Prepare Now for Holiday Photos

The holidays are upon us! Now is the time to plan you image-making ventures to capture the spirit of the special moments you’ll be sharing.

Before anything, make sure you have and keep on hand:

• Enough batteries for your camera and flash unit. If your camera uses a rechargeable battery, be sure to have a charged spare handy.

• An extra media card or two. You don’t want to be happily snapping away and run out of space on your media card–and then realize you can’t delete older pictures on there because you hadn’t downloaded them yet to your computer! Now is actually a good time to get those photos downloaded to clear the media cards that you do have.

Plan the stories you’re going to tell, and then outline the pictures you’ll take.

A few photo ideas to get started with:

Do you have a deciduous tree that is now sporting fall colors? Photograph it now before it loses all its leaves, and then photograph it when it’s winter bare.

Many stores are already have Christmas displays out. Take some pictures. You may also get some ideas for your own holiday decorating .

What are some photos you can take now to use for your own holiday greeting cards? Some parts of the country have already been hit with snow.

Think of ways you can use your photographs to make gifts to give others.

Here are a few ideas:

• Make sets of note cards using those beautiful photos you received oohs and ahs from when you posted them on Facebook.

• Framed prints of special places, people, and events are always nice

• Make photo calendars for special friends and love ones

• Start gathering photos you already have to create photo books to give as gifts

©  Joan Rudder-Ward