P3D Holiday Lighting Do's and Don'ts

[markaren@xxxxxxxxx (Karen Obusek)]

Uhh yes.......holiday lighting. One of my favorite subjects! If you have
not attempted this so far, I can save you alot of wasted film. Let's
include snowfall as well:
SNOWFALL :  shoot from underneath a shelter. With infinity in the scene,
the nearest snowfall should be at least 6-7 feet from the camera. 
At night, leave the shutter open for the desired exposure, then fire the
flash just before closing the shutter to burn in and " freeze" the
snowflakes :-) ( painting the scene) Try to avoid strong backlighting of
the snowflakes by streetlights or large open windows etc. The snow will
appear like fireworks streaks and this should be avoided. Keep this in
mind when composing your photo.
Don't try to shoot from under an umbrella etc. Again, try to keep 6-7
feet from nearest snowflake in the scene. Experiment with different
shutter speeds to obtain best results. Do you want to stop the flakes,
show some motion etc.? Remember how the DOF affects the shot as you
change F stops to accomodate shutter speeds. It is also possible to
eliminate the presence of snowfall using longer time exposures and no
flash. ( there are exceptions to each example....these are general
guidelines) You may also want to experiment with flash placement during
night snowfalls. Some of my best shots were painted with a flash , and
fired by hand approx 10-12 feet in front of the camera by an assistant.
This is a great subject to share ideas! Anyone have any great snowfall
shots? Would you like to share your techniques?                Mark
Dottle