With Christmas upon us, here are a few things to keep in mind as you record your family memories this holiday season.

#1 Remember to charge the batteries

It’s Christmas morning, your baby’s very first, and you can’t record any of it because you forgot to charge the camera batteries. You’re pretty much out of luck. It looks like you’re going to have to shoot this one with your cell phone, which isn’t too terrible, but the quality just isn’t the same.  Remember that you can avoid this situation entirely by just putting your camera on the charger the night before.

#2 Don’t get in people’s faces

Sure, remembering the moment is important to you, but not everyone wants to have your camera in their face. Maybe they are camera shy, or maybe they’re plastered and they don’t want everyone to see them like that.  Don’t feel like you need to record absolutely everything, and if someone asks you not to record them, respect their wishes.  Just remember to be courteous.

#3 Give your project some polish

It’s 2011 (almost 2012). Take the time to add transitions, titles, and effects to your videos. There is no reason that your work shouldn’t look semi-professional.  This takes minutes with entry level software like Windows Movie Maker and iMovie.  You have no excuse for creating a rough video.  Take the time and create something that looks great.

#4 Sound can make or break your video

If you’re at a party and you want to shoot video, don’t get too attached to the audio. Unless you’ve got an excellent microphone on your camera, the sound that you want will probably going to be drowned out by background noise. There are ways to minimize this, but sometimes it’s just easier to mute the video track and add a song. My advice: unless the audio is is clear and without annoying background noise, just scrap it. Obviously this doesn’t work for everything, but it keeps your audience engaged.

#5 Publish on YouTube

In this modern era, it’s a lot easier to upload your video to YouTube and email links to your family members than it is to make several DVD copies. If you’ve never done this before, check it out.  It’s really easy, and it’s more economical too!