How would you do it?

[MarkBarbieri]

Let's say you were given the assignment to show what Disney World means to you, but you had to do it with only a few pictures and no words. Let's say you could use between 3 and 8 pictures. How would you do it? What pictures would you use? You can describe or use sample pictures.

For example, a major part of Disney World to me is watching the daytime parades with my family. I'd try to get a shot taken at kid level showing a character at the edge of the parade greeting one of my kids. I'd move in close but shoot really wide. That way I could show the character and my child large in the picture but the wide angle would also a lot of the parade in the background. I'd shoot pretty wide open because I'd want the background a bit out-of-focus (but still clearly recognizable) and that would require a pretty wide aperture using a wide angle lens. For the character, I'd pick Mickey because it's sort of his show. Ideally, I'd like the shot to be of one of my kids when they were about 4 (I guess I missed that shot) to catch a blend of joy, wonderment, and a touch of trepidation.

Tell us about what moments you'd like to capture to tell your Disney World story. Explain how you'd capture them - what angles, focal lengths, apertures, shutter speeds, or whatever else you think is relevant.

I think this is a good exercise for getting yourself to think about how you can capture a concept in a picture. A really good picture should tell a story, not just show something that you've seen. That doesn't usually happen by accident. You need to think about the story you want to tell and then work out how to best tell that story with a picture.

So what shots would you take and why?

 

[AndrewWG]

I would also use a child in my photo. I would focus on the over stimulation that a child has when first entering the Magic Kingdom. I would probably try to use a wider angle lens to do this as well. My shot would be a child in the center of the flagpole circle at the beginning of Main Street. I would face the castle, get down low to show the massiveness of it all from a childs viewpoint and have the child with a mouth open look of wonder and excitement on his or her face. The way I envision it would be a shot that is sort of from the side of the child so that you can see the face and the whold Main Street. I am not sure if I would want the background of Main Street to be in focus or slightly out of focus, but I guess either way, I would need a somewhat smaller aperture.

Another thought would be the look that was on my DD's face the first time she met Belle. Again, I would take the pic from a low standpoint and get her face with her hands over her mouth and Belle kneeling down with her arms open inviting her to give her a big hug. I would keep it simple with just DD and Belle in the shot. Not much background to mess it up,s o I guess it would be shot wide open to blur as much as possible. This happened about 6 years ago when DD was 3, but I was not ready with the camera.

 

[WVDisGeek]

Mine would have to be a shot of the DW. We don't have any children (except for me ) and our cat Seymour.

It would oddly enough be a shot without any Magic Kingdom landmarks, but just of her turning the corner onto Main Street as we enter the Magic Kingdom on our first day there. She LOVES going to Disney and gets so much joy from it. I would like to be set up on Main Street, facing the train station. Would most likely shoot close to wide open to get the DOF that Mark talked about with her face taking up the majority of the frame and the train station and Town Square sort of softened, but recognizable. Just to be able to capture that expression would be great.

I get a ton of joy from seeing her reaction on that first morning and it hasn't changed in all the times we have gone to Disney. Still almost pure childlike joy. Makes all the $$ we spend worthwhile.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Mark, I think a picture showing different generations together (kids, mom & dad, grandparents) in front of the castle at MK, the Tree of Life at AK gives me the feeling that "it doesn't get better than this!"

TC

 

[Villainess]

This was DD's face when she saw Donald - priceless!

 

[Tuffcookie]

Villianess wrote:

This was DD's face when she saw Donald - priceless!

He has that affect on me too!

TC

 

[wenrob]

Another thought would be the look that was on my DD's face the first time she met Belle. Again, I would take the pic from a low standpoint and get her face with her hands over her mouth and Belle kneeling down with her arms open inviting her to give her a big hug. I would keep it simple with just DD and Belle in the shot. Not much background to mess it up,s o I guess it would be shot wide open to blur as much as possible. This happened about 6 years ago when DD was 3, but I was not ready with the camera.

I have this pic w/oldest DD at age 6 w/Ariel. She was in a holding pattern as far as Magic/people in costume but when she saw Ariel she gasped, "Ariel!" and ran into her arms. The pic is DD beaming wrapped in Ariel's arms. That moment and that pic personifies the whole experience for me. Every time I look at that pic I can hear her little awe filled voice. Sorry, I don't have specifics on angle and such just thought I'd chime in and say for me, I got that one pic that says it all.

 

[MICKEY88]

This was DD's face when she saw Donald - priceless!

that is priceless..

it's also pretty much the way I react when I see Jasmine...LOL

 

[dburg30]

I think I would start with a childs first reaction like the child seeing Donald. Then I would get a slightly older child and their 'wonder' and keep 'aging' the subject until we hit Mickey88's reaction to Jasmine...

So you would be able to see the magic and wonder (hmmm, those are good ship names ) lasting from infanthood to adulthood.. Yep, that's how I'd do it...

 

[AndrewWG]

that is priceless..

it's also pretty much the way I react when I see Jasmine...LOL

Although I didn't put it in my post, that is also how I (and MANY other happy fathers) reacted when we saw Belle!