TINY BUBBLESReflecting pool at Temple Square

Salt Lake City, Utah Switches are being flipped across the country as extravagant illuminated holiday displays at botanic gardens, arboretums, zoos (and more) start opening for the season. 

Is this the most wonderful time of the year? Could be.

I can't get enough of photographing Christmas lights, an addiction from which I hope never to recover. But one of those lavish extravaganzas on my upcoming schedule has a restriction that feels a little Scrooge-esque: no tripods and/or monopods allowed. Bah Humbug.

It's odd since the venue in question otherwise has no issue with tripods; I know this from personal experience. Be that as it may, they're not going to let my tripod tag along for this show. 

If you're similarly fond of capturing spectacular light installations with your camera, let's hope you avoid such restrictions. But if the tripod/monopod police say no to you, too, all is not lost. Do not leave your camera at home. You can still make photos.

[Note: definitely check on this ahead of time. If there's no mention of tripods on the venue's website, call to verify whether or not you can bring one in. It's better to be prepared for the shoot - one way or the other - rather than taken by surprise at the last minute.]

There's no denying your hands will be tied if you can't depend on the stability of your tripod. Without it, selecting a low ISO is out. Bumping the number up will introduce noise. This is unavoidable. Because modern cameras can perform quite well at higher ISOs, though, this issue can be managed. More on that below.

No tripod means you'll have to give up slow shutter speeds, too, so you won't be able to create light trails and will lose the ability to make moving objects (people, traffic) "disappear" from the frame. It will also make it more difficult to capture LED lights, because - unlike tungsten bulbs - they cycle on and off. You can't see this with your eyes, but the camera will. Even at a shutter speed of 1/100, which isn't that fast, the camera will record some of the lights in the "off" phase.

Working handheld also limits how much you'll be able to stop down. Small apertures create star points. This isn't as big of a deal with smaller Christmas lights, but it is if you were hoping to stylize larger lights such as street lamps.

Bottom line, some creative options will be non-starters if you have to leave the tripod behind. Fortunately, there are still quite a few things you can do.

Toss these work-arounds into your toolkit:

The first point is probably the most difficult to achieve, but it's important to keep in mind. Try to shoot while there is still some color in the sky. Ambient light will enable you to use a lower ISO. Because these shows are often quite large in terms of the acreage illuminated, it's virtually assured you'll end up working in full darkness even if you're among the first to pass through the gate when they open their doors at dusk. That said, if they sell tickets based on timed entry, choose the earliest slot you can get.

Advancements in camera technology have minimized - but not eliminated - high-ISO noise. It's a good idea to keep the ISO as low as possible, especially if you haven't tested your camera to determine your personal "how high is too high" threshold. My Nikon Z8's ISO range extends into the stratosphere but I prefer not to go beyond 3200.  

You're also going to need to increase the shutter speed. Anything below 1/60 is too slow (and some find it difficult to eliminate shake at 1/60). Still, if you can manage it, 1/60 should allow the camera to properly render LED lights. 

Burst shooting is another thing you can try to improve the odds of capturing a crisp image. The first few shots will not be sharp due to the motion from triggering the shutter, but if you're lucky there will be a few good captures in the middle.

If feasible, find something you can use as a brace, like a tree trunk, a bench, a fence railing, or a post. Barring that, brace the camera against your body: elbows tucked in, feet apart with knees slightly bent, and be aware of your breathing technique. There are different schools of thought on this. The one that works best for me is to take a deep breath and then slowly exhale while depressing the shutter. 

Select a wider aperture to let more light into the camera. While opening up the lens means sacrificing star points, remember that a shallow depth of field creates a nice bokeh if there's some distance between your subject and Christmas lights in the background. You can also use a shallow depth of field to accentuate the subject. The photo at the top of this post was created in that way: only the lights in the center of the frame are in focus.

The lens you choose is important: both lens speed and focal length are critical when hand holding in low light. A lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 is going to require a faster shutter speed/higher ISO then a lens with a max aperture of, say, f/2.8. Go with the faster lens. Likewise, camera shake will be a much bigger issue if you're zoomed in to 200mm rather than shooting at 70mm. 

(One last thought regarding the tripod-less quest for crisp images: how about doing a 180? Embrace defocusing! Experiment with abstracts. You can do a lot of really interesting things by combining all those brightly colored lights with intentional movement.) 

It's better to slightly underexpose holiday lights rather than burning out highlights by overexposing. However, underexposing, even by just a stop, will impact shutter speed and/or ISO. 

Another point about exposure: in trying to manage noise by keeping the ISO down, it's easy to overdo it in the underexposure department. Brightening an overly-underexposed image in processing will create more noise than if you'd used a higher ISO to create the proper exposure at the time of capture. Get it right in the field.

Finally, turn off autofocus. This applies whether or not you're using a tripod, actually. The camera has trouble seeing in low light and will endlessly search for a subject. It'll be obvious if you forgot to do this: you'll be unable to depress the shutter. 

I hope you find these tips helpful if, like me, you're going to be taking your camera to a holiday light show where tripods are unwelcome.

Challenge accepted. 

Let's make photographs anyway.

In Local News

Some of you have asked about the well-being of 399's cub (nicknamed Rowdy by some, Spirit by others). There have been no sightings of him (or it could be her; the sex remains unconfirmed) since 399 was killed. We can only hope Rowdy/Spirit is still alive and able to make it safely to a den for the winter.

That said, if the cub survives and emerges in the spring, his life will be fraught with danger. He'll face the same hazards next year that all bears in Teton Country encounter; one of these is unsecured food and/or trash. The bears often end up paying the ultimate price for this human-caused problem.

If you're inclined to want to do something to protect bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and specifically those who call the Jackson Valley home, consider helping Jackson Hole Bear Solutions purchase bear resistant trash cans. Visit jhbearsolutions.org and scroll down to the section entitled "What Is the Solution?" where you'll find a button to donate.

Many thanks.