Shooting wishes

[absmom2]

This may not be the place to ask this so if not someone feel to move it. My DH has seen all the wonderful information I have gathered for our upcoming October trip and was hoping someone had some help for him. His passion and part time job is photography. When we were at Disney World last year we did not get to see wishes. This year, his goal is to see wishes and get some photos with the fireworks and the castle in the background. Can anyone tell him where would be the best location to achieve this??

TIA!!

 

[saturndb]

This thread talks about shooting fireworks and has some good examples for him to look at.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1474329


Dave

 

[absmom2]

Thank you! I'll have him take a look at it.

 

[shawn68]

Just seeing what y'all thought was the best place for a tripod during Wishes.

 

[Gdad]

This is about half way between the back of the partners statue and the curb. Not a bad spot unless a tall guy with a hat stands in front of you.

 

[Golf4food]

Gdad,

You are on the Castle side of the true beginning of Main Street? I see those are all 28mm and I will be shooting with a 35mm next week, so I'm planning where to set up - I'm guessing a bit further back near Casey's/The Plaza if I want a wide enough view...

 

[Gdad]

Im not sure what you mean by 'Castle side of the true beginning of Main Street' but from the partners statue- Waly and Mickey I would be behind Walts back about 1/2 way to the 'street' - I guess thats Main St there. Between the statue and the castle anyway.

Also keep in mind that is 28mm on a full frame sensor- equal to about 18mm on a crop sensor.

 

[Groucho]

There's not really a "best" place, you can get different unique shots depending on where you stand. Gdad's is good if you want the castle to be prominent...

...you can go further back down Main St if you want the fireworks to be more prominent than the castle (I don't have any shots from there), you can go off to one side to get a different angle which may be pleasing...

or you can head offsite to the fire escapes at the Contemporary (no fireworks but you get the idea)...

or the beach at the Polynesian to get still more different views.

It's all in what kind of photo you're after.

Wider is better if you're close - I think that I had difficult getting all the fireworks in the frame when using a 28-75mm lens on my crop-sensor camera. This is a bigger issue at Illuminations but still a problem at Wishes if you're pretty close.

 

[shawn68]

Thanks for all the info

 

[handicap18]

I like this spot....

I'll put my tripod on top of that trash can or (depending on what tripod I have) will set the tripod up in the street next to it.

From that spot I'm usually at around 30mm give or take and this is the view:

 

[Experiment_626]

or you can head offsite to the fire escapes at the Contemporary (no fireworks but you get the idea)...

Nice! Do you recall what floor you were on for this shot?

SSB

 

[loumanchoe]

california grill -- roof top

 

[WDWFigment]

I like this spot....

I'll put my tripod on top of that trash can or (depending on what tripod I have) will set the tripod up in the street next to it.

From that spot I'm usually at around 30mm give or take and this is the view:

I like that spot (or thereabouts) too. It should also be noted that the street begins slopping downwards in this area, so you have an advantage of being slightly higher than those in front of you.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I like that spot (or thereabouts) too. It should also be noted that the street begins slopping downwards in this area, so you have an advantage of being slightly higher than those in front of you.

That is a great point... I like being higher than the tall guys with hats in front... What is a good shutter speed to shoot firework shots at? Last trip, i just used the night setting on my D60 and shot away, but I want more trails and a clearer castle... I am going to have to experiment, just hoping to get a rough idea from you all...

Thanks

 

[boBQuincy]

I like this spot....

I'll put my tripod on top of that trash can or (depending on what tripod I have) will set the tripod up in the street next to it.

Is there a sign up sheet for that trash can? I will be there in September and want to reserve it for a half hour.

 

[Gdad]

Along the rail beside Casey's Corner is a good spot- nobody can stand right in front of you there.

From the Contemporary it's fun to watch but nothing really lines up for pictures.

 

[Groucho]

Nice! Do you recall what floor you were on for this shot?

SSB

california grill -- roof top

Nope - not California Grill; I've never been there. Note that I said fire escape. What I've done is go out the fire escape door of the top publicly-accessible floor at the Contemporary, which I think is the 12th (10th?), use something to prop the door open just a little (one time, I found it already propped open slightly)... you could even use a park map over the latch... then climb up a couple flights of stairs and set up the tripod. Ultimately, I'm pretty sure it's the 14th floor. I don't remember who I first heard of doing this - maybe YEKCIM? - so I can't take any credit.

Here's a wide shot of what it looks like. You can see another set of fire escapes on the left.

I look forward to getting shots from the Bay Lake Towers viewing area once I get a chance to stay there! For fireworks though, they will line up even worse, as Gdad mentioned. (The larger fireworks are shot from a bunker completely outside the park.)

 

[Golf4food]

DW and I are planning to have a late dinner at Kona and then relax on the Poly beach and watch Wishes and possibly the EWP next week. What should I know about shooting Wishes from there?

Best place to setup?

Wide angle or telephoto?

Aim high or aim low?

Or if anyone has photos of Whishes from the Poly share them here for us all to enjoy.

 

[jcb]

I would go to sunset point. See map.

You'll want to have a modest telephoto with you. I had a 28-70 and it stayed on 70. I lost a few of the high shells at this length but it would have been fine if I had not wanted to also get the Seven Seas Lagoon in the shot.

Be prepared for high winds - as in blow your tripod over high.

 

[J3nn78]

All from lookout point at Poly with a D3 and 70-200. Some of these aren't really very good shots, but they will give you an idea of framing/castle size with each lens. Granted...full frame camera, so you will get a bit more reach with a crop body.

200mm:

135mm:

90mm:

70mm:

35mm: