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[DisneyFairytale]

Waw, outstanding! great work!

 

[Angrypenguin]

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Thanks for the words of wisdom Todd... I will check out some articles on exposure and see what I can find... I notice that you are going to be at WDW during the same time I am there... That is cool... How long are you going for?

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Hey Todd... I took your advice and went to my local bookstore tonight... I not only bought "Understanding Exposure", but I also got "Learning to See Creatively" by Bryan Peterson... His books seem to be in great detail and should provide great reading... I think they will really help give me an insight into exposure settings and how to make the best setting choices with my camera... Thanks for the suggestion and any other tips you have, send em my way...

 

[Rescue Pooh]

Awesome shots Todd!!

 

[Todd_H]

Waw, outstanding! great work!

Thank you!

Thanks for the words of wisdom Todd... I will check out some articles on exposure and see what I can find... I notice that you are going to be at WDW during the same time I am there... That is cool... How long are you going for?

We'll be there for 6 days, I think. September is a great month to go, although it has gotten noticeably more crowded in September the past couple of years due to free dining. There doesn't appear to be a "slow time" at WDW anymore.

Hey Todd... I took your advice and went to my local bookstore tonight... I not only bought "Understanding Exposure", but I also got "Learning to See Creatively" by Bryan Peterson... His books seem to be in great detail and should provide great reading... I think they will really help give me an insight into exposure settings and how to make the best setting choices with my camera... Thanks for the suggestion and any other tips you have, send em my way...

I haven't read Learning to See Creatively, but I'm sure it's a great book. It should help you develop your photographic eye... that is, learning how to break away from "snapshots" and teach you how to take more creative and interesting pictures. Good luck!

Awesome shots Todd!!

Thanks very much!

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Free dining has been great for us... It has allowed us to go last year, and really helped make our decision to go again this year... We went for 9 days last year, which at first I thought was long enough, but turned out that it went too fast... I will be going for 14 days this year... It should be a blast...

 

[Angrypenguin]

Hey Todd, I was browsing through your smugmug gallery, and I really like your composition. You have very creative, excellent shots!

I hope you don't mind, I might steal some of those shots when I get a chance to go back

 

[Todd_H]

Free dining has been great for us... It has allowed us to go last year, and really helped make our decision to go again this year... We went for 9 days last year, which at first I thought was long enough, but turned out that it went too fast... I will be going for 14 days this year... It should be a blast...

Wow. 14 days would be incredible (and that is quite a deal with free dining). We are DVC members, but we only have a 100pt contract so that allows us about 1 week in a two bedroom villa at WL every other year (and somewhere down the road, we'll have to skip a year).

 

[Todd_H]

Hey Todd, I was browsing through your smugmug gallery, and I really like your composition. You have very creative, excellent shots!

Thanks Kevin!

I hope you don't mind, I might steal some of those shots when I get a chance to go back

Don't mind at all. Steal away

 

[Todd_H]

"We wants the redhead!"

My DS(4) loves this guy. He is convinced this pirate is "sick" with his "dirty foot and dirty leg"

 

[oregondaddyof2]

That is funny about your DS thinking the pirate is "sick", cause when my DD (4) went through POTC, she said that he must have stepped in dog doody...

 

[Todd_H]

The areas of the HM that I still find extremely difficult to photograph are:
1) the ghost playing the piano just after the library scene and before the Escher staircase
2) pretty much everything in the graveyard
3) the caretaker (I guess he's considered part of the graveyard)
4) the bride (???)

Now, the bride shouldn't be that difficult to shoot compared to the rest of the ride , but for me she is . She's extremely well lit and you definitely get good visual angles of her when you ride by. The trick is that you must adjust your settings before you get to her because if your ISO is jacked up too high from shooting the rest of the ride, you're going to overexpose her... badly. Depending on your camera, and how high an ISO you're using, you could either lower your ISO or set exposure compensation to -1 or -2.

I didn't really get any good shots of the bride on this visit, but here are a couple anyway

Oh well, I'll try again on the next trip.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

How are you guys getting such great shots... Are you using flash? I have pictures from last year and I used my flash... The colors looks so much better and more realistic on your pictures that I have seen in this area... You can't be slowing the shutter down at all cause they are crystal clear, so maybe a higher ISO? I am a beginner so forgive me if I am totally way off course here, just curious how the colors are coming out so much better on everyone else's pictures...

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

How are you guys getting such great shots... Are you using flash? I have pictures from last year and I used my flash... The colors looks so much better and more realistic on your pictures that I have seen in this area... You can't be slowing the shutter down at all cause they are crystal clear, so maybe a higher ISO? I am a beginner so forgive me if I am totally way off course here, just curious how the colors are coming out so much better on everyone else's pictures...

DSLR w/high ISO and a large aperture lens.

 

[YesDear]

The spectacular pictures particularly taken by Gdad and ToddH were taken with full frame DSLR's that had extended range ISO capabilities. They also had lenses that had very wide apertures on them. That in no way takes away from their photographic abilities, it just gave them the tools to get the shot.

You can get good shots with at DSLR set at high ISO and a fast lens.

Jeff's 28 1.4 lens, I am convinced, was created by the military and it creates light!!! That was a jealousy comment if you did not catch it. He has the unique skill to find amazing glass that may be off the main stream that has great optics and wonderful personality. Can a lens have a personality? Absolutely. That lens is really hard to find!

You will also find that many shots that are really good were the result of several trips through the ride. If a really good picture is posted and they got it on a single trip, then probably it is was as much luck as skill. No offense to anyone. Or you get really lucky and the ride stops at a good place. You kinda have to know when and where to take them.

You will probably need a camera that has an ISO of at least 1600 or 3200 and a lens with an aperture of 1.8 or better.

OH, I nearly forgot that those shots were post processed in some software program to make them the best they could be!

 

[Todd_H]

How are you guys getting such great shots... Are you using flash? You can't be slowing the shutter down at all cause they are crystal clear, so maybe a higher ISO?

Absolutely no flash... ever... on a dark ride. Besides it being "prohibited" by Disney (which doesn't really mean anything), you will annoy the people around you and ruin the ride effects, which will in turn cause your pictures to not capture any of that Disney magic as you see it on the ride. To take dark ride pictures, you must have a fast lens... that is at least f/1.8, and your best bet on shutter speed is to set it to the inverse of your focal length. For example, if you're shooting with a 50mm prime lens, set your shutter speed to 1/50 sec. I have found it easier to shoot in shutter priority so you can control the shutter speed. The camera will pick the aperture, which in all likelihood be wide open on the dark rides. Also, be sure to set your ISO as high as it will go. At 1600, you'll be able to get some decent shots in POTC, but 3200 will give you better results in some of the darker scenes (albeit noise will be greater). Also, if at all possible, go even slower with your shutter speed. Remember, the slower the shutter, the lower your ISO can be set which will give you less noise in the final result (but lower shutter speed means more prone to camera shake/blur). On the lenses, the 50mm and 30mm primes work pretty well for focal lengths, with the 30mm giving an edge when used on a crop sensor body (will effectively be around 50mm focal length).

Jeff's 28 1.4 lens, I am convinced, was created by the military and it creates light!!!

So THAT'S the secret!!!!

 

[praline3001]

I love those shots of the rides (minus the flash) they are more realistic without the flash anyway


I did have a question along those lines ... I want to take a few photos of my kids riding some of these rides, catching their expressions. I am just not sure if this can be done?!

I know with the ride shots they are focused on the lit up areas ~ so there is enough light for some exposure.
Is there any chance I could get a side view with a look of wonder on my daughter's face when she sees peter pan? Or your look of fun glee when she sees the bride or the crystal ball? For the composition I would REALLY like to use a low AV and focus it on my daughter's face... having the depth of field become VERY shallow so the obejects on the ride are blurry and only my DD's face is in focus. Am I making sense?

 

[Chikabowa]

I love those shots of the rides (minus the flash) they are more realistic without the flash anyway


I did have a question along those lines ... I want to take a few photos of my kids riding some of these rides, catching their expressions. I am just not sure if this can be done?!

I know with the ride shots they are focused on the lit up areas ~ so there is enough light for some exposure.
Is there any chance I could get a side view with a look of wonder on my daughter's face when she sees peter pan? Or your look of fun glee when she sees the bride or the crystal ball? For the composition I would REALLY like to use a low AV and focus it on my daughter's face... having the depth of field become VERY shallow so the obejects on the ride are blurry and only my DD's face is in focus. Am I making sense?

You are making sense. It's a difficult shot to get though and one that takes a little skill and no-how.

I shoot in all manual exposure mode, which I think makes the entire thing easier. But what I would do is spot meter for your child's face. You'll need fast/wide glass, a camera that has some good ISO capabilities, and depending on how fast the ride is moving, a fairly high shutter speed - I wouldn't go lower than 1/60 or else you'll get some significant motion blur.

The more light you can get on your child's face, the more successful you'll be. There are other techniques, such as gel'ing a flash to simulate the color of the light on your child's face. Definite possibility, but IMHO takes too long while you're on the actual ride.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Thanks everyone for the quick responses... I have never used any software afterward to modify or bring out the photo... Which software do you all recommend? I just got Photoshop CS3 the other day, will that work for by photo modifying?