decoration pics

[CanonSATX]

critique please. what am I doing wrong... lol... I put it on night with no flash. Sometimes I had the camera snap, and everything went black, and 10 seconds later it would show the pic. Sometimes it would be reasonably quick (not like in daylight...

I like to decorate. been looking at more at different stores. everything is LED.

here is some pics. I know. I am proving how much I suck with my wifes DSLR. its me not the camera. I tried. camera is a cannon rebel xsi I think. I know. I suck. spent that much money on the camera thought it should just take good pictures at what I point it at... :o boy was I wrong. you have to know how to do stuff...

[groovyone]

The camera will meter off of different things to try and get what it thinks is the correct exposure. Your best bet is to go manual to get Christmas lights and dial in the aperture and shutterspeed until you get the look you want.

My questions are...

What mode are you shooting in?
What lens are you using, and at what aperture?
What was your shutterspeed and ISO in the shots?

I strongly suggest picking up the book Understanding Exposure. It is a really great book that explains the basics of photography in a way that is really easy to grasp. My own copy got loaned out a lot, and is now my dad's copy. I found it so useful I bought the latest edition just to have it on hand. There is a review on the forum: Understanding Exposure