I know this has been discussed before, but we just got back from a 10 day trip to Disney World and I'm still astounded at the amount of people who use flash photography in dark shows and dark rides.
I know it's against the rules and many people feel the rules don't apply to them, but geesh using flash photography is stupid for so many reason! In addition to annoying people (with bright lights) who are trying to enjoy the ride or show, here are a few more reasons why someone should NOT use flash photography on the rides and shows.
1) First of all, many times people are trying to photograph subjects to far away. Even a $500 flash is only great for about 10 - 15 feet. It can be decent enough for 20 feet at the MOST. People are trying to use their flash to capture images of subjects that are at least twice that distance away. That little $100 point shoot that they have (with the flash going off every 10 seconds) does NOT have the ability to be effective even at a distance of 12 feet; try more like 3 - 5 feet. Using the little flash on the point and shoot camera accomplishes nothing other than to annoy the other guests.
2) Typically, when there is a dark ride, it's for a reason. It adds to the ambiance of the ride itself. By using a flash, the "photographer" ruins the ability to capture their experience. By trying to light up the scene (that's not meant to be lit up) is NOT representative of the true experience at all.
3) In a show, if you use a flash, you're doing nothing other than lighting up all the people around you. I don't know about you, but I'm more interested in capturing all the heads of all the guests sitting in front of me. Typically the stage is too far for your flash to be effective, so the only thing you're doing is lighting 3 - 5 feet in front of you. So yeah, the guy with the big 'ol head that's in the row in front of you, all you did was to make sure that the back of his was lit up enough to get a great photo of his buzz cut.
People, please... If you're on a ride and it's dark quit using the flash! It annoys people, ruins the ride for children and accomplishes very little if anything at all.
Great! You're in a show and you want to take a photo the actors... Do this: Put your camera on the "spot" exposure setting, turn off the flash, and shoot in burst mode. Hopefully, you have a lens that fast enough for low light photography.
Using flashes for EVERYTHING, tends to wash it out and look horrible. The light can be very harsh and NOT subtle.
During the lighted parade at Magic Kingdom, people were still using flashes, those photos will be horrible.
Major photography tip: If you're are photographing light, the LAST thing you want to use is a flash.
I know this may belong in the photography forum, but really this is a post for everyone, not just the "photographers"
