Web Profiles

Clicking on a collection takes you to a list of photos but just click on the first one and you will see a photo displayed in a large (enough) window with arrows allowing you to navigate back and forth. Yes, Virginia, there are even captions. Funny ones. Are the photos ugly? Some of them are. Are the lighting displays ugly? No. While they do range from garish to "so what," all of the images clearly demonstrate how different people use lighting to celebrate the holidays. And I think Santa would approve of that.

© 2002-2006, UglyChristmasLights.com, All Rights Reserved

www.tonyhowell.co.uk/
I was surprised to learn that the use of holiday lights on homes was international and many homes in England practice this but with a twist: Profits made from donations usually go to charity. Tony Howell's site includes images of homes in the UK decorated with holiday lighting. He's a professional photographer from Somerset, England, who specializes in landscape and plant photography. He tries to "capture rare moments, and express peace and stillness" in his images. His holiday lighting photographs are found in the "Christmas Lights" section of the extensive (there are 68 of `em) A-Z of Photography galleries. There are 16 main galleries, including one for "trees," but while many of the images are stunning (notably "Weeping Birch #T1828") there are no Christmas trees among them.

If you thought you've seen everything on plant photography take a peek at the Digital Plant Photography collection, featuring manipulated images of flowers, plants, and trees that are real and surreal at the same time. Prints of many of the images are available for sale, but you can pick up a free sample by visiting the Wallpaper section to download multi-resolution files for your monitor. Visit for the holiday lights, but stay for a look at the natural world captured by a master photographer.

© 2006, tonyhowell.co.uk, All Rights Reserved

www.hickerphoto.com
Rolf Hicker is a well-known photographer and filmmaker whose website bristles with amazing nature, travel, and wildlife images. I suggest you start with a visit to the Northern Lights collection. Hicker's Northern Lights pictures were made in Alaska and the Yukon. The best times to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, Hicker said, is in fall and spring: "On clear nights these dancing veils of light can be seen and, if active, they can provide great photo opportunities." He is being modest. The images in this collection are breathtaking. I direct your particular attention to the image entitled "Christmas Pictures" that shows an illuminated, decorated tree on a snowy Alaskan hill with the Aurora Borealis in the background!

This site is so well designed that if you display an image that you like, another set of similar photographs are shown as small thumbnails below it. Under the Christmas tree photo are several thumbnails of amazing nocturnal images, including "Dempster Aurora," which shows the Aurora Borealis near Tombstone Mountain Lookout in the Yukon. Clicking on any thumbnail displays a larger version with detailed caption information and voila! more image suggestions. This is a fun site to browse and what's more, prints of Hicker's spectacular images are available for purchase at extremely modest prices.

© 2006, Rolf Hicker, All Rights Reserved