How to Get Great Photos of Your Christmas Tree.

I know this is kinda late but you've still got time to take some photos of your tree, if you're like me you leave it up till New Years Day anyway ;) 
I have had people ask how to get those glowing/sparkly photos of their Christmas tree with a dslr camera so I am here to tell you how!

First, here is an average photo of my tree.  The camera settings I used were: ISO 2500  f 2.2  1/80 sec  

I didn't have lights on in my living room so I had to use a high ISO, most basic dslr cameras will only go to about 1600 ISO so if I were using a camera like that, I would have had an even darker photo like this...

Not a very good photo, huh? 

But, by using a tripod and a sloooooow shutter speed, you can get much better results!

First, you will need to have a basic understanding of how to adjust your settings manually on your camera.  Also, as I mentioned you will need a tripod because you will be using a very slow shutter speed and your image will be extremely blurry if you don't use one. 

It will take some patience and experimenting in order to get it just right but just play with it.  The settings I used are just a guideline and I was in a dark room so depending on your lighting situation, you will need to adjust the settings accordingly. 

For this image, I used the following settings:  ISO 500  f/32  ss 30 sec (yes, that is 30 seconds :)  See how much better this photo turned out?  Notice I used a very small aperture (high number) of f/32.  This creates that starry effect you see!  But the smaller aperture you use, the less light that is let into the camera. 

I liked the starry look of that photo but I wanted more light so I adjusted my aperture a bit for this photo to f/16.  (I also could have bumped up my ISO)

So, settings for this photo were ISO 400  f/16  ss 30sec

What a difference from the first photo!  (All of these images are un-edited/SOOC.)  Now you can take great photos of your Christmas tree without feeling disappointed that the photos don't do it justice!  Happy picture-taking!

Merry Christmas, everyone!




All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Our Christmas Trees

Here is a look at our Christmas trees this year.  I am posting from my parents house so I just have some quick images of the trees, nothing detailed but enough for a quick post.  :)

This is our little tree in the new bonus room.  It was our first tree from when we rented and didn't have room for a larger tree.  It's a little sad and spindly, but I tried to dress it up a bit.  It is decorated in silver and white with ornaments from the Dollar Tree and things I got on clearance after Christmas last year.  I always try to keep it frugal with Christmas decorating since it is only up for a few weeks out of the year (but I still try to make it pretty!)

In this view from our living room, you can see both of our trees.  I love this view!

This is our 'big' tree in the living room decorated in red and gold.  I positioned it in front of a window so that passers-by could see our tree from the road.  :)

(When I get home, I plan to post about how you can get your Christmas tree to sparkle and glow in pictures!  It's really easy and makes such a big difference!)
And these are a few 'trees' we have in the entry-way (they are clearance finds from JC Penney one year.)

We do have one more tree in the house (Hayden's) but I didn't get any pictures of it before we left on our trip.  The poor thing looks a little sad since Hayden has re-arranged it several times and has thrown toys into it, etc...  Funny because he doesn't touch my big trees.  I have them decorated with glass ornaments and never had a problem with him grabbing them.  I wonder if baby Ava will be just as 'friendly' with my ornaments?  ;) 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season!

p.s. I am linking up to Sarah's Christmas Tree Party! (late...)

All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Christmas Mantel

For my Christmas mantel, I kept it frugal and simple.  I dreamed of a gorgeous mantel complete with a huge mirror and large wreath, lots of mercury glass, fluffy greenery, (I could go on and on....)  But, alas, I did not have the funds to support that dream mantel.  So, I used lots of things I already had (I always try to hit up the after Christmas clearances for the next years decorating) and purchased just a couple new things at Marshals.

The old window has been on my mantel since we put it up in the new bonus room (that I am still working on....maybe someday I will post about it!)  Anyway, the wreath I have had for several years but it still had some life in it :)

As for the garland spray on the mantel, I used several things I purchased on clearance last year after Christmas.  Lighted evergreen garland, large artificial white poinsettias, some silvery ball thingys and the glittery (and very messy!) twisties.  The only things I purchased new this year were the silver ball garland and mercury glass globes at Marshals for under $30 total for all.

My silver stockings were another clearance purchase from last year :)  I just love those after-Christmas sales!  I try to never buy Christmas decor for full-price (but there is the occasional impulse buy for something that I really want like those beautiful mercury glass globes ;)

So, there you have it.  My frugal and simple wintery Christmas mantel. 

I don't know about you, but Christmas is really sneaking up on me this year!  I cannot believe how close it is and I hate to say it but I am really behind in my Christmas shopping!  Looks like I will be finishing it up last minute as usual! 

I am linking up to Rhoda's mantel party!  Take a look at the hundreds of beautiful Christmas mantels that are there!

All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Christmas in Indiana

I know this post is a little late...but better late that never, right?  ;)
Since a picture is worth a thousand words (and I have a ton of pics!) I will mostly let them speak for themselves and due to the sheer number of photos, I made collages so that this post isn't ridiculously long! (Since there were SO many pics, I did little to no editing except converting some to b&w so most of these are straight out of the ol' camera.) 

We'll start with cookie-making on Christmas Eve...

Hayden was supposed to 'decorate' one and ate all the icing (and most of the cookie) and was pretty wired for the rest of the night!  :p
Next is presents on Christmas morning...

I took a million more pics that morning, but I'll spare you  ;)

Got out for some fun in the snow...

Played a rousing game of "Bezzerwizzer" (me & Jeff lost.)

One night we went to "Incredible Pizza Co." for dinner...it's kinda like Chuck E Cheese on steroids ;)

They had all kinds of stuff for kids young and old (and adults too) but we were mostly there for little man.  Although, I had hoped to ride the go-carts with Jeff but wasn't able to...I was not too happy about that  :-( 
We also went to the Children's Museum.  Hayden had a blast!

Hayden even had his own 'big boy room' at my parents house!  They made such a cute room for him and he loved it!

He did really well sleeping in the toddler bed even though he is still in a crib at home.  We just had to teach him that he was not allowed to get out of bed when it was time to go to sleep.  He was such a big boy!
I'm so glad that he got to spend some time with my parents.  It was nice having some extra time there and not having to rush back home right after Christmas.  We have been back home for a week and are getting back into our routines.  (And I am still working on un-packing and getting everything put away!) 
I'm thankful for a safe trip and a wonderful Christmas with family.  We are so blessed :)

Let the Festivities Begin!

Since we planned to leave for Indiana on Thursday, we celebrated Christmas here in Knoxville this week.  Tuesday, we celebrated with Jeff's family at his mom's house.  That's where Hayden got to open his first Christmas gift of the season! 
He got a pj's and a pillow pet from Mamaw.

Playing peek-a-boo with his hat (and wearing daddy's new tie)  :p

Jeff recieved a mysterious gift from his brother Ray...

First of all, let me just say that this little guy did not come home with us! 
Jeff's niece noticed a box moving under the tree and asked my mother in law about it but she didn't give it much thought.  We all had a big laugh about this interesting gift. 
Mamaw Judy got all the kids pj's and they all decided to change into them after they opened them.  I got a quick pic of all of them in their new pj's.

Look at my handsome little man in his monkey pj's  ;)

Wednesday we had Christmas at our house.  After dinner, we let Hayden open his gifts from us and Jeff and I opened ours to each other.  Hayden was very excited about all his new stuff!
First, he spotted his gift from "Santa." 

Side note:  You'll have to excuse the bad terrible quality of the pics, it was dark and we have really poor lighting in the living room thanks to the 'night light' in the ceiling fan I purchased for this room.  I refuse to use flash.  Ever.  And my little enrty-level DSLR just doesn't have the capability to handle such dimly lit coniditions (guess I need to upgrade;)   Wow, that was a long explanation.  I guess the fact is that I am just embarassed of the quality of these pics.  There, I said it. 

Anyhoo, back to what "Santa" brought Hayden...

I told Jeff I don't really think it's fair that Santa gets credit for stuff unless he sends me some money :p

Opening some more presents

Love this little Crayola toy, but I hope he doesn't now think that he can color on all his toys...

Hayden with all of his gifts from mommy & daddy (and Santa.)

He was so excited I think he could have played with his toys all night.  When he finally did go to bed, he wanted to bring his pillow pet & sock monkey

Oh, and look what Santa brought me!

You know you're an adult (or someone that takes a bazillion pictures) when you ask for stuff like this for Christmas... ha!

A Christmas Treat

Made these up for Jeff to give out to his co-workers as Christmas gifts.  (Of course I tried a couple myself...)
I guess they could be called "white candy covered Oreos."  I had wanted to make white chocolate ones, but to make a long story short, I sent the hubby to get the chocolate & got the 'candy coating.'  It still tasted good, so I hope the recipients don't mind the faux chocolate  ;)
Santa would probably like these better than the ol' sugar cookies we're planning to leave out for him...  ;)

Ugh, I took these photos after dark, hence the really poor lighting  :-/

Christmas Lights and a Baby

I saw an idea on a photography forum that everyone was doing so I thought I would try it with my little guy.  I am always looking for a photo op!  ;) 
Anyway, they didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped but Hayden was giving me some pretty cute expressions!  I put together a little collage...

The many faces of Hayden:

I also loved the way these looked in b&w so I converted a couple few several...

one of my faves even though his face is not completely in focus, kinda what happens when you shoot wide-open with a busy toddler (probably not the smartest decision on my part!)

Maybe Santa will bring mommy some external memory for all these photos I take...they are beginning to eat up some serious memory in my computer!  :-/

Christmas for the Children with Julianne Hough, a benefit concert.

For those of you who don't know, my husband works at a community mental health center (Helen Ross McNabb) as a clinician.  They have a Christmas for the Children program where they provide Christmas for several needy families during the holiday season.  Last night they had a concert benefitting the program and raised $7500!  It gave me and Jeff an opportunity to donate to a great cause and enjoy a  fun date night as well!  It was a wonderful, intimate concert of only about 150 attendees.  I brought my camera but made the regretful decision to use my 50mm lens instead of my zoom lens!  (The 50mm is like a permanent fixture on my camera and I didn't even think to replace it with the zoom lens so I could get 'up close' shots.  SO, you will have to excuse the heads and random bodies in the photos  ;)

So cute, Jeff was getting his ticket signed by the pretty girl  ;)

All the McNabbers & Julianne

We were able to meet her briefly (basically, I shook her hand and said hi) and have our photo taken with her.  They had a professional photog that took our pic with Julianne and they are mailing them to us.  They made me & Jeff get ours together since we were a 'couple.'  But, later I saw people asking her for pictures & snapping them with their own cameras/phones.  I was going to have Jeff take a picture of me & her together but by that time, she was on her way out and people kept asking her for pics and saying "last one" so I decided not to try to get one.  My fear of annoying the crap out of her by asking for another pic outweighed my want for one.  ha!  We also got to chat with her guitarist for a bit (we ran into him in the lobby & Jeff wanted to tell him he did a good job.)  He was really nice and even asked us what we what we were doing (after the show.)  I'm sure he was just being nice but Jeff seems to think he wanted us to come to an after-party.  Kidding.  I don't even think there was an 'after party' and I'm sure he could tell we were an old married couple, especially after I told him our 'big plans' for the night included picking up our toddler from the sitter & heading home  ;)
It was a good night.  A nice Christmasy party since I don't get to go to a company party anymore and Jeff doesn't have company Christmas parties.   It's funny how much you enjoy getting out for an evening after you become a parent!  I have to admit though, I was pretty excited to see my little guy when we got home (he got to have a 'date' too at his girlfriend Victoria's house!)

Christmas Home Tour

So, the Nester is having an awesome Christmas Tour of Homes linky party and I just had to link up!  A lot of these photos are from my previous posts, but there are a couple newbies and I will probably add a little to this later since I am not 'done' but my impatience got the best of me (as usual.)  I didn't go all-out this year since I don't have tons of Christmas decor and this SAHM is on a budget!  ;)  I am, however, looking forward to hitting some day-after-Christmas sales with my mom this year and hoping to score some great stuff for next year!!!
Here is some of our home for Christmas...
Starting with the front door  :)  My DIY mossy wreath (which is getting featured on Polly Want a Crafter 12/16/10!)

Next is the enrty table...

I did pretty much the same thing last year except this year I added a wreath above the table and I love it!

Next is the dining room complete with my DIY cardholder...

I added a little Christmas cheer to the chandelier...

And to the candle holders...  (you can find the post on both of those here)

This is all I managed to do in the kitchen  :p

And of course the trees...

 My little man has a tree for his room and I staged this little photo of him sleeping in front of the tree.  I will cherish it for years to come!

The changing table/hutch in Hayden's room...

Some gifts are already under the tree.  A decision I regret since I failed to realize that my son would be very curious about them!  ;)

A little centerpiece for the ottoman that doubles as a coffee table...
please excuse the crappy/grainy quality...it was DARK and my camera did not like the high ISO setting  :)

I wanted to put some glittery acorns in the tray, but I did not have any tonight, so the ornaments will do for now.

The vase is filled with a yummy smelling scented mixture of pinecones and such...

And of course a bokeh tree photo!

*update*

I did a little in our room...basically, I just hung this wreath and put some 'snow' in my little mini vases  ;)

As you can see, I didn't bother to clean the baby handprints off my mirror before I hung it  :p

Here is the link to the Tour of Homes party!  There are lots of homes to look at, so be prepared to stay a while if you decide to browse around!  :)