Cellphones have allowed us to capture moments like never before.

Anyone on Facebook knows you shouldn’t dig into a drool-worthy dinner before taking a photo so you can make people a) hungry b) jealous of c) judgmental because they can’t believe you’d eat all that fattening food.

But the real joy of cellphones is being able to preserve memories with people. Let’s face it we never know what the future holds so we want to be sure to get the important photos.

The holidays are a great time to get started.

Some of us are better at taking the family selfie shot around the table. I’d say it’s the people with long arms who can get the best shot. I am 5 foot nothing and when God made the arms to correspond with my shortness he wasn’t thinking about equipping me for selfies.

So here is my first hint. Buy a selfie stick.

And my second hint, find the tallest person in the family and threaten to withhold dinner if they don’t take the family photo.

Take candid and posed shots.

For publication, we prefer candid action shots, but we get plenty of donation shots submitted. You want to be sure everyone looks good in those posed shots. Can you see everyone’s face? Are their eyes open?

For years, every photo of me had my eyes closed and my mouth open. I have a blink-reflex with flash and I always have something to say.

This sounds elementary but you want to be sure to frame the photo to make sure people’s heads are in the photo. I recently took a photo of my husband during an important time. I hurried and I cut off the top of his head. Would have been OK if I had other frames to choose from. But I broke the cardinal rule of taking more than one photo so you can choose the one with the open eyes - and head.

And I will be hearing about it for a long time.

Moments with our family are too precious to mess up.

So make sure you take plenty of photos and pay attention to those “Kodak moments.”

Kodak moments, by the way, used to be highlighted in commercials when people used something called film to take photos. A Kodak moment is a sentimental or charming moment worthy of capturing in a photograph. Before we go any further, check your settings on your cellphone.

You might be set up to take many photos at low resolution. Low resolution is going to look fine on your cellphone but if you do get that great shot you might want to frame it. Or send it to the Times News for printing.

So it’s better to have your phone set to high resolution and delete the photos you don’t want.

The rule of photography is to take close-up photos, mid-range and whole scene shots. This gives you a wide range to choose from.

Don’t forget video. We are fortunate enough to have captured my father-in-law a year before he died, telling his story about deer hunting. He missed several times, got cold and went home, never to return.

That story, in his words, is precious.

When my brothers and I get together we have a white elephant exchange. For a couple of years the same present cropped up: an old pair of boots. Finally the recipient left it at our house and we donated them to a charity. In this case a photo of the boots would have been memorable.

Do you decorate your yard and house? Are you trying to have the most inflatables on the block. Take a photo and send it to us. A couple things to know.

First, the newer the cellphone the better your photos will be. Think about a portable tripod to hold steady for photos.

Always turn the phone to take a horizontal shot. Houses are not vertical.

Same goes with video. Is your big screen TV vertical? No, it’s not. Think about that next time you take a video.

So set your phone to a high resolution setting and go capture your moments, whether they are family shots or a donation to a nonprofit or a collection of toys for the holiday.

If you do take those donation shots we’d love to publish them. Send photos to tneditor@tnonline.com and don’t downsize them. Send the original photos - not the ones posted on Facebook because those have already lost data. Be sure to include everyone’s name from left to right, front to back. We need both first names and last names of everyone in the photo. Give us as much detail as possible.

Whatever you do this holiday season, have fun and don’t forget to take the time to preserve those moments.