On-site Photo Tips

[Master Mason]

The more I think about this, the more I think that the best way to get it started is to collect tips here. What do you folks think about coming up with a couple categories and posting 1 per week for people to comment on with their best tips and tricks?

1. Magic Kingdom/Disneyland (CA,France,HK, etc.)
2. Epcot
3. Animal Kingdom
4. Disney Studios (FL & France)
5. Downtown Disney and Resorts
6. Parades
7. Live performances
8. Disney Cruise Line
9. Miscellaneous tips

Tips could then be collected up, PDF files produced for those who prefer that format and also hosted online somewhere where commentary can continue.

What do you folks think?

you missed

DCA
Disney Sea (not that I'm going to get there anytime soon, but it sure looks amazing.)

 

[Master Mason]

I like the idea, but if we are looking to do a wiki, perhaps we could post a link or set of links to wiki pages every week to fill in with tips to reduce transposing text from here to there.

We could have many ways to get at the same data. We could start with a category for each park. Some of these would link to the same pages (like Disneyland & WDW's it's a small world) and perhaps would have a section for park-specific tips (things to look for specific to the park's version).

Actually, I think it might be better to have seperate sections for the magic kingdom vs disneyland vs disneyland france etc. Yes there are a lot of similarites, and even some of the same rides, but there are also big differences between rides that are supposed to be the same.

For example, the que at WDW for Pirates is much different than the que at Disneyland in CA and the ride has different things as well. And that's just an example.

 

[disneyboy2003]

Actually, I think it might be better to have seperate sections for the magic kingdom vs disneyland vs disneyland france etc. Yes there are a lot of similarites, and even some of the same rides, but there are also big differences between rides that are supposed to be the same.

For example, the que at WDW for Pirates is much different than the que at Disneyland in CA and the ride has different things as well. And that's just an example.

Maybe we can look to Wikipedia itself to see how it organizes the different Disney attractions.

For example, for the Haunted Mansion (link to Wikipedia), there is only 1 Wikipedia article, but it describes the park-specific differences within that 1 article.

So, if you're on the Wikipedia page for "Tokyo Disneyland" and you click on its "Haunted Mansion", it'll bring you to the generic "Haunted Mansion" Wikipedia page.

Also, since this is a photography tips wiki, many of the concepts to photographing a particular ride are generally applicable to the same ride in other parks. So tips for taking photos on Pirates of the Caribbean are generally the same, whether you're at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, etc., even though the ride itself may be different at different parks.

 

[Master Mason]

Maybe we can look to Wikipedia itself to see how it organizes the different Disney attractions.

For example, for the Haunted Mansion (link to Wikipedia), there is only 1 Wikipedia article, but it describes the park-specific differences within that 1 article.

So, if you're on the Wikipedia page for "Tokyo Disneyland" and you click on its "Haunted Mansion", it'll bring you to the generic "Haunted Mansion" Wikipedia page.

Also, since this is a photography tips wiki, many of the concepts to photographing a particular ride are generally applicable to the same ride in other parks. So tips for taking photos on Pirates of the Caribbean are generally the same, whether you're at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, etc., even though the ride itself may be different at different parks.

I can agree with everything you said, my thoughts were more along the lines of someone saying they were looking for quick information. If you were in line waiting for Pirates at Disneyland, do you want to have wade through infomation about the que at WDW on your cell phone?

Also, it's just something to think about, everything is a trade off of ease of use and building vs complexity.

 

[rtphokie]

We can figure out the right way to organize it once we have something to organize. I'm thinking more of how to get this started and begin collecting tips and advice from posters here. There will be a lot of feedback on Epcot photography but relatively little on Disney Sea for example.

The differences between the common rides will probably be one of the more interesting things to read about for photographers and non-photographers alike.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I encourage anyone with sufficient interest to pick up this project and run with it. I'm getting pretty busy, so I won't have a chance to do anything with it any time soon.

 

[scoot241]

Maybe we can look to Wikipedia itself to see how it organizes the different Disney attractions.

For example, for the Haunted Mansion (link to Wikipedia), there is only 1 Wikipedia article, but it describes the park-specific differences within that 1 article.

So, if you're on the Wikipedia page for "Tokyo Disneyland" and you click on its "Haunted Mansion", it'll bring you to the generic "Haunted Mansion" Wikipedia page.

Also, since this is a photography tips wiki, many of the concepts to photographing a particular ride are generally applicable to the same ride in other parks. So tips for taking photos on Pirates of the Caribbean are generally the same, whether you're at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, etc., even though the ride itself may be different at different parks.

Actually, I think it might be better to have seperate sections for the magic kingdom vs disneyland vs disneyland france etc. Yes there are a lot of similarites, and even some of the same rides, but there are also big differences between rides that are supposed to be the same.

For example, the que at WDW for Pirates is much different than the que at Disneyland in CA and the ride has different things as well. And that's just an example.

Wikipedia was my inspiration for my organizational idea. With each park's version, we could link directly down to that park's section on the page. I do see the reasoning for multiple pages, but I think we would be duplicating a lot of general information if we had 4 Pirates pages, 3 Haunted Mansion pages, etc.

I'm going to put MediaWiki on my web server and start investigating its possibilities. I'm thinking I'll set up MK's pages (or maybe some of MK at first), post links and let everyone have at it.

 

[scoot241]

For those interested in submitting tips, I set up a wiki at http://disneybiz.com/wiki. Eventually it may get its own domain, but let's start here.

It's very much early work in progress at this point, but I set up a structure where the main page links to each resort, then those pages link to the park pages, then the park pages link to each attraction.

Right now, I have all the MK attractions listed; if a link is red, it means the page doesn't yet exist but you will be able to create the page by clicking the link. I have started on two so far: Tiki Room and Space Mountain. Space Mountain is just structure right now, but Tiki Room actually contains a bit of text and a photo.

The help pages for some reason aren't included in the install, so at this point the best help is here: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents

If the formatting seems like too much for you, just write your tips into the page and I'll go through and format them afterward.

I'll be glad to answer any questions; please make a user account and have at it. Let's start with MK and as we go I'll set up more parks.

 

[scoot241]

Alright, perhaps I should guide this along.

Here is the link to the Pirates of the Caribbean page:

http://disneybiz.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pirates_of_the_Caribbean

When you click Edit at the top of the page, it will look something like this:

==General Tips==
Since this is a dark ride on a boat, the lighting is low and therefore large apertures, lower shutter speeds and high ISOs are recommended. On a Canon XSi, ISO 1600, 1/40 of a second shutter speed and f/1.4 on a Sigma 30mm lens produced good results.

==Attraction Versions==
===[[Magic Kingdom]]===
===[[Disneyland]]===
===[[Tokyo Disneyland]]===
===[[Disneyland Paris]]===

To add to the article, just type under the heading you wish to add to (the text surrounded by == are headings). General hints go at the top, and if you have something specific to add for a certain park, each park has its own section under "Attraction Versions".

If you create a user account before editing, changes will be attributed to your user account; otherwise it will simply be your IP address.

Thanks for adding your knowledge to what will hopefully be a huge help to those roaming the parks!

 

[NLD]

Bumping this up.

I just tried adding a page for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Seemed to come out okay...? Scott? There is plenty more that could be added, but was just testing the Wiki out to get a feel for it.

This Wiki seems like it could really be a great resource. If we all take a couple attractions and add tips, we could get a ton of info up there pretty quickly.

Also, for what it's worth... I'm in the midst of planning a September trip right now, and started jotting down reminders on the technical side of things for various WDW situations. These are notes largely compiled from Mark's tutorial threads. If anyone wants to take them and add to the Wiki, feel free to use them as a starting point:

Kilimanjaro Safari

• Fast shutter speed (to minimize shake)
• Medium to high ISO (to achieve fast shutter speed and large enough DOF)
• Large enough DOF to compensate for difficulties in nailing focus
• Use continuous shooting release mode
• Telephoto pros: close ups of animals. Cons: shake magnified.
• Back row, left side of vehicle for best photo ops. Front row for less bounce.

Indoor Shows

• High ISO
• Medium to large aperture (compromise ISO with DOF)
• Appropriate shutter speed (fast to freeze motion, slightly longer to blur)
• Spot meter subject
• Consider wide shots—telephotos magnify motion blur

Dark Rides

• High ISO
• Large aperture
• Slowest shutter speed possible without getting blur
• Try matrix metering. If necessary, spot meter.
• Shutter priority with highest usable ISO and lowest reasonable shutter speed
…OR…
• Aperture priority with auto-ISO and minimum shutter speed set
• AF-C (autofocus-continuous)
• Manual focus if needed (might be hard for camera to lock focus on some dark ride scenes)

Light Parades at Night (Spectro)

• High ISO
• Large aperture (note: will give up some DOF with large aperture)
• Fast shutter speed (to freeze motion)
• Matrix meter. Camera should get lights correct and backdrop dark. Change if needed.

Fireworks

• Use a tripod and remote shutter release
• Turn off VR
• Turn off noise reduction
• Small aperture (F8-11) For finale, smaller aperture (F16-22, because more fireworks=more light)
• Low ISO (200)
• Use bulb mode (1 to 8-12 seconds)
o Keep shutter open longer with few or small bursts
o Keep shutter open shorter with many or larger bursts
• Focus on castle (or other interest point), switch to manual focus, leave it (check periodically)
• Err on the side of a larger field of view. Can crop later. (28mm)
• Okay to include crowd. Gives sense of depth and space.
• Listen for rocket to go off; open shutter; close shutter after enough light and color.
• Use black foam or paper to cover the lens between bursts to get multiple bursts in one shot.

NOTE: For Wishes, if concerned about getting the castle fairly well exposed… Focus on the castle. Meter from castle and then underexpose by 2/3. ALSO: Remember: as aperture gets smaller, castle will be darker—will need to keep shutter open longer to get right castle exposure!

 

[scoot241]

I just took a look, and it looks good to me! Thanks a lot!

I'm still working on things; your post made me realize I haven't filled out Animal Kingdom's page with all the attractions. I also need to add the nighttime shows somewhere; will have to think about how these should be incorporated since the techniques are similar.

I've also thought about creating "templates" where some code is added to a page and it pulls a box from a template page that would say "Dark ride: use large apertures and higher ISO" (something more elegant than that, but you get the idea). Need to research how to create these. The tips you've listed would work well for these types of boxes.