With Christmas coming up, I’m sure you’re gonna do a lot of photography around candlelight. You can use the candlelight to your advantage because it creates a gorgeous, warm flickering light that’s flattering to just about anyone.

Few pointers.

Use a tripod:
This is a must. You really need a tripod for this type of photography. I use a Manfrotto 055XDB with a 484RC2 Ball Head.

Light more than one candle:
Just one candle isn’t gonna get you anywhere when shooting portrait. Photography is all about recording light: the more you have, the better your photo. So just grab yourself a few extra candles.

Use manual focus:
Some cameras a candlelight setting, if yours doesn’t have such a thing, go for manual focus. Autofocus will be useless.

No flash:
This might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people turn on their flash when photographing a candle lit scene.

ISO:
As tempted as you might be to bump up your ISO; don’t. Try to keep it SO below 400 or things will get grainy on you real fast and it ain’t pretty. This is why you use a tripod!

Shutter speed:
A slow shutter speed lets in more light, but only use a really slow shutter speed (1/10 – 1/15) when photographing a motionless scene.

Candlelight photography isn’t really suitable for spontaneous snapshots, but it can sure get you some pretty images.