18 TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING OUTDOOR HOLIDAY LIGHTS -

The holiday season is a magical time of year when downtowns all across America are dressed up with thousands of festive lights and decorations. Just outside these glimmering downtowns, neighborhood streets transform into winter wonderlands of twinkling lights, snowmen, and other holiday decorations. So it is no wonder everyone loves holiday lights! For photographers like myself, the draw of holiday lights is simply irresistible and I must grab my camera and get clicking.

If that sounds like you, I bet you too are out clicking away. But before you head out, take a minute to check out my 18 Tips For Photographing Outdoor Holiday Lights. The post contains helpful and easy to follow tips for creating the best possible photos of holiday lights.

Lightner Museum in downtown St. Augustine during the Annual Nights of Light holiday celebration.

Photographing Outdoor Holiday Lights

Basic Camera Settings for Outdoor Holiday Lights

1. Photograph in Manual Mode- To create the best photos of outdoor holiday lights, total control over all camera settings is essential and why I recommend using manual mode. For those who are not comfortable photographing in manual, photograph in aperture or shutter priority modes but never in any of the creative modes such as landscape. None of these modes will not create good photos of outdoor lights.

2. Photograph From a Tripod- In most cases you will be photographing at slow enough shutter speeds to pick up motion blur that may result in out of focus images if the camera is not on a tripod. If you don’t own a tripod, you may wish to ready my guide on buying a tripod: “The Photographer’s Guide to Buying a Tripod”.

3. Aperture Settings– Most articles on photographing outdoor holiday lights will recommend apertures of f-8 which is a great place to start. However, one size does not fit all images and you should be ready to adjust apertures setting bases on what you are photographing as you would with any other subject.

For large outdoor scenes of cityscapes and entire yard light displays, photograph with apertures of f-8 to f-11. For instance, in this scene I felt the foreground and background objects all needed to be sharp and opted for an aperture of f-11.

To photograph only a few items of an outdoor light display, begin with an aperture of f-8. However if the background is distracting or not critical to the scene, one can increase aperture openings all the way to f-4. For example, in this scene, it was not important that the background window and building were sharp.

4. Shutter Speeds – New LED holiday lights flicker on and off at a very fast rate at various speeds undetectable to the human eye. However when these lights are photographed at fast shutter speeds, areas of darkness can appear in an image. To avoid this issue begin by setting your shutter speed for 1/125 of a second. View the image on the camera’s LCD screen to be sure all lights appear in the scene. Adjust the shutter speed as needed for exposure being sure to check that all lights are on.

5. ISO Settings- Set your ISO at 400 and only adjust to higher ISO’s if needed for a proper exposure. Although most high end camera have great noise control today, it is still preferably to avoid any potential digital noise.

6. Use a Remote Shutter or self timer to avoid camera shake.

7. Do Not Use a Flash – If your camera has a pop up flash that automatically flashes at low light, make sure it is turned off. On some cameras a flash will automatically pop up when photographing in creative modes at low light levels.

8. Photograph in Raw-Photographing in raw will provide the greatest ability to adjust an image in post processing since it contains all the uncompressed data from the camera. JPEG files have processed and compressed data from the initial image capture and will not be as easy to adjust for exposure and white balance late, both of which are common issues in night photography.

9. Adjust White Balance -If you photograph in Raw, the white balance setting will have no impact on your final image since you will adjust the white balance in post processing (I normally leave it at auto white balance). This setting, however, will affect how the camera’s LCD displays the image since the image preview is a JPEG version of the raw file. Keep in mind white balance tells the camera what white source to make white.

Many older holiday lights are tungsten lights that photographed with auto white balance will have a strong orange cast when viewed on the camera’s LCD screen. If this preview bothers you, take time to change the white balance to tungsten before a shoot. Now the camera’s preview will be closer to how your unadjusted raw file will appear after download.

Be aware that If you photograph in JPEG, the white balance setting will impact your final image so knowledge of what type of holiday lights you are photographing will be important. Set your camera’s white balance to Auto White Balance for newer led lights and Tungsten for tungsten lights. Again, white balance is just another reason for always photographing holiday lights in Raw.

10. Photograph at Blue Hour – The best time to photograph any night lights is at twilight when there is adequate light to also have definition in surrounding subjects such as homes, streets, etc. For example, both the home and hotel below would look very strange if you could not see their surroundings.

Photo of the Fairbanks House in Fernandina Beach during Christmas Time

11. Continue Photographing Past Blue Hour – The opportunity to photograph holiday light displays only comes once a year and who wants to limit photography to just Blue Hour? I don’t. So let’s look at some light displays that can easily be photographed well past Blue Hour and in some cases need to be photographed later.

This photograph was not dependent on any surrounding objects or backgrounds.

Here is another example of a light display that was not dependent on any surrounding objects and photographed best with a dark background.

12. Compose Carefully- Notice I did not say shoot wide as many other holiday light posts recommend. I believe how wide one should photograph depends entirely on the particular scene. In some cases where lights are plentiful throughout the scene, shooting wide works great. However when there are areas of sparce lights or empty areas in a scene, I believe it is best to shoot tight and work only the most interesting elements.

13. Know How to Manually Focus the Camera- When photographing at night, the camera may have difficulty focusing, especially in areas with little contract. In those situations, know how to turn off auto focus and focus manually as well as understand how to improve autofocus capabilities at night.

14.Find Reflections -Seek out bodies of water with outdoor holiday lights. There is something magically about reflections of holiday lights, even if it is just a golden glow such as in the following image:

15.Bracket Exposures -Even for the most experienced night photographers, exposures at night are tricky. Improve your chances of capturing the best possible photo by taking at least three different exposures.

Creative Camera Settings and Techniques

16. Include Boken Effects in Your Holiday Light Photography- Who does not love a blurred background of colorful circles of light? To achieve this effect, focus and photograph a close object at a fast shutter speed and a very large aperture of f4 or the largest aperture on your lens.

17. Light Trails- Locate an outdoor holiday light display with a street can be included in the composition. Take two exposures: one for the holiday lights, and the second for the light trails from cars. Combine the images in post processing. Note the image below is a stock image and not necessarily of holiday lights but illustrates how light trails can add impact to a holiday light scene. (I can’t locate my light trail images at present and will update this photo in the near future)

18. Get the Zoomies – Place a camera with a telephoto lens on a tripod, focus on a subject, select a slow shutter speed, the zoom the lens in and out until you are satisfied with the image. This next image is a shot of tree branches at Nights of Light in St. Augustine that were zoomed.

How to Plan an Outdoor Holiday Light Shoot

SELECT A LOCATION

Google the internet for the best light display in your area or areas you may want to visit.
If the location is close by, drive by in the daytime for preshoot planning including parking and what is available to photograph.
Research the internet for photos from the location including any town Facebook pages.
Check Blue Hour times as well as moon cycle times.

MAKE A SHOT LIST

First list all subjects that need to be photographed during Blue Hour.
Secondly list photo subjects that can be photographed past Blue Hour.
Be sure to include close ups of yard decorations as well as rough aperture settings on your list. Trust me this will save you time later.

PRACTICE BEFORE YOU GO

If you do not know how to adjust your camera, get out your camera manual and learn how to change settings.
Now do this again in the dark.
Practice creative techniques such as Boken on your own lights or a neighbor’s lights.

Other Things to Consider When Photographing Outdoor Holiday Lights

DO NOT FORGET

Bring a headlamp with you that has a red light setting.
Wear comfortable and safe shoes since you may not always be able to see where you are walking.
Protect Valuables- You will be an easy target for thief when you are looking into your camera in the dark. Make valuables difficult to reach.

Final Thoughts

I have given you a lot to think about when you are out photographing the holiday lights. However, the most important thing when photographing holiday lights is to have fun and enjoy the beauty of this special season. Experiment, take silly photos, laugh at your mistakes and keep clicking. The experience of the holidays, especially when out when family and friends matters more than creating the perfect photograph.

I wish each and every one of you a wonderful time this holiday season!