Longwood Gardens is spectacular in any season, but it is transformed into a magical place during the holiday season. With more than 400,000 twinkling lights strung on nearly 40 miles of wire, this is a photographer’s paradise, and it has become an annual photo trek favorite. Join us as we make amazing images worthy of creating your own holiday cards and gifts!

We will meet at 4pm to ensure we are inside before the worst of the evening traffic, and to be set up and in place as the sun sets and the magic begins. We will continue photographing during the “Blue Hour”, which allows for more dramatic images. We will photograph the amazing light displays outside throughout the grounds, until the need for hot chocolate takes over. We will then take a short break indoors to warm back up, let our cameras begin acclimating to the warmer indoor temperatures, review our images, then head over to the conservatory to capture the beauty and glow on the inside-IF the crowds are not unbearable. If it is mobbed, we will continue to photograph outside.

This workshop is for beginners and more advanced photo enthusiasts. No special gear is required beyond a DSLR, camera strap and tripod(for outside). A Star filter would be helpful for creative affects of the lights. Fast Lenses, with apertures such as f/2.8 or 1.8 will be a huge benefit in the conservatory, and to create those beautiful Bokeh light effects..

A pre-trek class will be held via Zoom to go over all the details.Instruction will be given on shooting in full manual exposure, how to properly meter and photograph in low light-both outdoors and indoors, lens choice and why it matters; creative composition; HDR or High Dynamic Range Photography; and more! A detailed email will be sent prior to the Zoom session detailing everything you need to get ready. A post-trek image review also via Zoom is included in the registration cost.

This event is being scheduled on a week night to avoid the large weekend crowds. You should plan on arriving at least one half hour prior to workshop start time to allow for traffic and parking. Please plan your schedules accordingly.

Admission to Longwood is NOT included, as most attendees either are-or choose to become members of the gardens. Upon registration you should immediately go online and reserve a timed ticket.

A minimum number of participants is needed to run this event. The number of tickets shown on website does not necessarily reflect the number still available, as some participants choose to pay using Venmo or Cash app as opposed to PayPal.

In case of hazardous weather, the trek will take place on Wednesday December 20th, 2023. The workshop will take place in light rain or snow, as these are fantastic conditions for photographing holiday lights.

Please note: the images below were taken over several different years and visits to Longwood. These are all past displays and do not represent what the current displays will look like.