Canon 300D Rebel, tripod Sigma 24-135 at 65mm ISO 200 f4 at 1/13 second

Bokeh

Yep, this is a variation of the photo seen here, but a different year. As can be seen from the foreground, the depth-of-field is very short, meaning that anything closer than or further from the focused point goes out of focus very quickly. Taken at dusk, the snow on my railing took on a blue hue, and the holiday lights further away simply rendered into circular blurs.

This is known in photo circles as "bokeh," or the rendition of out-of-focus portions of the frame, and different lenses produce it in different ways. It also is a good demonstration of another photo term, the "circle of confusion," which I went into in detail over here.

Technical aspects aside, I just liked the way the colors came up, and the way that it's almost abstract but not too much of a mystery.