Mesa, Arizona  

The experience of viewing Christmas lights in Phoenix, Arizona is very different from that in Hong Kong. In America many residential areas display Christmas lights using just a small budget, whereas in Hong Kong most Christmas light shows are sponsored by corporations and the government. Needless to say, the magnitude and density of Christmas lights in Phoenix is not comparable to its Asian counterpart (more photos below, please keep scrolling).  
 

December 25, 2010

 Alex Yu 

 

However, viewing and photographing Christmas lights in Phoenix residential areas, in my experience, is more enjoyable than doing the same thing in Hong Kong for a number of reasons. First, when the lights are over-concentrated, it is very difficult to make a good composition by isolating different elements of the subject matter. In other words, the whole frame is inevitably filled with lights. Second, while doing long exposure in such a crowed city as Hong Kong, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to set up a tripod or to avoid including people's heads in the picture. Last, in my view Christmas should not be over-commercialized. A residential setting seems to be more appropriate than an office building for Christmas lights (more photos below, please keep scrolling).  
 

Christmas Lights

Alex Yu

The best time for photographing night scenery is dusk because the sky looks more interesting and dramatic with purple and pink colors. After dusk, the sky is totally dark. Unfortunately I missed the best opportunity. To compensate for my error, I added some aurora-like effects in the sky.