One of the highlights of my visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, California last year was attending the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show. A few years ago, the audio-animatronic figure of the 16th President of the United States went through a re-imagineering. In a word, it was impressive. The show borrows elements from Walt Disney World attractions: the Magic Kingdom’s Hall of Presidents and Epcot’s American Adventure. The Lincoln audio-animatronic moves smoothly and the facial expressions are life like.

The lighting is very moody with bright highlights and deep shadows. Like when photographing any Disney show, use spot metering on the brightest portion of the actor or, in this case, the audio-animatronic. You want to wait for the figure to stop so as to get the sharpest image possible. Even at 1/200th of a second, the image below would have been blurred if the arm or head was moving. I did open up the shadows under the eyes.

Close up of the audio-animatronic in Great Moments with Mr. Linoln in Disneyland.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/200s, f/5.6, ISO 6400, EV 0, 190mm focal length.

Once you have your exposure locked in, you can zoom in and out and compose your photos many ways. The stage lighting will fall where it will which is how you see it in the theater.

Full length view of the audio-animatronic in Great Moments with Mr. Linoln in Disneyland.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/200s, f/5, ISO 6400, EV 0, 70mm focal length.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is an uplifting show about a dark time in the history of the United States of America.