Stop using flash!

[JessRose]

For those that say there are a million pictures online of "such and such", please remember that those photos are the property of the photographer. If you download or copy them without permission you are essentially stealing, which to me is worse than shooting off your flash in a ride (but not by much).

1 million times this! There are lots of reasons people might want their own pictures of things, not limited to blogging, writing trip reports, dining reviews, etc. right here on the DIS.

 

[CrimsonCurls]

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll own up to being 'that guy' just once or twice... the auto-focus illuminator light. I have it turned of 95% of the time but when I switch between RAW and JPEG or maybe between profiles, something in the menu flips it back. It's like a square orange spotlight, not terribly bright but on a dark ride...

So... if anyone's been hit by a weird orange light on a dark ride, on the off chance it was me, I'm so sorry.

I'm pretty sure that the only way to 100% turn off your autofocus light is to turn the autofocus function off on the lens of most cameras. But I've never seen an autofocus light that was bright enough to disturb anyone, and I used to do a lot of theatre photography. Where I told more than one person to turn off their flash for the safety of the performers *shakes head*

 

[ucfknight]

I'm pretty sure that the only way to 100% turn off your autofocus light is to turn the autofocus function off on the lens of most cameras.

Every Canon I've used recently has a menu item to disable the AF Assist Beam.

 

[Schmoove]

It's against the rules for people to use flash photography during dark rides, which is what the OP was complaining about. It is a distraction to other guests who are trying to enjoy the ride. Also, holding your camera, phone or iPad above your head during fireworks blocks the view of those behind you. If you get your jollies from constantly using a gadget, that's one thing, but interfering with other people's enjoyment is another.

My post mentioned nothing about using flash.

 

[fbarker]

Yes, that was my experience as well. We had a boat full of people who all knew each other beside us. The people in the front kept turning around and taking pictures of the people behind them who were, unfortunately, in front of us. Nothing like flash photography in your face while trying to enjoy a ride. After getting annoyed, I started photobombing, making faces, doing claws , bunny ears, pretending to shove my finger up my nose, picking my teeth with exaggerated facial expressions, etc. I couldn't wait for them to check out the pictures later. My son was mortified.

If i was your son i would be mortified also. One stupid act does not justify another. A simple "stop taking flash pics" would be sufficient. Lets all be adults here!!

 

[CrimsonCurls]

Every Canon I've used recently has a menu item to disable the AF Assist Beam.

Ah...Nikon may have a different set up in most of their entry-level cameras then. I almost never use autofocus anyway...

 

[mom2rtk]

Ah...Nikon may have a different set up in most of their entry-level cameras then. I almost never use autofocus anyway...

Did into the menu options. I'm a Canon shooter, but I bet Nikon has the same.

 

[DWillowBay]

Yes, that was my experience as well. We had a boat full of people who all knew each other beside us. The people in the front kept turning around and taking pictures of the people behind them who were, unfortunately, in front of us. Nothing like flash photography in your face while trying to enjoy a ride. After getting annoyed, I started photobombing, making faces, doing claws , bunny ears, pretending to shove my finger up my nose, picking my teeth with exaggerated facial expressions, etc. I couldn't wait for them to check out the pictures later. My son was mortified.

NICE!!! Good work! Sorry I missed that!

 

[Victoria3]

You'd be very surprised at how many people don't know how to turn the flash off..

 

[cobright]

Every Canon I've used recently has a menu item to disable the AF Assist Beam.

It does, and I use it but either between modes or profiles it flips back. It's the one thing pushing me towards installing magic lantern.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We just finished up a trip to WDW this last week. I saw little to no flash photography thankfully.

 

[kbmartin]

Last time we were on Spaceship Earth (one of my faves!), a mother and child were behind us, and they took flash photos of every. single. scene. Sometimes, multiple photos... It really took away from the experience. We were not happy. We made some comments, but they chose to ignore us or did not understand English.

 

[cobright]

Yes, that was my experience as well. We had a boat full of people who all knew each other beside us. The people in the front kept turning around and taking pictures of the people behind them who were, unfortunately, in front of us. Nothing like flash photography in your face while trying to enjoy a ride. After getting annoyed, I started photobombing, making faces, doing claws , bunny ears, pretending to shove my finger up my nose, picking my teeth with exaggerated facial expressions, etc. I couldn't wait for them to check out the pictures later. My son was mortified.

Someone has come up with a gizmo, it's a stand alone flash with a stencil over the end. It's triggered by the flash of another camera by a slave circuit. So when people take a picture of something this gizmo goes off and paints the target with a picture for just that 1/1000 of a second. You can't see it with the naked eye really but the pictures will all come up with your picture on them.

 

[DisneyFive]

I admit, on our first trip to WDW I'm sure I used flash at some point on a dark ride. Most likely, more than once. Wasn't intentional, and I didn't realize I was causing a problem. (Sorry to those that I bothered back then.) Now I know better, and will speak up if anyone is using a flash for photos or videos. First time, I don't say anything. Second, I do. "No flash photography please"

I'm also guilty of holding my son or daughter(s) on my shoulders that first trip. Fortunately it was for the afternoon show in front of the castle where the crowd wasn't thick, so people could easily just take a step over if needed to see clearly.

Oh, and we probably stopped dead in our tracks in the middle of the walkway while looking at a park map too.

Our first trip was still the best and most magical. We were in a constant state of amazement and oblivious to some of the negative impact we had to others. Not intentional by any means though. I'm guessing there are a LOT of first time visitors just like that.

Dan

 

[ucfknight]

I admit, on our first trip to WDW I'm sure I used flash at some point on a dark ride. Most likely, more than once. Wasn't intentional, and I didn't realize I was causing a problem. (Sorry to those that I bothered back then.) Now I know better, and will speak up if anyone is using a flash for photos or videos. First time, I don't say anything. Second, I do. "No flash photography please"

I'm also guilty of holding my son or daughter(s) on my shoulders that first trip. Fortunately it was for the afternoon show in front of the castle where the crowd wasn't thick, so people could easily just take a step over if needed to see clearly.

Oh, and we probably stopped dead in our tracks in the middle of the walkway while looking at a park map too.

Our first trip was still the best and most magical. We were in a constant state of amazement and oblivious to some of the negative impact we had to others. Not intentional by any means though. I'm guessing there are a LOT of first time visitors just like that.

Dan

There should be a mandatory 2 hour orientation session for WDW n00bs.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

EXACTLY. In the ancient days of film cameras every point and shoot with a flash had a switch to turn off the flash and you'd still see people using flash in dark rides, perhaps fewer because the technological learning curve was less. But also every cameraphone has a very visible Flash on/off/auto button in the application, so....there's no excuse to use flash more than once on accident.

Actually, back in the ancient days of film, flashes on rides weren't really a problem. Back then, WDW actually did several things to mitigate the problem.

First, many attractions had far more actual live CM's that actually and IMMEDIATELY reminded guests of the rules if they did something inappropriate. I distinctly recall CM's in most theaters actually telling guests to move tot he end of each row. If any tried to say - sit in the middle of a row- the CM immediately talked to the guest.

Living with the Land used to have live cast members on every boat with a microphone. As SOON as someone misbehaved, the CM would say something to that guest.

Second, because film was expensive, folks didn't want to waste it. Part of the problem is that digital images are effectively FREE and UNLIMITED. Film also has technical limitations that make it hard to take good photos on dark rides, like long exposure times (=no moving the camera). In practice, most people just figured images taken in low light = a waste of film.

Third, back in very ancient times, Disney used to sell postcards and slides by the exit of many dark rides! Yes, strips of slides! If WDW gave every guest a free digital copy of their ride experience, then they COULD actually come close to eliminating this.

I've been to a number of live shows that use this exact strategy very successfully!

 

[disneyvoice]

Drives me bonkers too! On our last trip someone was OUT OF CONTROL with the flash on Spaceship Earth. I have NEVER seen anything like it before. Every 5 seconds they took a flash picture of something. I am very laid back about things at WDW but this ANNOYED me. Spaceship Earth is a long ride so the constant flash made it impossible to enjoy the ride. About half way through the ride it stopped and the lights came on, and two or three CMs walked past us up toward where the "flash offenders" were. We couldn't see what was going on but we assumed they said something to whoever was taking the pictures. It stopped for a brief time after the ride started up again but then they started snapping away with the flash again. I imagine numerous people complained because when we got to the end of the ride the CM there was telling everyone they could stay on and ride again if they would like.

 

[LoopyDoopy]

Maybe I'll pack a super bright flashlight and point the beam directly into the eyes of serial flash offenders. Do you think they'd get the message?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I find this funny. Not once, when taking photos of fireworks, have I had issues with blocking people's views.

The last time our family saw Wishes in the WDW hub, THIS was a HUGE problem! Simply put, our view of Wishes was completely obstructed by screens, and that is the problem.

I return to my example of live theater performances. Sometimes the audience is permitted to take footage from the BACK row. That CAN sometimes be less of a problem.

EXCEPT many performers HATE for any images to be taken, because too many folks post those images online, and their artistry is copied. As in, something they worked very hard to create gets totally ripped-off.

 

[jpeterson]

I've been to a number of live shows that use this exact strategy very successfully!

At my children's dance recital they tried this. They informed everybody that the event was being recorded by a professional and a free download would be provided so parents did not need to video their children. Yet still, iPads and phones were prominent.