Taking a picture of a Christmas Tree

[private]

Does anyone know what settings I should use to take a picture of a Christmas tree?

I want the lights to sparkle, but not star like. When I take the photo, the lights just seem to dissapear.

[fletch]

Christmas tree in September???

Thats a bit early!

Can't be of much help with the shooting technique I'm affraid. Might be something to do with how bright the lights are compared with the dark green tree???

[imagesbyjk]

Originally Posted by private

I want the lights to sparkle, but not star like. When I take the photo, the lights just seem to dissapear.

Are you using your flash?

[private]

ah ha - yes, i was using a flash.... What can I use to get light in the room? We have some floor lamps, should I open the blinds and take the pic in the day so I can get natural light?

P.S. I just used Christmas b/c most people would think I am crazy b/c I also have a Halloween tree...(sheepish grin)

[vandergus]

Smaller apertures will give the lights a more star light quality so you may want to use larger apertures. If there's too much contrast between the lights and the tree you could try merging different exposures (you know, that HDR thing )

[private]

So scared of HDR, but I guess I have totake the leap sometime...

But do you mean a smaller aperture and low light or natura llight? What would be ideal, youthink?

[OsmosisStudios]

Set the camera up on a tripod, close the aperture down (f22 works nicely) and experiment with different time settings to see what gets the exposure where you want it.

[vandergus]

I just mean that smaller apertures (higher f-numbers) make points of light look all star like. Here's an example I found on Flickr shot at f/22. So if you want your Christmas tree lights to look like that, use smaller apertures. If you want them to appear softer and glowier (?) then use larger apertures. Of course small apertures like that may result in long shutter speeds so a tripod is recommended.

[private]

I really do not want the star feature... so I will use a larger aperture - but what about the light...? I ahve a ton of windows in the room - is it best to take the pic at night or during the day - I guess I could do trial and error...

[ttosifa]

I haven't tried it myself, but you might want to experiment with flash syncing and long exposure times. My thought is that the long exposure time would let the cmas lights burn in, and (perhaps) rear curtain sync flash to properly light the tree itself. I plan to play with this, but closer to the season!

EDIT: I am using "long" in a relative sense here, not absolute.