Day 6: Light {10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips}

Day 6 of 10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips is all about light. I love using light in my photos to add an extra flare (pun intended). My favorite time of day to take photos is sunset. There is nothing better than golden light!! Like the photo above. That beautiful Florida sun was starting to set. Shooting with the sun in the background of the photo brings out those beautiful sunset orange colors. Be careful to expose your image so your subject is not a silhouette if that is not what you are going for. Though that is another great way to use light! When using a camera phone or a point and shoot camera try adjusting where your image is focusing to expose for different areas of your photo. There should be a little box or an x that you can move around. Every camera is different so dig into your settings and see if your focus point is adjustable!

You can play around with different exposure levels, especially at sunset. The first photo the image is exposed for the subject making the background very bright. The second photo the image is exposed for the sky creating a silhouette. You can also go somewhere in between like these images!

Using the sun to add flare to the photo can be done in the middle of the day too. Shooting into the sun will create a flare on the image just adding a little more interest. Now, not every photo needs it and some people don't like sun flares. I just happen to love them. 

One last thing about light. Whenever possible, when you are taking photos of your fellow travelers put them in the shade. It sounds counter intuitive to avoid the sun but if they are in direct sunlight you will get a lot of harsh shadows. The even light from shade is what you want! You can also put the sun at their back if it is early in the day or late in the day and sneak a sun flare in there ;) 

This photo was taken very early in the morning (hence the faces) so there was beautiful even light. 

Tomorrow we are going to talk about the complete opposite subject - night photography! If you missed the earlier posts from this series follow the links below:

Day 1: Perspective

Day 2: Rule of Thirds

Day 3: Details

Day 4: Use Your Background

Day 5: Characters

Day 5: Characters {10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips}

It's Day 5 of 10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips. We are at the half-way point and today I will be talking about taking photos of characters. My biggest tip here is to interact with the characters and take candid photos. When you bring out the character in a character the photo is that much better! If you see Chip and Dale walking by the pool on your Disney Cruise ship, start taking photos. You might get to play a little peek-a-boo with them :) 

Another tip - if you get the chance to have a dance party with the Country Bears or Goofy, do it! Just make sure you hand the camera off to someone to capture that perfect Disney moment. 

Always be on the look out when you are walking around the parks. You never know who you will see and get a wave from. 

When you are dining with the characters don't just take the posed photo with each character. Take photos of your kids interacting with them. Those are the priceless moments you want to capture!  

That's it for today! Pretty easy right? Just always be ready to capture that priceless moment with a character. Tomorrow I will be talking about light! If you missed the other posts from this series follow the links below: 

Day 1: Perspective

Day 2: Rule of Thirds

Day 3: Details

Day 4: Use Your Background

Day 4: Use Your Background {10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips}

Day 4 of 10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips is one of my favorites. We are going to talk about using the background of your image to really take the photo to another level. When you are about to take a photo just look around and see if you can capture some of the environment around you in the background to really tell the story of the photo a little more. The Seas with Nemo & Friends sign alone is a great photo. At another angle you would get the seagulls in the photo. Get a little lower to the ground and change your angle a little and you have Spaceship Earth and the monorail track behind the sign. It helps show that this ride is in EPCOT. It helps tell a story (we are going to touch more on telling a story with your photos later in this series). Now, timing it so the monorail is actually in the photo is only what OCD people like me do (or very lucky people) but it is so fun when it happens! 

Let's use this photo of Musketeer Pluto as an example. The one on the left is a great photo of the statue. It doesn't really show you where you are though. I mean, it is unlikely that you found a statue of Musketeer Pluto in your neighborhood park but hey, maybe you have a super awesome park! Step to the left a little bit and change up your angle and you have Cinderella's Castle in the background. Now the viewer knows Musketeer Pluto is in the Magic Kingdom. Fun right? 

Here's another great example. If you stand right in front of Gaston's statue he will block the sign that says Gaston's Tavern. Step a little to the left and you can get the sign along with the statue. 

Let's stick with a Beauty and the Beast theme. At certain angles the wall would block Beast's castle when you take a photo of the Be Our Guest sign. It takes just a minute to look at what is behind the sign to see that you could have an awesome photo! 

I never get tired of photographing Cars Land. The detail is extraordinary. It's fun to watch the cars from Radiator Springs Racers speeding by and you might find some cool shots while you watch! This is one that takes some timing but getting the cars in the background of this image really adds just a little extra magic. Here are just a few more examples: 

Fun right? I am usually the crazy person holding up my Mickey cupcake in one hand with my camera or phone in the other trying to get the castle in the background :) It's totally worth it though! 

Join me tomorrow when I will be talking about taking photos of characters and if you missed any of the previous posts follow the links below. 

Day 1: Perspective

Day 2: Rule of Thirds

Day 3: Details

Day 3: Details {10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips}

It's Day 3 of the 10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips! Today let's talk about photographing those Disney details. If Disney is good at something it is paying attention to the details. You may get caught up in taking that perfect photo of Cinderella's Castle but slow down and just look closer at everything around you. The photo above is in the window at the Cafe Orleans at Disneyland. The perfect place to spot Tiana and Naveen - you just have to "dig a little deeper". 

The pavilions around EPCOT's World Showcase are full of so many beautiful details. Like this camel in Morocco. Grab a margarita from Mexico or a beer in Germany and just spend some time in each country photographing some details. 

Even your Disney resort is full of wonderful details to capture like the lamp from our room at Aulani and these lanterns at Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I often will wander around during our afternoon break and take photos of our resort. The attention to detail is one of the reasons we love staying at a Disney resort! 

Try zooming in or getting closer to your subject to capture more detail. Like the photo above of the Nemo's Reef on the Fantasy. Seeing the water up close like that really gives you the feeling of being in that splash play area! 

Another great example of getting closer. This photo is from the Ooh La La Lounge on the Fantasy. Below is a photo of the lounge. I love having both the details of the glass bubbles and the whole room. It really makes me want champagne! 

You know another place to get some great detail shots? When you are waiting in line! A great way to pass the time. 

Ok these last couple of photos are because Christmas time at the Disney parks is my favorite time of year to capture the details. I just couldn't do this post without some Christmas photos! 

You can easily apply the topics we discussed in the first two days in this series to photographing details. Change up your perspective and remember that rule of thirds! If you missed that last couple of posts you can find them below. Tomorrow I will be talking about paying attention to what is in the background of your photo! 

Day 1: Perspective

Day 2: Rule of Thirds

Day 2: Rule of Thirds {10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips}

Day 2 of the 10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tip is all about the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a pretty simple concept. The idea is to break the photo up in to thirds both across and from top to bottom. Do you see the grid on the first photo? It is more pleasing to the eye to have the subject at one of those cross points (I have used Mickey heads to mark the cross points because we all love Mickey!). Often when you are using a photo editing software, like Photoshop, when you crop the rule of thirds grid will appear to help you crop so the subject is meeting a cross point as much as possible. Now, this not a hard rule. Centering a subject is absolutely acceptable. In that case putting the eyes along that first line from the top is how you would still use the rule of thirds. Let's look at some examples! 

You can see with this one I did not get him perfectly lined up with a cross hair. That's ok! This is just a guideline and in no way a hard rule. 

This last example is another way of using the rule of thirds. The photo is literally divided into three sections. The sky, water and boat. If the sky took up more of the photo it would be less appealing. Too much negative space. Same with if there was less sky. Does that make sense? Again you can see that the horizon does not line up perfectly with that top line. When you are taking a photo there is no way of truly dividing a photo up into a perfect rule of thirds grid. Sometimes when cropping in editing you can adjust it some but just simply having the rule in the back of your mind you will notice that you compose your photos differently! 

Ok, that's it for today! This was a very quick rule of thirds tutorial. If you want to learn more just google the subject. You will find loads of websites that go into much more detail. Tomorrow I will be talking about photographing the details on your Disney vacation! 

Day 1: Perspective

Day 1: Perspective {10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips}

Welcome to 10 Days of Disney Vacation Photography Tips! For the next 10 days I will be posting a little photography tidbit every day. All of the tips will be useful whether you are using your phone camera or a DSLR. So let's begin Day 1!

Today's tip is all about perspective and angles. Try to look at things around you from different angles. When you are walking through the castle, look up! Get down closer to the ground when taking a photo. Maybe shoot through the trees or bushes to create some depth of field. Are you ever watching the fireworks or a Disney parade and think "I wish this crowd of people in front of me would move so I could get a clear shot!" Next time use the crowd. Put the castle in between the people in front of you and see what you get. There are many ways to change up the perspective. Next time you are in a Disney park, have fun thinking of new ways to look at some of those Disney icons! Here are some examples.

I took this photo of Madam Leota's grave through the iron fence. It creates a great frame inside the photo drawing your eye to the subject. 

Here is a great example of "looking up". I did not get the entire castle, but that's ok! It shows some great detailing. 

This is a photo of the chess set in the club lounge at the Grand Floridian. I took it down at the level of the table. 

One of my favorite places to photograph the Hollywood Tower of Terror Hotel in California Adventure is from Bug's Land. The clovers create such a great frame for the ride.

Here I took a photo of the pirate ships on Peter Pan's Flight. I actually had a lens on my camera that wasn't wide enough to capture the entire ship but that's ok! It made me look at things differently and I love the result!

Sometimes it's fun to look down too! Here is the Ariel statue on the Disney Wonder using the glass sculpture to fill in some negative space and help guide your eye to the subject. 

The last example was taken with my iPhone. This is one of my favorite angles of the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom! You can see the animals carved into the trunk.

Do you see how simply changing up where you take your photo from can really effect the perspective and feel of the photo? It can be a lot of fun! Come back tomorrow - I'll be getting a little more technical, talking a about how to compose your images using the rule of thirds (I promise it will still be fun!)