Well, a completely unplanned evening turns into some of the better Illuminations shots I've gotten so far!
Arriving at Boardwalk and checking into my room at 4pm Friday, I unpacked, enjoyed some walking around on the Boardwalk and snapping some pics, then decided to go renew my annual pass at the Epcot World Showcase gate just around the corner. Once the pass was renewed, it was just too tempting to not walk into Epcot even though my plans did not include it for the night.
As it was nearing dinner, we decided to see if we could get into anything in Epcot on 'zero' notice. After a little thinking...we figured Morocco was the best chance (it's virtually never sold out despite being very good food). Sure enough, we got right in with no wait. After enjoying the beautiful belly dancer, and walking back out into the humid post-dusk night, I realized we were just minutes from Illuminations. Should I stay and watch again, or not?
I walked back to France, but just before crossing the bridge to the UK, I decided to stop along an unoccupied section of lakeside wall, and watch the show. It wasn't the best location, because it was partially blocked by one of the tree islands...but I've seen it a million times and didn't mind if I missed some of the globe and fountain bits.
Of course, without tripod, pictures seemed futile. But the wall had a decently flat top right near eye level...so I decided to steady the camera on the wall, and breathe out every time I was ready to snap a shot. I fluctuated between 3 and 5 seconds...and gave it a go.
The beginning of the show, with the globe and fountains:
A zoom on the fountains:
Then the fireworks begin!:
Then everything goes nuts:
Pop pop pop pop pop!:
Big finale...everything going full bore:
I started working my way across the UK bridge just at the finale, while the last bit of music lulls, then crescendoes again. That put me on the Epcot Resort-area walkway right as it ended - first through the turnstyles out, and back to Boardwalk in just a few minutes' walk.
And all for a night that I wasn't really planning on heading into any parks or taking any pictures. I was pretty happy with the fireworks shots I managed to come away with, especially considering the unplanned location and the lack of a tripod. But Disney makes the show grand enough that it's hard to blow it!
Arriving at Boardwalk and checking into my room at 4pm Friday, I unpacked, enjoyed some walking around on the Boardwalk and snapping some pics, then decided to go renew my annual pass at the Epcot World Showcase gate just around the corner. Once the pass was renewed, it was just too tempting to not walk into Epcot even though my plans did not include it for the night.
As it was nearing dinner, we decided to see if we could get into anything in Epcot on 'zero' notice. After a little thinking...we figured Morocco was the best chance (it's virtually never sold out despite being very good food). Sure enough, we got right in with no wait. After enjoying the beautiful belly dancer, and walking back out into the humid post-dusk night, I realized we were just minutes from Illuminations. Should I stay and watch again, or not?
I walked back to France, but just before crossing the bridge to the UK, I decided to stop along an unoccupied section of lakeside wall, and watch the show. It wasn't the best location, because it was partially blocked by one of the tree islands...but I've seen it a million times and didn't mind if I missed some of the globe and fountain bits.
Of course, without tripod, pictures seemed futile. But the wall had a decently flat top right near eye level...so I decided to steady the camera on the wall, and breathe out every time I was ready to snap a shot. I fluctuated between 3 and 5 seconds...and gave it a go.
The beginning of the show, with the globe and fountains:

A zoom on the fountains:

Then the fireworks begin!:

Then everything goes nuts:

Pop pop pop pop pop!:

Big finale...everything going full bore:

I started working my way across the UK bridge just at the finale, while the last bit of music lulls, then crescendoes again. That put me on the Epcot Resort-area walkway right as it ended - first through the turnstyles out, and back to Boardwalk in just a few minutes' walk.
And all for a night that I wasn't really planning on heading into any parks or taking any pictures. I was pretty happy with the fireworks shots I managed to come away with, especially considering the unplanned location and the lack of a tripod. But Disney makes the show grand enough that it's hard to blow it!
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