Am I correct that Fantasmic! at MGM is basically all seated? DL's Fantasmic! has <ahem> "no" seating*, and they have the people closest to the River sit on the ground, but then there is the standing area. Of course, I would stand right at the start of the standing area and use a monopod, but I'm wondering if a monopod is really needed for Fantasmic! at MGM. * = last time I checked you can purchase a special dessert buffet that has seating but if you want pics, you need a super telephoto from the Disney apartment balcony, or the seating is not in a prime location for pictures. (i.e. not center stage)
You are correct...Fantasmic! at MGM is all seated. However, be sure to check which way the wind is blowing as the first ~10 rows can get wet if the wind is blowing hard enough. Trust me, it's not fun being down wind at Fantasmic! on a cold day. Just ask Tim and MickeyWill!!! Here are some pics.....
you are still going to have some fairly low shutter speeds due to the light levels, even at high iso's. i have used a monopod (while seated, not fully extended) and it helped a bit. do whatever you feel comfortable with.
It all depends on what part of the show you are shooting, a few years back I got some shots with my 100mm 2.8 macro, I shot manual, set around 1/200 sec, f2.8 , ISO 1600, I got many blown out pics. Dec 2005 I used my 300mm f4 @ fantasmic set around 1/320-1/400 sec F4 and got some amazing shots, yes I had a big ol 300mm IS lens, it did help. But I could have shot with my 70-200 f4 @ shutter speed of 1/200 and gotten good shots. There seems to be some very well lit scenes and a few dark scenes, it would be nice to see this show twice on a trip to get a feel for the lighting. As for the seating there, last week we showed up about 15 minutes before show time and the only seats left were at the far left, needless to say i was not happy and had a bad angle, so I keep my camera packed up for that one. :-\
Thanks y'all. I'm going to have to dwell on it. Maybe sit and work with the tripod folded up as a monopod.
