By the time Christmas rolls around each year, I'm usually too busy having a jolly ol', good time with friends and family to be paying attention to my photo skills. Thankfully there are easy tips and tricks like the ones below from the Strobist blog that will turn blurry Xmas pics into beautiful clear images.

• If you are taking pics outdoors, make sure you shoot them before it gets totally dark for proper exposure.
• Turn off your flash and set your camera on a tripod or steady surface.
• Shoot a test shot every minute so you can watch the Christmas lights appear as the ambient light level goes down. You'll notice how much the light changes in each photo.
• If your photo appears too orange for your liking, adjust the white-balance settings to tungsten. For capturing outdoor light displays, use the same exposure as you would for indoor shots, but switch the white-balance settings to outdoor.

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