17 December, 2005
Tips For Photographing Christmas Lights
It’s that time of year again where people put up Christmas lights for us photographers to shoot. Here are a few tips for making great images of holiday lights:
- How to Take Great Photos of Holiday Lights from the New York Institute of Photography (NYIP):
There are some photographic subjects where it makes little difference whether you use a digital camera or a film-based model to capture the image. The colors and warm glow of holiday lights is not one of them. If you’re not careful, you can run into trouble with a digital camera. All photographers interested in getting great holiday photos should read this article. Digital camera users should make sure to read the special digital section written by NYI’s digital expert Jim Barthman with care. While today’s auto-everything cameras can do a lot of things following the wisdom of built-in programs, this is one area where you’ll want to exercise some control.
Christmas photos can get a bit repetitive and boring, especially if you just shoot the obvious subjects in the traditional way. For ideas and inspiration on making better photos, BetterPhoto.com has a pretty good Christmas Photo Gallery.
For a different take on shooting Christmas lights, Will Simpson has written an article on Drive By Shooting of lights:
Here’s how it is done. Find a safe section of road near a Christmas light display. Have someone else drive so you can concentrate on the images. The most important thing to remember is set the camera so the flash will NOT fire. If it fires the picture will be ruined by the reflection of the closed car window and you and your driver or any other drivers around might be temporarily be blinded by the flash. Not a good thing to have happen while driving.
Please use the comments section to post your own tips for shooting holiday lights, and link to any other articles or photo galleries (yours or other photographers).
Filed under: Technique
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