When the house is filling with guests and the kids want to open their gifts, you don't want to worry about your camera settings. Here's how to optimize your camera in advance for the kinds of shots you plan to take.

For all-around indoor holiday photography, prepare your camera to shoot fast action in low light. Kids are like cats: They might appear calm and quiet, but you can't predict what they'll do next, especially under the influence of presents and candy. If you'll be shooting during daylight hours, turn off the camera's flash and increase the ISO to ensure that the camera can take good natural-light photos. Then either set the camera to its action scene mode or switch to aperture priority and use a small f-number, which will give you the fastest possible shutter speed.

In the evening, you'll probably need to turn the flash back on, but you might want to leave the ISO setting high--especially if you'll be shooting in a large room--so you can fully illuminate the scene.