Photograph Your Christmas Tree

A few days back, Dallas asked if I had any tips on how to photograph a Christmas tree. After looking at the photographs she took of her decor, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need any tips–her photos are great and her decorations and tree are lovely! But perhaps some of you are wondering how to get a great photo of your tree.

Well, my advice would be the same as my regular photography advice. First and foremost, do not use your flash! Unless you have a DSLR with an external flash unit (in which case you probably don’t need this advice) your camera flash will do nothing but make your tree look bright and fakey and you’ll never see the lights on it.

No matter what kind of camera you have, you’ll also need a tripod (or a table or stool or something to hold the camera still) in order to be able to photograph your tree without the flash. For the photo above, I rested the camera on the arm of the couch

The simplest way to do it is to let your camera do the figuring. On a point-and-shoot digital camera, if you turn the flash off it should compensate the shutter speed for you. Perhaps one of the preset modes would work well, like fireworks mode. On a DSLR, setting the camera on Program mode (P on my Canon) will give acceptable results.

So, set the camera on a sturdy surface where it won’t move for the length of the shot. Be sure the flash is off, be sure the only lights in the space are the lights on the tree (no tv, no lamps, no ceiling lights) and press the shutter button. Don’t move the camera while it’s working! This should get you an acceptable result of a glowing Christmas tree.

Now, you can fool with the shutter speeds and apertures and such if you’re feeling creative–a longer exposure will result in a brighter photo and also makes those pretty little twinkle stars around the lights. I took 14 photos before I settled on the one above.

If you want people in the shot, you may have no choice but to use your flash. However, if they can stand relatively still (meaning, they’re older kids or adults) you might be able to raise your iso settings and get a clear shot. You’ll want to be sure, however to have a light source behind the camera (a lamp would work, or your off camera flash if you have it) lighting their faces, otherwise they’ll be backlit by the tree and you’ll have a nice silhouette. Perhaps get really creative and give them strings of lights to hold.

Please remember, I’m no expert. And I may not even be telling you the “correct” way to do this! But this is the way I do it, so if you like the way my tree photo looks you may want to give this a shot.

Oh, yeah…if you have white/clear lights on your tree it’s much simpler to get a color-correct photo–the colored lights tend to lend a reddish-orange color cast to the photo. I rather like it (that is, after all, the color my living room actually looks with the tree lighting it) but if the off-color results bother you then you may want to consider white lights in the future