A challenging photo...

[ThurlFan]

Buzz Lightyear's Space Range Spin is a great time and one of our favorite rides. But I've never gotten a good picture of Buzz in the pre-show area. The huge difference in brightness between his face and the rest of the scene meant that I usually got a nice picture of the set with a white oval where Buzz's face should be. So this time I tried something different. I set the aperture as small as I could (f/8 on my Canon S3), and set the shutter speed to about as slow as I could hold it steady (1/13 sec). I used ISO 400 because the noise is generally much worse at 800 on my camera. I still had to run it through noiseware afterward but I was pleased to get some pictures where you can see his face. Any suggestions for improved performance? The second one's a little shaky since I didn't hold the camera still enough. We were moving through the queue pretty quickly since the ride wasn't busy.

 

[bradk]

i'm no expert but i think your shutter speed is way too slow, it's causing his face to be bright. maybe even better if you lower the ISO, but 1/13 is pretty slow. i don't think either photo looks bad for that speed.

i know i have pics from within buzz but i don't know when i took them (actually, maybe i do).. not sure if i have any of buzz himself though.

 

[spinetnglr]

here are the only two pics I have of Buzz ... taken two months after I bought my D40 so I was very much a novice with it.

 

[ukcatfan]

Anyone able to shoot in RAW can expose the face properly and then boost the rest of the picture in post processing. The rest of the photo is probably going to be at least two stops lower though, so be sure to consider that when picking your ISO. I tried last time I was there, but the FP line was moving so fast I could not stop when someone was not directly between me and Buzz.

 

[Jeff Fillmore]

I agree 1/13th Second is very difficult to shoot hand held. And as said- RAW helps preserve the details in his face.

 

[dpic]

One option is taking two exposures--one for the face, and the other for the rest--and cut and paste the face onto the other. Feather the cut so won't even notice it, and also you can do a separate white balance just for the face.

 

[ThurlFan]

OK, I'm a complete muttonhead.

Went back through all my previous Disney photos and didn't find a single Buzz (apart from character greetings). Turns out I was thinking of some video we shot where his face is blown out...what can I say, I was just a bit confused when we hit that ride

Next time I'll not try such drastic measures and try to just get a nice pic