One of the many great things about Christmas is how everything around the neighborhood lights up during the night. This not only gives a facelift to the area but also opens up a new window of opportunity for the photographers. Street photography during Christmas is thus an entirely exciting avenue that you can explore.
With this idea in mind, photographer Marc Newton from The School of Photography heads out to the streets of London to find some great Christmas lights to photograph:
If the decorations are truly grand, then be sure to have something or someone for scale to set a context and showcase its grand nature. For instance, in the video, Newton asks his friend to stand under the grand decoration. It really shows the next level of effort that was put to decorate the area for Christmas.
When photographing the Christmas lights at night, a lens that can open wide will come in super handy. We highly recommend something like f/1.8 or f/2.8. This lets the camera collect ample light so that you can easily shoot handheld. In case the shutter speed drops, don’t be afraid to raise the ISO a bit. After all, a slightly grainy image is still much better than a blurry shot.
Another great idea you can use when photographing the lights outside at night is long-exposure photography. This works best if there are moving light sources around; in this case, buses. Have a friend, or yourself, stand still amidst the Christmas lights, and include the moving light sources too. Then, when you shoot the image using a slow shutter speed, the sense of motion captured in the image will add life to the photograph. You’ll be surprised by how dynamic the image will turn out to be.
Photo captured by Luke Stackpoole
Finally, if you feel that the colors on the decorations are too much, try black and white photography. This is to emphasize the lighting while ensuring that the image doesn’t appear too distracting.
Be sure to give these Christmas lighting photography tips a try this holiday season.
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