| Capturing pictures of holiday lights was very difficult in | | | | the equivalent of setting the shutter speed 4 stops |
| the past because of the limitations with film sensitivity. | | | | faster. |
| Since holiday lights are not very bright, they can be | | | | Since the technology now allows much better photos |
| seen well only at night. Using a flash is not an option, | | | | to be taken in low light conditions, your shots of holiday |
| because this would wash out the lights themselves, | | | | lights will probably be much more dramatic if you leave |
| defeating the purpose. So capturing holiday lights | | | | the flash off. Let the holiday lights or candles light the |
| meant having to use either a very long exposure time | | | | scene themselves. |
| or very sensitive film -- or both -- in order to capture a | | | | "Bracketing" is a technique where many photos of a |
| quality image. Each option presented it's own problem: | | | | scene are taken with slight variations in shutter speed, |
| A long exposure time increases the chances of a | | | | aperture settings and color adjustment in order to |
| blurred shot unless extra setup time and equipment is | | | | ensure getting the best possible shot. Bracketing is a |
| used (e.g. a tripod and a remote shutter release to | | | | great technique to use for holiday lights since the |
| keep the camera as steady as possible), and high ISO | | | | scene is not moving, and time can be taken to get |
| film typically created a more grainy image. | | | | several shots over a few minutes, adjusting the |
| Today's digital cameras have solved these problems, | | | | settings manually in between. Digital cameras |
| and now allow anyone to capture beautiful shots of | | | | technology also supports this technique since memory |
| holiday lights. | | | | cards can usually hold dozens (or even hundreds) of |
| Most digital cameras' image sensors are able to | | | | images at a time. Examining the photos afterwards will |
| capture images even in low-light conditions. Many offer | | | | allow you to detect and keep the best ones right |
| sensitivity up to ISO 1600 or even ISO 3200 with very | | | | away, and the others can be discarded. |
| little "noise" added to the picture; this is the equivalent | | | | Digital camera technology has made better |
| of the fastest "fast" film in the past 35mm days. You | | | | photography possible in many ways; capturing more |
| will have to experiment with your own camera to see | | | | spectacular shots of holiday lights is just one example. |
| how high you can go and still capture a noise-free | | | | Go put your digital camera to good use, and capture |
| image. | | | | those holiday memories! |
| Many digital cameras -- both point-n-shoot and digital | | | | is a digital photography blog contributed to by a |
| SLRs -- also offer a vibration reduction system built | | | | community of digital photographers. Our goal is to |
| into the camera or the lens system. VR systems allow | | | | provide the latest news about digital camera |
| the photographer to get a much steadier shot, | | | | technology, tips, advice and digital camera reviews. |
| especially in low light conditions; the best systems give | | | | |