Taking pictures of Christmas lights, whether indoors or outdoors, can be a challenge. With a little help from the fine folks at the New York Institute of Photography you can master the task.

Using a tripod will be essential for these shots. You shutter speeds will be rather long, especially for the outdoor shots. For clear and sharp pictures you’ll need your 3 legged friend.

Manual focus and manual exposure will work best for Christmas light photos. You’ll also want to set your White Balance to Tungsten (or Indoor) in order to properly record the colored lights. And you will want to turn off the flash.

Outdoors, start with ISO 200, F5.6 and 1/2 second. Shoot a few at longer and shorter exposures and then review your shots on the LCD. Proper exposure will vary depending on how many lights you have up, whether its dusk or dark, etc.

Everything you need to know is in the NYIP Holiday Lights article here. They also have some great ideas for shooting by candlelight and using HDR for the outdoor photos.