Creative Techniques to Try During the Holidays | by Holly Awwad
The holiday season is the perfect time to get creative with your photography. With twinkling lights, festive decor, and an abundance of inspiration, there’s no shortage of opportunities to experiment with new techniques. Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or just looking to add some festive flair to your portfolio, here are four creative ways to capture the magic of the season.
1. Festive Shaped Bokeh
Bokeh adds a magical touch to holiday photos, and creating custom-shaped bokeh takes it to the next level. This technique involves turning light sources into festive shapes like stars, hearts, or Christmas trees.
How to achieve it:
Cut a small piece of black cardstock, or thick paper, to match the size of your lens. You can trace the shape of your lens on the paper, and then leave an extra inch or so around the outside of circle. Then use scissors to cut notches around the outside of the traced circle.
In the center, cut out your desired shape. Using a hole punch or a craft/X-Acto knife works best. You can get festive shaped hole punches and X-Acto knives very inexpensively at a craft store or on Amazon! Make sure your cut shape or hole punch is not too small. 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch is the ideal size for this technique.
Attach the paper over your lens, bending the notches around the outside of your lens, attaching the paper notches to your lens with tape or a rubber band. Make sure the shape is centered on your lens.
Set your camera to a wide aperture (f/1.8 to f/2.8) and position lights (such as a Christmas tree or string lights) in the background.
Focus on a subject in the foreground while the lights blur into your chosen shape. Move farther and closer to the tree and experiment with the size of your bokeh.
LENSBABY: Instead of cutting out card stock, I used a Lensbaby Double Glass II that has removable magnetic aperture discs to achieve my star and starburst shaped bokeh! It’s the same concept as described above, but the Lensbaby adds an extra bit of bokeh magic with the radial blur! Lensbaby Double Glass II and Soft Focus II both come with removable aperture discs with cut out shapes in them that make your bokeh into amazing shapes and textures!
This technique is perfect for festive portraits, still life, or even abstract holiday images.
Learn More About Creating with Lensbaby in this great course!
2. Intentional Camera Movement
Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) creates a painterly effect, turning holiday lights into beautiful streaks or zooms of color. This abstract approach is perfect for capturing the energy of the season in a completely unique way.
How to achieve it:
Set your camera to a slow shutter speed (1/10 to 1 second is a good starting point).
Use a tripod for control or hand-hold your camera for more freedom.
Frame your subject—holiday lights work wonderfully here.
While the shutter is open, move your camera in smooth motions—try panning, swirling, or even zigzagging.
You can also use a zoom lens (like I did in the middle image above) and zoom your lens in and out as you press the shutter to get an amazing zoomy bokeh effect!
Experiment with different movements to see what patterns you can create. This technique works great in low-light settings, making it ideal for nighttime light displays or indoor holiday decor. But you can do it in daylight too! Check out the video below of Becky Wilde doing some outdoor ICM! You can see that the movements are subtle and repetitive and very much an experiment! But look at the beautiful effect she created!
Above images and video by Becky Wilde
3. Holiday Flat Lay
Flat lay photography is all about storytelling from a bird’s-eye view. Holiday-themed flat lays are perfect for showcasing festive items or treats in a fun, organized way. I love to do flat lays for food photography, and I love capturing our annual letter to Santa from this perspective as well!
How to achieve it:
Gather props that will help tell your story such as ornaments, pinecones, wrapping paper, cookies, festive treats, and ribbons. Choose a color palette to tie everything together. I also like to add texture by adding a knit blanket (or even a sweater draped to look like a blanket).
Use a flat, even surface like a tabletop and place your props in an intentional arrangement. Arranging items with strong composition in mind, such as using groups of odd numbers in your scene (the rule of odds), rule of thirds, golden spiral, or other compositions that are pleasing to the eye.
Position your camera directly above the setup, ensuring your lens is parallel to the surface. I stand on a chair or step ladder, but you can also use a tripod with a swing arm and position it over the top of your flat lay.
Use natural light near a window or soft artificial light for even illumination. I prefer to move my table next to a window, and turn off any overhead lighting for soft, directional light that falls off into shadow. This gives your scene nice dimension.
For sharp images, shoot with a smaller aperture (f/5.6 or higher) to ensure everything is in focus from the top down.
I often like to add a human element to my flat lays to make them more personal, but you definitely don’t have to!
Don’t be afraid to rearrange props and play with textures until you’re satisfied with the composition.
4. Macro/Close-Up Details of the Season
Holiday details are everywhere, from frost-dusted berries to the intricate designs on ornaments. Macro and close up photography helps you highlight the beauty in these tiny seasonal moments.
Image by Abi Coop @abicoop28
How to achieve it:
Use a macro lens or extension tubes/macro filters to get close to your subject. If you don’t have one of those options, try reverse freelensing where you detach your lens from the camera and shoot with your lens held up backwards against your camera body! This creates a magnifying effect that allows you to shoot up close!
Focus on small details like the shimmer of tinsel, the texture of wrapping paper, or the sparkle of frost on a window.
Choose soft, diffused lighting to avoid harsh shadows. Natural light on overcast days works beautifully for this.
When shooting up close, your autofocus may hunt for a focal point… so try manually focusing your lens or using Focus Peaking to make sure your focal point is nice and sharp.
Ensure that you are using a fast shutter speed that is hand-holdable to avoid motion blur, or use a tripod!
Learn all about Macro & Close Up Photography in this great course!
To add an extra festive touch, position string lights in the background or foreground and let them blur into glowing bokeh. You can also have fun using bokeh overlays (like these) to add an extra touch of magic in post processing!
Image by Abi Coop @abicoop28
I hope you enjoyed these four ideas to help you get creative this holiday season! If you want an even more detailed explanation of getting creative and capturing the festive season, I highly recommend checking out this brand new course:
Let’s Celebrate: A Holiday Course with Abi Coop and Samantha Deakin!
The holidays are a time of wonder, and your photography should reflect that magic. Whether you’re experimenting with shaped bokeh, capturing the energy of holiday lights with ICM, or diving into the details with macro photography, these techniques will inspire you to see the season in a new way.
Grab your camera, embrace the holiday spirit, and let your creativity shine this season!
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