I came across this photo the other day, and my jaw dropped.  Pascaline is now a teenager, and Blaze is right behind her.  Childhood is so fleeting.  I knew it was fleeting when I was photographing them as little ones, but I feel like I realize it even more now days.  That’s why I wrote this post on simple tutorials to photograph Christmas lights.  I want you to have your own photo like this in years to come.  Try these camera settings.  If the image is to dark, raise your ISO a little more.

ISO 1600, Aperture: f/2.8, Shutter Speed 1/40th of sec

Two other quick notes: Notice my point of view for this photo.  See how the kids are looking up at me, especially Blaze?  I wanted to capture how little they were so I shot down on them to emphasize that bit of the story.  I also turned on the other lights in our living room for my ambient lighting overall.  In the first photo, Lisa turned off all the lights except for the Christmas tree lights and it created a certain mood.  Play around with both scenarios and see which one you like best when you photograph Christmas lights.