HOW TO TAKE PICTURES OF A CHRISTMAS TREE
I’ve wanted to share how to take pictures of a Christmas tree, and this morning I set down while I was sipping on my morning coffee to write up this easy and quick tutorial.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Christmas trees are magical. If you are aiming to take a decent picture of it at night, this tutorial might come in handy for you.
My favorite thing to capture when I take photos of a tree is to capturing the starburst. That magical starburst. Sigh!
The necessary gear:
- DSLR camera
- tripod
(This post includes affiliate links!)
This tutorial is for DSLR camera users only. I use my iPhone often when I take pictures, but I still can not replace my DSLR camera when I want to take a decent photo. I am a NIKON girl, and I use a NIKON 750 for my photography. I am a wedding and portrait photographer in RVA and if you care you can check out some of my work over at Aniko Levai Photography.:-)
But back to the topic now!
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH A CHRISTMAS TREE
I like to take photos of my magical tree after the sun goes down. The lights are most magical at night.
I set the camera on my tripod, and then I turn ALL the lights off.
One very important note to take::
Having a tripod is important to take that magical sunburst shot.
CAMERA SETTINGS
I strictly shoot in manual mode so I can set ISO, f-stop as well as shutter speed exactly the way I prefer. If you are looking to learn how to use your camera in manual mode, check out my Photography eBook for bloggers and beginner shooters.
Lens: Nikon 50 mm- 1.8
ISO: 200
f-stop: f-16 (set your f-stops to the lowest settings – in my case it was f-16)
Shutter speed: 10. o of a second ( super slow- that’s exactly why you need a tripod!)
This is a close-up of my tree, and now you can see those pretty sunbursts up close! They are lovely, aren’t they?
You can also take this super fun shot of your tree! This is one of my favorite shots every year. That yummy bokeh is so unique, and it’s one of a kind way to capture the tree.
Cool, isn’t it?
For this bokeh shot, you need to take the automatic focus off and set your camera to manual focus.!!! Then start manual focusing, and while you are looking through your viewfinder, turn your lens until the lights become blurry. Then take the shot!:)
Lens: Nikon 50 mm- 1.8
ISO: 500
f-stop: f-1.4 (set your f-stops to the highest settings – in my case it was f-1.4)
Shutter speed: 1/320 of a sec
Then you can get creative and hold your fingers in front of your lens to make another cool shot.:-)
And then you can add a person to your scene and so on!
I raised the ISO for this shot as a human can’t be still for slow shutter speed without blue the shot.
Lens: Nikon 50 mm- 1.8
ISO: 2500
f-stop: f-16 (just because I wanted to capture the sunbursts)
Shutter speed: 0.5 sec
I hope these tips are helpful and you will create those magical shots you have wished for!
Merry Christmas!
Leave a comment; I would love to hear how did it go!:-)
Cheers,
Aniko
