JoeDif
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2008
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Holiday lights usually look their best when shot without added light. In fact, this is Rule One when it comes to getting good pictures of outdoor lights: For most pictures of holiday lights, turn off your flash!
The typical shots of holiday lightsthe ones you see all the timeare taken at night, long after the sun is gone and the background is in total darkness. In these photos, the lights are bursting, and the background is completely black. The results have no drama. These photos arent bad, but they lack vitality. The remedy? Shoot shortly after sunset, when you still have some light in the sky. After it gets completely dark, you can either have the lights or the surroundings properly exposed. But not both.
The trick is find the sweet spot where the ambient light and the Christmas lights mix . Once you get your picture framed, set your camera's white balance for "tungsten," as if you were shooting indoors without flash. Many those little lights are tungsten balanced. As a bonus, the tungsten setting will turn your afterglow sky royal blue once your light balances out. The sky will look great - even if it is a cloudy evening. And your lights will gleam crystal white -- or whatever color they are supposed to be.
Use a tripod or a beanbag to steady your camera. You'll be shooting in the range of a quarter second to a full second at twilight.
If your camera supports manual settings, adjust aperture and shutter speed separately, try starting with an aperture of f/8 and a half second shutter speed. To change the overall exposure, open the shutter longer (for a brighter scene) or shorter (for less exposure). To make the strings of holiday lights brighter and more dramatic, open the aperture (move to a smaller number, like f/4).
Shoot a test shot every minute or so. At first, you'll be exposing for the sky and the lights will appear unimpressive. Check the back of your camera after each shot to watch the Christmas lights appear to "come up" as the ambient light level goes down. Your camera will record them differently from the way that you eye sees them (you can see a much greater contrast range).
Somewhere in between sunset and full dark, the Christmas lights and the ambient light will start to mix beautifully. You'll have about a 10-minute window which will give you a nice series of subtly different lighting variations. Remembering to keep your camera as still as possible, shooting lots of frames through the mix light.
Let's get out there and start posting those amazing holiday lights
Thanks go to The Strobist Blog for providing much of the above information
The typical shots of holiday lightsthe ones you see all the timeare taken at night, long after the sun is gone and the background is in total darkness. In these photos, the lights are bursting, and the background is completely black. The results have no drama. These photos arent bad, but they lack vitality. The remedy? Shoot shortly after sunset, when you still have some light in the sky. After it gets completely dark, you can either have the lights or the surroundings properly exposed. But not both.
The trick is find the sweet spot where the ambient light and the Christmas lights mix . Once you get your picture framed, set your camera's white balance for "tungsten," as if you were shooting indoors without flash. Many those little lights are tungsten balanced. As a bonus, the tungsten setting will turn your afterglow sky royal blue once your light balances out. The sky will look great - even if it is a cloudy evening. And your lights will gleam crystal white -- or whatever color they are supposed to be.
Use a tripod or a beanbag to steady your camera. You'll be shooting in the range of a quarter second to a full second at twilight.
If your camera supports manual settings, adjust aperture and shutter speed separately, try starting with an aperture of f/8 and a half second shutter speed. To change the overall exposure, open the shutter longer (for a brighter scene) or shorter (for less exposure). To make the strings of holiday lights brighter and more dramatic, open the aperture (move to a smaller number, like f/4).
Shoot a test shot every minute or so. At first, you'll be exposing for the sky and the lights will appear unimpressive. Check the back of your camera after each shot to watch the Christmas lights appear to "come up" as the ambient light level goes down. Your camera will record them differently from the way that you eye sees them (you can see a much greater contrast range).
Somewhere in between sunset and full dark, the Christmas lights and the ambient light will start to mix beautifully. You'll have about a 10-minute window which will give you a nice series of subtly different lighting variations. Remembering to keep your camera as still as possible, shooting lots of frames through the mix light.
Let's get out there and start posting those amazing holiday lights
Thanks go to The Strobist Blog for providing much of the above information
Awesome!!
