shooting Christmas Lights
Dec 26, 2019 18:36:20 #
Just curious, if you were going to drive around and take photos of Christmas lights at night. In manual mode what setting would you start with?
Dec 26, 2019 19:11:22 #
Hamltnblue
Loc: Springfield PA
Depends on the overall picture. Lot of lights? Large scene with a lot of depth or shallow from front to back.
I would set to Aperture mode. If there are enough lights that result in few shadows, and shallow scene. Probably F8. Deep scene front to back F10 or 11. Set ISO to 3200 Chimp and go from there.
If shutter speed is high enough, back down the ISO, If not high enough, adjust ISO up and/or stop down a stop or 2.
If you or a neighbor has lights, practice on them before going out.
I would set to Aperture mode. If there are enough lights that result in few shadows, and shallow scene. Probably F8. Deep scene front to back F10 or 11. Set ISO to 3200 Chimp and go from there.
If shutter speed is high enough, back down the ISO, If not high enough, adjust ISO up and/or stop down a stop or 2.
If you or a neighbor has lights, practice on them before going out.
Dec 26, 2019 20:38:26 #
To see examples, view Gene51's photos from a recent thread with the same question: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-622012-1.html#10738057
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Dec 26, 2019 21:20:13 #
Shooting holiday lights is great fun! It the kind of work you can forget about purist methods where you can break all of the "rules and even utilize certain optical aberrations for effect. Don't worry about diffraction- in fact, stop down to small apertures and get some neat effects. This is the time of year to push color saturation, try a few special effects and experiments.
There is no exact setting that will work with all kinds of Christmas and holiday lights- the exposure depends on the actual level of the lights themselves and the ambient light in the early evening, twilight or night sky. Remember also- it may be dark at night but you are photographing the light sources themselves. Your camera's metering system should get you in the ballpark. In full manual mode, without metering, I usually start with an ISO setting of 1250 f/2.8 at 1/60sec and chimp and bracket from there.
Here are some tips: I like to shoot at the so-called magic hour, which is twilight when the sky is a rich blue. If I set the white balance for the decorative lights- usually tungsten or colored LED, the lights will register warm to normal and the sky will go a very rich blue.
I lie to use a tripod, stop down vial aperture priority and go for very long shutter times. I might lower the ISO and stop down to f/22 or even f/32 if the lens has that aperture and expose for a few minutes. I have even used an ND filter to prolong exposure. Diffraction, traffic blur, forced perspectives and distortion all helps with the mood. Shooting through a star filter or a small piece of black window screening will provide some interesting star patterns.
Shooting when it is snowing is fun and fog is wonderful. Look for reflections in puddles, ice, snow, and wet sidewalks and roads. If you can get some height for a good vantage point, shopping malls and street scenes look fantastic when they are dressed up for
the holidays. If you are shooting from your car you can handhold the camera at 1/30 sec. or faster but you may be shooting at wider apertures. You can improvise support using a pillow, bean nab, or otter device or use an actual car window support. I like to get out of the car and use a tripod.
I'll admit this is not what for my commercial clients that make decorative ligh bulbs but that accurate stuff is not as much fun!
If you care to post-process your holiday lights images, you can have even more fun with special effects and pushing those sliders to the max and see what happens.
Well, Christmas is over but the lights will be in place 'till after
New Year's celebrations.
Happy New Year!
There is no exact setting that will work with all kinds of Christmas and holiday lights- the exposure depends on the actual level of the lights themselves and the ambient light in the early evening, twilight or night sky. Remember also- it may be dark at night but you are photographing the light sources themselves. Your camera's metering system should get you in the ballpark. In full manual mode, without metering, I usually start with an ISO setting of 1250 f/2.8 at 1/60sec and chimp and bracket from there.
Here are some tips: I like to shoot at the so-called magic hour, which is twilight when the sky is a rich blue. If I set the white balance for the decorative lights- usually tungsten or colored LED, the lights will register warm to normal and the sky will go a very rich blue.
I lie to use a tripod, stop down vial aperture priority and go for very long shutter times. I might lower the ISO and stop down to f/22 or even f/32 if the lens has that aperture and expose for a few minutes. I have even used an ND filter to prolong exposure. Diffraction, traffic blur, forced perspectives and distortion all helps with the mood. Shooting through a star filter or a small piece of black window screening will provide some interesting star patterns.
Shooting when it is snowing is fun and fog is wonderful. Look for reflections in puddles, ice, snow, and wet sidewalks and roads. If you can get some height for a good vantage point, shopping malls and street scenes look fantastic when they are dressed up for
the holidays. If you are shooting from your car you can handhold the camera at 1/30 sec. or faster but you may be shooting at wider apertures. You can improvise support using a pillow, bean nab, or otter device or use an actual car window support. I like to get out of the car and use a tripod.
I'll admit this is not what for my commercial clients that make decorative ligh bulbs but that accurate stuff is not as much fun!
If you care to post-process your holiday lights images, you can have even more fun with special effects and pushing those sliders to the max and see what happens.
Well, Christmas is over but the lights will be in place 'till after
New Year's celebrations.
Happy New Year!
Dec 26, 2019 21:35:19 #
Dec 27, 2019 05:55:08 #
Dec 27, 2019 05:59:17 #
Foozer wrote:
Just curious, if you were going to drive around and take photos of Christmas lights at night. In manual mode what setting would you start with?
Why not just practice? your'er shooting digital, it cost nothing but a little time.
Keep a record of the settings for each image, there will always be variables.
Dec 27, 2019 06:30:26 #
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
Foozer wrote:
Just curious, if you were going to drive around and take photos of Christmas lights at night. In manual mode what setting would you start with?
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=manual+settings+for+shooting+christmas+lights&view=detail&mid=7CDF2BDC6312443F646A7CDF2BDC6312443F646A&FORM=VIRE
Dec 27, 2019 09:02:58 #
mizzee
Loc: Boston,Ma
Assuming you’re on a tripod, try stopping way down to f/11 and use the lowest ISO your camera will allow. You should get about a 1 minute exposure time. As the camera is exposing zoom the lens, stop, zoom again, stop . The result is “exploding lights”. Then try panning while exposing. Lights are so much fun to play with.
Dec 27, 2019 09:50:54 #
Shot with D7100 with Sigma 17-50 f2.8. ISO 3200, 1/80 sec, f4.0 hand held.
Dec 27, 2019 22:51:52 #
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