The Disneyland Photo of the Day...

[Kangel]

Thank you for the signs tutorial. I think I'm starting to realize my "linear self" needs to chill, like you said! LOL

Your wife's pictures are so awesome! Very cool!

thanks again for the great tutorials!

[Hot Sauce 1]

Hot Sauce 1- About my suggestion for a monorail stop/motion fusion picture, I realized it would be a bit difficult, since the monorail never really stops in the middle of the track. I guess you would probably get the most luck taking some at the stations, where you have it entering, stopping, and leaving. But you probably already took that into consideration. Good luck with your photography!

For the monorail shot, I was thinking I would locate myself across the lagoon and try to get a really fast shot of the monorail going by that would be a good still shot of it, then try some slower shutter speeds to get the blurred motion, then fuse them together. I haven't decided if I want to do it at night or during the day. I bought some neutral density filters that might allow me to pull it off during the daytime. We'll see what happens...

[Hot Sauce 1]

i'm really enjoying this thread!! i can honestly say that i look forward to new photo tips everyday!! love love love your photos!!

also looking forward to 'shooting in dark rides' lesson!!! i've been trying to get a good picture of the last scene in Snow White.

Are you referring to the scene in Snow White with the witch on the mountain and the dwarves going up that curved slope?

I'll give that one a shot and see how I do.

[baker0465]

fantastic pics and tips. thank you.

[Hot Sauce 1]

8-21-10
Today’s “Disneyland Photo Tip of the Day” is going to focus our lens on World of Color.

As most of you know, next week is when the blackout days of Summer end for Annual Passholders and DCA will be packed thousands of AP’s trying to see WOC either one more time or for the first time before the end of Summer.

I thought this would be the perfect time to discuss some strategies for photographing the show. Most people will end up viewing the show from one of the sections above the boardwalk. These are pretty safe for taking pictures without having to worry about your camera getting too wet.

Assuming you are in one of the upper sections, make sure you position yourself against a front railing or on a stairway so you can take pictures with an unobstructed view. If using a DSLR, use the largest aperture possible to allow the fastest shutter speed you can get. Here are the settings I used for these photos taken 4 levels up from the water on the stairway right above the play fountain.
I set the camera to Manual.
Aperture was F/3.5 which was the largest my kit lens would allow.
Focal Length was 20 mm.
Shutter speed I set at 1/10 of a second.
I set the ISO to Auto so it could quickly adjust to the changing amounts of light during the show. Most of the pictures ended up with an ISO of 1600 or 3200. (I did noise reduction on them afterwards in the RAW editor)









Here's a few taken during the show from the Boardwalk level right on the railing. As you can see in the shots from the upper levels, you cannot see the water and miss all the fountains during the animation sequences.






Personal note: After seeing how well the noise reduction software works, the next time I photograph this show I am going to use a faster shutter speed of 1/15 to 1/20 of a second and set the ISO to auto. I'm also going to drop my Exposure Compensation down 1 full stop to get faster shutter speeds, with a lower ISO, which will result in blacker blacks and less blown highlights.

If you are on the Boardwalk/water level, which in my opinion is the best and only place to see it from, you will need a poncho, not only to keep yourself dry but to hide your camera under during the wet moments of the show. The trick is to let your face be your guide and you will know when it is safe to pull out your camera and snap a few quick shots. When you feel the spray on your face, cover your camera. When you don’t feel the spray, take pictures as fast as you can. Bring a lens cleaning cloth with you because you will need to wipe off your lens a few times during the show.

Whether you are on the Boardwalk or an upper level, the end of the show is an excellent time to take pictures. As soon as the main show ends, there is a pop version of the World of Color song that plays for about 2 ½ minutes. The fountains and colored lights all dance to the music but not high enough to get you (or more importantly your camera) wet. During this time, most of the people are leaving and you are allowed to run down to the boardwalk and take all the pictures you want without worry of water damage to your camera.

So if you do brave the non blackout crowds to see WOC next week and don’t get a good spot to take pictures during the show, be ready to run down at the end so you can get the shots you will be proud of.

Here are some examples of the “After Show” from the boardwalk, dead center in Paradise Park and against the railing. These are by far my favorite shots of the entire show.







(On another note, the night that I took these pictures, some of the bars of light on Mickey's Fun Wheel weren't working so I fixed them in Photoshop Elements. How I did that will be the subject of another post.)

Happy Snapping
© Michael Greening 2010

[GummiBears_Rock]

hey! i'm using this as my wallpaper right now! thanks again for the photo!

[Hot Sauce 1]

hey! i'm using this as my wallpaper right now! thanks again for the photo!

That shot is my wallpaper too. It's my favorite of all the ones I took. I have a new widescreen monitor so I had to crop it really shallow so the fun wheel didn't look all warped. If you have a widescreen too, you might want to do the same.

[DizneyMonstro]

Are you referring to the scene in Snow White with the witch on the mountain and the dwarves going up that curved slope?

I'll give that one a shot and see how I do.

yup, that's the scene! I've always wanted a good picture of the dwarves going up the slope

btw, those WOC photos are unbelievably amazing!!

[GummiBears_Rock]

That shot is my wallpaper too. It's my favorite of all the ones I took. I have a new widescreen monitor so I had to crop it really shallow so the fun wheel didn't look all warped. If you have a widescreen too, you might want to do the same.

well it looks just fine on my computer, but does 17" count as a widescreen?

[Hot Sauce 1]

yup, that's the scene! I've always wanted a good picture of the dwarves going up the slope

btw, those WOC photos are unbelievably amazing!!

I'll do my best on Snow White. It will be tough though because they whip you through there at the end. I will also have to use my F/1.8 50mm lens so I won't be able to get the whole scene in the frame. I might just have to ride it twice. darn!

[MistrWebmastr]

So I need to dedicate more time to keeping up with this thread.

Some tips for B&W Photography: Don't just change it from color to B&W. This is a bad example as I just threw it together quickly (I should have picked a brighter picture, and spent more time mixing colors), but it gives you an idea of why you want to mix the colors. Using Photoshop, Lightroom, or something similar (I used Lightroom), you change it to black & white. Then you have the option of making each color channel either white or black. For these, the reds, oranges & yellows are mostly black, while the greens, aquas & blues are mostly white.

Color Picture


Black & White Mode


Black & White from Mixing Color Channels


and for those sharp eyes.. yes, this is from an as-of-yet unreleased picture thread. They're almost ready for upload from my June trip, I just have to finish naming them

[Kangel]

WOW! This is an awesome photo!!!!!!! Beautiful colors and has such a feeling of Disney magic to it!

[Hot Sauce 1]

So I need to dedicate more time to keeping up with this thread.

Some tips for B&W Photography: Don't just change it from color to B&W. This is a bad example as I just threw it together quickly (I should have picked a brighter picture, and spent more time mixing colors), but it gives you an idea of why you want to mix the colors. Using Photoshop, Lightroom, or something similar (I used Lightroom), you change it to black & white. Then you have the option of making each color channel either white or black. For these, the reds, oranges & yellows are mostly black, while the greens, aquas & blues are mostly white.

Color Picture


Black & White Mode


Black & White from Mixing Color Channels


and for those sharp eyes.. yes, this is from an as-of-yet unreleased picture thread. They're almost ready for upload from my June trip, I just have to finish naming them

NICE & Excellent point!!!
We've been so ungodly busy at work lately that I still haven't had a chance to even attempt to learn to do anything in Lightroom.

Where is that picture from? Is that in Disneyland? I've never seen it before.

[MistrWebmastr]

It's Archimedes Q Porter's Lab at the end of Tarzan's Treehouse.

I hadn't been up to it since it'd been Tarzan's Treehouse that I know of so I figured I'd check it out.

It also makes for another great photo of the day entry - get low/GET HIGH! I got some sweet pictures in June by just being low to the ground or high above.

[Hot Sauce 1]

It's Archimedes Q Porter's Lab at the end of Tarzan's Treehouse.

I hadn't been up to it since it'd been Tarzan's Treehouse that I know of so I figured I'd check it out.

It also makes for another great photo of the day entry - get low/GET HIGH! I got some sweet pictures in June by just being low to the ground or high above.

Other than late one night about a year ago to take pictures overlooking Adventureland, I don't think I've been in the treehouse for at least 5 years either. I will have to give it a look with a fresh pair of eyes one of these days.

And oh yes, Getting Low & Getting High is planned out for an upcoming post. I'm looking forward to that one.