I have always wanted to take some really good Christmas tree photos, and somehow they never seem to come out right. David Hobby, at Strobist, had this post on how to light a room for the holiday with two off-camera flashes. I only had one, which produced some imperfect results, but the improvement was pretty great.
Here is an old tree photo.
Not the worst photo ever, but definitely in the competition. It is flat, the wall is not well lit, and though you can see the lights, this is a long way from the picture I want to take.
This year we were at my Aunt and Uncle's new house in North Georgia. I brought an SB-600 along with me, and used the CLS system to make this tree image with my D300.
You can see the shadow from the single flash on the wall to the left of the tree, but the overall lighting is much improved. If I had two flashes, as Hobby recommended in is post, it would have been even better. The lights stand out, there is separation from the background, and the overall feel is much better.
The flash was on its stand on top of a breakfront in the corner of the room, angled towards the ceiling with a diffuser on it. I left the flash in this position for three days. It really changed the lighting in the room and I ended up with some pretty good holiday photos.
My favorite, of my daughter, is here. I really like the way her face is lit by the tree lights, and while the background is darker than I would like, the off-camera flash is still giving it a little more depth than the on-camera flash ever could.
Finally, a picture I took in the living room of the house we stayed in. It was about 4:30pm, and the house is on a ridge facing south. There was this great orange sunset light coming in the big windows, and a very cool brass lamp hanging in front of a side window. I really liked all the muted colors and tones of wood and brass, and the reflection of both the sun outside and a lamp inside, in the glass..
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