Photography as Abstract – Holiday Lights 3
Here’s another of the abstracts I’ve been doing. If you want to see the other images/posts in the series, please click here and here.
This will be the last of my holiday light abstracts. I did three others, if you’d like to look – here, here and here.
I shot this photo of the lights on the performance stage at the Santa Fe Plaza. In this one, I included not just one of the light balls, but two of them and also a center light fixture.
I still think it reminds me of something the Hubble Telescope might see. 
Shot with my 105mm macro lens at f/11.
Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.
Two new planets and even more asteroids.
Great photo, as always.
Thanks, Nandini!
Love it!
Thank you, Adrienne!
Great shot Katie!! The two balls are a bit similat, like eyes! Great arts!
Ooh, I like this – eyes.
Thanks, Xandi! 
Awesome! Looks like the greatest party universe ever had
Now, I want to to go that party.
Thanks, Mahesh! 
Great shot.. Tell me something, isn’t it kinda hard to know what will be in focus in this kind of shots? I mean if you focus on middle big light, then two orange balls will be out of focus, wouldn’t they? I am sure this is something related to DOF.. can’t remember what..
Good point! I had to use a smaller aperture f/11 to make sure that things were in focus (more DOF). I tried first with larger apertures (f/2.8 and the such), but it didn’t work. It was most definitely something I was working with in this! Great comment!
Great shot, Katie. I really like this one.
Thanks, Bob. Glad you like this one.
I love the way the lights dance in the background–it’s a really nice shot. Hope that you are having a lovely Santa Fe holiday, Sally
Thank you so much, Sally!
wonderfully festive!
i’m so glad to be visiting your space here and to have had a taste of santa fe holiday-style!
Ah, thank yo. So glad you like to see the Santa Fe photos.
I’m not really sure anyone would remember where these lights were though, as there is so much around them. It would be interesting to find out. Thanks so much for your comment, Michelle! 
I like the way you look at things differently for these kinds of shots. Nice!
Thanks so much, Kenneth. And thanks to for visiting my blog.
Katie, this is stunning. It looks like a holiday universe – all bright lights and vast tracts of space. Lovely.
very nice
Thanks!
cool photo Katie
Thanks you, Andrea. And thanks too for visiting my blog.
I still like how the black is pitch black. They really do look like they are floating!
I like that too. Sometimes I love that a camera can’t see as well in the evening light as I can.
Thanks for the comment, Jennifer!
Very creative!
Thank you! and thanks for visiting my blog also!
Yes — that’s the first thing I thought before I read — looks like a Hubble deep field. Very cool!
Wonderful, Zorgor! Glad it wasn’t just me. I LOVE the Hubble!
Pretty Neat!! Galaxies and a Star Cluster!! This pic proves that Einstein’s Theories were correct!! Thank You!!
LOL! Einstein mentioned along with one of my photos. So cool!
Thanks, Boab!
Great shot, as Jennifer said, they look like they are floating.
Thanks, Victoria!
These are so festive. I love the otherworldly sort of feel these have…they appear to be just floating. Striking image, Katie! I like it.
Thanks, Jenna. Glad you like this one.
Nice capture, Katie. The small aperture takes care of the focus, especially if you focus manually, but the challenge for me in this kind of shot is the exposure. I usually end up with “ghosts” in the shadows. Well done.
Using a macro lens means always thinking carefully about aperture. I don’t usually get ghosts, but I try to make sure there aren’t lots of stray light going on in the background. And what you see as the background here is the top of the stage, which is dark. Worked out nicely.
Thanks for your comment, Tarheel!
It’s great! Such a clear photograph of a dark setting.
Thanks, Lilly’s owner.
I like this. The multi-colored balls keep drawing my eyes to back and forth across the frame.
Wonderful!
Thanks for your comment mB!
They remind me of my night club days…or nights. Great work with the lights.
I agree with that, actually. To me that look like disco lights.
But nowadays, I’ll prefer a deep field photo from the Hubble Telescope. Thanks so much for your comment. 
I see fireworks personally.
Cool shot
Fireworks. That’s cool, Cin. Thanks!
Yes indeed! Straight from the Hubble. A great abstract Katie.
Thank you! Love the Hubble!
…a stary night with 2! fullmoons! Well shot, Katie!
Oh, to have moons that color. That would certainly change things when you’re looking at the night sky, wouldn’t it?
Thanks for your comment, Marina! 
Love it! Much more successful than my attempts to photograph lights!! (Consigned to “delete”!!). What’s the secret?!
Thank you! The secret, let’s see. Making sure it’s not dark/dark out when you do it (this was right after the sun set, so there was still some light) And take multiple shots with different exposures to get the exposure you want. I also really isolated my subject, so you weren’t seeing lights all over the place. Does that help?
This is really cool Katie! I tried doing a few myself over the festive period, but they didn’t turn out half as perfect at this one. Very nice indeed.
Ah, thank you so much! Glad you can appreciate the work it takes to get a simple shot like this.
Thanks so much for your comment!
Amazing photography, it’s great
Thanks, Filipe!
You have a great eye for abstracts!
Ah, thank you so much, Shannon!
My late father made me one of those lighted balls one year for Christmas… this brought back lovely memories. Thanks for sharing it.
Ah, how sweet. Glad I could remind you of a lovely time.
They do look like planets…space…the final frontier…
Cool series Katie!!!
Thanks, David!
I still want to eat those baubles!
LOL!
Very cool
(almost reminds me of fireworks, in a way)!
Thank you!
Love it, such a brilliant work Katie! So festive
Thanks, Kristina!
That’s so beautiful. Like a firework
Ah, thank you, Novroz!
It does look like planets and stars…and fireworks, too! I love it!
Ah, thank you! Glad you see that!
So pretty, I love how they look suspended. Like fireworks.
Thank you so much, Charleen!
So cool! A great picture, thanks for posting
Thanks, Rebecca!
Oh, GOSH!
It’s wonderful………
Hey Egle! Thank you and welcome back!