Photographing World of Color

[Raindown]

Any tips on shooting a water show?

 

[Groucho]

From what I've seen, it may be a bit tricky. There's so much motion that you might need to try to get fast shutter speeds, which means a fast lens and high ISOs and no need for a tripod. It's also very wide so you may get panoramic-style shots once you crop out the extra space.

Alternatively, you can use the tripod and see what long shutter speeds get you - you might get something interesting.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I have been pondering this as well. Since all I have to go on right now is the you-tube videos, my plan will probably be just like Groucho stated. High-Very High ISO with fairly high shutter speeds at least for the water screen scenes. A tripod and and slower speeds may be able to produce some nice shots of the colorful fountains but will have to see. I do have 2 major worries though, 1) will be how to plan on a time to see this with the expected crowds and 2) from some of my friends that seen it reported that there is quite a bit of water spray/mist from the show. That alone may eliminate any long shots with a tripod. Very anxious to see it.

 

[Code]

I sort of think that mid-length exposures will be the way to go for WoC, in the 1/4 - 1 sec range. With the moving jets, very long exposures will probably just show up as blurs.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Here are three of the shots that I uploaded quickly without any processing. I was on the second level - premium viewing and used a 16mm f/2.8 lens for all shots. You are close to the water so I feel a wide angle lens is best to capture the full range of the show. I bumped up the ISO to 3200 and shot away. For the most part I'd say you need a short exposure for the water screens - but you could possibly get some interesting shots of the fountains with a longer exposure.

Now - as I mentioned I was on the second tier - above the area that is the "wet zone". This was also the middle section. It was a pretty calm night as well but part way thru the show a breeze began. Mist from the fountains hit us. Oh - and the one errant very high fountain that I looked at and though - "hmmm - that seems headed right for us". And then 5 seconds later - drenched!! Those fountains are putting out LOTS of water!! For the most part I covered my camera but it did get wet during the show if that's a concern for you.

The whole platform is standing only and is not sloped so it will require a very high tripod if you don't get right in the front of your standing section. I held the camera over my head for every shot.

 

[mom2rtk]

Here are three of the shots that I uploaded quickly without any processing. I was on the second level - premium viewing and used a 16mm f/2.8 lens for all shots. You are close to the water so I feel a wide angle lens is best to capture the full range of the show. I bumped up the ISO to 3200 and shot away. For the most part I'd say you need a short exposure for the water screens - but you could possibly get some interesting shots of the fountains with a longer exposure.

Now - as I mentioned I was on the second tier - above the area that is the "wet zone". This was also the middle section. It was a pretty calm night as well but part way thru the show a breeze began. Mist from the fountains hit us. Oh - and the one errant very high fountain that I looked at and though - "hmmm - that seems headed right for us". And then 5 seconds later - drenched!! Those fountains are putting out LOTS of water!! For the most part I covered my camera but it did get wet during the show if that's a concern for you.

The whole platform is standing only and is not sloped so it will require a very high tripod if you don't get right in the front of your standing section. I held the camera over my head for every shot.

Welcome back! Great shots! We ended up rescheduling to avoid the mess of crowds in the parks for the debut of the show. We only had 2 full park days, so didn't think we could tie up the time to see WOC anyway. Now I'm wishing we had! Did you do one of the dinner deals to get in?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Welcome back! Great shots! We ended up rescheduling to avoid the mess of crowds in the parks for the debut of the show. We only had 2 full park days, so didn't think we could tie up the time to see WOC anyway. Now I'm wishing we had! Did you do one of the dinner deals to get in?

Thanks! I did do the WCT dinner although it wouldn't have been necessary. They decided to add a 3rd show very early in the morning and the fastpasses weren't distributed for all the shows until approx 1:30-1:45 in the afternoon - just before I went into DCA. And actually DL was the park that was overwhelmed that day. I think people went to DCA, got their fast passes and then went over to DL.

Overall the whole experience wasn't as out of control as I feared although there was a fair amount of frustration b/c CM's had not been well prepared with information on new times and changes in decisions on rides being open or where people were supposed to go. I'm glad I decided to see it though!

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Great shots Kathy I am really encouraged about your impressions on the crowds. I think we might sneak down there on Friday. We may not get FP's but watch it from the bridge to Ariel's Grotto. It will take awhile to figure out how to shoot this.

 

[seashoreCM]

Any tips on shooting a water show?

If you try to lighten up the picture overall too much, say, to bring out shadowed areas, colored lights including inside the fountain can become discolored and/or washed out.

On my camera, red lights come out orange or even yellow.

You'll want to practice and experiment to see what comes out best.

If you need to darken the picture to prevent washouts, this can be done in the form of a faster shutter speed.