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Tips for Photographing Christmas Light Displays
Posted: Dec 13 2006, 03:12 PM
I get asked every year about how I get the pics of the Christmas light displays that I do and I guess there's probably a good number of people out there who'd like to get some tips on getting good shots of light displays. I'm no pro, so take any advice I can give you with a grain of salt. I've taken to shooting Christmas Lights types of displays as a major interest.
I'm also interested in hearing some tips from other people who like to shoot these types of shots to hear if you've got some suggestions too, so please pitch in with some good info if you can.
Whoop, I gotta get to some clients right now, so I'm going to come back later today and post my tips. Anyone, feel free to start if you're so inspired.
I'm also interested in hearing some tips from other people who like to shoot these types of shots to hear if you've got some suggestions too, so please pitch in with some good info if you can.
Whoop, I gotta get to some clients right now, so I'm going to come back later today and post my tips. Anyone, feel free to start if you're so inspired.
Posted: Dec 19 2006, 06:36 AM
Good Camera and Lens: Shooting under low lighting conditions is very challenging no matter what kind of equipment you're using so you really need to have good equipment if you expect high quality results. You can still get decent results with your standard consumer point and shoot digital camera, but don't expect to get "WOW" kind of results.
Tips about selecting a camera and lens are beyond the scope of this topic, but in general you want a camera that has a large image sensing plate and a wide aperture. Any camera you can fit in your pocket is not going to have a large enough of an image sensing plate to give you good pictures. If this is the kind of camera you're using, skip to the next post for simplified tips.
Stabilizing The Camera: To get good pictures of Christmas displays, you'll need to use longer exposures than you would for daytime shooting. Because of this, keeping the camera stable is the first order of business in getting good shots of displays (after picking the camera).
A tripod is an important asset for this kind of photography, but if you have very steady hands, you can get away with weighing down your camera to minimize sway. Heavier objects sway less. Vibration reduction lens are similarly helpful and may allow you to take extended exposures without the aid of a tripod.
Most of my night shooting is done without a tripod. I load my extra battery pack onto my Nikon D70 and attach the external speedlight to weigh it down. The extra weight and good body mechanics allow me to take pretty steady shots at shutter speeds as slow as 1/6th of a second. Most of my shots of light displays are at 1/8th to 1/6th of a second. For the rare slower shots, I keep a tripod handy.
I used to rely more heavily on my tripod and using longer exposure times, but more and more people have moving displays and a tripod doesn't help you when the subject won't stop moving. Because so many displays move these days, I've changed my strategy to one that allows me to get the best shot possible without using shutter speeds below 1/6th of a second.
Body Mechanics: For some shots,using a tripod may not be possible so it helps to know your body well and how to stabilize your body in different postures. I did Shaolin Kung Fu for a number of years and I often draw from the stance work that I learned to keep stable in odd crouching positions. If you've done martial arts, dance, yoga, or anything that teaches stance work, dig into that body of knowledge to aid your body mechanics. Use objects for support if they're available. Lean on a tree, sit on the ground, press your camera against a pole, etc.
Be creative. One of my best Xmas house photos was taken while sitting cross legged on asphalt with my camera in my lap. Because I couldn't see what I was shooting, it took a few tries to get the right photo.
Take Continuous Shots or Remote Control Shots: If your camera has a rapid fire mode to take continuous shots, use it. I typically shoot three in succession. Usually out of the three there will be one in which I was steady enough with my hands to get a clean photo. The first shot of the three usually is the blurry one as the act of depressing the shutter jiggles the camera ever so slightly.
If you're using a tripod and have a remote shutter, you may want to set-up your camera and hit the remote shutter to avoid having to touch the camera at all during the photo to prevent any chance of you jiggling the camera.
ISO: The ISO determines how sensitive your image plate is going to be to light. The only problem is that in order to get the extra sensitivity, the sensor or film introduces "noise" into the image. Try using as low of an ISO as you can because these lights will already have somewhat of a fuzzy appearance to them. Generally speaking, using a higher ISO is going to just add more fuzz to your picture, but with better cameras you can use higher ISOs without getting as much noise.
I usually take my first shot at 400 ISO and then play around with the shutter speed. If I'm down to 1/6th of a second, I move the ISO up one step until I hit 800 ISO. If I still can't capture the display at that point, I look for my tripod.
Aperture: Keep it open as wide as possible for most shots. If you're in close or you've got a problem with glare or the display is a mix of incandescent, LED, and flood lights, you might need to narrow the Aperture to cut the glare and risk of overexposure down. On my camera, the f-stop is set to 3.5 and only moves if I have to use a flash.
Shutter Speed: This obviously will differ from display to display and will vary depending on other camera settings, but my favorite shots were taken at speeds between 1/8 and 1/5 sec.
You actually don't want to extend the exposure time too long because some of the lights will overexpose and wash out parts of the picture. The right shutter speed is easier to choose if all the lights are the same kind of lights and of similar intensity. I find LED lights to be easier to shoot than incandescent lights because they don't glow as much. If an incandescent light gets over-exposed, you get a noticeable washed out blob. An overexposed LED is not as noticeable.
You may find that a certain shutter speed captures the incandescent lights the way you want them, but leaves the LEDs looking weak or vice versa. Keep playing around and if you can't find a happy compromise, consider using a flash to even out the display.
Flash: Using a flash to take pictures of lights might sound counterintuitive, but it actually helps for some types of displays. If you've got a mixed lighting display, especially one with a bunch of flood lamps, you might be able to capture some good detail of everything without overexposing if you use your flash and narrow the aperture to limit the intensity of the light. The flash helps even out the disparity in lighting, but you might not get as much of the nice glow that makes the display look so compelling.
You'll may also want to reduce the power of your flash or lower the EV setting to reduce the intensity of the flash. You want just enough light to bring out some darker areas of the display.
Here's an example where a flash came in handy to even out the light. It's a Santa in a sleigh suspended in a tree. There's a floodlamp lighting up Santa, but his sleigh is made out of a net of incandescent lights of different colors. If you take a long exposure, Santa's face overexposes severely. If you take a short exposure, you can barely see the sleigh.
Photo Specs:
External speedlight
EV: -2.0
ISO: 500
f-stop: 6.3
shutter speed: 1/6 sec
Composing Your Shot: Keep in mind what you see with your eyes will look very different on camera. The best angles are angles that allow you to capture the display in a way so that the individual pieces don't interfere with each other. For example, if you have a toy solder outline overlapping with a Santa lighted outline and a snowman outline, on camera the three will become one indiscernable blob regardless of how it looks when you stand in front of it. If you can get the same three objects so that they appear side by side without any overlaps, you'll get better results.
Time to Shoot: I've heard that dusk is a great time to shoot because the little bit of light left in the sky helps to bring out the colors in what you're shooting. Any bit of light you get helps, but I actually prefer to shoot when it's completely dark. I don't want a blue night in my background and you can capture more of a "glow" in the photo when it's darker.
Tips about selecting a camera and lens are beyond the scope of this topic, but in general you want a camera that has a large image sensing plate and a wide aperture. Any camera you can fit in your pocket is not going to have a large enough of an image sensing plate to give you good pictures. If this is the kind of camera you're using, skip to the next post for simplified tips.
Stabilizing The Camera: To get good pictures of Christmas displays, you'll need to use longer exposures than you would for daytime shooting. Because of this, keeping the camera stable is the first order of business in getting good shots of displays (after picking the camera).
A tripod is an important asset for this kind of photography, but if you have very steady hands, you can get away with weighing down your camera to minimize sway. Heavier objects sway less. Vibration reduction lens are similarly helpful and may allow you to take extended exposures without the aid of a tripod.
Most of my night shooting is done without a tripod. I load my extra battery pack onto my Nikon D70 and attach the external speedlight to weigh it down. The extra weight and good body mechanics allow me to take pretty steady shots at shutter speeds as slow as 1/6th of a second. Most of my shots of light displays are at 1/8th to 1/6th of a second. For the rare slower shots, I keep a tripod handy.
I used to rely more heavily on my tripod and using longer exposure times, but more and more people have moving displays and a tripod doesn't help you when the subject won't stop moving. Because so many displays move these days, I've changed my strategy to one that allows me to get the best shot possible without using shutter speeds below 1/6th of a second.
Body Mechanics: For some shots,using a tripod may not be possible so it helps to know your body well and how to stabilize your body in different postures. I did Shaolin Kung Fu for a number of years and I often draw from the stance work that I learned to keep stable in odd crouching positions. If you've done martial arts, dance, yoga, or anything that teaches stance work, dig into that body of knowledge to aid your body mechanics. Use objects for support if they're available. Lean on a tree, sit on the ground, press your camera against a pole, etc.
Be creative. One of my best Xmas house photos was taken while sitting cross legged on asphalt with my camera in my lap. Because I couldn't see what I was shooting, it took a few tries to get the right photo.
Take Continuous Shots or Remote Control Shots: If your camera has a rapid fire mode to take continuous shots, use it. I typically shoot three in succession. Usually out of the three there will be one in which I was steady enough with my hands to get a clean photo. The first shot of the three usually is the blurry one as the act of depressing the shutter jiggles the camera ever so slightly.
If you're using a tripod and have a remote shutter, you may want to set-up your camera and hit the remote shutter to avoid having to touch the camera at all during the photo to prevent any chance of you jiggling the camera.
ISO: The ISO determines how sensitive your image plate is going to be to light. The only problem is that in order to get the extra sensitivity, the sensor or film introduces "noise" into the image. Try using as low of an ISO as you can because these lights will already have somewhat of a fuzzy appearance to them. Generally speaking, using a higher ISO is going to just add more fuzz to your picture, but with better cameras you can use higher ISOs without getting as much noise.
I usually take my first shot at 400 ISO and then play around with the shutter speed. If I'm down to 1/6th of a second, I move the ISO up one step until I hit 800 ISO. If I still can't capture the display at that point, I look for my tripod.
Aperture: Keep it open as wide as possible for most shots. If you're in close or you've got a problem with glare or the display is a mix of incandescent, LED, and flood lights, you might need to narrow the Aperture to cut the glare and risk of overexposure down. On my camera, the f-stop is set to 3.5 and only moves if I have to use a flash.
Shutter Speed: This obviously will differ from display to display and will vary depending on other camera settings, but my favorite shots were taken at speeds between 1/8 and 1/5 sec.
You actually don't want to extend the exposure time too long because some of the lights will overexpose and wash out parts of the picture. The right shutter speed is easier to choose if all the lights are the same kind of lights and of similar intensity. I find LED lights to be easier to shoot than incandescent lights because they don't glow as much. If an incandescent light gets over-exposed, you get a noticeable washed out blob. An overexposed LED is not as noticeable.
You may find that a certain shutter speed captures the incandescent lights the way you want them, but leaves the LEDs looking weak or vice versa. Keep playing around and if you can't find a happy compromise, consider using a flash to even out the display.
Flash: Using a flash to take pictures of lights might sound counterintuitive, but it actually helps for some types of displays. If you've got a mixed lighting display, especially one with a bunch of flood lamps, you might be able to capture some good detail of everything without overexposing if you use your flash and narrow the aperture to limit the intensity of the light. The flash helps even out the disparity in lighting, but you might not get as much of the nice glow that makes the display look so compelling.
You'll may also want to reduce the power of your flash or lower the EV setting to reduce the intensity of the flash. You want just enough light to bring out some darker areas of the display.
Here's an example where a flash came in handy to even out the light. It's a Santa in a sleigh suspended in a tree. There's a floodlamp lighting up Santa, but his sleigh is made out of a net of incandescent lights of different colors. If you take a long exposure, Santa's face overexposes severely. If you take a short exposure, you can barely see the sleigh.
Photo Specs:
External speedlight
EV: -2.0
ISO: 500
f-stop: 6.3
shutter speed: 1/6 sec
Composing Your Shot: Keep in mind what you see with your eyes will look very different on camera. The best angles are angles that allow you to capture the display in a way so that the individual pieces don't interfere with each other. For example, if you have a toy solder outline overlapping with a Santa lighted outline and a snowman outline, on camera the three will become one indiscernable blob regardless of how it looks when you stand in front of it. If you can get the same three objects so that they appear side by side without any overlaps, you'll get better results.
Time to Shoot: I've heard that dusk is a great time to shoot because the little bit of light left in the sky helps to bring out the colors in what you're shooting. Any bit of light you get helps, but I actually prefer to shoot when it's completely dark. I don't want a blue night in my background and you can capture more of a "glow" in the photo when it's darker.
Posted: Dec 19 2006, 06:50 AM
BTW, if you're using a point and shoot camera and the suggestions above were waaaay beyond what you were looking for, here's some simplified suggestions for you. I'm assuming that you're using a digital camera, but these suggestions apply well to manual point and shoots too.
Turn Your Flash Off: Most digital cameras will auto adjust to low lighting situations by popping up the flash or extending the exposure time. Disabling the flash should force it to extend the exposure time.
Keep Steady: You probably don't have a tripod if you're using a point and shoot and the small size of your camera makes it difficult to stabilize for long exposures. Put it down on something solid to stabilize the camera instead. Put it on top of a brick wall, a cinder block, or on the ground before you push the button. You can use your car too, but be careful about leaning on it or your car will sway just enough to mess up your picture.
Experiment with Post Processing Features in your Photo Program: Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, or any other popular photo viewing/management program will have some photo enhancement features that you can use to make your pictures look better. Play with those features to see if you can get your pictures to look better.
Turn Your Flash Off: Most digital cameras will auto adjust to low lighting situations by popping up the flash or extending the exposure time. Disabling the flash should force it to extend the exposure time.
Keep Steady: You probably don't have a tripod if you're using a point and shoot and the small size of your camera makes it difficult to stabilize for long exposures. Put it down on something solid to stabilize the camera instead. Put it on top of a brick wall, a cinder block, or on the ground before you push the button. You can use your car too, but be careful about leaning on it or your car will sway just enough to mess up your picture.
Experiment with Post Processing Features in your Photo Program: Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, or any other popular photo viewing/management program will have some photo enhancement features that you can use to make your pictures look better. Play with those features to see if you can get your pictures to look better.
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Posted: Dec 2 2007, 06:59 AM
It's the holiday season again and I've started to shoot Christmas displays again. While all of my photography tips are fresh in my head, I've updated my list of tips on how to get better photos of holiday light displays up above.
If I have time, I'll post some examples of the tips from above later.
If I have time, I'll post some examples of the tips from above later.
