Show Me: Low Light Shows & Rides

[Gdad]

No flash pictures please- Just looking for some pictures taken in low light situations at Disney Shows and/or on Rides. Please be sure to explain the shot- Camera, Lens, Settinge, Etc.

 

[Gdad]

Here are a few of mine from the Festival of the Lion King show. I thought this was a pretty frustrating show to shoot- between the lighting and the action. All taken with Nikon D70s and 105 f2.8vr lens. ISO 1600.

 

[YEKCIM]

Fujifilm S5200/ISO 800/Aperture: f3.5/ Shutter speed: 1/25 sec

Fujifilm S5200/ISO 800/Aperture: f3.2/ Shutter speed: 1/18 sec

~YEKCIM

 

[cpbjgc]

These were all taken with my Canon Powershot S1 IS (the mighty 3.2 mp). These were all done using the automatic setting (I'm using AV now with my new Rebel XTi, mostly, honest!) so I am guessing they would all be at the maximum ISO setting for the camera, being 400.

First, shot from the nosebleed section of the theater on our Cruise in January of Hercules, the Muse-ical with settings:Focal length: 34.7mm (35mm equivalent: 237mm) Exposure time: 0.040 s (1/25) Aperture: f/3.2

From Fantasmic in January 2006 with settings: Focal length: 11.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm) Exposure time: 0.125 s (1/8) Aperture: f/3.1

And another :Focal length: 11.0mm (35mm equivalent: 103mm) Exposure time: 0.125 s (1/8) Aperture: f/3.1

One from Playhouse Disney (Even puppets have their eyes closed in my pictures ) with settings: Focal length: 20.0mm (35mm equivalent: 136mm) Exposure time: 0.017 s (1/60) Aperture: f/3.1

And finally, one from Turtle Talk with Crush with settings:Focal length: 14.2mm (35mm equivalent: 97mm) Exposure time: 0.125 s (1/8) Aperture: f/3.1

 

[midge3426]

This was taken with my antique Pentax K1000 a few years ago.

 

[handicap18]

Nice job with the FotLK show Jeff.

Here are some for those who haven't seen them yet:

All with my Nikon D50 and 50mm f/1.8 lens
Great Movie Ride:
ISO 1600 1/30th f/1.8

ISO 1600 1/100th f/1.8

IASM
ISO 1600 1/160th f/1.8

 

[Disneyfreak92]

Here's a few of my faves from Festival of the Lion King from my last trip. I have found this to be a very challenging show to photograph too! However, next time we go (in May), I will have a new toy that will hopefully make it a little bit easier - the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens. I can't wait! But for now, these were taken at ISO 1600 with my 30D & 28-135mm IS lens...

 

[MarkBarbieri]

All the shots below were taken with my Canon 1D Mark II. The focal lengths listed are actual (before taking into account the camera's 1.3x crop factor).

Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingom)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/200, 200mm, handheld

Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingom)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/250, 185mm, handheld

Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingom)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/50, 140mm, handheld

Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingom)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/320, 115mm, handheld

Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingom)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/400, 70mm, handheld

Tower of Terror (MGM)
Canon 24-70mm
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/4 seconds, 63mm, handheld

Voyage of the Little Mermaid (MGM)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/60, 200mm, handheld

Fantasmic (MGM)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/200, 200mm, handheld

Fantasmic (MGM)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/20, 175mm, handheld

Fantasmic (MGM)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/500, 200mm, handheld

American Experience (Epcot)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/30, 70mm, handheld

Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
Canon 24-70mm
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 20 seconds, 24mm, handheld

Hall of Presidents (Magic Kingdom)
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/20, 200mm, handheld

 

[AndrewWG]

*veering slightly off topic*

How do you all know the exact settings for each photo? Is there a way to tell what the settings were at the time? I assume that you aren't all writing all of this down as you shoot away. I may be wrong there.

*veering back on topic*

 

[boBQuincy]

70-200, 1/45 @ f/4, ISO 1600, exp -.5, monopod

24-105, 1/15 @ f/4, ISO 1600, exp -1.5

and of course, the classic...
24-105, 1/15 @ f/4, ISO 3200, exp -1

 

[MarkBarbieri]

How do you all know the exact settings for each photo? Is there a way to tell what the settings were at the time? I assume that you aren't all writing all of this down as you shoot away. I may be wrong there.

Of course we don't write it down. A good photographer remembers the settings for every shot that they take.

Actually, the just about every digital camera saves information about each shot inside of the picture file. It's called EXIF information. It includes things like the camera used, the date & time the picture was taken, the focal length, shutter speed, and aperture.

There is a lot of software that displays EXIF information. In fact, good browsers show some EXIF information whenever your right click on an image. Even crummy browsers support plug-ins that do the same thing. With that, you rarely have to ask someone how they shot a picture, you can just peak at their EXIF information.

 

[AndrewWG]

A good photographer remembers the settings for every shot that they take.

Well, yeah, of course I remember every shot, but I just thought that everyone else... ah forget it.

On a serious note, I thought there must be something like this available. Thanks for that info Mark. I will check out my different browsers to see if that info is available to me here. If not, I will get it!

Thanks again.

Andy

Ok, I checked it out and am editing this post. Seems as though Firefox (which I don't use that often) has a decent EXIF viewer. That information is great for me to learn by.

 

[shawn68]

This one is one of my favorites, just surprised it came out this good without a flash.

 

[klmall]

One of my very favorites:

Spaceship Earth

(old) Rio del Tiempo - Mexico Ride

All taken in ignorance in Auto Mode with my Canon PowerShot G5 before I started experimenting with the manual settings.

And you can view EXIF data in Photobucket too.

 

[ColleenS]

This thread is a great idea. Seeing other people's photos with the settings used can be so helpful.
Everyone's images are great! Low light photography can be really challenging.



F/3.1, SS 1/25, ISO 800
handheld, 28 mm

f/3.5, SS 1/25 ISO 1600
Handheld, 28mm

same settings as above

f/4.5 1/8 ISO 1600 Shutter Priority
handheld against my *ahem* chest

f/3.5 1/25 ISO 1600 Shutter Priority
handheld, 28 mm

I just wanted to say to anyone who sees these photos and thinks that they can't do it. For every good photo I have I have ten more of the same event that didn't turn out so well. Low light is hard!
Example!

 

[handicap18]

Well, yeah, of course I remember every shot, but I just thought that everyone else... ah forget it.

On a serious note, I thought there must be something like this available. Thanks for that info Mark. I will check out my different browsers to see if that info is available to me here. If not, I will get it!

Thanks again.

Andy

Ok, I checked it out and am editing this post. Seems as though Firefox (which I don't use that often) has a decent EXIF viewer. That information is great for me to learn by.

I agree completely that using that info is great to learn by. It is a HUGE help.

I use viewEXIF, which is a small file you can download for free for Windows and install, then anytime you right click on a picture it gives you the exif info. Keep in mind that not all pictures will have exif info. There are some hosts that don't forward the info and some people for one reason or another will block the info when they download to their host site. I've also noticed that anyone who uses a Nikon D50 that the ISO is never listed. Must be some sort of firmware thing I guess.

 

[cpbjgc]

I just wanted to say to anyone who sees these photos and thinks that they can't do it. For every good photo I have I have ten more of the same event that didn't turn out so well. Low light is hard!
....

Wow, you have a better ratio thant I

I agree that low light can be really tough. That is the beauty of digital, of course, that you get the immediate feedback from your shot to, hopefully, make the next one better.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

So what are your tips for shooting in low light. Here are some of mine:

1) Shoot at a high ISO, but not beyond what your camera can do reasonably well.

2) Shoot at a wide aperture (low f-stop number).

3) Avoid motion. While it would be great to get a sharp shot of a tumbling monkey flipping wildly through the air, you'll have a much better chance of getting a reasonably sharp picture if you wait until he stops for a moment.

4) Get close. It's easier to get a good shot with a wider lens up close than a long lens far back.

5) Shoot a lot. Most low light shots turn out to be trash. Improve your odds by taking lots of shots. Just make sure to delete the bad ones.

6) Get good noise reduction software. That allows you to shoot at a higher ISO and still get an acceptable shot.

7) Display small. Low light shots are generally filled with imperfections (noise, blur, etc.). If you print or display the photos at a small size, they imperfections aren't as noticeable.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I have a bunch from DCL do those counts?
These are with a Kodak Z760 Point and Shoot, tripod, sport mode (f3.4, ISO 200, 39mm, 1/30), this seemed to work best with the fast actions and low lighting. I tried night mode, low light, etc but they all came out way over exposed.

Here you go...

 

[extreme8]

Sci-fi
iso 400,18mm focal length, f8 for 3.2 seconds handheld (kidding, kidding) I used a tabletop tripod. exif shows -.7 EC.
NONE of these settings makes any sense to me for this shot. Why did I shoot it at iso 400 when that camera had a perfectly usable 800 or even 1600 setting. f8? what was I thinking?, and a -.7 EC in a dark spot like that?
Insanity.
I don't make those mistakes in the Magic Kingdom. Of course MK doesn't serve alcohol.
Coincidence?

Much more sensible Exif.
iso 400, f 4.5, 1/15 second, really hand held this time.