A holly-jolly Saturday to you, friend! Let’s jump in with trivia. What tech-related Christmas tradition started in 1990 and has become an annual event? Is it … A.) Livestreaming Santa's reindeer, B.) Playing a Christmas-themed VR game, C.) NORAD’s Santa Tracker following Saint Nick around the world or D.) A global Secret Santa gift exchange conducted entirely online? Answer at the end!

📸 I’ve got a special tip today to make this year’s holiday photos shine. Hey, maybe you’ll even take some so good, you can get them printed and put them up in your house like the old days. Let’s do it! — Kim

Forget getting everyone together at Christmas for a photo opp and having them all say, "Cheese!" Instead, use words that end in ‑ah. These sounds put the muscles around the mouth to work, creating a genuine smile. Try "yoga," "mocha" or "banana."

Now, I've got more great tips you can use for your perfect Christmas pics!

How big is your group?

• Just a few of you? Focus on capturing candid moments. Take a few selfies, and use your phone's timer to take a group shot or two. Pro tip: For selfies, switch your camera to .5x or .7x magnification for a different look.
• Lots of folks? Have some stand and some sit to add depth and dimension to the photo. If you have someone who can take the pic, have them use burst mode. All they have to do is hold down the shutter button to take a bunch of pics in a row — more chances to get a winner. If everyone needs to be in the photo, use your phone's timer.

Let there be light

Lighting is the most critical factor in whether your pics will turn out great, so-so or downright terrible. A few tips:

• No direct light: Don’t photograph a person standing directly under a light — that highlights bumps, wrinkles and blemishes. No, thanks.
• No squinting: Have your subject face the light so it illuminates their features. Ask them to look toward the light or sun (just not right into it!).
• Clouds are good: Photographers swear by cloudy days for portraits. There's enough light to make everyone look nice and bright, but there’s no glaring sun to squint at. Try it!
• The “magic hour”: The hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise will give you a warm, soft light that's perfect for holiday photos.

Tired of the same old, posed Christmas photos?

Spice things up this year with some creative ideas that capture the true spirit of the season!

• Cozy up by the fireplace: Gather everyone around a roaring fireplace adorned with stockings and twinkling lights. Capture the warmth and glow of the fire reflecting in their faces.
• Pajama party: Embrace matching pajamas! Snap photos of family cuddling up on the sofa, playing games, reading stories or sharing holiday memories.
• Head outdoors if you have snow: Build a snowman family together, have a snowball fight or create snow angels.

AI can help, too

I always meant to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop. Now I don't have to, because it has handy AI features even I can use. You can upload a pic and type in a prompt like, "Remove the telephone pole," "Blur the background" or "Make the sky brighter."

Pro tip: If it's not working quite how you want, open ChatGPT or Bard, tell it what you're trying to do, and ask for help generating a prompt to give to Photoshop.

More AI tools to try

I’ll warn you: Most of the free AI editing tools out there are packed with ads, do a subpar job or are trying their best to get all your data.

• Luminar Neo is simpler than Photoshop but still very powerful. Starts at $14.95 a month.
• Topaz Labs Photo AI is even easier and good enough for professional use — but they only offer annual plans starting at $149.
• Fotor is an app that's been around forever, and it's even better, thanks to AI. Score, there's a free version!

My best advice: Don’t stress it

You'll get better photos if you relax and let it happen naturally instead of trying to wrangle every child (and adult) into smiling the "right" way. Heck, I prefer those candid shots where I can tell folks are actually enjoying themselves.

🍪 How about a nerdy Christmas joke? Why is it so easy to track Santa on Christmas Eve? Because he always accepts cookies. (Told you!)

Trust me, you’ll never be on your deathbed saying, “I wish I scrolled on my phone more.” There are better ways to spend your time.

• Get a book in your hands. Here’s Amazon’s list of top reads of 2023. “The Art Thief” is a true story — my fave.
• Invest in a Kindle to make 2024 your year to read as much as possible.
• This card game is easy to learn and addictive. Kiddos 7 and up can join.
• Use these acrylic paint markers on canvas, rocks and more. Sure beats a coloring book!
• Hey, puzzle people! Content Queen Allie says these are the best ones she’s ever done.
• When was the last time you put together a Lego set? They now have adult Lego kits for cars, flowers and more!
• Learn to knit with Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn.
• Or get out of the house! Give back to your community by volunteering at a local shelter or charity.

This is your friendly reminder you don’t have to do everything yourself. A strong team can help you get more done — and open up your time for things that really matter. That’s true whether you’re just getting started or you have a bunch of employees already.

Use the site I do: LinkedIn. You can try it out totally free, and you’ll see how easy they make it to weed out the candidates that aren’t the right fit. No kidding, 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours.

💳 Oh, crap: You forgot to buy a present for your cousin, Linda, and she’s coming over tomorrow. Grab an Amazon gift card online, and write something kind in a lovely card. Bam, done.

Quick tips: On Windows, Window key + Shift + S activates the Snip & Sketch tool to select a specific area of your screen to capture as a screenshot. On a Mac, the comparable tool for taking screenshots is Cmd + Shift + 4.

Elf yourself: Yep, those videos where you turn your favorite people into dancing elves. Instead of downloading the app, just use the website.

Instead of turning up the volume, turn on the closed captioning. No kidding, my son, Ian, uses closed captioning and asked me to turn it on the last time we were watching a movie. I’m a convert!

🍗 Kitchen helper: FYI, smart speakers like the Amazon Echo can juggle multiple timers at once. If you give them a name, you’ll know what’s ready to come out of the oven. Say something like, “Alexa, set a 20-minute timer for the potatoes” or “Set a 45-minute timer for the chicken.”

Plan a remote movie night with a loved one far away: Have an iPhone? Use FaceTime and Apple Share Play to watch something on Netflix, Hulu or Max. Start a FaceTime call, swipe up from the bottom edge and launch a streaming app. Pick a show or movie, then press play. Android owners, Google’s SharePlay equivalent, Duo, works great — but only for YouTube.

🗺️ Don’t be late: Instead of arguing, ask Google or Apple Maps when you should leave the house to arrive on schedule. I use this all the time — steps here under No. 1.

I asked Barry to do yoga with me. He said, “Namaste in bed!”

The answer: C.) NORAD’s Santa Tracker following Saint Nick around the world. It’s the best! I’ll show you how to use it tomorrow — along with something crazy that happened when I was using Google Bard.

😂 One more for the road … What ethnicity is Santa? North Poleish! (Oh, I laughed when I wrote that, so I am sure you did when you read it!)

Before you go, click this link to check out LinkedIn. You can post a job totally free — and it takes less time and effort than you’d think. Here’s to starting the new year with the right team! See you tomorrow, friend. I’ve got a special Christmas Eve treat for your whole family. Until then, keep elfing on! — Kim