Sunday, 21 December 2008 00:00

Christmas Lights In Paphos, Cyprus

Written by Mike
Christmas lights at Ktima Paphos, Cyprus.  Not Oxford Street, but still delightful Christmas lights at Ktima Paphos, Cyprus. Not Oxford Street, but still delightful

Its strange living in a warm climate at Christmas. 

Over years of living in the UK the question was always 'Will it be a white Christmas?'  And no, it very rarely was.  More often than not it was dull, wet and miserable.

I can't quite get my head in gear with the festive season in Cyprus. 

You sit outside a pavement cafe, drinking a coffee, in the sun, in a t-shirt.  While 'White Christmas' is played on the muzak system.

This evening I took a wander with my camera to capture Paphos' Christmas lights.  No, this isn't Oxford Street, not by a long way.  But in its own way, its got a real charm.

Photographically it wasn't much of a challenge. 

Wind the ISO up to 400, set f4, take a deep breath and squeeze the shutter gently. 

Even though many of the exposures were long - like a twentieth of a second long - with good technique they're sharp.  Certainly sharp enough for this.

For some of the street scenes, the exposure needed to be longer. 

Car headlight trails always look good.  So I found things to lean against; a lamp post, a Mitsubishi 4×4, ...  Anything really that you can learn the camera against when you squeeze. 

Some of the exposures were over half a second, but with something solid to lean against, you can get away with it.

Check out my album of Paphos Christmas lights.

Mike

Mike

Mike McCormac has been a photographer since about ten years old.  He's a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and lives in a village in the hills near Paphos in Cyprus.

Read his full Bio

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