Disney Photography Tips

[BigGreen73]

Thanks for the dark ride tips (I've noted them down to take to the parks and try out as a little too many things for me to remember!) Think it will be LOTS of trial and error!

Trial and error will definitely be the rule of the day. I just picked up a DLSR last year (Sony A55) and love it. Been taking tons of pics and praticing when I can, but there is nothing that you can really practice on that is similiar to the photo ops that you experience at WDW.

I am looking forward to trying more dark ride pics, FW pics, night pics etc. at WDW during our upcoming trip so I am glad that I found this thread.

 

[Pixel Dust]

BigGreen, how is the electronic view finder on the A55 while on the dark rides? Do you feel it makes it better/worse to see in the dark than an optical view finder? I do like sony's innovative ideas, but I see some compromises. Of course that's without me actually trying one out yet.

 

[BigGreen73]

BigGreen, how is the electronic view finder on the A55 while on the dark rides? Do you feel it makes it better/worse to see in the dark than an optical view finder? I do like sony's innovative ideas, but I see some compromises. Of course that's without me actually trying one out yet.

I have yet to try the camera on dark rides at WDW, however, I have taken pictures in some very dark environments. The View Finder works pretty well as compared to the optical. I have no complaints.

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

Mummygina,
If you haven't seen it yet, there is a great tutorial on dark ride captures found on the, "welcome to the photography board" sticky at the top of the forums. Just click on that heading and then click on the title, " how to shoot indoor shows". Once there click on the heading, "how to shoot dark rides". Lots of really good advice for you there! I copied the info to a word document and made a folder that I took with me and reviewed while I was at the world. Good stuff, enjoy!

 

[NLD]

Mummygina,
If you haven't seen it yet, there is a great tutorial on dark ride captures found on the, "welcome to the photography board" sticky at the top of the forums. Just click on that heading and then click on the title, " how to shoot indoor shows". Once there click on the heading, "how to shoot dark rides". Lots of really good advice for you there! I copied the info to a word document and made a folder that I took with me and reviewed while I was at the world. Good stuff, enjoy!

Unfortunately with reshuffling and combining threads on the photo board, the dark rides thread appears to be missing?

My suggestion for the dark rides is to try shutter priority. Set it for the lowest shutter speed you can reasonably hand-hold, without introducing camera shake or motion blur from the ride itself. Set the ISO according to the characteristics of the ride and your camera's ability... push it as high as it can go in the really dark rides. And then let the camera choose the aperture. Most of the time the camera will probably choose the widest aperture available to you, but if you get a well-lit scene, it'll go with a slightly smaller aperture.

Some of your photos may come out underexposed this way. But you still have a shot at saving them in post processing. Whereas if you use aperture priority and get some photos with too slow a shutter speed (and therefore they are blurry from camera shake), there's a lot less chance of saving them.

 

[NLD]

Examples....

Shutter-speed priority: 1/80 s, 1600 ISO, camera chose f/1.6


MNSSHP October 2011-8402 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority: 1/80 s, 1600 ISO, camera chose f/1.4


MNSSHP October 2011-8394 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority: 1/80 s, 1600 ISO, +1/3 EV, camera chose f/1.4


MNSSHP October 2011-8348 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority: 1/80 s, 1600 ISO, +1/3 EV, camera chose f/1.4


MNSSHP October 2011-8346 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority: 1/100 s, 1600 ISO, +1/3 EV, camera chose f/1.4


MNSSHP October 2011-8469 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority: 1/100 s, 1600 ISO, +1/3 EV, camera chose f/2.2


MNSSHP October 2011-8493 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

 

[NLD]

A few more....

Shutter-speed priority, 1/80 s, ISO 10,000, -1/3 EV, camera chose f/1.4


SelectedFlorida2010-253 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority, 1/80 s, ISO 10,000, -1/3 EV, camera chose f/1.4


SelectedFlorida2010-256 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr


Shutter-speed priority, 1/60 s, 6400 ISO, +2/3 EV, camera chose f/1.4


20120130-DSC_9966 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority, 1/80 s, 3200 ISO, camera chose f/2.8


20120130-DSC_9742 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr


Shutter-speed priority, 1/60 s, 4000 ISO, camera chose f/2.8


20120129-DSC_9668 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Shutter-speed priority, 1/60 s, 6400 ISO, camera chose f/2.8


20120129-DSC_9678 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

 

[jennykay]

[/QUOTE]

I love this pic!

 

[Nik's Mom]

Thanks for sharing the dark rides tips. I was disappointed to see that the link is no longer working on the other thread.

 

[pgowder]

For dark rides, try this:
http://www.disneyphotographyblog.com/2010/07/shooting-the-disney-dark-rides-part-one/

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I love this pic! [/QUOTE]Thanks!

 

[undertheseas]

Great tips, photos and links guys! I really appreciate that you took the time to post them!

 

[Nik's Mom]

For dark rides, try this:
http://www.disneyphotographyblog.com/2010/07/shooting-the-disney-dark-rides-part-one/

Thank you!

 

[Sarah Marie]

Don't Split Your Picture With the Horizon

When you have a strong horizon line in your picture, don't stick it right in the middle of the picture. That leaves the viewer confused as to whether the picture is about the stuff below or above the horizon. If you push the horizon line down the botton third line, it says that this is a picture about stuff above the horizon. If you push the horizon up to the top third of the picture, it says that this is a picture about the stuff below the horizon.

Feel free to go to extremes. If you are taking a shot of a really cool sky, put the horizon down near the very bottom of the picture to really emphasize the sky. If you are taking a picture of a cliff and want to make it feel really tall, have it reach almost to the top of the picture.

Here's an example of getting the horizon wrong. Is this a picture about water or China?

This picture is definitely about Mexico. It's not a very good picture, but at least you know what it's about.

Sometimes i like the reflection in the water to show...

 

[Sarah Marie]

A bunch of great advise!

 

[fractal]

I'm doing some videos on youtube with a focus on photo tips at Disney. Feedback is welcome!

 

[DizBee Brian]

@fractal : Whats your youtube channel name? Unfortunately, i am in office and cannot see or link to your vid, so a channel name to search by is helpful!


-Kungaloosh

 

[fractal]

@fractal : Whats your youtube channel name? Unfortunately, i am in office and cannot see or link to your vid, so a channel name to search by is helpful!


-Kungaloosh

Sorry for the delay - at WDW right now. channel name is The Fractal Channel .

 

[DizBee Brian]

No worries...a GREAT reason not be be on the DIS!! lol

Subscribed!

Enjoy and Kungaloosh!

B-