Disney, at the speed of light (fun with ND400)

[zackiedawg]

A few of you have seen my past experimentations at Disney with the ND400 filter...an 8-stopper...and I had been waiting for a trip to Disney in cooler weather to whip it out and try some more.

This past Mousefest weekend was the perfect time - a cool front brought highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s, crisp, clear, and cool sunny skies, good light, and lots of crowds to streak their way through the shots.

It does take a little time to do these shots...since they require tripod setup and exposures of 5 to 30 seconds or more. But they're a lot of fun and the results are usually sharp, detailed, and nicely colored with the streaky, ghostly effect typically seen in night shots...but in broad daylight. These shots can be used two ways - one to intentionally show streams and rivers of people beaming through the shot, and the other to expose for so long that people effectively disappear from the shot making the parks look less crowded than they are. I like the streaky ghost shots, so I take those the most. I was traveling with a friend, so I was a bit more limited - I couldn't shoot absolutely everything I wanted to shoot, but threw in shots wherever I could as we walked around.

I started in Epcot...Mission:Space seemed like a spot that was tailor-made to have people beaming and transporting at warp speed through the shot:

The crowds streaming through the Innoventions east gateway:

We were at Epcot late in the day, and it quickly moved to night...so no more ND400. The next day, I went to Magic Kingdom, and out came the filter again. Here's Town Square, bustling as usual as seen from Main Street Station's 2nd floor deck:

Looking up a Christmas-decorated Main Street to the castle, through the ceaseless crowds:

Here are some ghosts going over Tom Sawyer island's barrel bridge:

Here's an example of using the filter and a long exposure to eliminate people from a shot. 13-second exposure here of Haunted Mansion was enough to erase the entire line of people waiting under the red tarp, as they slowly kept moving forward during the exposure and were shaded from the sun:

Here's another - a 25-second exposure almost eliminated all the people - and believe me, there were alot of them! - from in front of the castle:

30-seconds virtually eliminated everyone from the bridge to Liberty Square...just a hint of ghosting can be seen across the bridge from bright colored shirts:

Here's another 25-second shot of the masses on Main Street, taken from a lower perspective and looking back towards Town Square:

This gives you an idea of how crowded Casey's Corner is, with a 25-second exposure:

A 25 second exposure at the Tomorrowland entrance makes it seem like alot of people in the future will be teleporting around instead of walking!:

There they all go...the late-day commuters teleporting into Tomorrowland:

Of course, the ND400 also gives you ice-glazed water surfaces and silk-ribbony waterfalls:

Camera used was the Sony A300, and the lens was a Minolta 50mm F1.7, stopped down quite a bit. I hope to soon pair the ND400 with another lens, but due to the filter threading, I'm limited to only the 50mm until I get a step-down ring!

Comments, questions, critique always welcome.

 

[YesDear]

cool pictures. I see you used manual. Did ever attempt to let the camera set the exposure and if not was it trial and error? Or, of course the other alternative is your vast experience and knowledge let you select the time!

 

[zackiedawg]

I never tried to let the camera set exposure, mainly because by default the camera will usually try to use a more open aperture, resulting in shorter shutter times. If I let the camera open up to F3.5 or so, my 25-second exposures would drop down to 1 or 2 seconds.

Some cameras have an awful time focusing and metering through this filter - when you look through it with the naked eye, it's essentially black...completely opaque. It's actually amazing that you can get a shot through it. I've noticed that cameras with 'live view' systems can do a much better job with these - P&S and prosumer cams, and Live View DSLRs. With my A300, if I shoot in OVF mode, I can't see anything at all through the viewfinder...but the camera will still find focus. But if I switch to Live View mode, the LCD gains-up for the long exposure and allows me to see and frame the shot. The camera is able to meter through it too - but metering isn't real accurate and white balance can be a mess (heavy on the reds).

I've always tended towards using manual mode for this filter, mostly from trial-and-error, and learning how long a shutter to use and at what aperture to achieve that shutter speed without badly blowing out the shot. In bright daylight, I was often having to close the aperture down to F20+...in cloudy skies or late afternoon, I was able to open it up a little. I guess you can call that 'vast experience and knowledge'!

Thanks.

 

[GrillMouster]

I, too, usually use Manual mode, mainly because I'm used to it and I like the control. But since this board often tearns into a learning tool, I'd like to point out that you could just as easily use aperture priority or shutter priority. If your primary goal is to get a slow shutter speed to get silky water or blurred people, you can use shutter priority to set the speed you want, and the camera will automatically set the aperture. In aperture priority mode you can set small aperture to ensure that whatever shutter speed the camera sets will be nice and slow. You can always use exposure compensation to fine tune in either mode.

Basically, whenever I'm in a hurry and don't have time to use Manual mode and I need to choose between aperture priority and shutter priority, the one that I use depends on what is most important to me for that particular shot. If the most important thing is for me to control depth of field (as is the case in some portrait work), I'd use aperture priority. If the most important thing is for me to control the shutter speed (either to stop motion or to accentuate motion blur) then I'd use shutter priority.

 

[annnewjerz]

Love them - the one of the Haunted Mansion with "no one" in line is great, I would have thought no matter how long the exposure there would always be at least some ghosting if people were around. Can't wait to try mine out (whether in Disney or elsewhere) - couldn't justify the 77mm so I stuck with the 52mm.

 

[zackiedawg]

I think much depends on the brightness of the moving objects - if they're dark, they can easily disappear if in motion...if light-colored, they tend to leave a pretty visible streak. White shirts can be seen streaking all through the shot. The advantage at Haunted Mansion is that the line is covered by the canopy, and therefore everyone is in shadow. They come out very visibly as silhouettes in normal shots...but as long as the line moves during your exposure, they should disappear from slow-shutter shots.

Grillmouster - good advice on S and A priority modes. I tend to use Manual, or if lazy, Program...but do occasionally find A or S to be useful. I use aperture priority alot with my 50mm F1.7 so I can control DOF easily but still let the camera meter and pick the right shutter...and shooting movement or action shots I'll use S priority so I can avoid blur. Manual still gives the most control and I like to use it...but the priority modes are very useful and a little easier for those less confident with manual mode!

 

[saturndb]

nice pics!