I love to travel, and there is so much to see, experience and meet new people. Most of the time when I am thinking of going, it is about beautiful countries, with extraordinary locals or big cities with enormous skyscrapers and unique cultures. Those places are perfect for (street)photography. But there are places where you think in advance; I pass for photography, there are too many people, or it is far from historical or architectural. I was thinking the same when I decided to visit Disney Paris with my girlfriend. Alright, I do love roller coasters, the attractions and the atmosphere of a theme park and we bought the best annual card available to have some more fun in the coming year. These cards give you some advantages that you might like if it is about photography, more about this later in this blog. If you want the diversity of people, with their all those different behavior’s, Disney is Walhalla. Let me take you during my four-day visit. Small advice if you have never been to a big theme park. Don’t rush, take multiple days, so you don’t have to stress in the long queues. Walk around, observe and if you see an attraction within 15 minutes of queue time, go for it!

Opportunities everywhere

When I entered the ground of Disney city, the subject and opportunities are everywhere: People, people, and even more people. So, for a street photographer, it should be the best place to be you might think. Opportunities enough. Besides people, there is much scenery to focus your camera. I also found out, the hard part of capturing the images that you have in mind, there are people everywhere and I mean everywhere. If you are like me, don’t have too many objects in your picture, it is quite a challenge. What have I done to achieve my goals during my rides and capturing photos:

• Search for extraordinary persons
• Search for kids who are enjoying their time, or don’t J.
• Lower your view and change your angle
• Try to get to the front row of the closing show and fireworks
• Search for shadows
• Search for silhouettes, especially Mickey silhouettes
• Detailed and e fill your frame with typically Disney “stuff,” like those diadems with ears 🙂

 

Style

Disney is sweet, colorful, happy people, cute and colorful candy and goodies, Mickey and Minnie clothing. With your eye and imagination. You can change the atmosphere of your photos. I have chosen to create a grim atmosphere while you are wandering with all those bright colors. With my Fujifilm camera, I can change the film simulations, and this will help you to create the atmosphere you like. Do you want to achieve a colorful lollypop style? Try to use the Velvia simulation. The colors will pop-out it bring you to a candy world, I haven’t tried it in Disney yet, but I did in the best theme park after Disney, the Efteling in the Netherlands, results were surprising. If this is too much, try Astia film simulation for a softer color look. It will have more vivid colors than standard Provia film simulation. Astia was my film simulation choice for the closing show. To create the sinister atmosphere, I have chosen the classic chrome film simulation. Less vibrant colors are giving the pictures a retro, grim look. I have selected this atmosphere for the most of my photos. I always keep my eyes open to capture moments in black & white of course. I love black and white!

People

I love to observe people, and it is fascinating what you see around you. If you stop walking and look around you, you feel like you are an ant crawling in the ant nest, the feeling is more intense in comparison with walking through a European city. The people I love the most are those from the gym. Athletes and woman behind a pram. I even found a fantastic couple, if you meet them in a bar, you don’t expect that these people are a fan of Disney. The woman had a tattoo of snow white. I had the luck I could capture this unusual and unique moment. Another coincidence in the same picture, the woman behind them is looking over her shoulder and fascinated by these couple with their kid.

I usually take pictures of kids when I am wandering through a city. If you are at Disney, it is impossible not to capture some fantastic moments with kids. Happy, tired, annoying, scared, startled and kids who are enjoying the time of their life. To obtain these moments, you have to be at the height of kids. So lower that ass and change your angle! The results will amaze yourself!

Light

Disneyland Paris is a compact and open theme park. Sometimes it is hard to find the right lighting, especially during the hard daylight in the summer. A fantastic spot is around and within the castle of sleeping beauty. Open your eyes, and you will found these like this picture:

I am talking about light, and of course, I can’t forget one of the most brilliant moments. The closing show with the fireworks!  I took some pictures from the front row and far behind because the show is every evening, missing an evening, no problem. That’s why you need to have multiple days of access. I wrote about the annual pass, and here is the advantage. If you choose the Infinity yearly pass, you call a particular telephone number, and you get a pass to watch the show front row. The opportunity to get the best pictures of the castle and the fireworks. Visiting Disney Paris or Disney somewhere in the world, take your camera, the best is to have a lightweight with a wrist strap, and you are ready to go! You will come back home with amazing photos for sure! Thank you for your time and for reading this blog!