It starts about mid way into every November. Slowly the neighbourhood starts to brighten up a bit, little by little. As dusk settles on day, bright colourful lights start to deck people's lawns, then garages, until around mid December, your whole area is a blaze of Christmas lights with neighbours tastefully and not so tastefully competing against each other to show the passing motorists who will have the biggest headache of an electricity bill next January!!

Fascinated by this annual ritual of technological man and woman, I decided, in the best interests of preservation to capture on chemicals that which would no longer be available to other people, as invariably each year brings more seasonable changes.

I thought long and hard about it and felt I could do the job succinctly and quietly with hardly anybody noticing much. So armed with a camera, 400 ASA film, a shutter release cable and a lot of iffy experimentation, I literally drove around neighbourhood after neighbourhood scouting out possible shots. This wasn't so easy as it looked. Quiet estates were the best, away from frequent traffic and the inquisitive.

I had to be quick though, otherwise I'd freeze to death out there. Inevitably it was cold and sometimes snowy which made impromptu street parking difficult at the best of times. I would hop out of the car with the tripod, quickly set up ,slam on the camera and release cable and then time the exposure by a watch. I'd usually be finished every shot in about less than 2 minutes, then everything gets thrown into the car and I was off again.

One time in the middle of exposure of a nicely decorated house and lawn, the owner came out of his doorway, spotted me across the road. I thought for a moment, better cut out here. But then he got into his car and reversing out the driveway, rolled down his window as he passed me and shouted, "Are you a professional?". We Irish are quite aquainted with the skill to confuse the curious.To this end we usually mutter some incomprehensible answer that only puzzles the questioner and short circuits the conversation.That's exactly what I did.I don't even remember what I said, but I guarantee you it was definitely incomprehensible!!

That's when I noticed something very interesting. Thinking that my photo shot was ruined, I was pleasantly surprised to find no trace of the gentelman in question blurring my picture. In fact the car in the photo remained in the driveway!! I now knew as long as people kept moving they would never show up on film. However car lights were a major hazard and red tail lights left a visible streak across the picture. (see below)

This is a hotel that decided to advertise its presence at a set of traffic lights. It proved to be one of the most difficult shots to set up. Car park strobe lights and red tail lights of passing cars marr the shot somewhat. Compare that with back street quiet settings and the difference is enormous (see below)