Creative Holiday Lights

If I had to pick one sign of the holiday season that I like the most, it would have to be holiday lights!  I love them. I probably have close to 800 multi-colored lights on my tree. I weave them around the branches all the way to the center. I have lights on top of my hutch, my bookshelf, three other small trees, and wrapped around a teddy bear sitting in a chair. Outside there are lights on my bushes, around the porch and along a rock wall. I love the traditional multi-colored lights. I love the nostalgic feeling I get whenever I look at them. And, as you can guess, I take many, many pictures of them! 

The latest Exploring With A Camera over at Kat Eye View Of The World is about creatively capturing holiday lights. One of the new techniques I tried was setting the camera on a slow shutter speed and zooming out as the picture was taken. This leads to some pretty psychedelic photos. You need to visit her post here and see the photos she took. They are amazing!

This is the first one I took of my Christmas tree. It's hand held, therefore you have the squiggles. I love the neon look it has!



These are the lights along a rock wall. I used my tripod this time which made the lines sharper.

On this one, I focused in closer on a couple of Santa ornaments. As I zoomed out it gave more short burst of color.

I was finally able to create heart shapes with the Christmas tree lights. This took a lot of practice. Using a slow shutter speed, you move the camera like you're drawing. But, it's hard to draw and reconnect the heart when you can't see it!! And you're drawing upside down!!

This was a fun experiment! I was taking zoom pictures of everything! 

Hope you have a Bright and Merry Christmas!!!