Christmas Castle lights

scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
lightboy said:
Multi-colors? Don't hold your breath.

Ha, figured it was a matter of time before pictures surfaced.
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That's not 'real' picture. Someone substituted a lit castle picture into a different shot, probably using Photoshop. The lines on either side of the castle, the straight line in the reflection on the pond, as well as cut off lighting and shadows make it obvious. The castle lit up, however, is definitely amazing looking.

I, however, plan on being there in a few weeks, with my D-SLR and a tripod...hopefully I'll be able to get some good pictures!

Kevin
 
Gorjus

Gorjus

Well-Known Member
Laura22 said:
Huh? Are you talking about the Photopass pictures? If so, I don't think any of the Photopass photographers know how to get a portrait of a family in front of a lit castle at night. I don't believe they even have the equipment to do it. That's more something that a professional photographer would need to do, and I don't think Disney employs hardly any of those.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. :shrug:
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JollyRoger said:
There is regularly a PhotoPass person with a mounted camera in front of the castle doing night shots, certainly they will be able to capture it with the lights also.
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Space Mountain said:
^Where? Are they still in the Hub too?
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mouselvrmom said:
We have a great night time picture in front of the castle as well that was taken by a Photopass photographer. I guess it just depends on who you get.
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Laura22 said:
Aha! Well I will retract my statement then. I've never seen anything except photopass photographers with handheld cameras around the castle at night using automatic settings.

if they have a permanent set-up in place designed especially for night shots, then I stand corrected! :wave:
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Well, by definition, we are all professional photographers in that we get paid to take photos. However, I do understand your point and there are some that are more proficient than others. The equipment is there, the people are there, but as mentioned it depends on who you get and if there is an equipment malfunction. 80% of the photos taken at night come out fabulous. At dark, EVERY photographer assigned to photograph families with the castle at night get a tripod. The camera is on night portrait setting. Most look wonderful. We do have some people who could use a little work, for sure, but most are wonderful. However, just to be safe, have 3 separate photographers take your photo from different angles. The best locations, in my opinion are the Rose Garden and The Crystal Palace. There you can get a photo without other people in it. The bridge between Main ST and the Hub is a great spot also. As for a list of where they all are: 5-10 will be on Main St.; 2 at the partner's statue; 1 to the left and 1 to the right of the castle hub (shooting the castle between trees; 1 on Fantasy bridge, 1 on Tomorrowland bridge, 1 on Liberty bridge; 1 at Crystal Palace; 1 at the Rose Garden; and often one at Castle backside.

Sometimes I marvel at the wonderous photos that get taken by photopass and other times I think, "were you paying attention during training?". AGain, MOST of the photos are great.

If you saw anyone with a handheld camera at night, chances are their job was not to photograph families with the castle. They may have been there to photograph other things and the castle was near by.
 
scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
Gorjus said:
Well, by definition, we are all professional photographers in that we get paid to take photos. However, I do understand your point and there are some that are more proficient than others. The equipment is there, the people are there, but as mentioned it depends on who you get and if there is an equipment malfunction. 80% of the photos taken at night come out fabulous. At dark, EVERY photographer assigned to photograph families with the castle at night get a tripod. The camera is on night portrait setting. Most look wonderful. We do have some people who could use a little work, for sure, but most are wonderful. However, just to be safe, have 3 separate photographers take your photo from different angles. The best locations, in my opinion are the Rose Garden and The Crystal Palace. There you can get a photo without other people in it. The bridge between Main ST and the Hub is a great spot also. As for a list of where they all are: 5-10 will be on Main St.; 2 at the partner's statue; 1 to the left and 1 to the right of the castle hub (shooting the castle between trees; 1 on Fantasy bridge, 1 on Tomorrowland bridge, 1 on Liberty bridge; 1 at Crystal Palace; 1 at the Rose Garden; and often one at Castle backside.

Sometimes I marvel at the wonderous photos that get taken by photopass and other times I think, "were you paying attention during training?". AGain, MOST of the photos are great.

If you saw anyone with a handheld camera at night, chances are their job was not to photograph families with the castle. They may have been there to photograph other things and the castle was near by.
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Those are great tips. My D80 has a night setting, and it takes the coolest pictures...hand held, on Halloween, I took some amazing images!

Now...I know the photopass photographers were (the one's that I spoke with) were using D70's...would they be willing to take pictures with my D80? I know they have in the past with my old point-and-shoot, but the D80 is such an amazing tool they may want to keep it!!(just kidding...). Seriously, will they take with a guests d-SLR, or is that too close to what they do?

Thanks!

Kevin
 
Gorjus

Gorjus

Well-Known Member
Photopass is always happy to use your camera no matter what kind it is. At night, keep in mind that ours is firmly on the tripod and yours will be balanced on it. As for me, it isn't the giant DSLR's I want to steal from the guests. I have my own and I have the hundreds from work. I want the cool pocket digital point and shoot so I can get cool shots while at work (like Belle dancing with Prince Charming while Cinderella looks on peeved; or Pluto and Aurora dancing together; or Snow White doing a cart wheel; or a photo of 200 camera screens as guests have their cameras pointed at the fireworks) and keep the camera in my pants pocket.
 
WDWFigment

WDWFigment

Well-Known Member
Gorjus said:
Well, by definition, we are all professional photographers in that we get paid to take photos. However, I do understand your point and there are some that are more proficient than others. The equipment is there, the people are there, but as mentioned it depends on who you get and if there is an equipment malfunction. 80% of the photos taken at night come out fabulous. At dark, EVERY photographer assigned to photograph families with the castle at night get a tripod. The camera is on night portrait setting. Most look wonderful. We do have some people who could use a little work, for sure, but most are wonderful. However, just to be safe, have 3 separate photographers take your photo from different angles. The best locations, in my opinion are the Rose Garden and The Crystal Palace. There you can get a photo without other people in it. The bridge between Main ST and the Hub is a great spot also. As for a list of where they all are: 5-10 will be on Main St.; 2 at the partner's statue; 1 to the left and 1 to the right of the castle hub (shooting the castle between trees; 1 on Fantasy bridge, 1 on Tomorrowland bridge, 1 on Liberty bridge; 1 at Crystal Palace; 1 at the Rose Garden; and often one at Castle backside.

Sometimes I marvel at the wonderous photos that get taken by photopass and other times I think, "were you paying attention during training?". AGain, MOST of the photos are great.

If you saw anyone with a handheld camera at night, chances are their job was not to photograph families with the castle. They may have been there to photograph other things and the castle was near by.
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Although being a Photopass photographer yourself, you have a little better insight into this, but I will echo some of these sentiments.

On our last trip, we had about 50 pictures taken by Photopass photographers. Every time, except for a few at Typhoon Lagoon, we also had the Photopass photographer take a picture(s) with our camera(s). Sometimes, these pictures turned out well (I'd say 50% of the time). Other times they were composed terribly. At first I thought this might be because they were taken outdoors and it was hard to see the LCD screen (although both our cameras have optical viewfinders so that shouldn't be an excuse) but we had the same problem with pictures taken indoors.

I started to think that maybe they were just poor photographers who somehow got the job, but when I saw the Photopass pictures when I got home, I noticed they were all fairly good (we didn't get any night pictures taken by them, so I can't comment on those). So I started to suspect either foul play in that they wanted us to buy the Photopass pictures so they took ours poorly, or that they just wanted to get it done quickly, so they didn't put much effort into it (I think this is more likely). I know some may say that they didn't have experience with our cameras, so it might be hard to get good pictures, but honestly, these are point-and-shoot digital cameras, I had already properly zoomed, all they had to do was get everything properly in frame, and click the shutter button.

Now don't get me wrong, we had some Photopass photographers who did a great job--there was a man in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon who did an extraordinary job and was very energetic. And I'm very grateful that they are willing to take pictures with our camera when I'd otherwise have to ask a random guest or set up my tripod. I know most put a lot of effort into it (your pictures all look gorgeous, gorjus). You guys do a wonderful job most of the time!
 
VulliamyWDW

VulliamyWDW

New Member
Castle.jpg

Reworked it a bit, not exact but it looks good.
 
spectropluto

spectropluto

Active Member
I know I'm REALLY late coming into this thread (8 pages!?)... the following statement is said with a sigh of disappointment...

"So much for the element of surprise."

:shrug:
 
ISTCrew20

ISTCrew20

Well-Known Member
Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Fairy Godmother will take to the castle stage every night at 5:45pm for Cinderella's Holiday Wish (AKA Castle Dream Lights).
 
scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
VulliamyWDW said:
Castle.jpg

Reworked it a bit, not exact but it looks good.
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Yup...looks better!

I didn't even notice the pictures earlier in the thread were the castle image above...if I'd have paid better attention, I wouldn't have mentioned it was photoshopped, since everyone pretty much knows it...sorry about that! That's what happens when you read threads before the morning coffee!

Kevin
 
scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
Gorjus said:
Photopass is always happy to use your camera no matter what kind it is. At night, keep in mind that ours is firmly on the tripod and yours will be balanced on it. As for me, it isn't the giant DSLR's I want to steal from the guests. I have my own and I have the hundreds from work. I want the cool pocket digital point and shoot so I can get cool shots while at work (like Belle dancing with Prince Charming while Cinderella looks on peeved; or Pluto and Aurora dancing together; or Snow White doing a cart wheel; or a photo of 200 camera screens as guests have their cameras pointed at the fireworks) and keep the camera in my pants pocket.
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I wasn't really thinking they'd steal it...more of a joke than anything (fell flat on it's face, didn't it...). As for the small, cool camera, I'm looking for one of those, too...same basic reasons (don't always want/have the big d-SLR and smaller is just easier to carry). Hope you find something like that...I bet you could get some awesome pictures!

Kevin
 
DisneyYorkian74

DisneyYorkian74

Active Member
Brian_WDW74 said:
Screamscape posted this picture today:

db_2007_1108_IceCastle11.jpg
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I have to admit that I was underwhelmed when I saw the first picture of the castle in this thread that showed the lights only in their "testing" phase.

But this picture makes up for it.

The lights look amazing and they're everything I thought they'd look like in reality judging from what I first saw on Disneyworld.com back in September.

I'm sure they look even better in person and I can't wait to see them myself in November or December.
 
Gorjus

Gorjus

Well-Known Member
WDWFigment said:
RE: Photopass using your camera: Sometimes, these pictures turned out well (I'd say 50% of the time). Other times they were composed terribly. At first I thought this might be because they were taken outdoors and it was hard to see the LCD screen (although both our cameras have optical viewfinders so that shouldn't be an excuse) but we had the same problem with pictures taken indoors.

I started to think that maybe they were just poor photographers who somehow got the job, but when I saw the Photopass pictures when I got home, I noticed they were all fairly good (we didn't get any night pictures taken by them, so I can't comment on those). So I started to suspect either foul play in that they wanted us to buy the Photopass pictures so they took ours poorly, or that they just wanted to get it done quickly, so they didn't put much effort into it (I think this is more likely). I know some may say that they didn't have experience with our cameras, so it might be hard to get good pictures, but honestly, these are point-and-shoot digital cameras, I had already properly zoomed, all they had to do was get everything properly in frame, and click the shutter button.
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I feel your pain. The funny thing is, the "simpler" the camera, the harder it is to use. And the fancy looking cameras are actually simple to use. If you hand me a point and shoot disposable camera, chances are your photos are going to suck on your camera and look good on mine; same with a point and shoot non-disposable film camera. The reason is: what you see in the view finder is not what the lens is taking. The view finder is in a different location than the lens. Whereas what I see in a digital SLR through the viewfinder is exactly what the lens will be taking.

Also, at night the subjects aren't well illuminated in the LCD screen enough to compose well. And since most people use the LCD screen, we don't usually bother with viewfinders on personal cameras. In the day, it is hard to see the LCD screen.

However, indoors, with characters, for example, there is no reason at all to have a bad guest photo in terms of composure. You might not capture the exact second as you would with a DSLR camera, but you should have the people centered correctly.

You say you zoomed correctly, and that may be true, but 90% of guests couldn't compose a photo to save their life, so we assume you suck at photography and will re-compose your photo for you.

There is no plot, department wide, to take sucky photos with guest's cameras. That may be in an individual's mind, but is not a mind set as a group.

So to recap, the simplest camera to use is an SLR. The hardest to use is a disposable.

spectropluto said:
I know I'm REALLY late coming into this thread (8 pages!?)... the following statement is said with a sigh of disappointment...

"So much for the element of surprise."

:shrug:
Click to expand...

Well, sure, if you are planning on coming to the WDW resort before Christmas, we may have ruined it for you. But there are thousands who will not be able to see the Castle in person. This thread is really for them.

scpergj said:
I wasn't really thinking they'd steal it...more of a joke than anything (fell flat on it's face, didn't it...). As for the small, cool camera, I'm looking for one of those, too...same basic reasons (don't always want/have the big d-SLR and smaller is just easier to carry). Hope you find something like that...I bet you could get some awesome pictures!

Kevin
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No, I was kidding as well. My joke fell flat, yours was great. I've got my camera choices narrowed down to 2. Now I just have to save. Then the choices will change once I've saved the money:brick:


By the way, last night most of the cast saw the Castle lit up for the first time. Can I just say: "like a bunch of little kids". OOOOHHHHH, AAAAHHH. The parade was great as well. I've never seen any other MK Christmas parade so I have no reference. I enjoyed it.
 

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