Christmas Archives - Page 3 of 5 - TimeLine Media Blog

December 17, 2013

Commercial, Event, Photography | 1 Comment

German Christmas Market Photography

Tysons Corner Center - German Christmas Market - photo ©TimeLine Media

Last weekend, the Tysons Corner Center opened a German Christmas Market. Their setup was right outside a section of their mall for the first in what they hope will be an annual event. This is an especially festive way to do some of your holiday shopping!

At this time there was an opening ceremony attended by dignitaries including Congressman Gerry Connelly. Also attending were Chairman Sharon Bulova, and Karl Berger from the German Embassy. On this occasion they introduced the concept of the market. It is inspired by traditional markets in the City of Dresden, Germany.

Karl Bergner, Cory Scott, Chairman Bulova, Congressman Gerry Connelly, Tommy McFly at Opening Ceremonies - photo ©TimeLine Media — Karl Bergner, Cory Scott, Chairman Bulova, Congressman Gerry Connelly, Tommy McFly at Opening Ceremonies – photo ©TimeLine Media

The ceremonies also included traditional holiday music performed live by a brass quartet, and the Sangerbund Choir. The stage was beautifully set with enormous German nutcrackers on each side. Additionally other holiday decor adorned the set. Santa also made a quick appearance to officially open the market!

Sangerbund Choir performing Christmas music - photo ©TimeLine Media — Sangerbund Choir performing Christmas music – photo ©TimeLine Media

Saxphonist performing Christmas music - photo ©TimeLine Media — Saxphonist performing Christmas music – photo ©TimeLine Media

With that, the music continued, and the shoppers started to stroll through all of the booths. All weekend shoppers visited the vendors to eat German foods, and look at all that was on offer. There were candles, jewelry, handmade crafts, clothing, antique maps, and photography. Even the weather couldn’t keep the people away from open-air market. It was a nice addition to all the options inside the mall!

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December 15, 2013

Event, Photography | 0 comment

Tysons Corner Center – Santa Breakfast

The wintry weather started in earnest the day of the Santa Breakfast at Tysons Corner Center. The early-morning event was well attended by many kids and parents. Who wouldn’t want the chance to see Santa Claus just before Christmas?

The mall was still decorated with lots of colors for the holidays. Adding to the scene were face painters, balloon makers, and other performers to keep everyone in the holiday spirit. All of these made for some great holiday photos. Santa arrived by train, then he sat in his chair big enough to fit him and children with the Christmas wishes on the ready. I had a really great time taking photos of the whole scene – the lines were long, but everyone did their best to get everyone their holiday treats, and time with Santa.

©TimeLine Media - Tysons Corner Center - DJ Spyce — ©TimeLine Media – Tysons Corner Center – DJ Spyce

©TimeLine Media - Tysons Corner Center - balloon makers — ©TimeLine Media – Tysons Corner Center – balloon makers

There was also an appearance and show with the Funny Little People. Santa got a break, and was front and center for the performance. They sang Christmas carols, and some unexpected songs thrown in too!

©TimeLine Media - Tysons Corner Center - Funny Little People — ©TimeLine Media – Tysons Corner Center – Funny Little People

At the end of the breakfast, Santa headed off to his normal spot in the mall for photos. It has been a busy season for him – so many children to meet, and so many wishes to remember! The next holiday event on the calendar was the opening of the German Christmas Market. Today is the last day, so head out there to shop in the popular European outside marker. The weather looks great today!

©TimeLine Media - Santa Claus — ©TimeLine Media – Santa Claus

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703-864-8208

December 12, 2013

Commercial, Event, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Tripods Are Boring – Tech Thursday

©TimeLine Media - Christmas Decorations at Fairfax Corner

Tripods are not the most exciting piece of photography gear. In fact, reading photography forums, you would think that the tripod is an obsolete piece of equipment! The newest digital SLR cameras are so good in low light, that many think that you can just push up the ISO values in the camera to keep your shutter speed fast enough to minimize blur from camera shake.

For a quick review, ISO will determine how sensitive your camera sensor it to light. The higher the value, the lower the amount of light is needed to show up on the sensor. So a photo taken at ISO 200 at 1/30^th of a second will be exposed the same amount as a photo taken at ISO 1600 at 1/200^th of a second. At 1/200^th, you can take a lot more sharp photos because your shutter speed is much higher. At 1/30^th, your hands make shake more (especially during outside holiday family photos!).

The advances in technology are really game changing for photographers. When I am in a situation where I am photographing people at an event such as a wedding, or ballroom dance, I will push the ISO however high I need it to go to save the recycle time with the flashes since you never know when you need to have another pop of light. The action will not wait for the photographer! But there are many times when having a good steady tripod underneath your camera is essential. Recently, I have done a lot of shoots with outside Christmas lights, and interiors. It has been a huge help to use the tripod in these cases. I can get a nice long exposure which will blur any of the people in the photos which adds some action into the photos.

©TimeLine Media - Christmas Decorations at Tysons Corner Center — ©TimeLine Media – Christmas Decorations at Tysons Corner Center

Another advantage of using lower ISO 100 – 200, are the colors! I am shooting in a saturated color style these days, and lower ISO values make it really easy to punch these up in post. You lose a lot of this ability once you push the ISO too high. There are many colorful decorations to photograph this holiday season, so get out your tripod and use it for steadier, more colorful images.

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

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