Enewsletter
December 2005

Happy Holidays without zooming during the exposure was shot using ISO 800, 154mm and f-25 on the lens for a 4-second exposure. Once I liked the photo, I shot it again starting at the same focal length and composition but with a twist. About two seconds into the four-second exposure, being careful not to bump the camera, I zoomed the lens out a little bit fast enough to have time left before the exposure was over. Because this is done totally on a guess, it might take several tries to get it the way you like it. It took me 6 frames to get the one I liked best. The photo started at 154mm and ended up at 130mm so the zoom really wasn't that much. If you do it too much the result will be light streaks with no definition. By waiting two seconds into the exposure before zooming made it possible to have the Happy Holidays appear twice in the photo. The first one in the foreground is from the first two-seconds, and the one in the background appeared at the end of the exposure. It's important to zoom with enough time left after the zoom is complete so the second Happy Holiday's will appear.

The light streak idea was also used on the photo of the front yard with the American flag. This was exposed using ISO 400 starting at 59mm and zooming all the way out to 28mm during the three-second exposure. The zoom was done at almost the end of the exposure to keep the background as sharp and with as much detail as possible.

Lights wrapped around a mailbox with the glow of lights in the background is a simple fun photo. The ISO was 400 at 154mm on the focal length at f-9.0 for a 1/2-second exposure. The close-up of just the lights was also shot at the same ISO and f-stop but at 300mm on the lens focal length. The camera was repositioned closer to the lights to use the macro capabilities of the XR Di zoom.

Including people in the photos can be fun and an interesting challenge all at the same time. As the number of people increases so does the chance of ghosting, or if they move too much they might disappear, so timing the photo so they're not moving is important. This exposure was at f-13 for 5 seconds using ISO 400 with the lens set at 46mm for the photo of the two ladies in front of the house. The photo of the group of people was luck. A house filled with lights in the trees and everywhere else made for good lighting. It was luck that the group stopped and for the most part stayed in the same place long enough to make several frames. The exposure was two-seconds at f-9 using ISO 400 and the lens was zoomed out to 28mm.

The overall view of the house where the group of visitors was strolling by shows how many lights there are and makes for a nice locator photo too. The lens was set at f-20 and a focal length of 28mm for a four-second exposure using ISO 400.

With all the lights dancing around reflections, in car windows can make for exciting photos too. The reflection is an overall of the home with the lights in the trees. The lens was set at 46mm at f-4.5 and the ISO was 400 with three-second exposure.

Shooting vertical photos with lenses without a tripod collar can be a challenge because most zooms tend to be heavy, and move down under their own weight after framing. However, the 28-300mm XR Di is less than one pound and didn't move when I shot the photo of St. Nick. The ISO was 400, at f-8 using 135mm on the lens for a 1/2-second exposure.

Not all of the best photos are outside; many show up in windows. Shooting Through windows is almost the same as shooting outside. The only thing to watch out for is the possible reflections in the glass that usually come from outside sources. It's easy to get rid of them. Just move to the left or right a little bit until they're gone. The Christmas tree in the window was shot using 100mm on the lens length at f-5.6 for a three-second exposure with ISO 400 on the camera.

And don't forget to shoot a few photos in the last few minutes of the day when the light in the sky has a nice glow and use it as the backdrop for the lights of the neighborhood. This photo was shot using 28mm on the lens focal length and f-5.6 for the f-stop. The ISO was 1000 and the exposure was for one-second.