Sometimes you find a photo in the strangest place. I happened to be doing the most mundane of tasks – taking out the trash – when it happened. We have multi-colored LED Christmas lights in our front yard bushes and we keep them on year round because we like them. I have tried to take pictures of them in the past but they just come out looking like lights in bushes. I wanted them to look… oh I don’t know. Interesting. Different. Unusual. Something more than just lights in a couple of bushes. Well, tonight it finally happened. As I walked past the front porch, I happened to look up and there were the lights! Splayed across the corner of the ceiling of the porch in a crazy patchwork of color with the tree leaves and branches mixed in. I had to take the picture. Neighbors had to pick that time to come home and see me laying in the driveway in the dark with my camera. Oh well – gotta have a little excitement in life .
Photo information: Canon 5D Mark III with 24-105 mm lens; ISO 400, 24mm, f/10, 30 seconds. Because it was dark, I had the white balance set to auto which resulted in an image that looked too yellow and warm. I manually adjusted the temperature and tint to make it a little cooler and shift the colors slightly. I also boosted the saturation in Lightroom 4 to take it to an extreme. LED light strings rock!
Have you ever tried to take pictures of colorful lights under unusual circumstances? Leave a comment and tell me about your experience.
I love this shot! And not just because it’s my porch ceiling, too! I love the splashes of color, and the mix of light and shadow.
Thanks! Who knew the porch had such potential?