Not everyone is a good photographer, in fact, most people actually suck at taking pictures. Just because you know how to push a button, doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing.

The advent of digital cameras and Facebook proves our point. Sure, someone is bound to comment, “oh, that’s so nice,” but they’re related to you and they pretty much have to say something nice.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, it’s better to not take a picture at all, than take one and prove you’re a douche.

So how do you avoid the irony of so-so family pictures around Thanksgiving? Sure, you can snap off a few pics of everyone sitting around the table, feasting on turkey and making bad tryptophan jokes.

After getting some tips from Olympus and talking to a few professional photographers, here’s what we came up with to help you avoid embarassment and make your photos something people might enjoy looking at.

Shoot early:

After everyone one arrives and before everyone eats is the best time to take your group photos. While the artist in you may want to just have natural scenic shots, as if you’re a photojournalist covering a UN conference, but your mother just wants pictures she can remember the day. Also, everyone is pretty much sober so they’ll be slightly more cooperative and if you wait until after dinner, the alcohol induced fight over that money some uncle borrowed 23 years ago will spoil just about any shot.

Set up the scene:

Before you shout, “OK everyone, let’s get a picture,” take a look at where you’re going to shoot it. You need lots of light (slightly more than you think) and a nice looking background. Big group pictures can be a great keepsake, but it should also say, Thanksgiving. Also, you’ll want to use the flash. If you don’t use it, the picture is likely to be grainy. Also, set the group up in layers — the camera likes this and the picture will be more interesting. . Our friends at Olympus also suggest avoid having windows in the background as they will screw up the auto focus of many cameras.

An easy way to do this is use the sofa. People in front of it, on it and behind it. And shoot a couple of pictures, remember, the bigger the group, the more likely someone has their eyes closed, is about to sneeze or looking at their sister in law’s cleavage.

Individual shots

Take your time during the day and make sure to get some individual shots of people talking, eating and drinking. The best thing to do, according to professional photographers we’ve talked to is to zoom in. They’re nice to have and who knows, you may end up with a really good one that are worthy of Facebook profiles.

Timers

Buy a small tripod that sit on a table or book shelf and use it. If you’re getting a family picture, make sure everyone is in the photo. And do everyone a favor, figure out how to use it BEFORE you ask everyone to gather around for a photo. It’s not hard

Other pictures

People always forget to capture the moment in other ways. Take pictures of people preparing the feast, a fully loaded plate, a close up of the your favorite dish, the bubbling marsh mellows on the sweet potatoes the moment they come out of the oven are all interesting pictures and have potential to be conversation starters. Plus, in the day and age of digital cameras, you can always delete it them if they suck. Pieces can often better represent the whole better than any expansive table shot could do. And now, most cameras come with excellent macro functions so snap away.

Change angles

One photographer we knew used to carry a ladder in his car for photo shoots. If he was shooting the same old business man profile, he’d get the person to stand in a work space and then climb up the ladder to shoot the shot from a unique perspective. This adds tension and drama to an otherwise dull and boring moment. The same can be done with family at the table shot. Don’t get carried away with this, and you may want to capture the more traditional moments in a traditional way, but then try something fun. Have everyone wear the same pair of sunglasses and shoot individual shots, or have each person hold a drum stick as you pass it around the table. The are countless ways to improve dull family shots into something you’d actually want to show your friends.

Make prints

No one really wants to see pictures on your camera — and it kills the battery. Your grand mother can’t see it and your father is just as likely to delete it or take a picture of his belly as he is to see the photo. Until you can put a digital picture on your fridge, prints are still going to be around. You could print them off of your computer, and that’s great if you an extra $1000 for printer ink. After the holiday is over, go to the store and make some prints to show at Christmas.

Downsize

Yes, your camera can take 4 meg picture and the quality is better than the human eye. But before you send out the mass email to friends and family with 211 photos in one email, make the photos smaller. No one needs their email jammed up with 18 megs in one email because the douche photographer couldn’t be bothered to change the size of the picture. Photos can be viewed (and printed) at much smaller memories. A 200K photo will look just as nice as a 1.5 M photo and it doesn’t annoy anyone when they get a notice from their server telling them their email is now over the limit.

Enjoy today and take as many pictures as possible. It’s friends and family and a day worth being thankful.

Related posts:

1. When snow becomes your canvas
2. Why passports are not issued by Wal-Mart
3. So you think you can shoot pictures?
4. Get your photos published in a tour book