How to Photograph Christmas Lights

For the most part, when you photograph Christmas lights, people think that it's best to be in full darkness. The fact is that is the worst time to take them. Taking wonderful photos of your holiday lights has a lot more to do with the balance of lighting than it does having a hotshot camera or the best flash.(Useless in this exercise anyway.)

The major mistake that many people make when they take pictures of their Christmas lights is that the balance of light that they need, a great mixture of the natural light with the Christmas lights is wrong. They begin to take the photos when it's already dark outside, thinking this will show off the lights to the best advantage. The truth is that waiting this long makes it far too late to get good pictures of the lighting as well as the backdrop. Both of these things are important to the photos.

What Camera Do You Need?

Getting great photos of your Christmas lights doesn't require a top notch camera that costs in the thousands. The directions and tips that we offer here were arrived at using a Canon EOS20 D but could as easily be used for even a very low priced digital or a cell phone. The trick is not so much how you shoot, although that is involved too, but more important is when you shoot your Christmas light photos.

Your first task will be to find the perfect timing when the lights from your Christmas decorations and the natural light offer up a great balance that will let you see the Christmas lights and the background clearly.

The Right Time

How to Photograph Christmas LightsSetup just about dusk. When the sun begins to go down, but before it gets dark is the ideal time to get great photos of your holiday lights, or in fact nearly any kind of light. Don't wait until it's all the way dark to begin photographing. Start just about sundown, when some natural light is still showing and the Christmas lights are balanced with that.

If you're not the owner of the home, it might be necessary to ask them to turn the lights on a little early. Many people don't bother turning on their holiday lights until full dark.

Tips and Tricks

While the most important aspect of the photos will be the "when" a few other tricks will help you to get great shots as well.

  • Get as much sky as you can in the background of your photo. If you have the option shoot toward the sunset or afterglow.Try to find something that is of visual interest to add to the foreground as well. 

  • If you have the option, set the white balance of your camera for Tungsten, which makes a better balance and changes the sky color for you. The light color of your Christmas lights will be nearly perfect. When you use the Tungsten the true color of each of the lights will appear in wonderful contrast to the skywash.

  • Use your tripod. These things are a godsend when photographing lights of any kind. If you're using a phone or some other means of taking the picture, brace yourself or it against a car, a telephone pole or anything else that you can find so that the movement is minimal.

  • Start out by shooting test shots about every two minutes. Check each shot for the perfect light setup and when you find it, when the natural light goes down to the perfect level shoot as many as you can, as quickly as you can.

Your window of opportunity for taking the most awesome photos of your Christmas lights will be just between sunset and full dark. Generally it lasts about 15-20 minutes time and very little more. The light is going to go down fast once it starts so work rapidly and remember to keep the camera steadied well to avoid smears in your work.

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