Photographing Wishes from Ticket & Transportation Center

[NJGuy3]

For those of you who have photographed Wishes from the Ticket & Transportation center...what lense(s) have you used?
And at what lens distance(s) have you shot it from that location?
I ask because I know it's quite a distance away and would like to capture it properly.
The lens I feel that would be most appropriate that I currently own is my Tamron 18-270mm.
My friend has a Canon 100-400mm which he'd let me borrow but is this overkill or would that range work better than my 18-270mm?

Also, if anyone would like to share their photos from that location along with the lens and distance they used, that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mom2rtk]

You don't need as much zoom as you might think. I actually preferred to shoot a little wide and crop down to the composition that looked best. I shot with a landscape orientation but in the end decided to crop to a portrait orientation.

I shot with a crop sensor and that Tamron 18-270 a couple trips back from the Poly Beach. Not sure what I got wrong but my shots came out soft. One possibility is that I did forget to turn off the IS, so do be sure to do that. If your choices are the Tamron and the 100-400 on a crop sensor, I would go with the Tamron as I think the zoom would be too tight.

I shot at 78mm on my full frame on our most recent trip in June. I used my Canon 70-200 f/4 for these, but next time would use something smaller.

IMG_8949 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_8950 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_8972 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[PythonFan888]

98mm on a full frame:

Fireworks Friday by Allen Castillo, on Flickr

 

[minidis]

98mm on a full frame:

Fireworks Friday by Allen Castillo, on Flickr

Great job. Did you crop the image?

 

[PythonFan888]

Great job. Did you crop the image?

Thanks. Yes this was cropped from a landscape orientation.

 

[NJGuy3]

You don't need as much zoom as you might think. I actually preferred to shoot a little wide and crop down to the composition that looked best. I shot with a landscape orientation but in the end decided to crop to a portrait orientation.

I shot with a crop sensor and that Tamron 18-270 a couple trips back from the Poly Beach. Not sure what I got wrong but my shots came out soft. One possibility is that I did forget to turn off the IS, so do be sure to do that. If your choices are the Tamron and the 100-400 on a crop sensor, I would go with the Tamron as I think the zoom would be too tight.

I shot at 78mm on my full frame on our most recent trip in June. I used my Canon 70-200 f/4 for these, but next time would use something smaller.

IMG_8949 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_8950 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_8972 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Your photos look great! I've made that same mistake a couple times...forgetting to turn off IS, so I can relate. lol
So, I'll stick with my Tamron 18-270mm and keep it on the wider side.
If you have any of your photos taken with your Tamron 18-270mm I'd be curious to see them...feel free to post them here.

98mm on a full frame:

Fireworks Friday by Allen Castillo, on Flickr

Great shot! I'm enjoyin' the portrait orientation.

Another question regarding shooting from Ticket & Transportation...
Any particular spot/location in that area?

 

[mom2rtk]

Your photos look great! I've made that same mistake a couple times...forgetting to turn off IS, so I can relate. lol
So, I'll stick with my Tamron 18-270mm and keep it on the wider side.
If you have any of your photos taken with your Tamron 18-270mm I'd be curious to see them...feel free to post them here.




Great shot! I'm enjoyin' the portrait orientation.

Another question regarding shooting from Ticket & Transportation...
Any particular spot/location in that area?

The best spot is in the far right hand corner as you face the castle out across the lagoon. You will need for the attendant to let you into that area, as it is the exit area from the ferry.

Here are a couple of the shots I took 2 years ago with the Tamron when I forgot to turn off the IS. Or maybe I missed focus a bit. Or both. I shot these from the Poly beach, but I wasn't that far from the TTC. These were at 84mm on a crop sensor.

Another difference is that I know I used a neutral density filter (8.0) this year but I don't think I did on the earlier batch.


IMG_1245 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_1244 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_1255 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


This one was shot at 109mm.

IMG_1217 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Not sure what sort of crop I did on any of these. I just don't remember.

 

[NJGuy3]

The best spot is in the far right hand corner as you face the castle out across the lagoon. You will need for the attendant to let you into that area, as it is the exit area from the ferry.

Here are a couple of the shots I took 2 years ago with the Tamron when I forgot to turn off the IS. Or maybe I missed focus a bit. Or both. I shot these from the Poly beach, but I wasn't that far from the TTC. These were at 84mm on a crop sensor.

Another difference is that I know I used a neutral density filter (8.0) this year but I don't think I did on the earlier batch.

Not sure what sort of crop I did on any of these. I just don't remember.

Thanks for sharing your pics captured with your Tamron 18-270, they look good! And thanks for the tip for the best spots...much appreciated.

 

[Skywise]

Do they pipe the music for wishes there at the TTC? That'd be a good video location too.

 

[mom2rtk]

Do they pipe the music for wishes there at the TTC? That'd be a good video location too.

They do, but it's not very loud, and people congregate and chat in that area as they watch.

 

[elmoandzoey]

Do you suggest shooting in landscape or portrait mode? I know you said above you cropped from landscape to portrait but looking at all the results here I was wondering if landscape was needed at all? The fireworks seem to be high not wide in the end....

 

[mom2rtk]

Do you suggest shooting in landscape or portrait mode? I know you said above you cropped from landscape to portrait but looking at all the results here I was wondering if landscape was needed at all? The fireworks seem to be high not wide in the end....

I just chose a wide angle landscape so I could have the most latitude for cropping later. I also felt like there was less chance of slight camera movement with it mounted in landscape orientation on my tripod. But the shot itself really lent itself well to a portrait crop. The show is very much up, and when coupled with the reflection on the water, it was just taller than it was wide. That might change though if you're shooting party fireworks with perimeter bursts. I'd probably stay landscape for that.

 

[NJGuy3]

The best spot is in the far right hand corner as you face the castle out across the lagoon. You will need for the attendant to let you into that area, as it is the exit area from the ferry.

How far in advance would you suggest arriving to TTC and asking a CM to let me into that exit/ferry unloading area?

 

[mom2rtk]

How far in advance would you suggest arriving to TTC and asking a CM to let me into that exit/ferry unloading area?

I think we got there about 20 before Wishes was scheduled to start. The attendant made us wait about 10 minutes before he let us into that area, so getting there any earlier might not be of any help. It's the unloading area from the ferry so I think they're just trying to keep the area clear.

 

[NJGuy3]

I think we got there about 20 before Wishes was scheduled to start. The attendant made us wait about 10 minutes before he let us into that area, so getting there any earlier might not be of any help. It's the unloading area from the ferry so I think they're just trying to keep the area clear.

Ok, good to know...thanks!

 

[NJGuy3]

Now that I'm back from my October trip and finally had some time to go through my pics...I wanted to post one of my Wishes pics.
It was shot with my Tamron 18-270mm. Zoom was at 65mm.
(This is medium resolution file, full resolution can be seen on my Flickr page)

 

[mom2rtk]

Now that I'm back from my October trip and finally had some time to go through my pics...I wanted to post one of my Wishes pics.
It was shot with my Tamron 18-270mm. Zoom was at 65mm.
(This is medium resolution file, full resolution can be seen on my Flickr page)

Nicely done!

 

[NJGuy3]

Nicely done!

Thanks!