If you are so inclined to shoot the Everyone Around the Thanksgiving Table photo this week, here are a few other things to consider when photographing what might just be my favorite day of the year:How to Photograph the Thanksgiving Dinner Table

1. TURN OFF YOUR FLASH. This is mandatory. If you don’t, the folks close to you will be over-exposed and everyone at the far end of the table will be in relative darkness. Turn off the flash. This is mandatory.

2. TURN UP YOUR ISO. The room is probably going to be dimly lit and turning up your ISO will help you use a faster shutter speed. But faster is a relative term here. You may still end up with a slow shutter speed like a fifteenth of a second. That means you are going to have to hold very still. Please note: Turning up the ISO makes for noisy/grainy pictures. All cameras react differently to having their ISO turned up. Only experimenting with your camera will tell you what the results will look like. I’m hoping your camera will make you happy at ISO 1600.

No, this is not MY picture of the Thanksgiving table. That’s me in the upper left corner standing on the baby high chair. Safety first, I always say. But seriously, you want to shoot from a high angle so you can see everyone’s face.

3. GET YOURSELF UP HIGH SO YOU CAN SEE EVERYONE’S FACE. A ladder is probably the best thing but ladders get a little clunky banging around the dinner table. A solid chair works fine.

4. BRACE YOURSELF AGAINST THE WALL OR DOOR FRAME so that you can hold as still as possible. I can’t stress this enough. I have found that holding a glass of wine in one hand does not help. Set the glass of wine down before you get up on the ladder. Trust me on this one. There are a bunch of things that can go wrong. Trust me on this one.

5. SHOOT SOME PRACTICE PICTURES BEFORE DINNER. It helps if you can get someone to model for you at the table. If there are any teenage girls around, teenage girls will model for you indefinitely. (And they will pay you ridiculous amounts of money for the pictures if they think they have even the slightest shot at a Super Model career.) Anyway, make sure all of your settings are right so that when everyone is at the table you can push the button confidently.

6. USE MANUAL EXPOSURE. If there are candles in the middle of the table auto-exposure can be fooled by those bright spots. Experiment with manual exposure before dinner.

7. SHOOT THE PICTURES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEAL. Half-eaten plates make people look a little piggy. Gravy splashed all over people is disgusting. Shoot the pictures at the beginning of the meal.

8. IS YOUR BATTERY CHARGED? I realize that “Is your battery charged?” isn’t actually a photo tip, but it’s always embarrassing when your battery isn’t charged. It can happen to anyone, but it seems to happen less to people who have had their battery die in front of large groups of people on multiple occasions. Fortunately, I don’t know anyone who that’s ever happened to.

9. THE HOLIDAYS ARE JUST PACKED WITH WONDERFUL, STORYTELLING PHOTOGRAPHS. So many of them are family treasures later.

9. LOVE YOUR FAMILY. I realize that yelling and screaming and doing permanent damage to relationships is as much a part of the Thanksgiving tradition as turkey and stuffing. (For those of you outside the United States, you may have trouble understanding that ritual. But for Americans, this perverse aspect of Thanksgiving is enjoyable and relaxing.)

10. TRY YOUR SMARTPHONE. It’s has a wide-angle lens you’ll be able to see everyone and they’ll be sharp. Give it a try. It makes for a great backup.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Below is a video of my thoughts about how I photographed Thanksgiving a previous year.

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