Show Us Your Tree

[Joel Horn]

My wife and kids put up the Christmas tree on Saturday and it gave me
my first chance to shoot it with my camera. I'm not really pleased
with the photo, but I thought it would be a start for a new thread.
One thing I learned is that a small aperture with long exposure time
will result in a "starburst" effect with the lights.

I look forward to seeing all of your tree pics.

.joroho.

[Justin Holmes]

Nice tree. I think pointing at light sources in general often leads to
that effect, not just for long exposure/wide aperture shots. Was there
any lighting in the room besides the lights on the tree? It kind o
flooks like it was shot in a dark room. Perhaps if you pointed a few
lights at the tree, you might have better luck.

[joroho]

Justin,
Funny thing is, I didn't get the starburst effect with wider aperture
settings, that's why I came to my conclusion. The tree was the only
light source in a dark room. I want to keep the effect of shooting the
tree in a dark room, so you have any suggestions on what I could do
differently?
.joroho.

[Justin Holmes]

Hmm, well you could try the wider apertures then. I would throw some
dim light into the mix, just a little, so that you aren't so dependent
on the tree lights as a source, and can get a shorter exposure. I
haven't done a tree before, but when I do "night" photgraphy, I really
shoot more like at dusk so that you get a darkish sky, but something to
light the buildings just a little.