Which rides should I practice on? Any other recs?

[nat8199]

I am getting one day alone in Disney (and one in Universal) in April. I am taking my camera in hopes of practicing as much as possible in preparation for our family trip in September. My pictures from our only other family trip were just depressing and why I got discouraged and stopped with my photography for a long time.

I am going to hit up HS, Epcot, and MK on my day. My main goal is to ride all the thrill rides I didn't get to do on our family trip because of my cranky 2yo twins, but I really want to practice my photography, too. I want to do anything that will help me get the best pictures with my kids the next trip.

Any advice on where I should go to practice my settings? I was thinking Buzz Lightyear, as that is my boys' favorite at MK. I remember trying to get a picture of one of them looking up at the buzz lightyear statue in the queue and utterly failing. I am going to look completely crazy going on rides just to take pictures of no one, but oh well, they are still fun!

I have 3 FP+ to pick in MK. One will be Space Mt because I really want to ride it. I was thinking maybe Haunted Mansion and Buzz for the other two?

I will be taking a Canon 28mm 2.8, my kit 17-55, and hopefully the Tokina 11-16 2.8 if I can earn enough Amazon GC by then. I also have a Macro, Cannon 60mm 2.8, but wasn't planning on taking it.

I would love any advice, recommendations, or tips you would all like to share.

(BTW... I am also going to HARRY POTTER WORLD!! I am a bit excited as I love the books. I know that it isn't Disney, but any tips for shooting around US, which I have never been to, would also be greatly appreciated.)

 

[elmoandzoey]

Just my two Cents here Buzz Lightyear was the first ride I used to shoot with a 50 1.8 - mainly because it had a 5 minute wait only It's also not one of the darker rides and the cars move slower than others. If you sit in it alone, it also won't spin if you don't spin it so you are able to control movement.

I am asuming you are using a crop sensor, right? Then the 60mm will be a very tight shot on rides. I found my 50mm to be too tight on pretty much all the rides. I think Buzz you can do with the 2.8 lens because it really isn't that dark in there because of all the neon lights. You'll probably also be able to do IASW and parts of Splash Mountain with that lens (at least I did at ISO 1600 with my 2.8 lens).

Again, I don't know what camera you are using but I think Haunted Mansion won't be doable with a 2.8 because it is incredibly dark in there. I got a f1.4 lens for my upcoming trip because getting shots with the f1.8 at ISO 1600 was more luck than anything in there. Even on Pirates the f1.8 at ISO 1600 was pushing it. You can always up the ISO but I doubt that even with ISO 6400 it will be usable on HM. You also have to think about noise. I've seen some photos for Peter Pan at ISO 12800 and f1.8 that were underexposed, just to give you an idea.

There used to be a thread in here about how to shoot dark rides but somehow it's gone. If you look through the board though you'll pretty much see that HM is one of the trickiest rides to shoot. Everyone recommends at least a f1.8 lens for that ride which was one of the reasons why I bought the 50mm to begin with. I've seen people go in with a f1.2 lens because it's so dark in there.

Oh, and enjoy Harry Potter world! Make sure to just tour Hogwarts if you want to take photos because you are not allowed to take any personal belongings on the ride - meaning you have to put them in lockers right at the entrance. Just ask a CM if you can't find the entrace to just the tour. BTW, it's also pretty dark in there (at least it was when I was there) and my 2.8 lens on ISO 1600 was not fast enough to get handheld shots. I had to get out the f1.8 lens to get decent shots in there and even then quite a lot were totally blurred because I had to really slow the shutter.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Since you didn't say which camera body you are using, I would be guessing as to the lenses to use (FF camera body has higher usable ISO than most APS-C bodies). Here goes, first of all the 2.8 lenses will not work well on the really dark rides, ie, HM and Peter Pan, etc. For those you will need a minimum1.8 and if you are using APS-C then something in the 30mm range. I have used a Sigma 30mm f1.4 with some success. While you have some of the correct focal lengths the f-stop and ISO will be your limiting factors. On some of the faster rides that are more well lit, there are at least two ways to get interesting images. One is to use a high shutter speed to get stop action (along with a smaller aperture like an f8-f11 for a longer DOF) and everything in focus. Another technique, since you are moving, is to use a slower shutter speed to simulate panning by focusing on something on the ride and everything outside the ride will be blurred. I have use this on Dumbo, Magic Carpets and BTMRR. Here is an example, on this one I used 1/45 sec. I would normally use slightly faster shutter speed.

IMGP3740 by Terry McGraw Photography, on Flickr

Here is an example of a faster shutter speed with everything in focus:

IMGP5657 by Terry McGraw Photography, on Flickr

If you get a faster lens then the dark rides will be an option. Again using my 30 f1.4 3200 ISO for Buzz

BL 9 by Terry McGraw Photography, on Flickr

Peter Pan ISO12800

PP Mermaid by Terry McGraw Photography, on Flickr

HM ISO 12800

HM3 by Terry McGraw Photography, on Flickr

Normally, I state that the photographer is the most important component in making a good image, however when it comes to the dark rides the equipment is just as important. If you click on the images it should take you to my Flickr page and you can look at the EXIF info to see how they were made. I would recommend you look at others the same way. It can help with your setting decisions.

 

[nat8199]

Thank you both so much!

I am sorry I forgot to mention my camera body, it is the Canon t3i. I also made a mistake when I typed in my lenses, the 28mm is a 1.8 lens. That is also what I tried to use last year, but failed completely even when in the queue trying to take a picture of my boy. I think that I probably had the settings completely wrong.

Thank you for the examples on shutter speed. Those are really helpful. The idea of panning with a slower shutter speed is very interesting. I think I had heard it mentioned on here before, but your example really helps me get the concept. That is something I am going to have to practice. My kids like to ride bikes and scooters a lot so I can hopefully use them as test subjects.

I have a lot to think about and practice!

 

[elmoandzoey]

In regards to Terry's Flying Carpets photo - the panning with the slower shutter worked in that instance because both the photographer and the subject where moving at the same speed in the same direction. If you stand still and your test subjects are moving, you will have to move the camera along with the subject at about the same speed if you are using a slower shutter speed. Otherwise both your subject and your background will be blurred. In rides you can just hold the camera still because the ride will move you and your camera at the same speed and in the same direction.

Not the best picture but serves as an example of what I mean.

The first two elephants are not blurred because they are moving at the same speed in the same direction as I was. The other two elephants are blurred because while they were moving at the same speed, they were not really moving in the same direction as I was (they were going up and down instead of just straight). This was done at 1.5 secs shutter speed btw so there is some shake on my end in the picture as well.

My brother owns a T3i (600D) and I have found that AF on his camera with the 50mm f1.8 is slower than on my cameras (40D and 60D). It also seems to focus not as good in really dark situations. Just to keep this in mind when looking at other people's pictures and their settings. Often you have less than a second to focus to get a shot right and if your camera can't focus fast enough, you have missed the point.