5 tips to ensure festive lights look magical on your smartphone screen

As Brits have been promised a ‘normal’ Christmas, celebrations, traditions and festivities amongst families and friends will be in full force. Soon, our phones will be filled with our merriest moments, from decorating the Christmas tree to the Christmas light switch on, with these being shared on our social media accounts for our followers to connect with.

With data by PastBook revealing Brits are expected to capture an additional 10 billion holiday snaps, PastBook – a leading photo book company – has complied a few simple ways to capture the Christmas lights so they look just as magical on your smartphone screen.

Forget flash

The lighting of your festive shots can make a huge difference. When shooting the twinkling outdoor lights, activate the ‘night mode’ feature on your camera phone. This flashless setting allows you to light up the night and capture unique night-time photos.

Timing is everything

Taking a beautiful shot of festive lights can often be challenging. Yet the trick to getting great snaps of outdoor light displays is to begin shooting at dusk – around 5pm. Dusk is an optimal time to shoot, with the darkened sky allowing your smarphone camera to lock the focus on the dazzling displays.

The Christmas tree

When capturing your sparkling tree, portrait mode is a must. Creating a depth-of-field effect – which lets you capture photos with a sharp focus on the subject with a blurred background – portrait mode is a failsafe way to capture professional-looking images effortlessly. When using this feature, it is important to note that the further away from your subject, the more out of focus your background will be.

Festive filters

Why not try out the array of built-in filters on your camera phone. Using these filters you can create warmer versions of the light display, cooler versions, more vivid colours, black-and-white looks, and more.

Unusual angles and perspectives

Typically, we shoot our images at eye level, yet capturing an image from an extra-ordinary perspective can bring uniqueness to even the most basic images. Why not experiment with a combination of eye-level, high-angle, and low-angle shots to elevate your festive light shot.