25 Christmas Photo Ideas: Family, Kids, Pets, Cards and the Gift

Christmas photos have two jobs. The first is the obvious one — a picture of this year, with everyone in it, that you'll still want to look at in ten years. The second is quieter: they are the raw material for the best presents you can give, because a gift built from your own photos is the one nobody else can buy.

These are 25 Christmas photo ideas grouped by what you're trying to get: a family photo that isn't stiff, kids and pets that will actually cooperate, the card photo, the ones that only need a phone, and what to do with the whole year of photos afterwards. Skip to whichever you need.

Family Christmas photo ideas that don't look posed

1. The pyjama pile

Everyone in whatever they sleep in, on the bed or the sofa, no styling. Shoot from slightly above with the phone held out at arm's length or on a chair, ten frames in a row. The good one is always frame six or seven — after the first fake smiles wear off and before someone gets bored.

2. Walking, not standing

Line-ups freeze faces. Instead, walk the family toward the camera down a lane, a beach, or the street outside, and shoot continuously. Movement fixes hands, posture and expressions all at once. You get one picture where everyone is mid-step and mid-sentence, and it looks like you.

3. The tree, lit, room lights off

Turn the room lights off, leave the tree on, sit the family in front of it, and shoot at dusk rather than full night so there's still a little window light on faces. Phones handle this well now; hold still and take several. Faces lit by fairy lights is the Christmas look people try to buy with filters.

4. Cooking day, from above

The mess of Christmas Eve baking or the big dinner prep, photographed from directly above the table — flour, hands, half-cut vegetables, the youngest "helping". No one looks at the camera. It's the most-kept photo in most families' Decembers.

5. The same spot as last year

Pick one place — the front door, the stairs, the same armchair — and photograph the family there every year in the same arrangement. The individual photo is ordinary. Five of them in a row are extraordinary, and they become an obvious set to print together.

6. Three generations, one sofa

Grandparents in the middle, grandchildren on laps, parents standing behind. This is the one photo people regret not taking. Take it the moment everyone is in the same room, not "after lunch". After lunch never happens.

Christmas photo ideas with kids

7. Wrapping paper, not presents

Give a small child a roll of wrapping paper and a pair of blunt scissors and photograph what happens. The photos are of concentration and chaos, which is the actual mood of Christmas with children.

8. Reading the letter

The child, the letter to Santa, the pen. Shoot from the side at their eye level so you get the tongue-out concentration. Keep the letter afterwards and photograph it too — the handwriting dates the photo better than any timestamp.

9. First look at the tree

Stand behind the tree with the phone ready before the kids come in. The frame you want is the one where they've stopped moving. It lasts about a second.

10. Matching pyjamas, unmatching behaviour

Matching outfits work when the behaviour is allowed to be normal. Put them in the pyjamas, then let them do whatever they were going to do — build, fight, eat — and photograph that. The posed version of this photo goes on the card; the real version goes on the wall.

11. The height photo

Child against the door frame next to last year's pencil mark. One photo a year; a series that makes people cry by year six.

Christmas photo ideas with pets

12. The dog in the tree's light

Same setup as idea 3 — room dark, tree on — and the dog lying where it always lies. Pets hold still for fairy lights far longer than children do. Shoot at floor level.

13. The cat and the baubles

Don't stage it. Leave the phone within reach for the week the tree is up and the photo takes itself. Every cat owner ends up with one.

14. The walk on Christmas morning

Coats over pyjamas, the dog pulling toward the park, low winter sun. Photograph from behind first, then run ahead and shoot them coming toward you.

Christmas card photo ideas

15. The "we couldn't get one" card

Print the outtakes. Four frames in a row where someone is crying, blinking, walking off and yelling, captioned "Merry Christmas from all of us." It's the card people keep on the fridge until March.

16. One photo, one word

A single strong photo — one of the walking ones from idea 2 — and one word of text. Cards fail when they try to carry four photos and a paragraph; the one-photo card looks like a magazine cover.

17. The photo of the photos

Lay out this year's printed photos on the table, pile the good ones in the middle, photograph the pile from above. It says "this was our year" without needing everyone in one frame.

Christmas photo ideas you can do with just a phone

18. Portrait mode by the window at 3 pm

Winter light at three in the afternoon, subject side-on to the window, room lights off, portrait mode. This is the cheapest good portrait of the year and it takes ninety seconds.

19. Bokeh from the tree

Stand three metres from the tree, put the subject one metre from you, tap to focus on their face. The lights behind them turn into soft circles. It's the effect photographers charge for, done with a tap.

20. Black and white for the busy scenes

A room full of people, wrapping paper and food photographs badly in colour — too much going on. Switch to black and white and the same frame becomes a picture of faces.

21. Burst mode for anything that moves

Children, dogs, people laughing: hold the shutter down. Take thirty, keep one. The one you keep will be better than any single photo you could have timed.

What to do with the whole year of photos

Most families end December with a thousand photos and nothing on the wall. The ideas above give you the December photos; these turn the year into something you can hold.

22. The year in one picture

A photo mosaic takes one main photo — the family in front of the tree, say — and rebuilds it from 100–300 of your other photos, so from across the room you see the portrait and up close you see the whole year. It is the one Christmas photo gift that uses everything you took. On getmoza every tile is placed at full strength and colour-matched, so the small photos stay sharp and findable rather than dissolving into a tint; you can zoom into every tile in the free preview before paying anything. Digital file from €9.95 in minutes; prints from €39, order by late November.

23. The year in twelve

One photo per month, printed small and framed in a grid, or laid out as a single collage. Choose each month's photo with the person it's for, not for them — the choosing is half the gift.

24. The grandparents' edition

Grandparents want the grandchildren and nothing else. Build the mosaic or the grid from the year's photos of the kids and give the same one to both sets. It ends the "who got the better present" problem permanently. More in unique photo gift ideas for grandparents.

25. Print the ones from the phone

The least glamorous idea and the one most people never do. Choose ten from the year, print them at any local shop, put them in cheap frames, and give them. A printed photo is a different object from a phone photo; people keep them for decades.

Which photos to choose for a Christmas photo gift

• Pick one main photo that is unmistakably them. Faces filling the frame, good light, no sunglasses. For a mosaic this photo matters more than all the tiles combined.
• Use the whole year as tiles, not just Christmas. Holidays, birthdays, ordinary Tuesdays — the point is the year. 100 photos makes a good mosaic; 200–300 makes a great one.
• Include the bad ones. The blurry laughing photo is the one they'll hunt for first.
• Order prints by late November. Fine-art prints take about 14 business days; a digital file arrives in minutes if you're late. Details on the Christmas photo gifts page.

Frequently asked questions

What are good Christmas photo ideas for a family that hates posing?

Walk toward the camera instead of standing (idea 2), photograph cooking or wrapping from above (idea 4), or shoot the pyjama pile in ten-frame bursts (idea 1). Movement and a task take the stiffness out; the best frame is usually the sixth or seventh in a burst, after the fake smiles wear off.

How do I take Christmas photos in front of the tree with a phone?

Turn the room lights off, leave the tree on, and shoot at dusk so a little window light still reaches faces. Use portrait mode, tap to focus on a face, and take several. For the blurred-lights background, stand about three metres from the tree with your subject one metre from you.

What can I make from a whole year of family photos?

The most-used options are a photo mosaic (one portrait built from 100–300 of the year's photos), a twelve-photo grid or collage, or simply ten printed photos in frames. A mosaic uses the most photos in one gift; a printed set is the cheapest and quickest.

When do I need to order a Christmas photo gift?

For printed photo gifts, order by late November — fine-art printing and shipping take around two weeks. A digital, print-ready file can be delivered within minutes of ordering, so it works as a last-minute option right up to Christmas Eve.