How to Shoot: SpectroMagic

[Master Mason]

What camera are you using?

typically what you need is a very wide apeture and usable high ISO levels so you can let enough light in to get a decent picture, but still have the shutter speed to freeze the motion.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

What camera do you have?

Spectromagic is REALLY tough to photograph (especially if you don't have a DSLR and a fast lens).

The best settings, AFAIK, for Spectro are to use as wide an aperture as your camera is capable of, and as high an ISO as you can get (and stand the noise -- many P&S cameras are VERY noisy on their highest ISO settings and it's often necessary to go a stop or so below max -- for example, on my Canon S3, ISO 800 is only for the desperate, and ISO 400 is only for small prints).

The goal is to get as high a shutter speed as possible to reduce blur.

[EDIT]Heh ... Master Mason beat me by a minute! [/EDIT]

 

[SharonLowe]

High ISO, fastest lens you own. In June, I used my 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens, was shooting at ISO 1600, and mostly keeping my aperture at f/2.8. Shutters speeds were around 1/60 second, give or take. I wish I had used my 50mm f/1.4 lens as it would have given me greater flexibility. I had the camera set to Av mode. If I wanted intentional blur, I changed my aperture to give me a slow shutter speed - about 1/4 second.

 

[Geoff_M]

I honestly wouldn't use any auto-exposure mode and use manual instead. Use auto-exposure as a starting point, note the shutter speed/aperture, move to manual and adjust the shutter and lens as the histogram and LCD dictates. If you have a 50mm f1.4 or 1.8, this would be a perfect application.

 

[Miqee]

I got some decent results using flash set to rear. gets the colour of the lights as well as the characters.

Colin

 

[craig]

I have an Olympus SP-310. It has setting that I have no idea what they mean. It's frustrating because we go at least twice a year and usually get VIP seating for the parade.

 

[ukcatfan]

Do not get too frustrated, because even people with camera setups that cost in the thousands have a tough time on Spectro. The only thing that might help would be to scope out a spot that is going to have a little more light. There are a few spots on the route where not all of the background lights are off. For the camera, try to find a manual or shutter priority mode and set the shutter to around 1/60 second. You might have to adjust that though, so be ready to look at the first few shots to make sure that they are not blurred. If in manual, set the aperture to the widest, which is probably around f/2.8. If shutter priority, then it should pick the widest anyway. Throw in the highest ISO you can handle and that is the best you can do. IMO a flash ruins it, so avoid that.

Kevin

 

[Amy]

I got some decent results using flash set to rear. gets the colour of the lights as well as the characters.

Colin

Colin - I've never heard this photo term before. What do you mean?

 

[Furgus]

Colin - I've never heard this photo term before. What do you mean?

Rear Curtain Sync
Some cameras offer the ability to fire the flash at just before the second curtain closes. This is called rear (or second) curtain sync, and it is used to freeze motion at the end of the exposure. When making long exposures while firing a flash, rear curtain sync creates the effect of motion blur trailing the main subject.

 

[Groucho]

Check this thread - some technical stuff about shooting comes up on page 2. Ultimately, I think that to do it really well without a flash, you need a DSLR at ISO 1600 and a lens that's at least F1.8, maybe F2.0 - F2.8 is not fast enough IMHO.

Part of the problem is that there's such a difference between the light and dark areas, too. When I originally did the following photo, I had it slightly brighter and the faces were a little more blown out. This time, I tweaked in Lightroom, did a little recovery and a little fill light, and ended up with this - I don't know if the costumes are as bright as my earlier processing of the same photo, but it's probably closer to what you actually see.

Here's another one that I think turned out well.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be using the lessons learned there to take some decent photos of the Electrical Parade at California Adventure in a few days.

 

[Master Mason]

Check this thread - some technical stuff about shooting comes up on page 2. Ultimately, I think that to do it really well without a flash, you need a DSLR at ISO 1600 and a lens that's at least F1.8, maybe F2.0 - F2.8 is not fast enough IMHO.

Part of the problem is that there's such a difference between the light and dark areas, too. When I originally did the following photo, I had it slightly brighter and the faces were a little more blown out. This time, I tweaked in Lightroom, did a little recovery and a little fill light, and ended up with this - I don't know if the costumes are as bright as my earlier processing of the same photo, but it's probably closer to what you actually see.

Here's another one that I think turned out well.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be using the lessons learned there to take some decent photos of the Electrical Parade at California Adventure in a few days.

I think the electric parade is a little easier than spectro

http://gregghall.smugmug.com/gallery/3369956/1/188119359

 

[Groucho]

Thanks for the link. Even though we're going to be there three days, Electrical Parade will only be performed on the first day, so I'm only going to have one chance. I'm hoping I get a few keepers.

Unfortunately, the fireworks'll only be done once, too! But we will get there earlier enough the night before to see them from our hotel.

 

[Master Mason]

Thanks for the link. Even though we're going to be there three days, Electrical Parade will only be performed on the first day, so I'm only going to have one chance. I'm hoping I get a few keepers.

Unfortunately, the fireworks'll only be done once, too! But we will get there earlier enough the night before to see them from our hotel.

Here is my suggestion, get a spot on the DL side of the street close to the exit of DCA, watch the ELP and take your pictures. The last float is the patriotic one. If you jam out as soon as you have got your shots of that float and scoot accros you can get into Mainstreet for the Fireworks, or somewhere in the flag area. Make sure your hand is stamped so you can go out through the gate or one of the non attended turn styles.

When I took these shots, I was half way down mainstreet when the first round went off.

Also, are they showing fantasmic twice that night? If so make sure you see the 10:30 show, it is a better show than at WDW.

 

[Groucho]

Here is my suggestion, get a spot on the DL side of the street close to the exit of DCA, watch the ELP and take your pictures. The last float is the patriotic one. If you jam out as soon as you have got your shots of that float and scoot accros you can get into Mainstreet for the Fireworks, or somewhere in the flag area. Make sure your hand is stamped so you can go out through the gate or one of the non attended turn styles.

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to do my best, but will have my wife, son, and a couple friends of ours along. We'll see if I'm successful.

Also, are they showing fantasmic twice that night? If so make sure you see the 10:30 show, it is a better show than at WDW.

No Fantasmic at all when we're there according to the DL web site. It is playing twice the night we go to Anaheim but not when we're actually in the park. I did see little bits of it when we were there a couple years ago, and the crowds were so incredibly tight (mid-August) that we couldn't imagine trying to fight the crowds for somewhere to sit and watch. We also didn't watch the fireworks as there was only a small corridor in the middle in Main Street to move at all, and there was nowhere to stop and watch. I kind of regret that, I didn't realize at the time how fantastic the new fireworks show is.

Whether WDW or DL Fantasmic is better, WDW has a far better viewing area. You can't beat the "blessing of size"!

Oh, anyway, the park is open until 11pm on Monday, so I wouldn't be surprised if Fantasmic will be performed even if it's not on the web schedule, but who knows.

 

[AshleyMWC]

I come in search of help! On this trip (in a few weeks ) I plan on making great use of my Canon S3. I have been practicing every chance I get, but I come to the experts for some specific help. Two of my fav attractions at MK are SpectroMagic and Small World- laughing can cease now . Anyhoo, I would love to have a couple decent shots of these. For spectro I assume that a tripod is in order. I have a gorilla pod which I am loving so far. Can anyone give me some setting suggestions? I plan on lining up early for a good place to set up the pod. For Small World I think I am stumped due to the lighting in there. I just love all the colors of the ride and would love to capture those. Any help would be awesome

Thanks!!!

 

[JR6ooo4]

Low light and Semi-fast action for spectro means you do not need a tripod. If you force a long shutter for night time exposure then the lights of the parade will be blurry streaks. Not a bad affect but you probably want some clear shots also.

Set the iso as high as possible and set the aperture as wide open as possible. Run the pics through a good noise filtering program.

and I didn't laugh. Spectro is my favorite too! Da da da.. da da da. da da da... da da On this special nii---ight, your cash is ours toniii--ight!

Mikeeee

 

[Wingman]

I am heading back to Disney World at the end of November and would love to see your favorite shots of Spectromagic. I have never been able to get too many good ones, but that will all change this year.

Thanks,

 

[handicap18]

Here are a few of mine. What is it for you that will change this year for getting good shots?

 

[MarkBarbieri]

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 a pro's latest DSLR masterpiece.

Other posts in this series include:
How To Shoot: Fireworks
How To Shoot: The Safari Ride
How To Shoot: Parades
How To Shoot: Indoor Shows
How To Shoot: Cinderella's Castle
How To Shoot: Dark Rides

How do you shoot light parades like SpectroMagic? Favorite locations? Special camera settings? Lens suggestions?

Getting good shots of SpectroMagic is one of the biggest challenges in photographing the Magic Kingdom. It combines the motion of a parade with the difficulty of shooting at night. A stabilizer, like a tripod or stabilization system, will help, but it won't stop the motion. The biggest problem is getting a fast enough shutter speed to stop the motion.

My first suggestion is to shoot at as high of an ISO as your camera is capable (with acceptable results). Perhaps the latest round of high sensitivity cameras will be better off holding back to 1,600 or 3,200 ISO, but for most cameras I think higher is better. The pictures will be noisy (grainy, little colored blotches), but that is better than blurry.

My second suggestion, for those with DSLRs, is to use your fastest lens. You'll have to deal with shallower DOF and you may have to give up zooming. Again, getting a high enough shutter speed to keep things from blurring is paramount. Having lots of depth of field isn't of much use if your subject is blurry.

You might be tempted to use a flash. It is dark, after all. That doesn't work very well for the light parades. The flash illuminates the parts of the parade floats that are supposed to be dark and it competes with the colored lights. That's why they run this parade during the night and not the daytime. If you can minimize the power of your flash, it might be useful for a few floats, but I would avoid it altogether unless you are pretty experienced.

Try shooting wider than you normally would. Just like wide angle lenses makes your subject look smaller, it also makes their movement smaller. That means that you can get away with a longer shutter speed than you can when you are zoomed in.

Most cameras seem to meter the parade surprisingly well. I say surprisingly, because it seems like a tough metering problem. The scene is mostly dark except for lots of little colored lights. The cameras seem smart enough to realized that you want the colored dots and they expose for that. Just to be sure, review a few of your pictures early in the parade. If it is overexposing, add some exposure compensation or switch to manual mode.

Make sure that you enjoy the show and don't spend all of your time trying to get the perfect shot. The parade has such great atmosphere and music. It would be a shame to not soak it in because you were too focused on getting perfect shot.

Getting really good shots of the parade is a really tough challenge. If you or your gear are not up to the task, don't despair. Borrow (with permission, of course) some other people's shots for this segment and concentrate on getting shots that no one else can get - your family and friends.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

One interesting shot that I've never seen of this parade is a very long exposure shot. It would be fun to take some shots with the camera on a tripod that last 5 to 20 seconds. The lights on the parade would make an interesting abstract pattern.