“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….everywhere you go!!!” This time of year is a special one for your family and can fly by in a whirlwind!! It is important to document the season so you can look back on the memories for years to come!!

Today I am opening up the McLeod Family Christmas Album to share a list of my “Top 5 Must Have Photos” to put on your Christmas Photo Checklist!! Oh and the best part, you can accomplish all of these with your camera phone (all of the examples below are with my iPhone, not my big fancy camera)!

1. DECORATING THE TREE

Decorating the Christmas Tree is a family bonding experience. Turn on the music, get out some cookies, have the ornaments staged and of course have your camera ready! There are many moments you can capture; your child selecting their favorite ornament, how much have they grown this year while standing next to the tree, and of course the funny mishaps!!  Most people take a photo of the completed tree but capturing that family bonding time is also something special to look back on!

Camera Tip: With the advanced software in today’s camera phones, you can keep the lights dim in your house so the glow of the Christmas Tree comes through! This will give your holiday photos even more of that warm cozy Christmasy feeling!

2. CLOSE-UP OF CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENTS

Get close to your tree and photograph a few favorite ornaments! Does your family buy a special ornament every year for each person? Did you get a special ornament on a family vacation?  How about those handmade ornaments by your kids! My favorite is photographing ornaments from my childhood that are now hanging on my tree and sharing the stories with my kids. Zooming in close allows you to capture the details of these special ornaments.

3. BAKING CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Baking Christmas cookies is an essential part of the holiday season!  You gotta feed the Big Man when he comes to deliver gifts, right?  Although this is a messy thing to try to photograph you will be glad you did!  Capture the recipes you use & the decorating process to compare year to year.  Then the finished product!!! Personally I find it amusing to compare our baking results with the “perfect” ones on Pinterest. HAHA … the lack of perfection just shows how much my kids love to bake 🙂 I think the big puffy candy canes look even better then the ones on the cover of Southern Living!

4. ALL THE STOCKINGS HANGING IN A ROW

This may be a photo opportunity that you miss because you are too busy capturing the magic of the Christmas Tree or Christmas Village.  It’s kind of like a family photo but without the people! Oh and a friendly Florida reminder … If you don’t have a fireplace you can still show off the creative ways you have chosen to “hang your stockings with care”!

5. THE CALENDAR ON DEC 25TH

Photographing your December calendar is sort of a cool thing to include with your holiday photos.  You can see the year, the day of the week that Christmas fell on that year, and it will also be a natural progression in your photos if you are printing them as prints or making a photo book! If you make an annual photo calendar then this can be extra special.

Did you like this list?  We have 38 more great Christmas Photo Checklist photo ideas for you in an easy to print PDF. Become one of our Cloud 9 Insiders below and we will email you the link to download this must have checklist.

p.s. the list includes several Christmas Morning unique ideas!