Unconventional Holiday Portraiture: Creative Ideas to Try This SeasonThe holiday season brings a predictable flurry of photography: staged family portraits, sparkling Christmas lights, and candid moments around the dinner table. While these memories are precious, they often fall into a routine formula. This year, taking a more creative, artistic approach can turn standard holiday photos into lasting, emotive art. Stepping outside the traditional, cozy narrative allows for more dramatic, intimate, and memorable imagery. Here are several underrated portrait photography techniques to try this holiday season.
Embrace the Moody Holiday PortraitHoliday photography often focuses on bright, high-key images that scream festive cheer. However, embracing moody, low-key lighting can create incredibly atmospheric portraits. Instead of lighting a subject with a bright tree behind them, try placing your subject in a dimly lit room, using only the ambient glow from the tree lights or a single candle to illuminate their face. This creates dramatic shadows and emphasizes the quiet, intimate feeling of the holidays. Use a wide aperture, such as
, to keep the focus sharp on the eyes while letting the background lights melt into beautiful, soft bokeh.
Capture Intimate Details and Close-UpsPortraits do not always need to show the entire face or body. The holidays are filled with tactile, intimate moments that deserve close-up attention. Focus on the details: hands wrapping a gift, the tension in fingers holding a warm mug, or a close-up of a subject’s eyes reflecting festive lights. A
macro lens, or simply moving in closer with a standard prime, allows for capturing these quiet, emotional details. These shots, often overlooked, provide a different, more personal perspective on the celebration.
Utilize Creative Glass Refractions and ReflectionsAdd a magical, dreamy quality to holiday portraits by shooting through glass or using reflections. Bring a prism, a simple glass ornament, or a wine glass into the frame to create beautiful light leaks and reflections. Holding a transparent ornament directly in front of the lens can distort the background lights into artistic, colorful shapes while keeping the subject, viewed through the center of the glass, in sharp focus. This technique adds a layer of depth and holiday magic that is hard to replicate in post-processing.
Experiment with Slow Shutter and Intentional Camera MovementHolidays are often chaotic, and slow shutter photography can beautifully capture that energy. By lowering your shutter speed to
of a second or slower, you can turn moving lights into streaks and blur motion, conveying the festive bustle. Try intentional camera movement (ICM) while shooting subjects holding sparklers or standing near busy, lit-up areas. A slight, deliberate twist or vertical movement of the camera during a long exposure can transform a standard portrait into an abstract, impressionistic painting of holiday light.
Focus on Authentic Environmental PortraitsInstead of directing subjects to look at the camera, document them in their natural holiday environment. This means photographing someone intensely focused on assembling a toy, looking at the fire with a pensive expression, or laughing genuinely at a story. The key is to be a quiet observer. Using a longer lens from a distance allows for capturing authentic, candid expressions without disrupting the moment. These environmental portraits, showing the subject interacting with their festive surroundings, create a more genuine narrative of the season.
The festive season offers a unique blend of light, emotion, and activity that is perfect for experimentation. By stepping away from the standard, posed holiday photo, these techniques offer a way to create truly unique, evocative imagery. Embracing the moodiness, focusing on intimate details, playing with light, and documenting candid, environmental moments will lead to a more artistic and memorable collection of holiday portraits.
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