A cool aspect of the World Showcase that makes it so wonderful to walk through so often is to find those little spots where the Disney magic fully envelops you - where you can immerse yourself in the scenery they've created and transport to another place. While all of their design efforts are great, the wide scenes still reveal each 'country' to be but a fun little model. It's those closer scenes, when there is little to reveal that you aren't actually there...where the attention to design and detail and the closeup view might even convince a native of that country that you were there. I like to find those little scenes, and try to capture them if at all possible. Here are a few attempts: Paris in the Springtime? Glorious England? Is that the Muezzin calling? Arabian nights? Merchant of Venice? It's hard to find those spots that are just right, with nothing to spoil the atmosphere. The occasional Disney tourist can still be passable - after all, American tourists in baseball hats and white sneakers are seen all over the world! But other giveaways like the Disney trashcans, Disney characters or signs, or clear Florida background trees and such, sneak in to the shots and give them away. So it's become a fun challenge to see how many shots or angles or scenes I can find to shoot that give away as little as possible. How wide a scene can I get away with? Sure, a closeup of a piece of bamboo could pass for Japan, but the challenge is to get as much of the architecture and atmosphere into the shot as you can without revealing that you're in Disney. I'll be hunting for more opportunities each time I go back...Comments, questions and critique welcome of course. And if you've ever tried to take such shots, feel free to share them! If not...well now you've got something else to try to shoot next time you're up there.
Thanks guys. Rog...of course the Arabian Nights is a composite of two shots - but they were really both taken at the same time. I saw the crescent moon and star, and zoomed all the way to shoot that, then shot a wide shot of the Marrakesh restaurant...and just cloned out the tiny moon and star and layered in the bigger one. Kind of had that classic 'Arabic/Muslim' look, with the crescent moon and star that adorns many a flag.
Interesting. I did that the old fashioned way back in the days of old. But the D300 has multiple exposures built in, and I've wondered how it would work with digital (not using Photoshop...). I may have to play with that during my trip. The moon will be in its' last quarter beginning the day before I leave, so...it's a possibility.
Thanks Pixie. Rog, I did a few double exposures back in the film days too - wasn't great at it - so I ended up with ghosting and haloing all over. It's much easier with digital! In camera would work if you shot the moon in the sky by itself, then found a nice night scene composed to the other side of the frame with no moon at all, and shot that. In this case, the moon and star were in exactly that same spot...for real! That's why the scene caught my eye - we had just eaten at the restaurant, came outside at dusk, saw the moon above the Moroccan architecture, and just had to shoot it. but when I shot it wide, the moon just looked like a tiny white blob of light. I decided to shoot another at full zoom, metered off the moon. So when I merged the two shots, I would have been stuck with the blown-highlight white spot where the smaller moon was. I had to clone out the entire moon from the restaurant shot, then layer the larger moon over. It sounds complex...but it took all of 5 minutes.
Ya'know, it's funny, I was reading an old photography book that suggested a similar trick. The gimmick they suggested was to shoot a bunch of frames of double exposures. Shoot the moon many times, then rewind the film and take a bunch of shots that are framed so that the moon appears in the skies.
Awesome shots Justin! I know that Shanon and I spend a lot of time working on taking "that shot" of the Disney stuff, but what an great idea to focus on the parts of Disney that don't scream (or even whimper) Disney. Good stuff! Thanks. Mitch
Thank you Mitch! The more you go to Disney, I think the more you start experimenting with different photographic subjects. I still can't help but shoot 'the usual' stuff - I think every trip I come back with another 200 castle shots! - but I do spend more time looking in the nooks and crannies and trying to find a way to shoot Disney in a non-theme-park way. Especially for those who have never been, or only remember the crowds and plastic and characters from a trip long ago, it helps show the many sides of Disney as a full resort destination, and not just a kiddie theme park!
