New Paint the Night light parade...

[Butterfly123]

I have a Nikon d3100 with the 18-55mm, 55-200mm, and 35mm f1.8 lenses. I wasn't planning on bringing the 55-200mm with me to the parks. So my question is which lens...the 18-55mm or 35mm would be best for shooting the new Paint the Night parade that happens to have a lot of very bright lights. I've never shot anything with these kind of conditions before. Thanks for any input!

 

[jec6613]

35 f/1.8 (less flare and coma on those point light sources), manual mode and expose for the less lit characters. Without a meter on them, I can't tell you the settings I'd use exactly, but I'd probably start at ISO 800, f/2.8 and 1/200. Keep the shutter above 1/100, and don't be afraid to crank the ISO higher or open the aperture if you need to. If those settings are too much light, stop down the aperture to f/4 or f/5.6 before you bring down the ISO.

Oh, and at least bring the 55-200 to AK.

 

[Butterfly123]

Thanks so much...that was really helpful!

No AK for us...we'll be at Disneyland celebrating the 60th with their new light parade and fireworks!

 

[mvf-m11c]

The 35mm f/1.8 lens is a good one to use for the parade. I used a Tokina 11-16mm for the parade and was able to get some decent pictures. I would keep the ISO down a lot since the parade can be bright. There will be times where you will have to use high ISO for certain parts of the parade.

Here are some pics from Paint the Night parade with the Tokina.

Aperture f/3.5, Shutter 1/60, ISO 1250


Aperture f/3.2, Shutter 1/100, ISO 4000


Aperture f/3.5, Shutter 1/100, ISO 1600

 

[Butterfly123]

Yes, I would say those are "decent"! They are lovely! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[mom2rtk]

Great shots Bret!

How early did you have to stake out that wonderful spot?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great shots Bret!

How early did you have to stake out that wonderful spot?

Thanks Janet.

For those pictures, I staked out on MS for 2 1/2 hours. There were people sitting on the curb before I got there and they must have been there at least 4 hours. When I saw Paint the Night a few days later, I got a spot on MS for 4 hours on the curbside. At least who sits on the curb will have to sit down while the others in the back get to stand where I did stand and it was good.

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks Janet.

For those pictures, I staked out on MS for 2 1/2 hours. There were people sitting on the curb before I got there and they must have been there at least 4 hours. When I saw Paint the Night a few days later, I got a spot on MS for 4 hours on the curbside. At least who sits on the curb will have to sit down while the others in the back get to stand where I did stand and it was good.

I think we're going in late October. I will be watching reports between now and then to see if it stays that way or if I can get a spot "only" 2 hours before parade time.

Did you have a decent spot for the fireworks from there?

 

[mvf-m11c]

I think we're going in late October. I will be watching reports between now and then to see if it stays that way or if I can get a spot "only" 2 hours before parade time.

Did you have a decent spot for the fireworks from there?

That is good news to hear that you will be going down to the DLR in October and to see the new nighttime shows. It will be very interesting to see how the 60th Diamond Celebration affect the Halloween season this year including the Christmas season as well. We already know that Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks won't be playing this year with Disneyland Forever fireworks. The spot to watch the parade is from MS where the buildings on MS will be video projected for Disneyland Forever fireworks. I just wrote on my latest trip report about how long and what spot it was where I watched the parade and fireworks. I would say at least 2 hours for a spot on MS by the buildings might be the max in order to get a curb spot when you go in October. There might be some groups that will wait that long to get it but I can not see it like during the first few weeks during the Diamond Celebration.

After the last float from the parade went by, I went straight towards the middle of MS to get the middle spot to see the fireworks. The CM's told the guests before the parade that they are clearing the sidewalks for the fireworks. So when the last float goes by, you will have to move on over to the street and get a center spot to see the fireworks. I would say that it wasn't that great since my tripod and I am not that tall but it was decent where i was watching the fireworks after the parade passed by.

Here is my spot on the 26th of May for the 9:30pm Disneyland Forever fireworks


The projections on the buildings on MS.

Another spot to consider is seeing the Matterhorn which will also be projected for the fireworks which you might want to get a spot between the buildings on MS as well as see the Matterhorn when you go on the streets.

 

[mom2rtk]

That is good news to hear that you will be going down to the DLR in October and to see the new nighttime shows. It will be very interesting to see how the 60th Diamond Celebration affect the Halloween season this year including the Christmas season as well. We already know that Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks won't be playing this year with Disneyland Forever fireworks. The spot to watch the parade is from MS where the buildings on MS will be video projected for Disneyland Forever fireworks. I just wrote on my latest trip report about how long and what spot it was where I watched the parade and fireworks. I would say at least 2 hours for a spot on MS by the buildings might be the max in order to get a curb spot when you go in October. There might be some groups that will wait that long to get it but I can not see it like during the first few weeks during the Diamond Celebration.

After the last float from the parade went by, I went straight towards the middle of MS to get the middle spot to see the fireworks. The CM's told the guests before the parade that they are clearing the sidewalks for the fireworks. So when the last float goes by, you will have to move on over to the street and get a center spot to see the fireworks. I would say that it wasn't that great since my tripod and I am not that tall but it was decent where i was watching the fireworks after the parade passed by.

Here is my spot on the 26th of May for the 9:30pm Disneyland Forever fireworks


The projections on the buildings on MS.

Another spot to consider is seeing the Matterhorn which will also be projected for the fireworks which you might want to get a spot between the buildings on MS as well as see the Matterhorn when you go on the streets.

Thanks Bret! That's really helpful. Those projections look awesome! I just have a hunch I won't be happy until I see it from both spots!

Do the projections change quickly on the buildings? I could see that being complicated to shoot if you were after a long exposure on the fireworks but the projections were constantly changing.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Thanks Bret! That's really helpful. Those projections look awesome! I just have a hunch I won't be happy until I see it from both spots!

Do the projections change quickly on the buildings? I could see that being complicated to shoot if you were after a long exposure on the fireworks but the projections were constantly changing.

Your welcome. I haven't seen the Matterhorn projections yet as well as in front of SB Castle. But I have seen pictures and videos of it and it is quite amazing. You need to see Disneyland Forever multiple times in all the different areas from MS, Matterhorn, IASW facade and the area around the RoA. I plan on doing that during my trip in August for the Matterhorn and IASW Plaza.

The video projections on the facade of the MS building do change during each part of the show. When you saw that picture of the long exposure of the fireworks, it just capture the first video projection on the building and didn't change.

Here are some other pics with the long exposure from Disneyland Forever fireworks and you can see the difference.

 

[Butterfly123]

That is good news to hear that you will be going down to the DLR in October and to see the new nighttime shows. It will be very interesting to see how the 60th Diamond Celebration affect the Halloween season this year including the Christmas season as well. We already know that Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks won't be playing this year with Disneyland Forever fireworks. The spot to watch the parade is from MS where the buildings on MS will be video projected for Disneyland Forever fireworks. I just wrote on my latest trip report about how long and what spot it was where I watched the parade and fireworks. I would say at least 2 hours for a spot on MS by the buildings might be the max in order to get a curb spot when you go in October. There might be some groups that will wait that long to get it but I can not see it like during the first few weeks during the Diamond Celebration.

After the last float from the parade went by, I went straight towards the middle of MS to get the middle spot to see the fireworks. The CM's told the guests before the parade that they are clearing the sidewalks for the fireworks. So when the last float goes by, you will have to move on over to the street and get a center spot to see the fireworks. I would say that it wasn't that great since my tripod and I am not that tall but it was decent where i was watching the fireworks after the parade passed by.

Here is my spot on the 26th of May for the 9:30pm Disneyland Forever fireworks


The projections on the buildings on MS.

Another spot to consider is seeing the Matterhorn which will also be projected for the fireworks which you might want to get a spot between the buildings on MS as well as see the Matterhorn when you go on the streets.

Thanks for all that info! We will be in the parks for five days. We would like to see the fireworks from MS and from the Hub so we can see the Matterhorn. I just hope we can do that without waiting more than a couple of hours. We'll see, I guess. We will be there in a couple of weeks.