camera handles the rest of the exposure settings. This will allow you to change the depth of field or how much of your photo is in focus. This is particularly great for photographs so your subject is in focus but the background is blurred. You can also use it to make sure that everything in your shot is in focus. You would likely want this mode while photographing landscapes, portraits, architecture, close up photography (think food or flowers) and wildlife.

S – Shutter Priority Mode

This mode is similar to Aperture Priority mode but in this case, you manipulate the shutter speed while your camera handles the rest of the exposure settings. This mode is best to use when your subject is in motion. You can use it freeze the action by setting it to be quick or to show motion by leaving it longer. You would probably want to use this mode if movement was a big aspect of your subject or the photo effect you want. This can also be highly useful for photographing kids!

M – Manual Mode

In this mode, you have the most control, but it’s also the hardest to use. At this stage of my photography I don’t want to use this mode and if you’re reading this I’m assuming you don’t either!

A Word About Scene Modes

Your camera will probably also have a number of pre-set Scene modes. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with trying them out too. Those modes use all the same principles I discussed above – pre-selected to try to create the best exposure for that kind of setting. Eg. the night mode will use a wide aperture to let in a lot of light at once and a longer shutter time, the action mode will use a quick shutter speed. There’s nothing those pre-sets can do that you shouldn’t be able to do yourself.

Learn Along Assignments:

1. Experiment with ISO

1. Take your camera into a setting with not much light.
2. Put it into Program Mode
3. Set your ISO to a really high setting (like 1600)
4. Try taking a picture. (Make sure you are keeping your camera steady)
5. Now set your ISO to a lower number (like 400).
6. Compare your results

2. Experiment with Shutter Speed

1. Pick an subject that is moving. (Like your kids!)
2. Put your camera into Shutter Priority Mode
3. Try taking pictures at different shutter speeds
4. Compare your results

3. Experiment with Aperture

Note: this is the hardest one to play around with. My camera will let me set my aperture to settings that don’t work well with my lens. I will be doing a tutorial on using the aperture setting in the near future.

If you would like to play around with it before that here’s what I recommend:

1. Set your camera to Aperture Mode.
2. Somewhere on your lens it will say something like 1:3.5-5.6G. Start by setting your aperture to within these numbers to start.
3. Select an subject that is in front of a busy background. Making sure there is some distance between your subject and the background will make it easier to see the effect.
4. Take photos with different aperture settings.
5. Compare your results

4. Let me know how it went!

 

Resources Used for this article:

http://digital-photography-school.com/iso-settings

Nikon D3200 From Snapshots to Great Shots by Rob Sylvanc

The Second Time Around

When I was pregnant with my 2nd child I worried, okay about a lot of things. Which is not too far from normal for me. But one of the things I worried about is whether everything would feel like it had already been done.

Would I be excited when she rolled over for the first time? Would her first steps be all over facebook?

She’s now 8 months and many of her first milestones have already come and gone.

I was just as excited when she rolled over.  I could not have been more proud seeing her learn to crawl or pull herself up for the first time. I’m no longer worried that my excitement will be less because she’s not my first. Because they are still her firsts. And those firsts are exciting.

But it is different. With two kids, I’m more distracted and there’s less down time. I have to put in more of an effort to write things down in her baby book and it will in all likelihood have much less written in it than her older brother’s. And more of her firsts will probably not get photographed or written up in a status update. So one day, it may look to her that I was less excited. But even if one day she feels that way, I know it’s not true.

There was one aspect of having a second child that did surprise me though. I know they’ll fight and bicker (believe me that has already started!) but I was really surprised with how much they love each other already and how young Nicole was when they started playing together. They are three years apart - I had expected it to be a long time before they would really connect. But I was really wrong about that. Gordie loves to make her laugh and already they entertain each other. Nicole’s favorite thing to play with is whatever Gordie’s playing with. She’ll chase him down the hall and cry when he leaves the room. Sure sometimes it drives Gordie bonkers when he wants to play with his toys and she’s right there trying to play with him but he adores her too. It’s hard to resist someone who loves you so much.

It’s not always easy having two little kids. In fact it often isn’t. It’s a very challenging time period. But seeing your babies develop into their own people with their own personalities is one of the most exciting things there is.

Eagle Creek Farms Winter CSA

I grew up on an acreage just outside a small(ish) town. My dad grew a garden, we had chickens for fresh eggs and over the years had different kinds of meat from animals we raised or my dad hunted including pigs, chicken and deer. Oh and we caught fish sometimes too. I hardly grew up on a farm and this kind of food did not make up most of what we ate, but it did give me a connection and understanding of what I was eating and how it got there.

My kids on the other hand are growing up in the city and that understanding is a bit harder to come by. The closest they get is the small backyard garden I’ve tried to grow the last couple years (with mixed results).

One small step I’m taking to help my kids gain some understanding is taking part in Community Supported Agriculture or (CSAs). In a CSA local producers sell shares of their produce with their community at the beginning of the season. This makes it easier for small farmers to continue to farm because the risk of bad crops is shared. Alberta can be a difficult climate to grow crops in so it’s particularly helpful where we live.

But the community supporters don’t just share in the risk, they also share in the rewards and receive fresh locally grown food. You can know how and where your food was grown and what methods they used to grow it. Best of all (for my goals) you can visit the farm and show your kids where their food comes from.

Eagle Creek Farms Winter CSA

As you might expect, there aren’t a lot of CSA options in Calgary during the Winter. Eagle Creek Farms runs an 8 week Winter vegetable CSA so we decided to give it a try. There’s less risk with the Winter CSA as the vegetables have largely been harvested and stored before it starts so you can get a good idea of what you’ll be getting when you sign up.

It runs for 8 weeks with pick ups every 2 weeks at one of two locations in Calgary. They offer a full or half share. This year the half share was $135 and the full share was $250.

They bring packaged bunches of the vegetables and you get to pick one of each for a half share or two of each for a full share. We decided to go for a half share.

The first week we got this:

A pumpkin, carrots, yellow potatoes, jerusalem artichokes, beets (most people got yellow beets but mine were red) and a head of garlic.

This was the contents of our second package:

Carrots, purple and yellow potatoes, kohlrabi, garlic and kale.

I’ve been pretty happy with it so far. The vegetables have all been great (but you do need to get out that scrub brush for the dirt!) and I like experimenting with some vegetables that I might not otherwise pick out at the grocery store.

Taking Better Indoor Pictures–Positioning Your Subject

Learning to Use my DSLR – Practical Photography Tutorials

Despite the snow and cold weather, the sun was strong, so I thought I’d take a look at one of the things you can do to improve your indoor pictures. One of the most fundamental aspects of photography is lighting. Although you can get some interesting effects by taking your photograph into the light, typically you want to yourself with the strongest light source behind you and your subject facing the light. This applies to any kind of camera, not just DSLRs.

Taking advantage of some natural lighting can make your photos much better without having to make any adjustments to your camera. However, if you try to take a picture of your kids right under a bright window the resulting photograph is less than awesome.

Sometimes positioning the light behind one shoulder can be really pretty.

But I found today that the light was just just too bright. So I moved Gordie so he was facing the window.

Without using any kind of flash, he’s well lit and the colors are great.

Here’s another example with Nicole in the center of the room. This time she stayed in the same spot and only I moved.

Bad picture with the window behind her:

Even worse picture with the window behind her:

Much better picture with the window behind me:

It can also be important to think about what your subject is wearing. Nicole looks adorable wearing this little white dress but it provides an extra challenge when taking her picture.

When she’s in front of the window it doesn’t make much of a difference:

But with her close to the window and the light behind my shoulder, the dress is a little bright.

 

If I set her back a few more feet from the window the photograph looked a lot better even though the light was still over my shoulder.

 

Just to demonstrate that this principle holds true for other cameras as well, here’s a couple I took with my iphone:

 

Showing off my new skills:

Bedtime Books for Preschoolers: 5 Top Kids Books Tested

Complementing my last post on Toddler Bedtime Books, this time we took a look at 5 bedtime books for preschoolers that were each recommended by at least one top 100 list. We had only read one of the books before – I wouldn’t add any of the ‘new to us’ books to our top 100 list, but there were a couple pretty cute ones.

1. Llama Llama Red Pajama

 

Anna Dewdney 2005 – This book didn’t work for me at all. I found it really frustrating to read because when I say Llama, Mama, and Pajama – they do not all rhyme. Which is sort of essential to reading it properly. I could force it if I put on an affected accent, but I kind of wanted to chuck the book at the wall instead. We didn’t manage to get all the way through this book because Gordie and I both lost interest.

2. The Napping House

Audrey Wood 1984 – This book on the other hand I did enjoy reading. It’s done in the style of song and stories like “There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” where more and more things get added to the pattern until it falls apart at the end. Gordie on the other hand was less impressed. Although he listened happily the first time I read it to him, I haven’t been able to convince him to let me read it to him again.

3. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

 

Sherri Duskey Rinker 2011 – This book is one of our favorites. It’s easy to centre bedtime books around cute and cuddly characters but that doesn’t always hold the interest of kids who prefer car and diggers to puppies and kittens. In this book, different construction equipment finishes up work for the day and goes to sleep. My husband picked this book out for Gordie and he loves how realistic the terminology and shutting down routines are. The escavator lowers it’s boom, the cement mixer is washed out at the end of the day. Gordie has asked for this book again and again. I highly recommend this book for vehicle loving preschoolers.

4. Russell The Sheep

Rob Scotton 2005 – This cutely illustrated book features a sheep named Russell that is having trouble falling asleep. I liked it, but didn’t love it. Gordie thought it was okay to read through a couple times and kind of liked the counting parts.

5.  How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?

Jane Yolen and Mark Teague 2000 – This is another bedtime book that does not feature the typical cuddly characters. The book goes through different bedtime stalling techniques that kids might use asking whether dinosaurs would do that and concludes that dinosaurs would go to sleep easily instead. It’s a silly book but will definitely interest kids that love dinosaurs and may even inspire better bedtime behavior in order to be more like the dinosaurs in the book (maybe?). Gordie liked this book, but I’m glad at this point that we got it out of the library because it didn’t have a lot of staying power for him – he asked for it a few times and then moved on.

Has your family read any of these books? What did you think? Or maybe you have a suggestion for a great preschool bedtime book that wasn’t on the list?

Our Favorite Tried and Tested Books Preschool Bedtime Books :

1. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

Book List

Children’s Book Guide top 100 Children’s Books:
Llama, Llama Red Pajama, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, The Napping House, How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, Russell The Sheep

Babble’s top 100 kids books:
Llama, Llama Red Pajama, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, The Napping House, How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight

Teachers First 100 Best Books:
The Napping House

Kern Country Library 100 Picture Books Every Child Should Know:
None!

New York Public Library 100 Picture Books Every Child Should Know:
The Napping House, How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight

Goodreads Best Children’s Books (top 300):
Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, The Napping House, How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight,

The White Jacket–The Gift of Surprise

In a million years I would never buy a white jacket for a baby. I’m way to practical for that. I wouldn’t even buy a white jacket for myself.

But I was given one for Nicole in a bunch of hand-me-downs, so I kept it. I adore this jacket. It is fluffy and cute, it looks cozy and warm, it sets off Nicole skin tone beautifully. I put her in it every chance I get. But I never ever ever would have picked it out. Like ever.

I had a similar thing happen when Gordie was born. A friend gave us a little romper with short sleeves and… short pants(?) and a hood. Made of terry cloth. I couldn’t imagine under what conditions you would require a warm outfit, with a hood, and dangly limbs. But the freaking thing was adorable. We ended up buying the next two sizes because it was so cute. But I wouldn’t have bought that either.

That’s one of the things that I love about getting and giving gifts that people haven’t asked for. Sure, it’s nice to know they’re going to love it, and it’s nice getting something you really wanted, but you miss out on those surprises. The things you never knew you wanted. Or maybe even thought you wouldn’t like.

Do you like being surprised with gifts? Or do you prefer to pick things out yourself?