Struggling to Capture Christmas Lights at the Toledo Zoo
The Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo is a wonderful walk through amazing light displays throughout one of the top zoos in the country.
This year was my first visit in a few years as unfortunately other obligations and just general traffic to the event had been getting in the way (this place can get packed even on a weekday evening). Thankfully this year was different and I set off, family by my side, to explore a holiday staple in my life since I was a kid.
From an entertainment stance this was a great night. I had a wonderful time with everyone and was very happy to be able to get back here after an absence the last few years. On the photography side of things, well let's just say I had to try to remember just how to shoot Christmas lights.
I feel like through the first twenty to thirty shots I took on the evening I was really struggling. Not necessarily to find the right angles, subjects, or even settings but more with the ever-changing conditions.
We arrived about an hour before sunset, so many pics were taken as the natural lighting was working from light with an overcast, to a slight darkness and snow, to the pure dark of the night. Even equipped with a max f/1.7 lens, I was sliding through settings and dials as fast as possible trying to hone in on making some of the lights come alive.
In the end, with the Christmas lights themselves, I'm not sure I accomplished what I initially set out to do, but that is photography maybe more times than not. As you see above I was able to get a few good shots and I'm still working through some other edits I'll showcase when they are completed.
Moving away from the lights, if you have never been to the Toledo Zoo before, please make a point to go. If you can get there for the Lights Before Christmas, great, if not a visit during warmer months is truly worth it from anywhere in the country.
We did step inside a bit to get out of the cold. The following images are a few I snapped from the aquarium, which was renovated a few years back and is a wonderful introduction to sea life at the zoo.
More information on the Toledo Zoo
