Your Best Disney Photo Tips

[stschaefer]

Some great ideas of places:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: great location on Tom Sawyer's island!
Monorail photos - get a good picture of person in Monorail with Space Mountain in background (especially if in front seat)
Castle - in front of mickey and Walt statute
Spaceship Earth - in front of entrance, at World Showcase Pavilion
Illuminations - near USA area
Wishes - Main Street to get castle and fireworks, got a great picture of DD in Dumbo while fireworks were going on
Characters - take lots of photos - never know which picture with your children will be the best
Have fun and enjoy after the trip

 

[willis37862]

Thanks for the posts. Getting some great ideas. I will have to print these out and keep them!!

 

[Fire14]

My DH and i take pics of our servers.

 

[willis37862]

My DH and i take pics of our servers.

I never even thought of that. That's a neat idea, though. Thanks. That's why I love this place!!

 

[barbarabee]

Here are links to a GREAT series of photo tip columns from Mouseplanet! While the focus is on Disneyland, it all is helpful for WDW as well!

http://www.mouseplanet.com/more/mm050504fa.htm

http://www.mouseplanet.com/more/mm050607fa.htm

http://www.mouseplanet.com/more/mm050810fa.htm

 

[DaisyGirlAllTheWay]

I have to agree with the previous posters, take plenty pictures! We took over 700 and had plenty room to spare. (Went memory card nutz and bought 2 512's and a 256. Didn't even get to use the final 512, but it was nice to have it handy!)

Also set a picture budget for ourselves trying to take at least 200 a day! That way we were always conscious of the camera, instead of going home and saying, we should have taken a picture!!!!

One of my favorite pictures was right in front of Its a bugs life, so much greenery, a CM was nice enough to take it for us. It looked like we were truly in a forest.

Another was in the palace, we had a window seat and the pane was behind us, the CM took a perfect picture, that I just HAD to have blown up.

And don't forget to hand over your photopass card AND your own camera to the photopass CMs because they are more than willing to take a pic for you!

Btw, some of the prettiest pics come from being taken in the rain...sometimes you can't even tell its raining...

So many pictures, now with technology its even cooler cuz you can back up your pictures on CDs, Hard Drives, Floppys and good ole photo albums.

We also bought four 12 packs of batteries...needless to say we did not run out.

 

[willis37862]

And don't forget to hand over your photopass card AND your own camera to the photopass CMs because they are more than willing to take a pic for you!

Photopass card ? Please explain not sure what that is. Don't worry I always take tons of pictures. I think the worst was over 500 in 2 days. I have two 1gb cards so I plan on filling them up over and over.
Thanks for all your tips and advice everyone. I am interested in this photopass though?

 

[Diznenut]

Here's a photo/scrapbook suggestion that was given to me by a family friend.

Take a gallon size ziploc bag with you with a lot of the little snacksize baggies in it. Everywhere you eat, play, etc, save a napkin, wrapper, most anything at all that is in the picture you have taken there. Stick it in a little baggie then that into the bigger one. Then mount the item next to the picture (or the picture on it etc) in your Disney Album.

Her album was amazing. She had pictures of her son eating a mickey mouse bar that she had cut out in the shape of a bar and the stick was mounted underneath it - making it look like a mickey bar. Said that little piece of wood made pictures more special becuase it was a piece of disney magic that she was able to not only see in the picture but also touch in the album. It was a beautiful scrapbook.

 

[WillCAD]

Photopass card ? Please explain not sure what that is. Don't worry I always take tons of pictures. I think the worst was over 500 in 2 days. I have two 1gb cards so I plan on filling them up over and over.
Thanks for all your tips and advice everyone. I am interested in this photopass though?

Photopass is a system Disney put into place a year ago or so for the roving photographers in the parks.

Basically, all the roving photographers now have digital cameras, and attached to the camera is a card reader machine, kinda like a credit card machine. When the photographer shoots your pics, he swipes a photopass card through the machine, and gives you the card.

Later, you can use the card to view your pics at one of several Photopass locations at WDW, or even from home over the internet, and buy prints of the pics you want. Your pics are kept in teh Photopass system for a while after thay are taken (I forget if it's 45 or 60 days).

You wil get a Photopass card from the first photographer who shoots you, and you can either use the same card to put lots of pics on, or you can get one from each photographer, so don't worry if you leave the Photopass card in your room one day; just get another. You can use them both to view your pics online.

BTW - Ride photos are not on the Photopass system, but since Photopass has been a great success since its inception, many folks hope that Disney will add Photopass capability to the ride photo system soon.

 

[Kycha]

Photopass card ? Please explain not sure what that is. Don't worry I always take tons of pictures. I think the worst was over 500 in 2 days. I have two 1gb cards so I plan on filling them up over and over.
Thanks for all your tips and advice everyone. I am interested in this photopass though?

When you are strolling down Main Street of the Magic Kingdom, you will see photographers posted along the way. Well, they take your picture, and when they are done, they will swipe a little plastic card. Kind of like a credit card. This is your photopass. So, every time you want your photo taken with these photographers just hand him your card and he will shoot away. Then you take your card to the photo shop in the park and you can view and purchase your pictures right away. Or you can wait till you get home and view and purchase them online. BTW, these photographers are everywhere, not just on Main Street and not just in the Magic Kingdom.

And yes, they will take pictures with your own camera, if you ask them. We have done this our last two trips and have gotten some great shots.

 

[MissBubbles]

Some of my tips - take extra batteres and film with you. I forgot the extra batteries one year and paid over $5.00 for 2 AA batteries in the park. EEEK!

Don't be shy asking another guest to take your group picture. I always offer to reciprocate - if you see one poor person taking a group photo, offer to take their picture so that everyone in the group gets in the pic. It's a nice way to meet other guests, too.

For extra backup, buy postcards of landmarks - especially of night shots with fireworks. There have been many a photo mishap in my life that has been saved with this.

 

[willis37862]

Here's a photo/scrapbook suggestion that was given to me by a family friend.

Take a gallon size ziploc bag with you with a lot of the little snacksize baggies in it. Everywhere you eat, play, etc, save a napkin, wrapper, most anything at all that is in the picture you have taken there. Stick it in a little baggie then that into the bigger one. Then mount the item next to the picture (or the picture on it etc) in your Disney Album.

Her album was amazing. She had pictures of her son eating a mickey mouse bar that she had cut out in the shape of a bar and the stick was mounted underneath it - making it look like a mickey bar. Said that little piece of wood made pictures more special becuase it was a piece of disney magic that she was able to not only see in the picture but also touch in the album. It was a beautiful scrapbook.

Another great idea. I scrapbook so this will work great for me.

 

[willis37862]

Big thanks to willcad and kycha for explaining the photopass. When we were there two years ago I don't think they were doin this, or we just missed it. Thanks to everyone for there great tips!!!!!!

 

[frstimer128]

OOOOHHH.....nobody mentioned adding Tinkerbell to your pictures!


At the entrance to the park, have a park photographer take your pic in front of the castle. Then, tell him/her that you want to have Tink in the shot too. The photographer will have you hold out your hand as they photo is taken. THEN, go to the place to get it developed and ask them to place a digital image of Tink onto your open hand. I wish I had a scanner to share the pic of my DD and I....adorable! When the guy was taking her picture, he played it up big time! He told her to hold out her hand so Tink can have a place to land. She kept looking all over for her and the CM would get all excited and say "Wow, did you see her? " Of course she didn't but when the photo was developed, she nearly had a cow! That was one of the most fantastic and magical times during her wholetrip!

 

[willis37862]

OOOOHHH.....nobody mentioned adding Tinkerbell to your pictures!


At the entrance to the park, have a park photographer take your pic in front of the castle. Then, tell him/her that you want to have Tink in the shot too. The photographer will have you hold out your hand as they photo is taken. THEN, go to the place to get it developed and ask them to place a digital image of Tink onto your open hand. I wish I had a scanner to share the pic of my DD and I....adorable! When the guy was taking her picture, he played it up big time! He told her to hold out her hand so Tink can have a place to land. She kept looking all over for her and the CM would get all excited and say "Wow, did you see her? " Of course she didn't but when the photo was developed, she nearly had a cow! That was one of the most fantastic and magical times during her wholetrip!

Oh that sounds awesome!! Thank you so much for letting me know. I will definitly do this.

 

[willis37862]

Anyone have a fave picture spot in epcot? Maybe one that gets missed? I have been to epcot a lot but mostly when I was little. So I wasn't taken many pictures. Went to Epcot 2 years ago and got some great pics. I know there are some little spots there that get missed. Thanks for any info!!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Several years ago, when the Disney Institute was still functioning, I took a course there on taking photos in WDW. It was fabulous. We first spent time in the classroom, learning about photo composition and other skills, and then went into MGM to take photos. Our instructor came along to help us, and then afterwards we discussed our results.

Two of the main points I remember from that course:

1. Get up close. Yes, some overall establishing pictures are useful, but getting close to the action usually produces the best shots.

2. Tell a story. A sequence of photos that tells a story will be more meaningful and memorable. So - you could show your family finding a spot for the parade, the anticipation as they hear the music approaching, the reactions when they see the first float, and then the interactions with characters during the parade and finally the crowd filling in as the parade has passed by. Or something simple like a child in line for an ice cream bar, the excited expression as she unwraps it, the first bite, and then the chocolately face as the bar is finished.

The photos I took that day are some of my favourites, and the "tell a story with your pictures" approach has helped me ever since.

Teresa

 

[willis37862]

Several years ago, when the Disney Institute was still functioning, I took a course there on taking photos in WDW. It was fabulous. We first spent time in the classroom, learning about photo composition and other skills, and then went into MGM to take photos. Our instructor came along to help us, and then afterwards we discussed our results.

Two of the main points I remember from that course:

1. Get up close. Yes, some overall establishing pictures are useful, but getting close to the action usually produces the best shots.

2. Tell a story. A sequence of photos that tells a story will be more meaningful and memorable. So - you could show your family finding a spot for the parade, the anticipation as they hear the music approaching, the reactions when they see the first float, and then the interactions with characters during the parade and finally the crowd filling in as the parade has passed by. Or something simple like a child in line for an ice cream bar, the excited expression as she unwraps it, the first bite, and then the chocolately face as the bar is finished.

The photos I took that day are some of my favourites, and the "tell a story with your pictures" approach has helped me ever since.

Teresa

I really like this idea, too. Thanks. I will try to put this into use on our next trip.

 

[rosiejo]

Here's a photo/scrapbook suggestion that was given to me by a family friend.

Take a gallon size ziploc bag with you with a lot of the little snacksize baggies in it. Everywhere you eat, play, etc, save a napkin, wrapper, most anything at all that is in the picture you have taken there. Stick it in a little baggie then that into the bigger one. Then mount the item next to the picture (or the picture on it etc) in your Disney Album.

Her album was amazing. She had pictures of her son eating a mickey mouse bar that she had cut out in the shape of a bar and the stick was mounted underneath it - making it look like a mickey bar. Said that little piece of wood made pictures more special becuase it was a piece of disney magic that she was able to not only see in the picture but also touch in the album. It was a beautiful scrapbook.

I like this tip - might have to give it a go.

This thread has some really useful tips/links in and some gorgeous photos - not how do we make it a sticky??

 

[willis37862]

Anyone else out there want to give us there photo tips? Thanks for all the great replies so far!!