DC - Dolphin Swim and Taking Pictures

[karma]

I've already read that you are not allowed to carry your camera with you during the dolphin encounter. Is it possible to take good pictures of the dolphin swim if you're not part of the group?

What I'm thinking of doing is scheduling our dolphin swim times separately, so that one individual will be able to take pictures of the other's encounter. Does this make sense?

I've no idea of the proximity of the surrounding area in relation to the dolphin swim area, so I'd like to know if we would be able to get good photos this way.

 

[DixieDolphin]

In general, no. Anyone standing on the beach is going to be a good thirty feet away. Taking pictures with an ordinary point & shoot style camera won't get the job done. You're welcome to shoot from there, but the lifeguards will ask you to back up if you get even a toe in the water itself.

Now, if you have a long lens (300mm or more) on an SLR, you may have better luck. But you'll still be rather restricted in the angles from which to shoot from. And as most of the action will happen with the swimmers facing away from the beach (or, at the very least, at a poor angle to it)... you won't get those up close and personal shots that the in-water folks get.

By all means, take photos from the beach anyway if you want! But if you're looking for real close, really well defined, and more professional photos... you may want to buy what they're offering, overpriced though it may be. Even if it's just one 5x7 of the group, at least it will be one close up, clear, and in focus shot.

=)

 

[karma]

Ah, thanks for the info, Dixie. That's too bad.

Do you happen to know what the costs of the add-ons are? I think I read before that a video costs $100+, but I'm not sure about photos and other things they offer.

 

[snowbunny]

I took a pretty good picture with my little digital which has only 6x zoom. It's certainly worth a try because you may get a couple of shots.
They won't let you wade out into the water more than a couple of inches but there are some rocks you can stand or sit on and get some photos. I was not the only one taking photos from there.
We still bought one of the professional photos afterward (I think it was $10?...that's all I bought) but when we go back this July - yes I'm going to stand on shore and take some more pictures.

 

[happylittlebirdie]

Any of you DC fans also going to Aquatica??? The Comersom dolphins are super cute:

Video: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1124075/aquatica_seaworlds_water_park_orlando_fl/

 

[JoyMouse]

We were very lucky on our first DC trip. My DH didn't swim with the dolphins, and they led him to an area behind some plexiglass. He took some shots that were as good as the ones that we bought. (We weren't sure, so we bought the whole shebang... we love our DC pics!) We were in the lagoon on the far right side. There seemed to be more room for us and for the dolphins. The second trip we were in the middle and the swim was shorter and there were no good photo ops for us to do ourselves. Their shots were still great...