How to photograph the magic of Christmas

I’m that person who buys their Christmas tree (always real) in mid-November, keen to string up my lights and start taking photos. I love the warmth of festive photography: the twinkling lights fading to bokeh, the glow of a fire and the flickering candlelight. I bring warmth to my photography year-round – whether I’m shooting a sun-drenched hotel or a cosy mountain lodge – but Christmas is when I get to lean into it completely.

Festive photography can be harder than you think. The days are shorter, so there’s less natural light for a start. Plus, you’ve got fairy lights, candlelight and other light sources to consider (my top tip: never turn on overhead lights, no matter how tempting it is). Shooting hotels, cabins and cottages for most of my work, I’m used to capturing dimly lit spaces – and I love the festive season for the extra bokeh and different lighting it lets me play with. Seek out the warm glow and the small moments that tell a story, and that’s how you bring the magic of Christmas to life in a photograph. Here are my nine expert tips for photographing the festive season.

Embrace soft and warm lighting

All my favourite festive photos use warm, cosy lighting. I light candles, make a fire and turn on table lamps and fairy lights to create a soft, incandescent glow that captures the feel of Christmas. It can be tempting to play around with your white balance, but I prefer to shoot with this set to auto, then add the warmth back in post-production, if necessary. For a tight shot of a product, or when capturing food and drink, try placing your chosen object in front of the Christmas tree or a fire for a warm glow, or add candlelight in the foreground. Under no circumstances turn on the “big” lights – they’ll cast unsightly shadows and the colour is too cold.

Create bokeh using fairy lights

Nothing conjures up Christmas magic like golden bokeh twinkling in the background of your shots. You can easily create bokeh (the out-of-focus, blurred lights) by using a wide aperture – I like to shoot at f/1.4 or f/1.8 to create this effect. Position your subject in front of fairy lights, focus – and voilà!

Take your camera for a festive walk

It’s lovely to build up a cosy gallery of your favourite festive moments at home, but you can find equally atmospheric seasonal photo opportunities outside. Bundle up, grab your camera and head out for a walk, keeping an eye out for anything that tells the story of Christmas. Capture the warm glow of indoor ambient lighting behind a wreath hanging on a glass door. Seek out the most over-the-top festive lights in your neighbourhood. Look for footsteps in frost, icicles hanging amid fairy lights, or smoke rising from a chimney in the snow. The most magical moments are often the most mundane, dusted with a little festive sparkle.

Capture glowing windows as the sun sets

Every Christmas I visit Haworth, a village where the quaint cobbled Main Street glows with the festive window displays of independent shops and restaurants. To capture these windows at their most magical, I wait until dusk, before the sun dips below the horizon. The contrast between the gloomy light outside and the golden light inside reflects the festive spirit, but you need to shoot while there’s still enough ambient light to make out the details outside. If you’re taking pictures at blue hour (the moments after the sun has set), consider using a tripod so you can shoot at a slower shutter speed.

Shoot decorations somewhere unexpected

Sure, you can photograph your favourite baubles hanging on your tree, but my favourite shots of Christmas decorations have come from looking somewhere unexpected. For this image of Jess Wheeler’s metal leaf decoration, I ventured to a misty forest where I positioned the leaf to reflect the minimal light. I love taking self-portraits where I hold small glittery baubles indoors and outdoors, focusing on the decorations while my arm fades into a soft blur. If you have a fir tree in your garden, try hanging baubles from its branches and shooting with the glow of your house lights in the background.

Embrace candlelight when capturing your Christmas table

For a warm, candlelit shot of your Christmas table, open your curtains for natural daylight, turn off all the lights and find a box of matches. Position dinner candles along the table – I like to stagger them so some are closer to the camera – and focus on an object such as a bottle of champagne or a centrepiece. Crystal glassware is great for reflecting light: the glow of the candles and the natural daylight will bounce off its intricate surfaces. If you place a glass in the foreground of your shot, you can capture some bokeh or diffused soft light.

Experiment with focus 

Whatever the time of year, I love getting creative with focus – but Christmas is the perfect time to play around with light. One shot I try to capture each year is an out-of-focus photograph of my Christmas tree, where its shape and the bokeh of the fairy lights showcase the instantly recognisable silhouette in an interesting way. This can also work for close-up shots of branches with decorations and lights. You’ll want as wide an aperture as possible here too – ideally f/1.4 or f/1.8.

Frame shots through the foreground

Another way to add interest and a little magic to your festive photography is to play around with the foreground of your images. I shot for Glebe House just before Christmas last year, and wanted to bring out the ambiance of the house decorated for the festive season, but from a different angle than the photos they already had. For one image, I positioned my camera behind the branches of the Christmas tree, so the doorway beyond sits amid the bokeh of the tree lights. For the entrance hall, I perched on the stairs and shot through the bannister to partially obscure one side of the frame. This blend of light and blur in the foreground adds depth to the shots. You could also try shooting through a plant, a vase of dried flowers or a window frame.

Photograph the small moments

Christmas isn’t just about a perfectly decorated tree, a pile of beautifully wrapped gifts and a table of food you’ve agonised over – the imperfect moments in between are what make the season memorable. Shoot a family member pouring champagne as it bubbles over the top of the glass, your partner messily wrapping gifts, a half-eaten mince pie left on a plate by the fire, or even the carnage left over once the festive feast is complete. Keep your eye out for those special, fleeting moments that you’ll later be glad you preserved – photograph your loved ones naturally rather than asking them to stop what they’re doing and pose. Focus on the mess, not just the perfection.