Photography Techniques Using Christmas Lights

Only two more weeks until Christmas and there’s still so much to do! Have you finished putting up your Christmas lights and taking holiday pictures? It’s time to get a move on those last few holiday preparations. Christmas Décor Oakville knows that Christmas isn’t Christmas without a few pictures to capture the memories. Taking the right photos with your outdoor Christmas lights can be tough if you don’t know the right techniques.

Christmas Décor Oakville can help you take the best Christmas photos possible. There are a couple of universal tricks that will work for any one – even amateur photographers. Here are our best techniques for pictures with your outdoor Christmas lights.

Flash helps out
If you don’t already use your flash when you take photographs of your Christmas lights in Oakville, then it’s time to start. Flash does a great job of filling in dark spots that are aesthetically unappealing in the final photograph. You’ll still be able to create contrast, but without the contrast between your outdoor Christmas lights and the background appearing too severe.

Think outside the box
To create intriguing photographs with your camera work, all you need to do is experiment with shutter speed. By slowing down your shutter speed, you can produce a number of interesting effects to entirely transform a picture from the boring frame it would have been, into an exciting and artistic representation.

Once you’ve slowed down the shutter, use zoom to capture a variety of photos of the same subject. Zooming in and out after you’ve clicked the shutter but before the picture’s process is complete will offer image layering.

A second technique is to move the camera while taking the photo. This technique is particularly great to use on Christmas lights because it results in a blurred, abstract photo.

Have fun with bokeh backgrounds
Bokeh is a professional photography technique that can be difficult to achieve, but is gorgeous once you have. Bokeh is regularly used for photographs involving lights, particularly Christmas lights. Bokeh is the technique of blurring everything in the shot except for your main subject.

Expect to practice a couple times with bokeh before you get the perfect effect that you want. Try practicing with inanimate subjects first, before moving onto animate subjects. It will be easier to produce the effect, even if the subject moves, if you already know how the technique works.

You’ll also need a camera with a rapid lens. The first step to complete bokeh is to reduce the distance between your camera and your subject in order to widen the distance between your subject and the background. This will allow you to focus in on your subject, without focusing in on the background outdoor Christmas lights. Get a good focus, keeping the background blurry, and snap the shot.

Now that you have the skills to be a great photographer, it’s time to install your Christmas Décor Oakville lighting display! Time is running out! Request your complimentary estimate from Christmas Décor Oakville today!