Christmas lighting - too red?

[MagicalForest27]

Hello all!

I have been researching far and wide to try to get a good handle on indoor Christmas photography and hope to try a whole bunch of things this week!

However, from my initial trials I have noticed that the red lights on multi-colored strings are often overpowering. But my biggest issue so far seems to be this one particular shot I'd love love love to have but is giving me trouble, light-wise.

We have these red plastic bells that light up red lights (the bells cover the lights) in patterns while playing MIDI-style Christmas songs. You can set the pattern individually or make it random. (You can also set the music, too, but that's neither here nor there. ) They're strung along the fireplace which has a lovely mantle clock on it, and the Christmas tree is nearby. It would be the perfect Americana Norman Rockwell kind of shot. But I'm noticing that if I do any kind of decently long shutter speed, it's sooo red. The room is just aglow with red as if we're hosting the devil. I don't know if it's the combination of all the lights, so those bells giving off too much light. Is it a white balance thing? Exposure comp? I'd like it to look more natural (the brick being the right color, etc.), especially when I get up closer to the fireplace and such.

Now, given, I should have done more trials/experimentation before asking, perhaps, but I was wondering if anyone had any similar issues or quick tips/solutions in mind.

When looking at my example (which is totally not even the composition I want), please note that a.) this was quick, handheld; b.) I know it's not a superb photo LOL; and c.) I'm semi-professional and do know what I'm doing, generally-speaking, so you can throw jargon at me. Thank you!

The bells are the red dots you can see around the garland on the mantle. I didn't take this one as an example, just a trial, but I thought I'd kind of show you what I'm talking about, even though it's a crap shot.

[edbayani]

what you can do is use hue and saturation and adjust the hue slider to the right till you like what you see and press ok. this will also diminish the color of the lights, so use the sponge tool and set to saturate, 100% and brush the christmas lights to bring back the saturation.

[MagicalForest27]

Thanks for the tip! I'm hoping for something more in-camera/exposure-wise, but that's useful!

[bhursey]

manual white balance while taking the picture. Is only the tree turned on in the room?

[MagicalForest27]

Originally Posted by bhursey

manual white balance while taking the picture. Is only the tree turned on in the room?

That's the tree, the wreath on the left, and the bells. I think it's those red bells on the mantle that do the redness over the course of a long exposure. Thanks!