Wild Winter Lights Festival - Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Wild Winter Lights Festival - Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
The Wild Winter Lights festival is an event organized by the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, that features a self guided walk through hundreds of light displays made of millions of individual lights in a beautiful winter setting. Many of the animals are out also out and it adds a unique twist during the season.
While the festival was discontinued in 2004, it was then redesigned and brought back in 2019, due to it's popularity among zoo guests. You are offered two options, either a driving or walking tour through the park. If you choose to walk, you can experience the full range of activities that evening, which include singing shows, model train demonstrations and goodies like kettle corn and other snacks.
Wild Winter Lights Festival
This year, even though socially distanced, there was a steady turnout for people young and old to walk through and experience the displays. While it was my first time, visiting, it definitely won't be my last.
I was blown away by the scale of the installation. The Cleveland zoo is 183 acres, with 8 main animal attractions. On a warm summer day, it could take you several hours to walk through and see the whole park. When you walk it at night, to see the lights, it could be longer.
Shooting in the Dark
I have long been a fan of shooting in challenging or dark scenarios and one piece of advice I have used is to always "find the light." When you go into a scenario like this, with light displays, there is ample opportunity to do so. You end up actually having to find ways to manage having too much light, rather than not enough. My camera is not known for it's low light ability but using a few basic principals helps you get much more out of each shot.
At the event, I limited myself to the brightest lens I had which was a 50mm f1.4, not an ideal lens for landscapes, but would allow me the most flexibility in light gathering ability. Then, to compose each shot, I tried identifying a foreground element and background element to create a sense of depth, with the light spectacle as the subject. This way you can create an image that gives a sense of depth and capitalizes on the light available to you. The added lens compression from the 50mm made the resulting frames a bit tighter, so you just have to be more selective on what you are framing.
I am looking forward to visiting the Winter Wild Lights Festival next year and seeing their next display. If you are interested in licensing any of the photos enclosed in this article, feel free to reach out!