How to shoot Xmas lights?

[wenrob]

I know, I know, super early but I figure if I can get you all to teach me maybe by xmas card time I'll have some decent pics. OR one of you can just come and do it for me? Please?
When I was first dragged kicking and screaming in digital, my first camera was a Kodak Easy Share and they would send 'picture of the day.' One of them was a child sitting, surrounded with lights and held up to her face. The rest of the scene was dark. How in the world would you go about a picture like that? Do you expose for the child, the lights? And I want to take fabulous pics of my tree. I would love to see examples and hear how you got your shots. Again, anyone is welcome to come do it for me....
(Oh, I have a Nikon D40, use mainly my 18-200 VR (3.5-5.6)and I have an SB 400 speed light.)

 

[broberts]

I would be interested as well since we are going to be there for Thanksgiving.

 

[manning]

You would want the main subject to be properly exposed.

In the example cited I would be inclined to take a spot reading of the face and take a picture. Then I would take several more bracketing the exposure. IE if a reading is f8 at 1/125, take several pictures at the same shutter speed (f1/125) but using different f stops, like one at f 5.6 and another at f 11. That would be the easy way.

I think some cameras now have a feature that will do this for you. Set that feature, press the button and the camera does the rest, takes several pictures automatically resetting the f stop for each shot.

Then again if you have a spot meter you could take readings of different areas of the picture to take and average the reading. I haven't done that for years and may not remember how to do it.

Without the worry of the cost of film nowadays I would go with bracketing.

 

[seashoreCM]

Sometimes you must compromise the exposure of the main subject in order to get other items reasonably or meaningfully exposed.

On most point and shoot cameras or cameras in automatic mode, exposure bracketing is accomplished using the "exposure compensation" setting. But if you aim slightly differently on the next shot, all bets and also the bracketing are off because the camera had re-adjusted the basic exposure for the slightly different scene content and then applied the compensation.

Also try the night setting if your camera has that.

Digital camera hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/digicam.htm

 

[Groucho]

For the tree itself, think of it as a standard static nighttime subject. This means a tripod, aperture priority mode (probably somewhere around F8 unless you want lower to give some depth of field), and either a remote shutter release or a 2-second delay.

For a child by the tree... beg them to stand fairly still and see above. Actually for the kind of shot you describe, you'll want a fast lens - something that can capture a lot of light quickly. For your camera, the obvious candidate is the Nikon 50mm F1.8, except that you'll have to focus manually as your camera doesn't have a build-in focus motor, which this lens needs to autofocus.