How to Photograph Christmas Tree Lights

I’ll be honest- I’m a sucker for a good Christmas tree photo. I love it. And you know it’s harder then I thought but not impossible! The trick is (as it is with all photography) is LIGHT! You need to allow lots of light into your camera and I’m going to tell you how to do it.

How to Photograph Christmas Tree Lights

There are three things that tell your camera how to take a photo. The shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

1- First while your camera is in manual mode we are going to adjust the shutter speed. It needs to be slower so it will allow- you guessed it – more light! I try to keep it around 1/125 if my children are in the photo but you may have to go slower if your photo is dark.  1/60th (or more!).

2- Next you need a low f-stop or aperture. Go about as low as your lens will allow you to go. For example  f-4 or f-3.5 on a normal kit lens or 2.0 on a 50 mm lens.

3-Next have your ISO setting higher- for example around 2000. Depending on how bright your christmas lights are you will need to possibly shift your ISO higher for more light or lower for less light.

4-You will need a tripod or it will be blurry when you are using a slow shutter speed (like 1/60th) . If you don’t have a tripod use a firm surface like a table or books. You will need to set a timer or use a remote so when you click the button it doesn’t shake your camera as well!

Now experiment! If it’s too dark in your photo let in more light but raising your ISO higher or slowing down your shutter speed.  And have fun with it! Add children or pets in them- get in close to the lights. Try different angles and see what sort of results you get.  I obviously love to add kids in my Christmas photos so I have to keep my shutter speed high enough to allow for their movement. If you are just taking pictures of your tree you can lower your shutter speed and really have fun playing with the light!

ISO 3200  f 2.8  1/60th

ISO 1600  f 2.0  1/125

This Christmas book photo was fun to do!  I used a iPad  and told my son to hold really still. Bam! One of my favorite photos.

ISO 6400 f 2.8 1/60th

This photo I changed to black and white because the lights were colored and looked too busy in color. I focused on his feet again told him to hold still- not easy for a then 2 year old.

ISO 4000  f 3.2  1/125

This is my new favorite christmas picture- my son was helping my mom decorate the tree. I used the lights from the tree to light up his face.

ISO 1600 f 2.0 1/125sec

ISO 1600 f 2.0 1/125

ISO 2500 f 1.6 1/125

ISO- 1600 F 2.0 1/125

ISO 2500 f 2.8 1/125

ISO 2500 f 2.2 1/160

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