The ‘tis the season to be jolly’ season is just around the corner and most of us just can’t wait any longer anymore. If you weren’t able to spend Christmas last year with your family, you probably are looking forward to spending it with them this year.
Christmas is special. After all, it’s the most celebrated holiday in the entire world. Regardless of whether you’re a Catholic or not, Christmas is a great holiday to express and celebrate the love and joy around you. The Christmas air truly bonds people in a different way that other occasions couldn’t.
Nowadays, a lot of options are available as to how we can document and relive our joyous moments. With technology at its highest yet, it’s easy to share with the world our stories and experiences. If you want to document this coming holiday creatively but don’t know how to, read on to spark the ideas in your head.
1. Film cameras for a fuzzy yet dreamy holiday feel
When you look at old printed pictures of you and your family, do you get a fuzzy yet dreamy feel? Those shots that you can tell aren’t planned or curated at all. Just pure candid shots via a film camera and brought to life by film processing.
If you want to emanate a raw yet dreamy feel this holiday, you can document every candid and special moment using film cameras. Don’t limit yourself with certain shots to take. If you can, buy a couple of films that are enough to document the entire night.
Also, don’t be conscious of how the photos will turn out. Just enjoy the holiday and capture even the mundane moments to the big ones. After the holiday, you can have your films processed in a professional photo printing shop. Then, you can arrange the photos in a photo album and store some memorable ones in a photo frame of your choice. It’s up to you and whatever works for you!
2. Vlog it up!
One of the most successful platforms that rose to fame in the last decade was Youtube. A lot of people share their stories and experiences through a vlog. If you haven’t travelled the world yet, or you’re looking for ways on how you can do something you’ve never tried before, you can rely on Youtube for help and entertainment.
If you’re a private person who’s not really into posting your experiences, that’s okay. Just because you’re documenting something doesn’t mean you have to upload it to the internet. If you want to record the time that you’ll be spending with your family, do it!
Remove the voice in your head that pressures you to film at the right moment. There’s no ‘right moment’ to film at all. As long as you feel like recording, even if it’s just you and your family eating together, do it. It would be nice to have a video to look back on in the future.
Also, the great thing about vlogging for private purposes is that you don’t have to pressure yourself for something ‘fun’ to happen. You’re doing it because you want to record those special moments and so that you can reminisce about them with your family.
3. Snap collage
Have you tried making a collage before in school? Those projects where you just have to make a storyline using images from magazines and newspapers? Why don’t you do the same for your holiday memorabilia, too?
We can expect that you and your relatives will take hundreds of photos this coming holiday. Usually, when you take hundreds of photos of a single event, you won’t even remember that you had a photo of that certain moment until you accidentally see it. The thing with photos taken via mobile cameras is that people don’t look at them again. Unless they’re looking for something.
It would be such a waste if hundreds of photos would just be forgotten in your camera roll. Why don’t you collect photos from your family and combine them with the ones that you took? Then, you can have them turned into a photo collage. If you don’t have the time to make one, you can bring them to a photo printing shop. Inquire about their services and ask them if they can execute your idea in mind.
One great idea is to turn the photo collage into a “2021” design. Then, you can have the collage printed on a large acrylic frame so you can hang it in your home for display. If you have other creative ideas for a photo collage, don’t hesitate to have them executed!
4. Make a short video with the photos and clips that you’ve taken and share it in your family cloud
Since we rely on technology the most these days, why don’t we just utilise them as well for our holiday highlight reels? You can put all of the photos that you’ve taken in a slideshow and then include the short clips that you had as well. Then, you can add some fun edits such as texts and inside jokes that you and your family have.
Turning funny photos that you have into memes can be a great idea, too! Add some music, effects, and texts to make it into a comical video that you and your family can watch together. If you don’t have a shared cloud with your family, you can just save it on a flash drive or have it burned on a CD in a photo printing shop.
Make a lot of copies as well, just in case something happens to your original copy. That way, you can look back on your holiday happily and with a big laugh with your loved ones.
But more importantly, enjoy the holiday and live through it happily
The 4 tips I discussed above are just ways on how you can relive and revisit the coming holidays. But, the most important thing is that you live through it and enjoy it. Remember, the purpose of the holiday is to spend time with the people you love.
Don’t focus too much on how you can document it creatively; that you forget to enjoy yourself at the moment. Remember, the holidays only come once a year. It’s a fleeting moment, so make the most out of your time with it.
About the author:
Bianca Banda is a writer for DS Colour Labs Ltd (DSCL), a professional photography lab that offers a vast range of products and services to aid every photographer’s needs.
