Christmas Time! How to Photograph Lights

This is  a really great time of the year to get  unique and magical pictures of your kids.  One of the things that adds to the magic, is all the sparkly lights everywhere.   From the lights on the trees, to the neighbor’s vibrantly decorated yard, there are excellent festive backdrops for holiday pictures everywhere.  So why is it that when we try to photograph lights at night they disappear into the darkness?

What Usually Happens (what not to do!):

1. We see a beautifully lit up scene and position our subject in front of this perfect Christmassy backdrop.
2. We use our camera’s auto setting, the Auto Flash fires and the lights disappears into the background.

Here’s a shot I took at the weekend which demonstrates what happens when we use flash:

It’s a perfectly exposed shot but we don’t really get a feeling of the atmosphere of the picture.  The background is beautifully lit by fairy lights but when the flash fires it throws the background into darkness.

How to Photograph Lights (do this instead)

So how to we accurately portray the scene as we see it?

1. Simply set your camera to Night Scene Mode (the icon looks like a little man beside a moon and stars)
2. Hold steady and shoot!

And here is the result:

What happens in Night Scene mode is the shutter stays open for longer than normal so the ambient lighting in the background is exposed.  Then, the flash fires in order to expose your subject in the foreground.

The result is a well exposed subject and a perfectly exposed background .  So we get the overall festive feeling of the picture.

Some things to remember when using this mode:

1. Only use when the background is lit up and the lights are to be part of the picture.
2. Hold your camera extra steady – that slow shutter speed will result in camera shake if you don’t
3. Only use for very still subjects.  My model was being unusually poised for this picture!
4. If you have no subject (person) in shot you could try turning flash off altogether and raising your ISO

So go and find some cool illuminated backgrounds and take some Holiday pictures using Night Scene Mode.

Happy snapping!

P.S. This is a great method to use to photograph your Christmas tree and your living room when taking your picture for Capture the Magic!  Be sure to read my post on this great way to catch Santa in the Act!

Flash Photography Tips at the Pumpkin Patch

It’s Pumpkin time! And of course what does one do if one has both a baby and a pumpkin?  You sit on on top of the other of course!  Well, in my case the baby won’t stay on the pumpkin and tries to eat everything around her in the great outdoors – grass, gravel, bugs…(she doesn’t get outside much.)  So for my pumpkin picture we had to have daddy in the frame too.

It was quiet a gloomy day in Smyrna, so check out the two photos below to see what happens when I used my “Fill Flash.”

This first picture was taken in Auto Mode and as we were outside the camera detected that no flash was necessary.

But I know better than my camera!!!

The second picture is so much more vibrant and bright.  I did this by simply switching my Flash to “on” or “Fill-in” so that it will fire outside. this is one of my top flash photography tips!  This give just enough light to brighten up the shadows on my subjects’ faces and adds a bit of sparkle in their eyes.

To do this…

• First, find your Flash button (usually denoted by a “lightening strike”  ) and a “shortcut” button on the back of your camera.
• Select Fill In flash from your flashy type choices – Usually denoted by the” lightening strike” symbol again.  This will ensure that your Flash will fire regardless of lighting conditions that the camera senses.
• Don’t forget that you have to be within about 3 to 4 feet of your subject, otherwise the flash effect will be lost.

So no need to worry if it’s not the perfect Fall day when you have your trip to the pumpkin patch – Use Fill-in Flash!