In keeping with our Disney Pic of the Week theme, Spaceship Earth, I’m continuing the subject with tips on photographing the sphere from a moving monorail.
First, board the monorail heading to Epcot at the Ticket and Transportation Center. If you board the monorail to Magic Kingdom, well…that’s the wrong line, Charlie. Second, sit facing forward and on the right hand side beside the window. (I’m pretty sure it’s the right side.) Next, get your camera ready for some action. You’re in motion so you’ll need a fast shutter speed and depending on the lighting, a higher than normal ISO. My recommendations are 1/500 and an ISO of 400 on sunny days. Gray skies? ISO 640 or even 800 and 1/250 or faster.
Put the camera lens right up to the window to cut down on reflections. It’s not fool proof because light bends.
While Spaceship Earth itself looks the same from every angle, the lighting can change drastically. Check this out. As we neared my subject, I could tell I had a great chance of intentionally shooting with lens flare. I did it! But, I also got some extra stuff in my shot like window and lighting reflections as well as a mysterious person.
Dagnamit.
As we rounded the track, I was in a position to get a different type of lighting with highlights and shadows in all the right places. My only problem? The rubber edge of the window.
So close. Wait, there’s s simple fix, cropping.
I even bumped up the contrast a little and gave even more depth to the image.
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That is a gorgeous picture, perfectly framed (er, cropped), nice interesting trees, full globe, no distractions just the globe. Well done!
Lisa responds: Thanks.
So, the next trick is if you can take a picture of Spaceship Earth moving while you are standing still?
I’m the bare bones / point and shoot type when I take pictures but I do like the tips you and Scott provide.
I’ve noticed that Scott captions his photos with the camera settings but you do not. You asked the AllEars community a while back for suggestions and that would be good to add for the more experienced photographers unlike myself.
Lisa responds: I do provide the information, sometimes. It all goes back to my training in photography school.