Photographing Your Christmas Tree IDEAS
1. Take a photo of the room BEFORE and AFTER the tree is up for comparison
2. Photos setting up the tree
3. Getting out the ornaments
4. Before, during and after decorating
5. DON’T use the flash as it lights up everything and then the lights on the tree don’t show up.
NOTE: I’ve found the best time to take pics of the tree is either at dusk with natural light coming in the window so the room is visible, but the lights on the tree show up OR
6. When the house is dark and the tree is all lit up – although the rest of the room may not show up well in the photo – the tree looks great!
7. Get in CLOSE! It’s fun to get pictures of the tree branches with their festive ornaments!
8. Photograph family heirloom ornaments or decorations or ones with a story.
9. These also make for awesome journaling on your scrapbooking layout!
10. Hanging ornaments. For the best photos have the little one hold the ornament by the hook and reach for the tree – but don’t actually hang it. That way the child, tree, and ornament will be in the photo and you can pose them to your advantage. (Depending on their age of course!
11. Putting the star or angel on top – whatever that looks like in your house. It’s a treasured moment! Get up close, capture the hands holding the star or the adult lifting the child to place it. Are you going to make your star/topper this year? Get pics of that!
BEFORE the CHAOS - Take Anytime
12. BEFORE Christmas chaos, pose the kids/family/pets around the tree and take pictures. You can wrap empty boxes with pretty bows under the tree just for this purpose and for photos of the tree before Christmas morning.
13. Other posed photos that make for really fun memories!
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- Little kids reaching for candy canes off the tree
- Little ones laying on their tummy looking longingly at gifts
- In a dark room, with the tree lit up, little one(s) in their favorite PJ’s and a teddy bear in their hand. NO flash. The great thing about digital is you can take as many as you want until you get the right one!
14. Photos of littles placing milk and cookies out for Santa. This can happen at any time. Just tell the kiddos you are practicing for Christmas! Now you have time to stage the photo, practice, and snap pics! No stress, no overly tired littles, just have fun.
15. Photograph YOUR reflection in the ornament taking a photo of the ornament!
16. Putting presents under the tree. Could be the Littles or great grandparents (or anyone really) maybe even the family furkid too!
17. Photos of them with their favorite ornaments. Is there a story that goes with it? Have them (or help) write the story out and use that for the journaling to go with the pic!
18. FAKE sneaking presents from under the tree or shaking them.
19. Reading the tags on the gifts.
20. Pose the family in front of the tree. Wrapped gifts (or empty boxes) under it will really add to the charm and doing it before the big day removes that added stress!
21. Pictures making ornaments for the tree! Be sure to check out my Christmas Ornament Pinterest Board!
I remember making gingerbread cookies and using a straw to make a hole in the top. Then when they were cooled we decorated them and added to the tree!
22. Grandparents reading to littles in front of or near the tree.
23. Squeals of delight at the accomplishment of decorating a most awesome and beautiful tree! Ask them if they like it and then capture their response.
OR Look at this cute book I found on my friends website!
24. There are Santa apps that let you add Santa and other things into YOUR real photo! Be sure to check them out as they are really fun.
25. Photos of elder family members with heirloom/antique ornaments and the story behind them.
Checklist for decorating the tree
- Christmas Tree – there are many types of trees available. When buying one, be sure to look for prelit with stand for ease of setup and pay attention to the size of the tree (height and circumference).
- Tree stand (most prelit trees come with a stand, be sure to check before buying)
- Tree skirt – Place the tree skirt around the bottom of the tree to give it that classy, homey look and feel.
- Lights – when buying lights for the tree, be sure to look for strands that connect to other strands (plugs on both ends). Start at the bottom of the tree with the first strand plugged in (so you know how much you need to reach the tree) and wind your way around and up, plugging the next strand in to the previous one as you move up the tree.
- Ornaments – wether home made or purchased, the decorations make the tree! A fun idea is to purchase one ornament a year that represents that year. It’s a wonderful way to capture precious memories and hand them down!
- Examples: Just married, year child was born, new house, went skiing for the first time, Kindergarden, graduation, first car etc
- Ornament hooks – I prefer the stronger metal ones. The green plastic type hooks bend out of shape causing the ornament to fall. Somehow I end up needing to replace missing hooks somewhere every year!
- Star or topper – top the tree with something that makes you smile and warms the heart! There are beautiful stars, angels, snowmen, Mickey Mouse, or even Santa!
- Hot chocolate and marshmallows
- Christmas music
We always put our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving giving us three days to get the tree and house decorated and marking the start of our Christmas season.
When the kids were little I would stress over where the ornaments were and how the tree looked. Now, no stress. I’ve learned it doesn’t matter.
“What matters is the love I have for those tiny hands putting the ornaments on the tree and the memories we are making while doing it!”
~ Tammey
Tree Decorating Tips (Lots of Experience Talking Here!)
- As the tree gets filled in be sure to take pictures. Digital photos make it easy to snap away and pick the best later!
- Focus on how sweet it is that they are having so much fun and how great the scrapbooking layouts will look with these photos.
- Remember: Treasured memories are being made!
- As the tree gets filled in be sure to take pictures. Digital photos make it easy to snap away and pick the best later!
- Focus on how sweet it is that they are having so much fun and how great the scrapbooking layouts will look with these photos.
- Remember: Treasured memories are being made!