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Lighting Up the Streets

Lighting Up the Streets

estive Lighting design and install Christmas lighting displays for towns and cities across the UK. They asked us to travel to several of their installations and capture each display in photos and video, from high street lights to the way they bring a town centre to life after dark.

As a Somerset-based photography and videography company, we work with clients across the South West and further afield. On this project, that meant Henley-on-Thames, Fitzrovia in central London, East Grinstead and Croydon.

  1. The Objective

    The goal was twofold:

    Showcase the Work – To capture each display properly, so the photos and video show the scale and detail of what Festive Lighting have produced. Marketing – To give them content they can use to show future clients what their lighting can do for a town.

  2. Our Approach

    Christmas lights only really work on camera after dark, so we planned each visit around the evening. Before each shoot, we worked out the best spots in each town to show the displays, and where traffic and people would add to the shots rather than get in the way.

  3. Execution

    Long exposure photography to bring out the full effect of the lights. Light trails from passing traffic, adding movement and energy to the street scenes. Video of each display, showing the lights in their setting. Drone footage to show the size of the displays and how they fit into each town.

    In post-production, we kept the colours true to the lights, so each display looks the way it does in person.

  4. The Outcome

    Festive Lighting now has a library of photos and video from four towns, ready for use across:

    Their website and portfolio. Social media and marketing. Pitches and presentations to councils and future clients.

  5. Key Takeaway

    Use the right technique – long exposures show lighting the way the eye sees it. Let the town move – traffic and people turn a still display into a living scene. Go up high – drone footage shows the scale that ground shots can’t.

    At GD Media, we’re happy to travel to capture work that deserves to be seen. If you’d like your project photographed or filmed, we’d love to hear from you.

The film

Watch the edit

From the shoot

Selected frames

Lighting Up the Streets — frame 1
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 2
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 3
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 4
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 5
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 6
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 7
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 8
Lighting Up the Streets — frame 9
More work

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Tell us what you need filming.

Brand film, social content, an event, a drone shot you can’t get any other way — give us the brief and we’ll tell you straight how we’d shoot it and what it costs. We’re a small, experienced crew, not the cheapest option in the county, and the work shows it.

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