With the holiday season upon us, I thought it would be fantastic to try something creative and festive with our photography. Today, we’re diving into the magical world of Zoom Burst Photography with Christmas tree lights.
Equipment Needed
- Tripod or stable surface
- Remote Shutter or self timer
- Christmas lights or other light source
- Zoom lens
Basic Technique for Zoom Burst Photography
Zoom burst photography is a technique that creates a dynamic and mesmerizing effect by zooming in or out while taking a long exposure shot.
When first starting out, you can use Shutter Priority mode, auto ISO, and select the longest shutter speed you can get without overexposing your image. For my tests, I was using about 6 to 15 second shutter speed times. Note that it might be easier to try this photo shoot at night. Darker ambient lighting allows you to achieve longer shutter speeds. Otherwise, if shooting in the bright daytime, you could try using ND filters to darken the exposure to allow for longer shutter times.
When you’re ready, place your camera on a tripod or stable surface in front of your Christmas tree. Set up your remote shutter so that you can trigger your camera remotely. Otherwise, if you do not have a remote shutter, then enable your camera’s shortest self-timer, mostly likely a 2 second self timer. This will allow you to minimize the camera shake that occurs when you physically press the shutter button to initiate the exposure.
Below are some things that I experimented with but feel free to try whatever creative ideas you might come up with on your own:
Test 1: Length of Zoom
A longer zoom lens range will allow you to have longer resulting light rays.
Test 2: Zooming In Versus Zooming Out
Supposedly, when you start with a wide angle and then zoom in, you should end up with light rays that radiate outward to create an explosion type of effect. Alternatively, if you start zoomed in at the telephoto end and then zoom outward, you should get an implosion effect with the light rays going inward toward the center of the image.
However, in my brief testing, I couldn’t see much of a difference.
Test 3: Static vs Continuous Zoom
If you want to keep some element of detail in your shot, then keep the focal length static for a period of time and then perform the zoom. For example, both images below were taken with a 2 second exposure. In the image on the left, I held the focal length static for 1 second and then performed the zoom. In the second image, the camera lens was zooming for the entire length of the exposure. When the focal length was held static then you can see more detail in the Christmas tree branches, and can make out the needles of the tree. In the second image on the right with continuous zoom, the tree branches are so blurred that you might not be able to discern that it’s a Christmas tree at all.
Test 4: In Focus vs Out of Focus
Focusing on the Christmas lights will create sharp pinpoints of light. If you defocus the lens, then you’ll have bigger blobs of light to create interesting abstract designs. If you take a long exposure and start focused and then defocus the lens during the exposure, you’ll end up with blobs of light with brighter points in their centers:
You can also start in focus, then zoom your lens, and then defocus your lens. This resulted in my favorite picture from the shoot. For the below image, I also held the in focus shot a little longer in the beginning to capture the details of the Christmas tree a little more.
Other Tests
Some other things you can try are:
- Testing the effects of aperture. A narrower aperture (smaller f number) can create starburst effects from your pinpoints of light.
- Wobble or rotate your camera during the long exposure
