Your Holiday Photo Checklist for Capturing Perfect Snapshots *and* Candid Moments
Don’t get us wrong — we’re all for snapping photos of every holiday moment under the sun. But what’s the trick to taking photos that you’ll truly treasure for years to come? Here’s the secret: Aim to capture the candid in-between moments and the moments that happen year after year. And most importantly, share them with your loved ones upon taking them, rather than letting them gather dust in your phone or camera.
Oftentimes, it’s the silly photos, the reaction shots, those uncurated, unfiltered snapshots that your loved ones want to see, especially for families who live far away from each other. That’s why we’re teaming up with Google Home Hub to bring you a simple and sweet checklist of the most important holiday moments to capture and share.
Before we get to this handy dandy checklist, let’s talk about the reason we take photos in the first place. To share the special moments with our loved ones, wherever they may be. We look to Google Home Hub and Google Photos to masterfully share these important photos on our behalf. With the live albums feature in Google Photos, you can see all the latest photos of your loved ones on Google Home Hub. Paired with the brilliant live albums feature from Google Photos, your Google home Hub can show you an automatically updating stream of photos taken of you and your loved ones — even if those loved ones are outside of your home. You simply select the people that you want to see photos of and watch as the most recent photos of them automatically sync to Google Home Hub.
Psst: Learn how to set up live albums on Google Photos and view them on Google Home Hub via these simple instructions.
Now, to make capturing (and sharing!) cute, candid, nostalgia-inducing photos easy as pie, we asked our Chief Creative Officer, Anjelika Temple, to share her go-to holiday photo checklist.
Anj here, officially rolling into my second holiday season with a little one, and getting prepped for snapping photos of annual traditions, our first Christmas in our new house, and, of course, sharing all sorts of holiday goodness with our friends and family near and far. My husband and I are lucky enough to have four (that’s right, FOUR) sets of parents. They’re all based on the East Coast, so sharing photos of our daughter Anokhi is a daily activity, and the holidays are no exception. Being able to see photos of Anokhi or of our whole family on Google Home Hub, instead of batch texting at the end of each day, is a game-changer.
Here’s my running checklist for all the photos I want to capture and share this holiday season. I hope it inspires you to make your own!
1. This year’s version of Mama’s classic holiday craft. Capture and share this year’s masterful rendition of the annual holiday DIY. I added embroidery to a knit stocking for Anokhi last year, and this year I’m adding pom pom trim. Over the years I’m excited to see how it keeps evolving! It feels good to make something that has a new version every year for the holidays, and something that will spark nostalgia when you look back at it.
2. Christmas Eve pre-present pandemonium. Like many families, we have a big Christmas Eve dinner and open up one present. Let your little one choose her one special present, and be sure to give your phone to a friend or family member to capture that pure toddler joy.
3. Your little one making the rounds on Christmas morning. Christmas morning is insane, especially with presents and people and food and all that good stuff. Capture photos of your little one on the move, moving from presents to dancing to a cookie, and back around again. Anokhi was particularly enamored with ornaments and opening and closing gift boxes.
4. Signature sing-a-long. My daughter Anokhi is obsessed with a handful of kid songs and is also pretty into turning into a monkey halfway through boogie-ing down to these tunes. Chances are, your son, daughter, niece, or nephew has their own take on an addictive song and dance. And that is definitely some footage your far-away family wants to see!
5. The full family photo. Gotta get it, even if the creatures aren’t exactly cooperating. Make sure you have a friend or family ready to be extremely silly behind the camera for maximum smiles (and hopefully minimal meltdowns).
6. Dad rocking the cheesy Christmas gear you bust out every year. We’ve all got that one family member who sports an iconic holiday uniform every year, whether it’s his idea or not is still up for debate ;) Capture and share this year’s take on the get-up.
Allllright, ready to survive and thrive this holiday season? You’ve got your shot list to capture memorable gems, and Google Home Hub and Google Photos can do the rest :) Photos or it didn’t happen! Happy holidays, from the Temple family to yours.
What’s on your holiday must-share shot list? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @BritandCo!
Authors: Maddie Bachelder + Anjelika Temple
Production + Styling: Maddie Bachelder + Alexa Land
Photography: Brittany Griffin
Sequences simulated and shortened. Google Photos account required.
