What to bring to Disney?

[DisneyGirl201017]

I'll be going to Disney in about 100 days and I just received a Nikon L120 camera as a graduation present, I want to take pictures! I wouldn't consider myself a photographer or anything close to one but I do love to take pictures for fun. I was wondering what type of items I should take to Disney to take good pictures, yes I understand you have to be a good photographer to take good pictures. But I'm talking about neck strap and battery type things. Anything and everything I'll need to be prepared for to take great pictures in Disney.

Thanks for your time!

 

[disneyboy2003]

Congratulations on your new camera! Here are some photography-related things to bring:

• extra batteries - oh, you don't know how many times I hear people try to take pictures at the end of the day, only to say, "My battery's dead." Bringing an extra battery or 2 allows you to continue capturing photos throughout the rest of the day & night.
• extra memory cards - memory cards are relatively cheap! Think of how much memory you might be using, and then double or triple that amount. That's how many gigabytes of memory you should bring.
• camera battery charger - if you have multiple camera batteries, you might also try buying a 2nd battery charger so that you can have 2 batteries charging at the same time in the hotel room.
• laptop / netbook / iPad / external hard drive / etc. - you need something to download your pictures onto at the end of the day. That way, you can start with fresh, empty memory cards the next day.
• tripod - you can use a large or small tripod. A tripod helps if you want to take pictures of fireworks. You can also set it up to take pictures of you & your family. Or, if you're into long-exposure, low-light photography, a tripod helps keep your pictures sharp (assuming your subject is stationary).
• camera bag - a bag large enough to carry your camera, extra batteries, extra memory cards.
• microfiber cleaning cloth - to clean your lens, if needed.

So these are the essentials I can think of off the top of my head. The only other thing I personally bring is a GPS receiver so i can geotag all my photos.

Hope that helps.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Congratulations on your new camera!

disneyboy2003 did an awesome job of summarizing everything I would bring.

You may want to consider a Gorillapod as your tripod. They are very small and you can bend them to grab on to many things (tops of garbage cans, lamp posts, etc).

 

[mom2rtk]

I'll second (or third??) a tripod or gorillapod. Disney is an awesome place for night photography. Anyone can do a good job, but you really need something to hold the camera steady.

If you have questions, read through the "welcome to the photography board" stick at the top of the page. There's great info there on shooting parades, fireworks, that sort of stuff.

Have fun and post some shots here when you get back!

 

[disneyboy2003]

Congratulations on your new camera!

disneyboy2003 did an awesome job of summarizing everything I would bring.

You may want to consider a Gorillapod as your tripod. They are very small and you can bend them to grab on to many things (tops of garbage cans, lamp posts, etc).

Thanks so much for the compliment.

A few more things I thought about:

• ziplock bags - at least large enough to fit your camera.
• memory card reader - if your laptop/netbook/iPad/etc. doesn't already have a memory card reader, you'll use this to download the pictures off your memory card every night.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Oh.....I mentioned this in another thread, but it bears repeating here.

If you buy an extra battery (or batteries), label them and switch them up in your camera. I'm not sure how many shots your new camera will get, I get FAR more that I can usually shoot in a day. So much so that I hardly EVER used the second battery. Now, the original battery is still performing wonders, but the second battery only lasts for 30-50 shots before it dies. So yeah, it helps when and if the primary one EVER does go. But it's not really all that useful anymore.

So now I have the batteries labeled and I switch them after every shoot.

 

[mikegood2]

I'll third (or forth ??) a tripod or gorillapod. If I remember correctly the Nikon L120 is a megazoom camera, so I would also consider a monopod. We just bought my brother a Coolpix 9100, giving it to him Saturday, and also picked up a lightweight monpod. If you plan on using most of the zoom you really could use something to help keep your camera stable.

 

[DisneyGirl201017]

Congratulations on your new camera! Here are some photography-related things to bring:

• extra batteries - oh, you don't know how many times I hear people try to take pictures at the end of the day, only to say, "My battery's dead." Bringing an extra battery or 2 allows you to continue capturing photos throughout the rest of the day & night.
• extra memory cards - memory cards are relatively cheap! Think of how much memory you might be using, and then double or triple that amount. That's how many gigabytes of memory you should bring.
• camera battery charger - if you have multiple camera batteries, you might also try buying a 2nd battery charger so that you can have 2 batteries charging at the same time in the hotel room.
• laptop / netbook / iPad / external hard drive / etc. - you need something to download your pictures onto at the end of the day. That way, you can start with fresh, empty memory cards the next day.
• tripod - you can use a large or small tripod. A tripod helps if you want to take pictures of fireworks. You can also set it up to take pictures of you & your family. Or, if you're into long-exposure, low-light photography, a tripod helps keep your pictures sharp (assuming your subject is stationary).
• camera bag - a bag large enough to carry your camera, extra batteries, extra memory cards.
• microfiber cleaning cloth - to clean your lens, if needed.

So these are the essentials I can think of off the top of my head. The only other thing I personally bring is a GPS receiver so i can geotag all my photos.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much!
This defiantly helped me!

 

[DisneyGirl201017]

I'll second (or third??) a tripod or gorillapod. Disney is an awesome place for night photography. Anyone can do a good job, but you really need something to hold the camera steady.

If you have questions, read through the "welcome to the photography board" stick at the top of the page. There's great info there on shooting parades, fireworks, that sort of stuff.

Have fun and post some shots here when you get back!

Where can I find a gorillapod?

Thanks for the tip! I was looking for a place to find tips on shooting parades and fireworks. Thanks so much!

 

[DisneyGirl201017]

Oh.....I mentioned this in another thread, but it bears repeating here.

If you buy an extra battery (or batteries), label them and switch them up in your camera. I'm not sure how many shots your new camera will get, I get FAR more that I can usually shoot in a day. So much so that I hardly EVER used the second battery. Now, the original battery is still performing wonders, but the second battery only lasts for 30-50 shots before it dies. So yeah, it helps when and if the primary one EVER does go. But it's not really all that useful anymore.

So now I have the batteries labeled and I switch them after every shoot.

Thanks for the tip!
I'll defiantly use that since my camera uses AA batteries

 

[DisneyGirl201017]

I'll third (or forth ??) a tripod or gorillapod. If I remember correctly the Nikon L120 is a megazoom camera, so I would also consider a monopod. We just bought my brother a Coolpix 9100, giving it to him Saturday, and also picked up a lightweight monpod. If you plan on using most of the zoom you really could use something to help keep your camera stable.

Thanks for the tip!
I think I'm going to pick up both the gorillapod and a monopod

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Where can I find a gorillapod?

Thanks for the tip! I was looking for a place to find tips on shooting parades and fireworks. Thanks so much!

I have seen a gorillapod at Best Buy. You can also get them at Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or Adorama (all online).

If you are looking for some tips on Disney photography (fireworks etc), you might want to check out www dot wdwphotography dot com

 

[rossb]

Get the magnetic Gorillapod:

http://www.amazon.com/Joby-GPM-D1EN...WLCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307116761&sr=8-1

The ability to magnetically stick to stuff is huge.

 

[DisneyGirl201017]

I have seen a gorillapod at Best Buy. You can also get them at Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or Adorama (all online).

If you are looking for some tips on Disney photography (fireworks etc), you might want to check out www dot wdwphotography dot com

Thanks!
I'll defiantly check out that website

 

[DisneyGirl201017]

Get the magnetic Gorillapod:

http://www.amazon.com/Joby-GPM-D1EN...WLCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307116761&sr=8-1

The ability to magnetically stick to stuff is huge.

Thanks! I'll check that one out

 

[boufa]

Don't forget FLASH batteries. I was very prepared last time I went, I had packed everything you all suggested. (thankfully we had a stroller.. aka camera gear cart... for the little one with us, so that I did not have to carry most of it) We got to a character meal and the batteries for my flash died. They are AA, the camera unit is a custom battery. Blew the best photo ops. I had been using the flash as a fill flash all day. Once we were at the dinner it was too late to run out and get new batteries.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Good tip.