Photographing Christmas Lights

Photographing Christmas Light displays can be lots of fun.  There are lots of creative variations on a theme in play here, so go out and explore your neighborhood.  Or, plan ahead for your next year’s Holiday card by shooting your own display. Here’s what you need to know.  

Generally, people wait to shoot until it is dark out, but that is too late.  The lights may reproduce well in the photograph, but all the other detail in the image will be lost.  The goal is to match the correct exposure for the lights with the ambient light at dusk so there is detail in the lights, and detail in the buildings and sky as well. That means that you want to get to your location right around sunset, do your scout, and find the spot you want to shoot from.  I’d suggest bringing a tripod, since the exposures can be from 1second to 5 seconds long, depending on the situation, with an ISO of 100.  If you don’t have a tripod with you, you could hand hold, but be sure to use a high ISO so you keep your shutter speeds up above 1/60 second.  Maybe look for a surface to brace your camera against, like a wall or tree.

Frame the picture so you include some environment.  A snow covered lawn creates a wonderful foreground that can reflect color, and the sky can give you a wonderful rich blue to compliment the reds and yellows of the bulbs.

You have a couple of choices for setting white balance.  You could go with daylight balance, and let the image take on a warm glow. 

 Or you could set the camera to tungsten balance, which would make the sky go much bluer.  This is a time tested approach to shooting at dusk, most notably practiced by the legendary photographer, Pete Turner.

Either way, start to shoot maybe ten minutes after sunset to see what the ambient light balance is.  Look at your histogram to see how you are doing.  

As it gets darker, increase the pace of shooting, as the window for when the correct exposure for the lights, and the correct exposure for the ambient light will only be about ten minutes at most. 

 

You’ll know you are done when the sky is black, and the separation between it and the buildings are lost.

Converting a color photograph to black and white

Black and white conversion using Adobe Lightroom

All digital cameras capture images in color, and it creates an interesting dilemma for the photographer.

When pictures were made with film, you had to make a conscious choice before you made the image, because you had to load either black and white or color film into the camera.  In many ways, it was a good thing, because it forced you to previsualize the final image before you ever made the first exposure.

To photographers growing up with digital cameras, though, those reasons may not seem obvious because all images are captured in color in the first place.  So once that happens, why would you want to convert a picture to black and white?

Original color capture

First, by removing the color from the image, you eliminate the possibility that the viewers eye will be distracted by strong colors.  Sometimes, our feelings about the composition and content is unduly influenced by that.

Second, removing the color and breaking the values into greyscale tones from white to black can help the viewer focus more on the quality of light in the picture.

And finally, but eliminating color, the viewer tends to see  texture, line and gesture more quickly.

There are a number of ways to make the conversion from color to black and white.  In the example here, I used Adobe Lightroom, using the B&W module and adjusting the individual sliders for the eight colors.  You could also use Adobe Photoshop, and either convert to greyscale, desaturate an image, or use channel mixer to create the effect you want.  Finally, you could use NIK Silver Efex Pro, which has numerous presets for different black and white looks. 

Use perspective to improve your photography

Using perspective is one of the most important tools available in composing a photograph.  By using converging lines, like the shorelines of the creek in this photograph, you can lead the viewer's eye to the most important part of the image.

In the case of the image shown above, notice how the lines of the shore lead you to the left edge of the cloud bank as it moves in front of the mountain.

Top photography tip for better landscape pictures

There are lots of important tips for shooting better photographs.  Things like Rule of Thirds, and utilizing Depth of Field to guide the viewer to the key subject of the image.

For me, when I am shooting landscape photography, what I look for more than anything else is transitional light. Taking pictures outdoors when the weather is changing provides more contrast as some parts of the land are hit by light, while others are not.  And the clouds themselves can add great drama to the picture.

The natural tendency is to avoid stormy days when it might be raining, snowing or windy.  Personally, though, I find these times to afford the opportunity to make some of the most dramatic images possible.  It's important to be prudent, and stay out of dangerous situations created by severe weather.  Shooting with lightning in the area, or chasing tornadoes are not things I would recommend, for example.  With that in mind, the next time a weather system rolls through, think about getting out and making some images.

How to shoot flowers

It's spring, and it's hard not to be enthralled by the explosion of color and fragrances out there.  Tulips. daffodils, lilacs and flowering fruit trees all put on wonderful displays.

How to take great pictures of flowers can be challenging.  Here are just a couple of tips.

First, use depth of field to bring focus to a particular area, rather than having the whole picture sharp front to back.  Notice how in the picture above, the focus drops off from the flowers on the left to the branches in the back right.

The second suggestion is to let light and shadow bring the viewer's eye to a key element.   The eye is naturally drawn to the brightest part of a scene, so by composing the image with that in mind, you can lead the viewer to the subject of your image.  Combine that with a shallow depth of field, and use of the rule of thirds, and you've got a stronger photograph.

So get out there and play. It's a great time to expand your skills, and indulge the senses.