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How to photograph your family this Christmas - top tips from a Nikon specialist

See what Nikon Training School Specialist Ricci Chera has to say...

christmas photography
Andrea Caamano
Website Editor
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Christmas is just days away and while many look forward to disconnecting from everything and simply enjoying the festive period, others can't help but document every single moment: children next to the Christmas tree, cosy scenes by the warm fireplace, dreamy winter wonderland scenery...

And while many do just that, snapping away with their phone camera, others prefer to use a professional camera.

If you're one of the pro camera gang, you'll love this... HELLO! has spoken to Nikon Training School Specialist, Ricci Chera, who has a popular YouTube photography page, to get the best tips on how best to capture the holiday season with Nikon's latest camera, the Z 30. Keep scrolling for his top tips

A mum and a daughter decorating a Christmas tree together© Photo: Getty Images

Use Automatic modes

You can use the many automatic settings the Nikon Z 30 features. These automatic modes will give you the best setup for the scene you are filming, creating true-to-life colour and detail.

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Nikon Z 30 enables 4K video recording

4K Video Quality is great for so many different uses. If you want to film family moments, video the decorations going up or capture the rush to open presents, 4K will allow you to enjoy the memories for years to come. 4k is also more than enough for social media and even large-screen TVs.

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White balance

White balance can really adjust the look of vlogs, especially at Christmas time. A warmer white balance can really add to cosy indoor scenes, and Christmas lights will have a warmer glow. A colder, white balance can add to outdoor scenes making them appear colder, especially if the weather is cloudy or snowy.

A man with his eyes blindfolded whilst holding a present© Photo: Getty Images

Picture controls

Nikon Z 30 contains 20 creative picture controls. Each picture control can give you a distinctive look to your video and images. These creative picture controls can also be customized to change the level of contrast, colour, sharpness, brightness and many other qualities. These adjustments take effect right away, meaning less editing time.

Different Lenses

Nikon Z 30 has the ability to use lots of different Nikon Z lenses. Changing a lens can completely change the look of a vlog or still image. A different lens can give you access to different aperture settings. Aperture is the setting that can allow you to create beautiful blurry backgrounds, which is great for blurry Christmas lights in the background of a video.

Other lenses could give you access to more zoom, great for travel and Christmas-related events.

Time Lapse

Nikon Z30 allows you to capture timelapse videos with a mode called Timelapse Movie. A timelapse video captures a period of time and speeds it up. This can be a great way to capture the decorations being put up in a room, or the Christmas tree being put up with all the lights and decorations. If cooking is your thing, then Timelapse is a great way to capture the cooking process of a big Christmas dinner too.

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