The more I drift away from the ages of childhood, so go the traditions once looked forward to all year long. Traditions once celebrated with family and loved ones, some of whom have since departed. Things change, and life moves on. It can be easy to lose the holiday spirit, especially if you lose what made the holiday so great for you. Is the magic lost once you grow up? Taking a stroll in the cold of late December and focusing on the lights helps to believe.
For a few years now, I’ve stopped along my holiday-time travels at night to shoot around a front yard or town common to photograph the lights, only employing bokeh and multiple exposure techniques to create surreal abstract illusions of orbs possessed by the spirits of Christmas.
This year, I happened to have located several trees along a rotary in Everett, Massachusetts which only featured red and green lights. Each tree was unique in how the lights were thrown and cast about or arranged with a bit of idea and intent. While I have taken shots like these before, they have only been a few snaps here and there over relativity short durations. This year I went out to seek out the essence and beauty of Christmas.
Here is a collection of photographs taken on Christmas Night 2023.
