I want to take a pictures of my son in front of his Christmas tree with just the tree lights on but I'm not sure how to do this. I tried a slow shutter speed but the tree lights were overexposed BIG TIME. Any ideas?
Get the ambient light up to pretty bright, (flashes, hot lights, room lights, even just a halogen work light or two), use a fast lens (aperture f/2.8 or faster, 1.8 or faster strongly preferred), and shoot with the widest aperture possible, this will give you nicely rendered oof lights on the tree, with a sharp person isolated from the background...
Your fundamental issue here is that you have two vastly different exposures. You have your son who is not lit and lights which are obviously light. You need to make them closer in exposure by using supplementary lighting. Your only other choice is HDR.
While we're on the topic though, I might as well throw this out for people who may wander in.
How to photograph Christmas lights
Thank you. I'm not sure how to use fill flash though. Do I pop open my flash and dial the exposure all the way down?
Oddly enough, aperture and ISO are good ways to control fill flash.. Just mess with it until it looks right.. In this case, since you are using a set aperture, playing with the ISO is the way to go...
ETA: Also note that you'll want the subject positioned pretty far (7-15 feet if possible) in front of the Christmas tree.. And you'll want to mostly fill the frame with the subject...
Also note that what I'm saying only applies to the style of photograph I would want for a portrait in front of the tree, otherwise, ignore part of all of my advice.. :)
This was made way back in the day. I exposed for the lights on the tree (trial and error), and used a flashlight to light my son -- painting with light, if you will. He was sleeping, so I could get by with a longer exposure, and didn't want to use a flash (not that I could have at this point anyway, but that is besides the point).
The idea of using a flashlight to paint is fabulous and works quite well. Here are some examples taken to show my point about the fill flash:
Both a f/9 with a 2 second exposure.
Fill flash aimed backwards, lower power:
Fill flash aimed fowards, higher power:
If you can focus a separate light on your subject, that perfect. BUT! Make sure the color temperature is similar. In other words, try to use a tungsten source since that is what the Christmas tree bulbs are.
this was my first attempt this year. I tried to bounce a light off the left side with a white board, but my assistant (my wife) was slacking off trying to keep the little one smiling.
i wish i would have put a light on the tree though, its seems a little dark.
shot with a 50mm 1.8 no flash just diffused home depot lights.
I want to take a pictures of my son in front of his Christmas tree with just the tree lights on but I'm not sure how to do this. I tried a slow shutter speed but the tree lights were overexposed BIG TIME. Any ideas?
I wouldn't put my son in front of the tree while I'm shooting the lights. If he caught a stray bullet, I'd never forgive myself.
That's exactly what I had in mind when I read the thread title... our pre-lit tree that we bought just a couple years ago only lit up about half way when I plugged it in. If I had a BB gun, I would have definitely taken some shots at it, and probably would have put an eye out. Our NEW tree is up and running now...
