How to take beautiful candle-lit Chanukah photos with your phone

Want to capture beautiful pictures of your kids by the menorah, but not sure how to achieve that gorgeous, illuminated look? Read these tips for exactly how to do it.

1. Turn off your flash and turn off the overhead room lights. For these photos, you want the main light source to be the candles. I suggest taking these photos on the 4th night of Chanukah or later. More candles= more light.
2. Don’t use your phone’s zoom- it will degrade the image quality on top of the effects of low light. Rather, move closer to your child or crop the photo after you take it.
3. Have your child stand close to and facing the Menorah, so that the glow of the candles illuminates their face nicely. Position yourself so that you’re shooting their profile. Lower your phone so its at eye level with your child. (Then lower your expectations so you’re not disappointed when they move away before you get the shot.)
4. Stabilize your phone by leaning it on something that won’t move. Taking photos in low light means your phones shutter speed will be slower, which means it will capture movement as blur. Take extra care when pressing the shutter button not to shake the phone, and instruct your child to stay as still as possible. Bribe child with donuts as needed.
5. Tap your phone’s screen to bring up the brightness control, and drag the brightness slider down to darken the image until only your child’s face and the candles are bright enough, with everything else fading into shadows. Start snapping, and take a lot of photos. Try different angles once you’ve gotten the profile shot.
6. To take your photo from good to great, use your favorite editing app to crop, add contrast and sharpness, warm up the colors, and adjust the shadows until your photo looks perfect.

The great thing about Chanukah is you have 8 nights to get the shot- and 8 nights to keep practicing!