Capturing Holiday Magic: Tips for Photographing Light Displays

Nothing says holiday like a great light display, and photos of these displays can be truly stunning. One place that offers a variety of light displays is Lincoln Park Zoo, and they are open many evenings during the holiday season. Whether it is Lincoln Park Zoo, or some other spectacular light venue, enjoying a night out during the holiday season provides great memories, and can truly be a special time with your special someone. Give these ideas a try and your memories will be captured forever:

• Stabilize the camera – With night photography, slow shutter speeds are common. Most mistakes are made when cameras are not stabilized. A tripod is best, of course, but if you don’t want to lug one around, develop other stabilizing strategies. Setting the camera on a bench or some other stable surface will help. If you don’t have a stable surface available, even leaning on a doorway or a tree can add the stability needed.

• Be GENTLE with the shutter….it doesn’t help to stabilize the camera if you don’t take care releasing the shutter. A sure-fire way to do this is to set your timer, and don’t handle the camera while it is taking the photo.

• Increase the ISO. A higher ISO amplifies the light and will allow your camera to use a faster shutter speed to capture the scene. Higher ISO’s also cause additional ‘noise’ in the photo. Noise is generally a negative thing that causes a certain loss of sharpness in the image, and when very large format prints are made, noise is more noticeable. Today’s cameras handle noise very well, and the negative effects of noise on small format prints up to 8×10 or electronic files will hardly be noticed. Photography is always about balancing the variables, and I recommend ISO640 or ISO800 as a good starting point for these types of photos.

• Try different white balance settings. Each type of lighting exhibits a particular color temperature, and these color temperatures are referred to as ‘warmer’ or ‘cooler’ types of lighting. White Balance is a setting that allows the camera to correct for these various lighting situations. A ‘correct’ White Balance setting allows for the whites to actually look white. But in photographs where bright colors may the most important element, sometimes a different white balance can actually accent colors in a way that is very appealing. By using different white balance settings while taking the same photo over and over, you learn the effects, and sometimes setting things ‘wrong’ just to enhance the colors is desirable.

• Turn off your flash. Sometimes a camera will sense a low lighting situation, and automatically turn on the flash. Unless you have people in the foreground that need to be lit, turn off your flash. Flash can quickly change the exposure parameters, and ruin an otherwise stunning shot.

In addition to these tips, a few simple adjustments in Photoshop Elements will further enhance your photos. During just three class meetings of the upcoming Photoshop Elements course, you will learn these easy tricks and be amazed at the permanent difference in your photography. Not only will your holiday photos will get better, you’ll see a tremendous jump in the quality of your photography just by applying some of these basic steps.

We are looking forward to seeing you in one of our upcoming classes or safaris, but in the meantime, have a great holiday season, and be sure to capture some of the truly special moments! Click here to see more magical holiday photos by Adventure Safari Network.

Guest Post by Gary Gullett, President and COO of Adventure Safari Network, and Harper CE Photography Instructor. Gullett administers the Digitial Photography Certificate Programs at Harper College, as well as three other colleges. He frequently leads group expeditions to Africa, India, and Alaska. Gullett’s work was featured in the prestigious 2016 Mayo Clinic Calendar, and he has authored four photo books. His large-format work appears in numerous public and private collections. He teaches several photography classes at Harper CE in spring, 2017 – click here to register.

Click here to look at our January-May CE Course Schedule for a listing of our photography courses. Register online or by calling 847.925.6300. Click here to learn more about the Photography Digital Badge.