Are you guilty?

[garbear]

Just wondering if anyone is guilty of taking pictures on a dark ride?
I see alot of people talk about it so I wanted to see how many people are guilty?


I know I am guilty!

[Experiment626]

Re: Are you guilty?

I'm guilty - but by accident. I sometimes forget that my new camera switches to have the flash on after I look at photos I have on my memory card but it's only happened like two times.

[tiggerfan]

Re: Are you guilty?

I am also guilty in the same way. I try to only do pics w/o flash but sometimes forget to turn it off for the first pic.

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Are you guilty?

The proper way to do it is to get the permission from the CM's at the Load and the Tower positions before your ride vehicle leaves. If it is not crowded and they can leave an empty vehicle ahead and behind of yours so the flash does not bother other Guests, then it's all right to take photos on SOME rides.

But even with permission don't try using a 47-Gigawatt professional flash that can be seen from orbit, just a garden variety camera unit.

I've taken lots of non-flash photos, but very few flash ones.

--<< Bruce >>--

[pianoman13]

Re: Are you guilty?

NEVER!! jk mabye once(on accident)

[aashee]

Re: Are you guilty?

Never! Sadly, I'm not smart enough to use a camera.

[Elle]

Re: Are you guilty?

I used to be. Then felt totally convicted and I've stopped.

[pianoman13]

Re: Are you guilty?

... but even if you do it intentionaly(i dont) they come out crappy.. or at least crappier than if you just turned the flash off- Im a photo person:geek: and I don't like flash even if it's used in a proper situation, they just dont come out nice(ISO helps)

[2DieFR]

Re: Are you guilty?

I always wonder if the folks in the boat in front of me on Pirates are pleased with how their flash picture turned out. In my experience, flash pictures in dark attractions lose an incredible amount of depth (created in the first place by dramatic lighting) or destroy the illusion altogether (especially true in dark rides with blacklit characters and backdrops).

There are certain instances where flash pictures are desirable, such as documentation or investigation for something like the "Long-Forgotten HM Thread," let's say, where you want to pick out the factual details of a scene or find out "how it works." But by and large, that's not the intent; therefore most flash pictures are in vain. They accomplish little more than the distraction and irritation of others.

[pianoman13]

Re: Are you guilty?

I always wonder if the folks in the boat in front of me on Pirates are pleased with how their flash picture turned out. In my experience, flash pictures in dark attractions lose an incredible amount of depth (created in the first place by dramatic lighting) or destroy the illusion altogether (especially true in dark rides with blacklit characters and backdrops).

There are certain instances where flash pictures are desirable, such as documentation or investigation for something like the "Long-Forgotten HM Thread," let's say, where you want to pick out the factual details of a scene or find out "how it works." But by and large, that's not the intent; therefore most flash pictures are in vain. They accomplish little more than the distraction and irritation of others.

Amen

[Leviathan]

Re: Are you guilty?

Only when the ride broke down. I was told it was okay so I took the photos.

[alphabassetgrrl]

Re: Are you guilty?

My camera doesn't take good dark pictures so is never on in dark rides. So no, I don't think I've ever taken a dark-ride flash picture. I know it won't do what I would want it to do, and will annoy everybody else. No point in that.

[aashee]

Re: Are you guilty?

YES!

Signed,

OJ Simpson

[TwilitWings]

Re: Are you guilty?

I've only taken non-flash pictures using a different ISO setting than normal. I rarely use flash--it simply washes out details, imo. : /

[daddyb]

Re: Are you guilty?

Just wondering if anyone is guilty of taking pictures on a dark ride?
I see alot of people talk about it so I wanted to see how many people are guilty?


I know I am guilty!

I take pictures on dark rides all the time... just not with a flash.

Once in a while I'll get very lucky and be there on a day when it hasn't gotten busy yet, and I'll use the flash. One Saturday morning I rode Indiana Jones 4 times in a row. The 3rd time there was no one in front or behind me, and they just let me stay in the car. I took flash pictures then, and they turned out really quite good (a decent external flash).

Another time on Small World I was the last person in line for the night. They let a couple boats go by and I rode alone. I shot the heck out of the place using a flash.

Those are about the only times that I recall... except once on HM by mistake. I was so excited to see the 'new attic' (back when it was knew). I thought I had set my flash to use the flash's Infrared for the camera to focus but to not actually use the flash in exposing the picture. I guess I forgot to 'accept' the changes and I lit the room up (again, a professional external "47-Gigawatt professional flash that can be seen from orbit" as Mr. Bergman so eloquently puts it). IMMEDIATELY some poor castmember comes on saying not to use flash... I probably blinded him and destroyed their video monitor! I was quite chagrined.


And I agree that in many cases, flash pictures on dark rides just don't have the same magic and don't carry the ambience of being on the ride. You really have to know how to use (and point) the flash and the camera.

[saraleshea]

Re: Are you guilty?

definatley not guilty! i feel it totally takes away from the effect of te ride. and i absolutley hate when i hear a CM voice over the intercom telling someone "please no flash photography"...

[Datameister]

Re: Are you guilty?

I can honestly say I've never taken a flash photo inside a ride. Every time I get a camera, I make a point of learning how to use its basicmost functions such as turning the flash on and off, activating autofocus, going into shutter priority mode if possible, etc. These days, I use a digital SLR (Canon Digital Rebel XT, which I highly recommend--if you're pinched for money, buy it instead of the new XTi), and I never shoot in any of the modes that can automatically activate flash. I know whether or not I want flash, and can therefore exert the terrible effort of turning it on if I want it.

In the case of dark rides, I've never been through alone, so I've always had moral reservations about ruining it for the other folks. I appreciate flash photos for their real-world frankness and non-flash photos for their frankness about the perceived experience. The thing is, it's a heck of a lot easier to take a flash photo than a non-flash photo. I typically set the ISO value fairly high (not up to 1600, though), go into Tv/shutter priority mode, set the shutter speed as slow as I possibly can without risking too much blur, and then shoot in RAW format with the most stable hands I can possibly manage. Afterwards, I use Photoshop's Camera RAW utility to brighten the heck out of the image, usually setting the contrast fairly low, saturation fairly high, and noise reduction in the medium-high range. Shadow tint adjustment (in VERY small quantities!) is usually necessary, and the color temperature can be adjusted to find a balance between what is realistic and what is natural. At its best, this method produces shots like this or this. At its worst...well, I don't bother posting those photos. They're sharp, but almost everything is just black with noise. No detail recorded for me to salvage. Gone. Only the brightest highlights remain as slivers of colored form.

Nope, not guilty.

[AliKzam]

Re: Are you guilty?

I did, twice. Once on Pirates and once on Small World. The Pirates one actually turned out pretty nifty. It's of that skeleton with a red hat and a sword through him near the beginning. I'm not sure if it's changed since the movie refurb, but it turned out really well. The other is of Cleopatra. It's okay, but not the greatest. Oh, and I also took a few in the finale scene of Splash Mt, and one of them turned out nicely. So I guess I did it three times. But that was almost ten years ago, and I realized that it was a teensy bit rude, so I haven't done it, since.

[Datameister]

Re: Are you guilty?

I did, twice. Once on Pirates and once on Small World. The Pirates one actually turned out pretty nifty. It's of that skeleton with a red hat and a sword through him near the beginning. I'm not sure if it's changed since the movie refurb, but it turned out really well. The other is of Cleopatra. It's okay, but not the greatest. Oh, and I also took a few in the finale scene of Splash Mt, and one of them turned out nicely. So I guess I did it three times. But that was almost ten years ago, and I realized that it was a teensy bit rude, so I haven't done it, since.

Wait...flash pictures...turning out...well? I've seen informative flash photos...and ones that fill in the shadows of harshly-sunlit shots...but I don't think I've ever seen a shot that was illuminated solely by flash that looked...nifty. I MUST SEE THIS FOR MYSELF.

[SCUBAbe]

Re: Are you guilty?

yes, but I don't use a flash.