MarkBarbieri
Semi-retired
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
- Messages
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This is another in a series of threads focused on how to shoot different shows, attractions, rides, and events at Disney Theme Parks. The purpose is to help people learn how to shoot those things with their camera and what they can reasonably expect from their camera.
On this forum, we run the gamut from cell phone cameras to high end DSLRs with rediculously large lenses. I'm hoping that we'll get a variety of posts from people with cameras in all ranges. Even if you feel that your photos don't measure up to what others have posted, please post some samples anyway. We're all at different levels of gear and skill and we can all learn from each other. A typical S3 user will probably learn more from your S3 shot than they will from Groucho's latest masterpiece.
Other posts in this series include:
How To Shoot: Fireworks
How To Shoot: The Safari Ride
How To Shoot: Parades
How To Shoot: Cinderella's Castle
How To Shoot: SpectroMagic
How To Shoot: Dark Rides
Indoor shows like Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo - The Musical (which now allows non-flash photography), Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast can be amongst the biggest photography challenges at the park. The thing that makes them so difficult to shoot is the combination of low light and lots of movement. Those two factors push even the best equipment to its limits.
When shooting anything in low light, you need to fight to keep your shutter speed as high as possible. That usually means setting your cameras sensitivity (ISO) to the highest number that still gives your decent shots. You also need to open your lens up as wide as possible (low f-stop number).
Even with this combination, you might find that you are still getting low shutter speeds. If you shoot RAW and you don't have any alternatives for getting shutter speeds up, you can tell your camera to purposely under-expose your pictures by 1 or even 2 stops. The when you post process, you can boost up the exposure. Noise levels will probably be really high, but noisy is almost always better than blurry.
Another thing to be aware of is your exposure mode. Indoor shows are often consist of dark backgrounds with brightly lit subjects. If you use a metering mode that considers the entire frame (evaluative, matrix), the camera will tend to pick a compromise exposure that overexposes your subject. Instead, you should use center-weighted, partial, or spot metering. Spot metering is tough with moving subjects because it is easy to have the spot wander a bit off of the subject and the result can be a radically different exposure.
So what is a fast enough shutter speed? It depends on how long your lens is (focal length). The longer the focal length, the more it magnifies movement, and the higher you need your shutter speed to be. As a general rule, if you are shooting moving subjects, you should try to get a shutter speed that is the inverse of your focal length (in 35mm equivalent). So a with a 200mm lens, you want a shutter speed of no more than 1/200s. That's just a general guideline. Fast movement (think tumbling monkeys) will require a faster shutter speed. Slow movement (a singer standing still) will work with a slower shutter speed.
Try to shoot performers that aren't moving. Even the tumbling monkeys sit still from time to time. Time your shots so that you catch everyone when the action is at it's slowest.
Image stabilizers help, but only when there isn't a lot of action. A stabilized shot of a performer standing still will work with a low shutter speed. The stabilizer won't do a thing to help you get a shot of a performer running around the stage.
Wide angle shots are easier than close in zooms. The more you zoom in, the more you magnify the motion. If you can't get shutter speeds about 1/25s, don't bother trying to take a shot zoomed in at 300mm. Instead, try taking some shots at 50mm or even 25mm. It's better to have shots showing the entire stage that are sharp than it is to have a blurry closeup.
Sitting up close also helps. At Nemo, I think you can get good shots from anywhere along a row. Being on the end towards the stage is a little easier because you don't have to shoot over people. At FotLK, being in the middle of the row is the best.
Here are a few indoor show shots from my most recent trip. They were taken with a Canon 1DM2 and a 70-200 f/2.8 lens.
ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/250, 90mm (117mm equiv)
ISO 1600, f/3.5, 1/200, 105mm (136.5 equiv)
On this forum, we run the gamut from cell phone cameras to high end DSLRs with rediculously large lenses. I'm hoping that we'll get a variety of posts from people with cameras in all ranges. Even if you feel that your photos don't measure up to what others have posted, please post some samples anyway. We're all at different levels of gear and skill and we can all learn from each other. A typical S3 user will probably learn more from your S3 shot than they will from Groucho's latest masterpiece.
Other posts in this series include:
How To Shoot: Fireworks
How To Shoot: The Safari Ride
How To Shoot: Parades
How To Shoot: Cinderella's Castle
How To Shoot: SpectroMagic
How To Shoot: Dark Rides
Indoor shows like Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo - The Musical (which now allows non-flash photography), Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast can be amongst the biggest photography challenges at the park. The thing that makes them so difficult to shoot is the combination of low light and lots of movement. Those two factors push even the best equipment to its limits.
When shooting anything in low light, you need to fight to keep your shutter speed as high as possible. That usually means setting your cameras sensitivity (ISO) to the highest number that still gives your decent shots. You also need to open your lens up as wide as possible (low f-stop number).
Even with this combination, you might find that you are still getting low shutter speeds. If you shoot RAW and you don't have any alternatives for getting shutter speeds up, you can tell your camera to purposely under-expose your pictures by 1 or even 2 stops. The when you post process, you can boost up the exposure. Noise levels will probably be really high, but noisy is almost always better than blurry.
Another thing to be aware of is your exposure mode. Indoor shows are often consist of dark backgrounds with brightly lit subjects. If you use a metering mode that considers the entire frame (evaluative, matrix), the camera will tend to pick a compromise exposure that overexposes your subject. Instead, you should use center-weighted, partial, or spot metering. Spot metering is tough with moving subjects because it is easy to have the spot wander a bit off of the subject and the result can be a radically different exposure.
So what is a fast enough shutter speed? It depends on how long your lens is (focal length). The longer the focal length, the more it magnifies movement, and the higher you need your shutter speed to be. As a general rule, if you are shooting moving subjects, you should try to get a shutter speed that is the inverse of your focal length (in 35mm equivalent). So a with a 200mm lens, you want a shutter speed of no more than 1/200s. That's just a general guideline. Fast movement (think tumbling monkeys) will require a faster shutter speed. Slow movement (a singer standing still) will work with a slower shutter speed.
Try to shoot performers that aren't moving. Even the tumbling monkeys sit still from time to time. Time your shots so that you catch everyone when the action is at it's slowest.
Image stabilizers help, but only when there isn't a lot of action. A stabilized shot of a performer standing still will work with a low shutter speed. The stabilizer won't do a thing to help you get a shot of a performer running around the stage.
Wide angle shots are easier than close in zooms. The more you zoom in, the more you magnify the motion. If you can't get shutter speeds about 1/25s, don't bother trying to take a shot zoomed in at 300mm. Instead, try taking some shots at 50mm or even 25mm. It's better to have shots showing the entire stage that are sharp than it is to have a blurry closeup.
Sitting up close also helps. At Nemo, I think you can get good shots from anywhere along a row. Being on the end towards the stage is a little easier because you don't have to shoot over people. At FotLK, being in the middle of the row is the best.
Here are a few indoor show shots from my most recent trip. They were taken with a Canon 1DM2 and a 70-200 f/2.8 lens.
ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/250, 90mm (117mm equiv)
ISO 1600, f/3.5, 1/200, 105mm (136.5 equiv)
