Making of a Christmas Card

My Christmas Card for 2010... HDR photo of San Fernando Cathedral in Main plaza on December 4th, 2010. San Antonio, Texas

I went downtown to Main Plaza around 5:30pm on December the 4th thinking that the Christmas tree was lit up at the same time as the river walk (the Friday after Thanksgiving). With the greasy aroma of fried corn wafting in the air, I quickly picked a spot to shoot from, making sure to crop out the gordiata vendor just to the right of the tree. IThe plaza was filled with tourist and locals strolling about taking snap shots and chit chatting. Knowing that I would be shooting from a prime location for an extended amount of time, I brought extra patience with me. The cool weather was just right. The few times i started to get annoyed with people who decided to loiter in front of my lens for extended amounts of time, the tranquil sounds of the water fountains brought me back to a peaceful mind. Watching the toddlers play in the fountains helped pass the time.

I set up the tripod and camera, then fired off a few test shots.  I began taking different bracketed exposures as the sun set. Knowing I would be shooting at slow shutter speeds, I remotely triggered the camera with a set of Pocket Wizards.  When 6:15 rolled around, the lights on the church came on. The Christmas tree remained dark however. As the sky grew darker, I watched a band set up off in the corner. Then the big man himself showed up. Saint Nick parked his rump in a chair in front of the dark Christmas tree. Turns out kids could take pictures of Santa Clause bathed in blue lights (that's where the blue light next to the tree is coming from).  Finally the PA system was set up and an announcement given. Turns out the tree lighting ceremony was to take place in about 30 minutes.  Time to pull out the old smart phone, peruse Facebook, Twitter and become mayor of Main Plaza on Foursquare!

At about 6:55 the ceremony was finally over. The lights on the tree illuminated. The camera locked in the same place it was at 5:45 with no light left in the sky and an aperture or f22, I slowed the shutter speed down to 20 seconds (that means the shutter was open for 20 seconds). The low shutter speed helped the swarms of people strolling through the plaza to magically disappear.

The next day I merged 6 photos (3 with the blue sky and no lights on the tree, and 3 with black sky and the tree lit up) together in Photoshop CS5 using the HDR tools that come with Photoshop. The photo merging also helped to remove more of the ghosting created by people moving about while the shutter was open.