Recipes for Non-Cooks

Photographing Christmas Lights
December is the season of lights. Here are a few photographic tips from NYI to help you capture the magic on film.

'Tis the season to be jolly! The season of lights - from Christmas trees to Hannukah candles to decorative house lighting to "Italian" tree lighting. Lights...lights...lights to cheer up the long dark nights of winter. According to the New York Institute of Photography (NYI), the world's largest photography school, your pictures can capture the magic of this lighting if you apply just one simple professional "trick."

For example, how can your pictures capture the colorful glow of the lights on a Christmas tree? The "trick," according to NYI, is to turn off your camera's strobe! That's the key: Turn off your strobe. Because otherwise the bright strobelight will overwhelm the subtle tree lights in your picture. Similarly, according to NYI, turn off your strobe whenever you want to capture any subtle light source - from Christmas trees to Menorah candles to decorative house lighting to those wonderful tree outlines produced by tiny white "Italian" bulbs.

Of course, certain things follow from this: When you turn off your strobe, you won't have enough light for split-second exposure. Your automatic camera will compensate by opening the shutter for a longer time - maybe a second or longer. Let your camera's built-in meter decide automatically.

But a very long exposure will become blurry if either the camera moves or the tree-lights move, or both. To minimize this risk, NYI recommends two further steps: First, use fast film - for example, ISO 800. This will cut down the duration of the exposure. Second, steady your camera. Handholding just won't do. Use a tripod if possible. If not, place the camera on a solid surface, such as a tabletop, or brace it against a wall.

For more details, see the article on Holiday Lights at the New York Institute of Photography website.

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