For this month, December 2023, the theme challenge is “Holiday Portrait“. This month you will have the opportunity to create a photograph of family during the Holiday season. Keep it simple, use natural light and have fun creating a treasured memory. You can take a portrait, indoors or outdoors of pretty much anyone or group doing something relating to a holiday activity. In the photo below, I had an opportunity to create an image with my grandson picking out a Christmas tree.

Take what you learned with last months challenge to help with capturing this months assignment; quality and direction of light, subject position in relation to the activity or prop, head in a clean spot, framing and separation from the background. When taking a portrait your main concern is depth of field so start with Aperture Priority mode and auto ISO, let the camera choose the Shutter Speed, just ensure your subject is relatively still in case the camera chooses a slower Shutter Speed not suitable if your subject is moving.

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below are a few YouTube video links to give you some hints, tips and ideas on portrait photography during the holiday season:
■ How to Shoot Family Portraits During the Holidays by B&H Photo Video Pro Audio (2 min. 5 sec.)
■ 5 Tips for Creating Authentic Natural Light Family Portraits by Adorama (7 min. 32 sec.)
■ 11 ideas for STUNNING Christmas Photos at Home by Mango Street (7 min. 50 sec.)

If you want to share your image there is no facility to upload your image here, however just paste your social media link of your image in your comment and we’ll be able to see your image. Please note comments are moderated so it will not show up right away, however we do get a notification when any comment is posted so it won’t take long to get approved and subsequently show up. By posting your social media link of your image in your comment, it gives everyone visiting the bog a chance to not only see your image for the challenge but also the ability to look at your other work as well by visiting your social media through your link. We want sharing to be a positive experience and we hope you have fun with this month with this challenge.

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.