I'm getting ready to go on first adult-only Disney World vacations in a few weeks, so I've been looking through old photos and both appreciating the ones we have, but also wishing we had many, many more.
For my trip next month I am purchased somethng for the very first time called Disney Memory Maker. For $199 ($169 if you purchase it 4 days before your vacation begins) you get access to all digital shots taken by Disney PhotoPass photographers, plus all ride photos taken on Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Rock n Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and others.
It's a lot of money, but I'm looking foward to getting tons of photos, especially since we'll be attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party one evening and should get a lot of unique, holiday-themed photos there.
Since I have photos on the brain and want to avoid some of the mistakes I feel like we made over the years when our kids were young (for example, not getting Memory Maker), I thought I'd do some research on tips for getting better Disney photos.
Here are the ones I found that I thought were interesting and helpful:
1. Get shots of details in the park.
The typical thing everyone does (including me) is to get a broad shot. Here's the Cinderella Castle! Look how cool Space Mountain is from the monorail!
But one of the great things about Disney World is its intricate details. On our next trip, I'll make an effort to take close-up photos of things I see in the queues (which, for rides like Peter Pan, Expedition Everest, Avatar Flight of Passage, and Star Tours, are really great).
2. Show the Setting.
This is something I've been really bad about on our last trips. I might take photos of our food, and photos of us smiling in the restaurant booth, but I never think to take an outdoor photo of the restaurant, or the Adventureland sign. I need to do that more.
3. Keep the light behind you when you take a picture.
Yes, this is probably extrememly obvious to everybody reading this, but I only recently discovered this. I have some shots of me and my girls with Pooh and friends at Crystal Palace that are, sadly, just terrible photos because we're all standing in front of a huge window with the sun streaming through. Those photos would have been a lot better in we'd taken 30 seconds to rearrange ourselves before they were taken.
4. Take more than one or two shots.
Many years ago I was interviewed for a parenting article in a local magazine and they sent a photographer over to get a photo of me with my girls, who at the time were practically babies.
What struck me was how he would get us into a pose ("have her sit in your lap and read this picture book together") and then go click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click and take about 12-15 shots. Then he would us pose a different way and do the same thing again.
Of course, only one of those 60 or so shots was actually used for the article.
So take several shots (and/or have the PhotoPass photographers take several shots) and discard the crappy ones. Well, you don't have to delete them (although I delete terrible photos all the time), but at least don't have those be the ones you include in your scrapbook, framed photos on the mantel, or Facebook page.
I hope this article has been helpful and that we'll both get some better photos on our next Disney trip!
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