Christmas lights portrait

[britt777]

Hi all, just wondering what the best camera setting are to photograph portraits at night with the Christmas lights. I didn't want to use flash but the boys had a hard time staying still for me. Any shooting tips.

Thanks Brittany

[XterraJohn]

If you are completely against adding light to the scene, then either use a faster lens or a higher ISO.

Personally, I think that I would consider adding a CTO gel to an off-camera flash (or two) aimed at the boys; turn it down until you get a balance that looks good with the rest of the picture.

[StanNJ1]

Not exactly sure why you didn't want to use flash, especially when you have that nice 580EX in your bag. I would stongly encourage you to use it in situations like this. Set your camera on manual and take a test shot to get a properly exposed background. Ideally you'll want to stay around f4 and 1/20sec. Now add your flash set to ETTL and fire away. From there you can adjust your FEC to get a better balance and if you really want to get crazy add a CTO gel to your flash for even color balance.

Also, if the two boys are your "subjects" then I would personally pull them and the camera away from the house. Having both the house and children in focus will make them compete with each other and in my opinion not as pleasing.

[DerekW]

Ditto, You could probably get away with one flash as the xmas lights might work for fill. Gel the flash if you can as it will be whiter than the xmas lights. and loose the ADT sign.

[1downfall]

Agree with the pulling the kids and cam away from the house for better dof and keeping the 2 most important subjects in focus. I'd also remove the ADT sign.
Not sure on the flash deal . I struggle here. I like the natural glow on the faces that the Christmas lights give off....maybe some diffused light fired upward would help.

[britt777]

Thank you for the comments and tips. I tried flash and didn't at all care for the look. I had to shoot the boys close to the house because they wanted the dear in the picture. You win some you loose some. Only so much you can do some times. I have never used gels. What is a CTO Gel?

[viet]

Gelling is just to help balance your flash's light with the ambient.

I'd put them in front of the deers toward you a couple of feet, then use your flash to light them up. This way you retain the nice lights on the deers. If they were on the same plane as the deers & you blasted them with flash, your flash probably would overpower the deers' lights.

[Wader55901]

What is a CTO Gel?

[ito4u]

CTO gel is a color temperature orange. You place it over the flash head. It will prevent your kids from lighting up bright white/blue given your composition.

[ean36]

Stand the boys up and have them framed in the big black hole in the middle?

[DerekW]

A gel is the same as what is used to colour lights at concerts or whatever. CTO (Color temperture orange) is a specific colour used to balance incandescent bulbs, but comes in various depth of colour (1/4,1/2, full) and makes a nice warm colour.

everything you wanted to know about flash photography: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

and gels specifially: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-using-gels-to-correct.html

[AHDL247]

You could do this very same shot and get nice light on the boys by adding a plain old tungsten backyard spot light aimed right at them. You know, the screw in bulb with the thick glass front? The one you put on the side of the garage to light up the back yard. The beam should be large enough to cover them and get good light on their faces all the while being the same color temp as the lights on the house. Might have to use some neutral density gels to control it so it's not too bright compared to everything else but this will let you light just the boys without changing the overall look of the picture.
Cheers
Roy