For our next NPC outing we will be photographing the Cobourg Christmas lights and parade on Saturday December 4th. This year the parade will be held at night for the first time ever. It will start near the library at King and Ontario streets, proceed along King Street, and end at Victoria Park. It is scheduled from 6pm to 7.30pm.
Those who wish can join us at 5.00pm in Cobourg, on the boardwalk south of the skating rink, north of the marina. We will take a group photo and share some ideas and tips for photographing Christmas lights and parades. Since I cannot be there, Donna has offered to take a group shot and help answer questions if she can.
A Tripod is almost essential for taking night shots, it is hard to find a spot for a tripod on the parade route, a monopod could be used, but I think you will be okay hand-holding your camera. I’d recommend Auto ISO (but keep an eye on it, keeping it as close to base Iso of 100/200 as possible), either M mode or S/Tv mode, shutter speed and aperture will depend on your camera and the focal length of your lens. The longer your focal length the faster your shutter speed needs to be to minimize camera shake. An aperture of f5.6 or f8 should be good for most shots. On a tripod, taking lights, try a small aperture setting of f22, this will give you starburst effect from the lights. An Incandescent/Tungsten White Balance seems to work well for shooting lights at night, but sometimes loses some intensity with LED lights. Take a few test shots to see which settings work for you.
The links below give advice on shooting Christmas lights and parades.
Have fun.
Norm Rae
https://improvephotography.com/51193/photograph-christmas-lights-like-pro/
https://www.picmonkey.com/blog/christmas-light-photography
http://www.boostyourphotography.com/2013/12/holiday-lights.html
https://www.camerahouse.com.au/blog/camera-settings-for-christmas-lights/
https://allears.net/2016/12/09/photographing-the-christmas-parade-in-the-magic-kingdom/