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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

How to Photograph Christmas Lights

Here's a neat little lighting exercise that has nothing to do with off-camera flash.

When we talk about balancing light around here, it usually means balancing ambient with flash. But getting a good photo of holiday lights involves a different kind of light balancing: Continuous ambient with fading ambient.

You don't need a high-end camera for great results. You can use a very inexpensive digital camera and do just fine. You don't even need flash. It all comes down to what time of the day you shoot. And a couple of other little tricks.

Photo by Troy McCullough (see a larger version)

The problem with 98% of the photos of Christmas lights is that most people wait until way too late to start shooting. After it gets completely dark, you can either have the lights or the surroundings properly exposed. But not both.

Conversely, if you were to shoot the lights in the middle of the day, they would not show up at all. The trick is find the sweet spot (actually there is a whole range of sweet spots) where the ambient light and the Christmas lights balance.

Photo by David Hobby, Baltimore Sun

Understanding this will ensure that your photos are way better than those of your neighbors. After all, isn't that what Christmas lights are really about?

How to Do It:

1. Arrive early. The best time to shoot is before it gets totally dark. Arriving around sunset will give you time to plan your shot before the good light happens. You may have to ask your subject to turn the lights on early - most people don't flip them on until the good light is already gone.

2. Compose your photo in such a way as to include as much sky as possible in the background. Shooting from a low position can help. Even better: If you have your choice of shooting direction, shoot into the afterglow of the evening sky.

3. Once you get your picture framed, set your camera's white balance for "tungsten," as if you were shooting indoors without flash. All of 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.

4. A light (or reflective) foreground, like snow, or a puddle (or the roof of a car) can give nice foreground interest. See what you can find.

5. 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 shooting with a phone or PDA, use both hands to brace the phone against something solid.

6. Now, wait for the light to happen.

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. (Aren't digital camera great?) Your eye is constantly adjusting to compensate for the dropping light levels, but the changes will be happening nonetheless.

Photo by Michael DeHaan

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. Ones and zeros are free, so don't be stingy. You do not have much time. You can delete the duds (or blurred photos) later.

Incidentally, this time of day is when the architectural photographers make the big bucks. And they are smart enough to tell everyone in their subject building to leave the lights on that night, too.

Your light will fade very quickly. You will know it is gone when your photos start looking like the "bad light" photos you used to take.

Now, put your camera away. You still have a few minutes to enjoy the scene with your eyes. The human eye has the remarkable ability to compress a large dynamic range into a scene your brain can process. Just relax, soak it in and think about all of the shopping you have left to do.

This is one of the few times that both shooting pictures and enjoying the moment do not conflict with each other.

If you get a great shot, there are groups on Flickr dedicated to Christmas lights. Show everyone your best stuff.

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52 Comments:

Blogger Patrick Smith said...

Did I miss the lighted boats @ the inner harbor! Darn.

I'll have to shoot a picture of WMAR sportcaster Scott Garceau' house, as I live about 10-minutes away and pass it every day on my way home from Towson. It's pretty amazing.

December 12, 2006 10:04 PM  
Anonymous Geoffco said...

Sweet - cool post. I'll be trying this out tonight :-)

December 12, 2006 10:28 PM  
Anonymous Doug said...

Apparently, the editors at lifehacker frequent your blog. I sent the link over to a friend only to be told that he had already seen it on lifehacker. Nice!

December 13, 2006 10:23 AM  
Blogger tjarmstrong said...

My sister's husband passed away this summer and my brother and I bought a spruce tree for her front yard(which he always wanted) I will be using your techniques one night this week to shoot the tree for her. Thanks for the post. I'll let you know how I made out.

Tim

December 13, 2006 10:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks David. I had been looking for these tips for a while now. I cant wait to give it a try

El

December 13, 2006 11:15 AM  
Anonymous Mike Charbonneau said...

Thanks for the post; I particularly liked the bit about taking the time to soak it all in.

December 13, 2006 12:41 PM  
Anonymous NShmidt said...

Another tip that will help with getting a steady picture and not blurring a beautiful shot is to use the timer setting on your camera to absorb the shake from your hand when you press the capture button, set your camera to the 2 second timer (or customize your setting to your comfort) then hit the capture button - the picture will be taken without any shake on the camera.
(this is a great help if your don't have a tripod handy)

December 13, 2006 1:56 PM  
Anonymous david said...

David, your posts are geting spooky, just a few hours after reading the christmas lights post my local estate agent (realtor) asked me to photograph his christmas lights in the evening time.....coincidence or conspiracy!!
Keep up the excellent work and merry christmas to you and your family

December 13, 2006 3:35 PM  
Anonymous pasci.it said...

very very intereting indeed! Thanks for sharing this :-)

December 13, 2006 4:19 PM  
Anonymous Daldianus said...

Nice summary indeed, thanks.

December 13, 2006 4:23 PM  
Anonymous dez said...

perfect timing!! my girlfriend just IM'd me about going to see the lights at zilker park (austin) tonight. i've been so busy at work today, that i just now got to visit strobist and what do i see? a post about shooting christmas lights. good stuff as always! thanks

December 13, 2006 5:18 PM  
Blogger Dr. Know-it-all said...

Would doing this with Tonemapping/HDR be cheating?

December 13, 2006 10:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good photo!!!!!

December 14, 2006 6:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Would doing this with Tonemapping/HDR...."

The word “alternatives” will do nicely. Just practicing 'freedom of choice”.
There are many way to skin a cat.

December 14, 2006 6:58 AM  
Anonymous Camera Man said...

Lots of information for me to process there! Great info thanks!

December 14, 2006 7:33 AM  
Blogger Marten said...

David

Just a quick note check out the sad news:
http://photoshopnews.com/2006/12/13/bruce-frasers-serious-illness/

December 14, 2006 9:29 AM  
Blogger DHB Photography said...

Great post!

December 15, 2006 9:30 AM  
Blogger Chris J. Lee said...

Congrats you've been Digged.

http://digg.com/tech_news/How_to_photograph_Christmas_Lights

December 15, 2006 10:02 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Excellent article! Thanks for the tips!

December 15, 2006 10:15 AM  
Blogger rayshma said...

thanks a ton for the tips! will sure try them out this weekend... and kp u posted on how i fare.
merry x'mas!

December 15, 2006 12:34 PM  
Blogger Jordon said...

Thanks, never even seen this in any photography books...

December 15, 2006 12:50 PM  
Blogger Charlie said...

THANKS for the tips. I've been aching to photograph Christmas lights, but never have a tripod with me when I need. Your tips may help me in that area. Merry CHRISTmas!

December 15, 2006 1:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To every rule, there is an exception. Some images actually look much better during the night time. Example 2.

December 15, 2006 1:40 PM  
Blogger Gavin Photography said...

I have always loved your articles. keep up the great work!

December 15, 2006 2:09 PM  
Blogger Kenneth said...

I'm still an amateur photographer, but this tutorial is great. Thanks!

December 15, 2006 5:24 PM  
Blogger Tom G said...

Great article. I can't wait to try it (maybe this weekend).

I'm not familiar with your bean bag trick though. It seems to me that a bean bag would create an uneven surface to place the camera on. I'll have to poke around the blog more for an explanation.

Good stuff!

December 15, 2006 5:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What if you are photographing Christmas lights that are the new LED type... would you still use the Tungsten setting?

December 16, 2006 12:30 AM  
Anonymous Ross C said...

Thanks for all the tips. This is very helpful information because the camera on my phone has been crap in the shots I tried to take on Thanksgiving.

December 18, 2006 6:13 PM  
Anonymous Fred Fortin said...

Thanks for the tips. It's always goog to know the right thing to do in this case!

December 24, 2006 1:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the hints! I think I'll grab a few before the lights come down!

December 30, 2006 10:46 PM  
Blogger Ben Graves said...

That was super informative! I'm still learning all this photography stuff and that was a great article!

January 06, 2007 12:01 PM  
Blogger John said...

Great information for Christmas light photography. Thanks so much!!

January 14, 2007 7:01 PM  
Blogger ramya said...

These pictures are wonderful!
Thank you for valuable advice!
Ramya
Christmas and a Christmas tree

January 21, 2007 12:16 PM  
Anonymous Ivan Minic said...

Just what I needed!

January 31, 2007 8:33 AM  
Anonymous scott said...

These pictures are wonderful,but I think that for them need very good objectiv.

April 27, 2007 11:40 AM  
Anonymous annerose said...

These comments have been invaluable to me as is this whole site. I thank you for your comment.

June 10, 2007 3:14 PM  
Anonymous Freelance Website Design said...

Hey, Awesome Blog. This post is awesome, now I know why my photos of Xmas lights are garbage :)

June 11, 2007 12:26 PM  
Anonymous Milinda said...

Very good information. Thanks!

August 06, 2007 5:28 AM  
Blogger Komail Noori said...

Thanks for sharining such a usefull information. It definately helps to understand and incrase my knowledge.

Regards,
Komail Noori
Web Site Design - SEO Expertn

August 19, 2007 2:13 AM  
Anonymous Search Engine Optimization said...

i like post. looks like i have some work to do

October 12, 2007 10:37 AM  
Anonymous steve said...

great tips.thnx.

October 15, 2007 1:26 PM  
Anonymous creative photography tips said...

Thanks for this great creative photography tip.

I can't wait for all the Christmas lights to start cropping up for some great light shots.

Bring it on!

November 11, 2007 3:15 AM  
Blogger scubajunkie said...

Tom G.

Bean bags are "moldable". Not as good as clay or putty, but no sticky residue ;-) Just push the camera/phone into it until it is level and sturdy.

December 04, 2007 12:48 PM  
Blogger Phil Hunton said...

Nice stuff, Ill have to get into town and try shooting the lights there and dodging the drunken idiots that congregate in Newcastle at this time of year.

BTW David, if you get a knowck at the door at an ungodly hour with an irrate Geordie lass on the other side then I apologise, I bought a G9 on your recommendation and blamed it entirely on you, I told her we'd have to wait an extra month or two for the wedding.

December 04, 2007 2:11 PM  
Blogger Magdalen Islands said...

Thanks for all the tips you have given here. I will be putting them to good use this Christmas.

December 08, 2007 2:40 PM  
Anonymous Bernie said...

Seeing the link to the Annapolis Pictures from the Baltimore Sun, made me think that might be worth posting my Annapolis Christmas Tree pictures. They're on my page at:

Rocket9.net

Though I didn't follow the tips here, but will definitely keep them in mind. My shots were taken at about 5am on two different days. One in heavy fog, and one under the full moon (planned the time and day to have the full moon over the capital).

December 20, 2007 9:58 AM  
Blogger Gary England said...

Thanks for your Very helpful article on Christmas lights. I live in Las Vegas and lights are a big part of photos here. I can't wait to try this out tonight!

December 20, 2007 11:42 AM  
Blogger Pedaling said...

oohh, i just found your blog - i think it's going to help me alot in my photo taking - thanks, great post!

December 21, 2007 11:27 PM  
Anonymous Search Engine Optimization said...

thanks for the tips. also i really like the pictures

December 28, 2007 5:39 PM  
Anonymous Susan L said...

I have always found it difficult taking good shots of anything that is lit up, I seem to always get the bright lights effecting the rest of the image, thanks for the tips.

February 27, 2008 8:58 AM  
Anonymous trademark registration said...

Hi, Great Blog. This post is very informative! Now I know why my photos of X-mas lights are garbage :)

April 05, 2008 6:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great tip.

NOW......... what about indoor lights? Dimmer switches might provide the same concept I suppose. Any other tips for indoors? Especially if dimmers are not available.

I would like to get good photos of my chili pepper lights.

June 17, 2008 8:16 AM  

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