Question for DSLR users

[mshanson3121]

So..... give me your best photography tips by park. Things you have to shoot, tips for different shooting scenarios etc... What are your must-take lenses? I can hardly wait to get my camera down there.

 

[disney_bob]

There's a photography sub-forum dedicated to questions like this - you might get better quality answers there. As for me, I always have my 35mm F/2 and if I'm feeling like I want extra weight I'll bring my 18-135 (since I don't have a prime wider than 35)

 

[toyotaae86lg]

There is some DSLR stuff in that video

 

[OKW Lover]

You definitely want some combination of a fairly wide (wider than 35) lens for interior ride pictures and a longer lens for outside shots. I've got an 18-200 for my main walk around lens. It allows me to grab just about any shot I want, but it does fall down a bit in the dark rides where a faster lens would do better. I find most of my pictures at WDW are in the 18-130 range except when I go to AK where the longer lengths are important.

 

[sharona]

I like my 17-70 2.8-4 Sigma lens for its versatility in this type of situation. The 2.8 aperture gives me some wiggle room on shutter speed in low light scenarios.

 

[mom2rtk]

What do you like to shoot? Scenery? Family? Characters? Details? Dark rides?

 

[mshanson3121]

What do you like to shoot? Scenery? Family? Characters? Details? Dark rides?

All of the above, lol. But the majority will be family and scenery.

 

[sharona]

Then definitely a zoom is in order. I love my 35 mm prime but would not want to be that limited in the park. Also changing lenses in a crowded place can be tricky. Another tip - get a good quality polarized filter and don't forget to remove it at night.

 

[mom2rtk]

For family and scenery, your kit lens will work pretty well. However, I prefer an external flash over a pop up flash. I like something fairly wide for character meals, so I don't have to back up into someone else's table to compose my shot.

For AK, you'll likely want something with more zoom than most kit lenses offer. Likewise, you might want the same for shows and parades.

For dark rides, you'll want a "fast lens", something with a wide aperture like 1.4 or 1.8.

If you want to try shooting fireworks, you'll want to bring a tripod.

Most will bring a variety of lenses, but only pack a couple each day. And most who bring a tripod will store it in a locker until evening when they want to use it.

 

[mousehockey37]

I have a Canon T3 and I have a 50mm lens, the kit 18-55mm, and a 55-250mm lens. My last trip I took along the tripod for taking pictures of Illuminations. I also have a camera backpack with straps on the bottom that held my tripod. Getting through security was a breeze and I had no problems what-so-ever with the tripod.

I found that of all the lenses, I mainly used the kit 18-55. When we were at the World Showcase early one morning, I got out the bigger zoom lens and took pictures across the lagoon of the pavilions, but that was mainly it.

As far as tips by park? Everyone is different with what they look for, so it's hard to give some pointers. If you have time and can think outside the box, you can come up with some pretty interesting shots. Some of my neater pictures came on a rainy night in the World Showcase during evening Extra Magic Hours. No one was there and the clouds being lit up made my pictures all kinds of neat.

 

[Skywise]

A wide angle lens and a midrange zoom lens.

When I had a Canon T3i that was the 10-22 and the 17-55.
For my 6D it's a 16-35 and the 24-70.

Use the wide angle for parades and fireworks (possibly the castle shows depending on how close you are) and the midrange for everything else and family.

For most trips I also bring along a 70-300 which is a nice lens but I don't generally carry it around with me at Disney. I did for some Christmas scenery shots at one point though and got some great shots of the castle lights and some interesting angles main street. But I was specifically walking around to take photos at that point and not riding rides, seeing shows, etc;

 

[mshanson3121]

Right now i just have my two kit lenses, the 18-55 and 70-200. I would be willing to invest in a prime, if it was really worthwhile. I would *like* to try fireworks shots, but we're going to be doing the Pirates & Pals cruise, so... not sure if I'll be able to take my tripod on the boat?

 

[IrishNYC]

Right now i just have my two kit lenses, the 18-55 and 70-200. I would be willing to invest in a prime, if it was really worthwhile. I would *like* to try fireworks shots, but we're going to be doing the Pirates & Pals cruise, so... not sure if I'll be able to take my tripod on the boat?

A tripod won't really make a difference on the boat, because the boat won't be stable. I doubt you'd be able to use it anyway; the boats aren't that big.

 

[Skywise]

Right now i just have my two kit lenses, the 18-55 and 70-200. I would be willing to invest in a prime, if it was really worthwhile. I would *like* to try fireworks shots, but we're going to be doing the Pirates & Pals cruise, so... not sure if I'll be able to take my tripod on the boat?

Personally I do videos for the Disney fireworks shows (with my DSLR) - I invested in a Rode stereo videomic pro a few years back and it does a great job capturing the bass of the fireworks.

 

[rwdavis2]

Learn how to shoot in manual mode. I had several situations where none of the auto modes gave a good photo. Mainly night time scenes and when shooting with the 300mm zoom.