In December (and even November) holiday and Christmas lights begin showing up hanging from trees, houses and windows. Another use for Christmas lights is as portrait lighting. As seen in the above example, I wrapped a string of Christmas lights around a couple from head to toe (but not over their faces) and also the mantle of the fireplace. I used no speedlights and there was only the dimmest of ambient light coming into the living room. In order to get enough exposure I used a shutter speed of 0.8 seconds with my camera tripod mounted. I asked the couple to stand as perfectly still as possible as small movement would create blur with that long of an exposure.
Portrait using Christmas lights for creative lighting - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with Tamron 17-50mm lens @ f/5.6 ISO 200 0.8 secSo for creative portrait lighting, try using Christmas lights. Be sure and put a link to your photos in the comments below!