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Tips for Taking Better Photos of Holiday Lights
by Patty Hankins & Bill Lawrence
©2003
Outdoor holiday lights can be one of the toughest scenes to
photograph well. All too often, photos come out too dark,
too light, blurry, fuzzy or just plain don't work. The
combination of bright lights and dark backgrounds make
exposure a challenge. The Here's a few tips that will help
you take better photos this holiday season.
1. Increase your ASA or film speed. A higher ASA will let
you have shorter exposure times. If you are using a film
camera, try using ASA 400 film. For a digital camera, reset
the ASA setting to at least 200 or 400 (on some digital
cameras, setting at ASA 400 or above results in very grainy
pictures).
2. Brace Your Camera. Even with a higher ASA, you're likely
to be shooting exposures longer than a person can easily
hold a camera perfectly still. And any camera movement shows
up in the pictures as blurry lights. The best thing to use
is a tripod. If you don't have a tripod, place your camera
on a stable object, like a wall or a table, and use the
self-timer to take the picture. If there's nothing available
to put your camera on, try leaning against a tree or a pole
to help keep yourself steady.
3. Turn Off the Flash. Most on-camera flashes are designed
to light up the area 4-6 feet directly in front of the
flash, and then darken down what is beyond that range. Most
holiday light displays are more than 4-6 feet away. So what
happens when you don't turn off the flash is that you light
up whatever is directly in front of you (a wall, a tree, the
lawn, or people) and put the holiday lights into darkness.
Your camera may complain (with a bunch of beeps) about not
using the flash in the dark, but this is one time when it's
best to override the automatic functions and turn off the
flash.
If you follow these three tips, you are much more likely to
have photos of holiday light displays that will make you
remember the holiday season with joy rather than frustration
over bad photos. For more information about night
photography, please see our article "Tips for Taking Great
Photos at Night" from our July issue.
We've put pictures of what happens when you use these tips
in the online version accessible from
www.hankinslawrenceimages.com
Patty Hankins & Bill Lawrence are the co-owners of Hankins-
Lawrence Images, LLC, a digital photography company based in
Maryland. HLI Photonotes, their monthly ezine, provides
information and tips for photographers. To subscribe email
hl_images@earthlink.net with subscribe in the subject or
visit www.hankinslawrenceimages.com.
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