 BetterPhoto Member |
Indoor Xmas Lights/Trees I'm attending a local showcase of indoor Xmas trees/lights; it's held in the lower portion of the city's convention center and for the most part is kept fairly dim to allow for the display of HUNDREDS of gorgeously themed trees. I'd like to really try my hand at shooting some GOOD photos of the trees and lights but when I attempted it last year on the trees at home, my efforts were pretty poor. I'm using a Canon 20d with a 28-85mm IS lense. No flash other than the built in one, and I will TRY to smuggle in my tripod. I usually shoot AV or TV mode, but I understand that M might be better for the above project. Can anyone point me to some starter settings so I don't come home with a card full of throwaway shots? Can I attempt handheld using the IS? Fill flash or no? F-stop range? TY for ANY advice!
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Jon Close |
Leave the flash turned off. You want to capture the light from the colored lights, not the flash. Shoot in P, Av, Tv, or M. The meter is going to be fooled because the bright colored lights are a very small protion of an otherwise dark scene. You want the scene to be of the lights against the dark background. So set the meter for about -2. Great thing about a DSLR is you can take a couple test shots and adjust exposure from there. Tripod wouldn't hurt, but you may be fine hand-held with the IS lens.
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W. |
If you CAN get a tripod in, and have problems with the contrast range (blow outs and 'ink blots') you might want to try your hand at "HDRI", High Dynamic Range Imaging (look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDRI).
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