The holiday season is in full swing! Our home is buzzing with excitement and I am walking around with a goofy grin on my face because I just absolutely love this time of year. The anticipation, the planning – I just can’t help myself. And of course, with the holiday season, comes documenting moments and taking photos that exude the ambiance of this time of year. The kind that we will lovingly look back on, reminiscing about the ‘good ol’ days’ while drenching ourselves in the nostalgia of holiday memories. I wanted to share with you my 5 simple tips to capture the magic of the holidays. And my hope is that it inspires you over the next several months in all of your documenting endeavors.

Whenever I share family photos or films from our archives, I get asked how I document in a way that evokes so much emotion. Because there is a different between taking a photo and taking a photo. If you know you know. We want to translate the emotion and the ambiance of the moment through our documenting.

So let me share my 5 tips for documenting this time of year with intention and capturing that magic we find in the holiday season.

Tip 01: Find those ‘in-between’ moments

These are the quiter moments. Those moments “in-between” the bigger ones. They are the seemingly mundane pieces of our daily lives. The most simple of moments that, when strung together however, help to tell the story. And this time of year? Document the cozier moments.

It’s when they linger longer in bed to soak up the last bit of early morning cuddles. It’s the first fire of the season. Its little feet covered in socks, pitter-pattering on the kitchen floor. It’s wrapped up in blankets for family movie night. It’s hot cocoa while window shopping.

Capturing these kinds of moments captures the warmth and glow this holiday season brings us.

Tip 02: Document the changes in your surroundings

Do you live somewhere where it snows? Is it cloudy and overcast throughout the fall? Does downtown get donned up in twinkle lights where you always go for a weekend date night? Whatever it is, include it. Soak it in. It’s those details that give life to the season.

Tip 03: Be a fly on the wall

Those really meaningful photographs? They are usually the ones that require no pose, no smile, no “look at the camera and say cheese!”… be an observer. Watch for those moments that depict the very essence of this time of year.

Tip 04: Remember your own childhood

We all have those triggers that bring back the sentimental things we loved about growing up and the holidays. Maybe it’s baking your grandmother’s cookies or the excitement of running out the door to catch the first snowfall. Maybe it’s laying under the tree to stare at the Christmas lights. Whatever it was for you it will be for them too. Document it for them to relive when they are older and their heart yearns for those days. Give them photographs that will fill them with the reminder of home.

Tip 05: Make sure YOU are present in those holiday memories

Your story isn’t complete without you. Don’t let the word “selfie” turn you off. We are blessed with technology that makes it so easy for us to show up in documented memories. Make it happen. Include yourself. Bless them with photographs and memories where you are present. It’s a priceless gift that they will be thankful for again and again as the years go by.

Remember to look for those moments that pull at your own heartstrings over the next few months. Bring them together alongside the big, traditional moments and you will see the story of the season unfold. Some of the most wonderful times of the year, documented intentionally for you and your family. 

I hope these 5 simple tips to capture the magic of the holidays help you in all of your memory-keeping endeavors over this season!! For more tips, browse more of my posts here.

P.S. All of these photos were taken using my iPhone 11 Pro Max.