Design Crafters

In my last few columns, I have been concentrating on some techniques you might wish to learn that will help you shoot the best photos for your Photo Christmas Cards.

My last blog entry covered some of the basics you should know about to shoot your Christmas card photo out of doors. In this column, I am going to assume you intend to take your Christmas card photo indoors.

If that’s the case, let’s review some tips I have for you.

Indoor photography often calls for a decision on how close your camera should be to your subject. Taking photos indoors often involves taking pictures of people, photographed against a backgroun — for example, a piece of furniture, a wall, or a plant. Any of these can cast shadows. Position your subject a suitable distance from your camera, and use your camera’s Focus preset feature.

Here’s a common set of steps many digital cameras offer for this feature:

1. Set the Mode dial to any setting.
2. Press the Focus button twice.
3. The manual focus indicator appears.
4. As I show you in the picture at the upper right of this post, turn the jog dial to select the 1.5 focus setting, ideal for a subject six 6 or seven 7 feet away.

Keep in mind that most digital cameras offer a variety of Focus preset distance settings. These settings are expressed in meters[md] — 0.1, 1.0, 2.0, and so on. To convert meters to inches and feet, remember that one 1 meter equals 39.3700787 inches, or 3.2808399 feet.

Next, you’ll want to be sure how to control your Christmas card photo’s background.

To reduce the shadowing effect of indoor background materials such as furniture, lamps, windows- and especially lights and decorations left over from last year’s tree-  solid- color cloth or posterboard works well.

Color cloths, blankets, or even towels, can work well when you drape them over shadow-producing background objects.

To control these conditions, some professional photographers use backlighting equipment such as umbrella reflectors or special canvasses.

Some umbrellas start as low as $35, and Studio Llights average around $100. A representative supply is available through RitzCamera.com (www.ritzcamera.com).

Oh, one more note of caution:

Be aware of the “glare monster.” Do not stand directly behind your camera, as because your face and camera may can reflect back through the glass, and on to your image.

I’ll have more indoor photo shooting tips tomorrow.