Photographing Christmas Lights

by Larry Millican

 

Lights! Lights on trees, houses, light poles, offices and buildings, even autos and trucks. During the Christmas season, colorful lights are seemingly everywhere. And, if your neighborhood isn’t lighted enough for you, nearly every city has their own light display spread over several acres for everyone to enjoy. As photographers, we can’t help but want to take pictures of all the lights. Doing so, however, usually takes some forethought.

 

Equipment

Probably the most important piece of equipment – besides your camera! – is a tripod. Although it is possible to photograph a bright light display without one, we strongly recommend using one to assure you of the sharpest images. You can buy tripods for prices ranging from around $30 to several hundred dollars; while the lower priced models might seem like a bargain, you’re better off to buy the best you can afford.

 

Almost any camera, compact or SLR, film or digital, is capable of capturing Christmas light photographs. However, digital cameras offer the tremendous advantage of immediate feedback, so that you know right away if your exposure is good or not. You will find a close focusing lens to be quite beneficial, because often you’ll want to get close for the details. And, although a fully automatic camera can be used, one that gives you some options for control also gives you more flexibility.

 

Shooting Methods

When you photograph lighting displays, your camera will see a lot of darkness, so this is one of the problems you must deal with. The meter in your camera will want to make the darkness lighter. However, you want to keep the dark background dark – if not, the lights will be too light and less colorful.

 

One method of photographing Christmas lights is to use a “spot meter.” All cameras have light meters, but most read the available light in the entire image area. A spot meter, on the other hand, looks only at the light in the center of your image, and sets your camera’s exposure for only that light it sees. If your camera has a spot meter (check your owner’s manual if you’re not sure), use it to meter the lights that you really want for your main subject. Once your camera’s meter reads the light, use its Manual exposure control, or the AEL (auto exposure lock) button, to hold this setting. (Again, read your manual for more information – or, come by your local Bedford’s for assistance.) If you are shooting digital, review your photo on the LCD screen, and adjust your exposure if necessary.

 

If you’re taking photos of people in front of the lights, and you want the lights to really show up behind your family or friends, try using the “night portrait” mode on your camera. (You’ll still need to use a tripod!) This automated mode sets a slow shutter speed, which should allow the lights to show up, but will also fire the camera’s flash, to illuminate your subjects.

 

Finally, remember good composition. Quite often, lights are arranged to create an almost abstract representation of a figure, and if a background figure is included, the primary subject will get lost. Either use a limited depth of field to blur the background, or move so that your subject is in front of a dark background.

 

 

 

 

 

Larry Millican has been at Bedford Camera & Video for 7 years, and manager of the Fort Smith location for the past 5 years. He’s also been involved in photography for more than 20 years, as a photographer and as an instructor.