Shooting Holiday LightsKristi Bonney offers tried-and-true tips for capturing the glow of winter festivities with the new Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 VC USD lens. |
Article by Jenn Gidman Images by Kristi Bonney |
Lighting is one of the most important elements of taking captivating pictures, but during the winter holiday season, lights take on an even greater significance. Incorporating the glow from a menorah, Christmas tree, or string of twinkling holiday bulbs lends a beautiful touch to the images you take during this memorable time of year. |
Kristi Bonney used the Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 VC USD lens to showcase how she celebrates the holiday season against a backdrop of eye-catching illumination, taking advantage of the 24-70's Vibration Compensation feature to minimize camera shake (especially important when shooting lighting schemes) and its fast maximum F/2.8 aperture to create those soft, blurred backgrounds that give holiday images that special glow. |
Read on for Kristi's tips on taking pictures of your holiday lights as they shine down on the festivities taking place around you. |
Keep it steady. |
Don't rely on autofocus and go low on the ISO. |
If I'm using a tripod while shooting holiday lights, I'll go for as low an ISO as I can without creating too much noise, and I adjust my shutter speeds from there. I'll increase exposure in the areas of the photo where I really want to bring out the details. |
Pick the appropriate white balance. |
Use the lights to create an attractive bokeh. |
Shooting ornaments is another way to work with holiday lights and bokeh. I like to take ornaments that interest me and really work on composition to create the most interesting effect with the lights (don't be worried about moving your ornaments around - you can always put them back when you're done!). For the ornaments I showed on the outdoor silver tree, I shot them at F/4.5 - I didn't want everything too blurry, since I still wanted to get all the glitter and sparkle and some of the other detail in the background. |
For the indoor tree, however, I took a different approach. I wanted to really focus in on a couple of ornaments that are special to me. For instance, I have a pair of baby boot ornaments that my mom gave me for one of my children's first Christmases. I wanted to use the lights as part of a more blurred background so I could really highlight that ornament. |
Show a beautifully lit scene in black and white
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Especially if you have kids, watch for those times when they're showing enthusiasm for the holiday you're celebrating. There's no way they can fake that excitement. They're checking out ornaments, peeking at presents - grab your camera so you'll have those moments forever. |
To see more of Kristi Bonney's work, go to http://www.liveandloveoutloud.com. |