Christmas Lights Photography

‘Tis the season to be jolly! And to share some Christmas lights photography!

In the winter of 2012, I bought my very first DSLR camera. After extensive research I opted for the entry-level Canon t3i. Which I snatched up on Amazon for a very good deal (at the time of this writing, the most current model is the Canon Rebel t5i). After getting the Camera, I realized I needed to stock up on lenses if I wanted to teach myself photography. Lenses can be a pricey investment for someone who treats photography as a hobby. I did a little research and quickly discovered there is an alternative to expensive Canon EF lenses, old manual Canon FD lenses! So I bought a Canon FD to EF adapter, visited a few flea markets, eBay and Craigslist and for around $150, got myself a collection of old Canon FD lenses (25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm to 210mm and my favorite, 35mm to 105mm). The fact that everything was manual didn’t bother me in the least since I needed to learn and I’ve always preferred the hands-on approach.

These photos are the result of what happened the very first time I took the camera out. It was a few days after Christmas and we visited Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena and Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills. Unlike most of my other photos, these have not been digitally corrected or manipulated at all. These are exactly as they came out of the camera. What do you think?