Counting Down

I just spent a week in the Chicago area for a combination pre-Christmas visit with some family and friends, and a photo shoot.

Photographing Christmas lights is a nice break from the way landscape photography works any other time, in that I don't get too invested in the forecast. All I need is a darkening sky, preferably one that has not yet lost all color. Photographs in which there is some ambient color have more depth than those in which the sky is completely black.

While the conditions aren't that much of a factor, the wild card is that there is a very limited opportunity (of about 15 minutes) during which one can work. That adds up to 30 minutes each day - once in the morning and again at night.

I hit the jackpot on three occasions on this trip, with a bonus of sunset and sunrise color.

This is one of those sunsets:

I've been capturing Christmas images from locations across the country for fifteen years now. To see more of them, follow the link:

The Christmas Project

Meanwhile, Christmas is fast approaching, with just eight days to go!