I recently visited Tokyo and spent a day at Disney Sea. This is one of the most photogenic places I’ve seen in a long time (I’ll be sharing some of the images I made on Photofocus in the coming weeks). The park (like many tourist destinations) has a no tripod rule. With a little but of pre-planning however, I knew to throw my GorillaPod into my bag.
There were lots of opportunities for nighttime photography, but I wanted to capture longer exposures like this image.
Here was my workflow…
- Find a flat surface to set the GorillaPod on. If not available, I could attach the camera to a railing.
- Set the camera to a smaller aperture to lengthen the exposure (I wanted a longer exposure to lengthen the light sources).
- Set the camera to a lower ISO to minimize noise (I could shoot lower since the camera was stable).
- Use the release timer on the camera. I set it for a two-second delay so I could push the button, then let the vibrations settle to get a sharper image.
- Post-process as needed to sharpen and color correct.
I was quite pleased with the resulting images and received no grief from any of the park staff while shooting.
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Your pictures are amazing! I really like how they turned out.
Thank you… In both cases a longer exposure was needed. I appreciate the kind words.
I was at Disneyland Tokyo last month and brought my Joby Gorillapod SLR in. I got a stern warning from security at the gate entrance that I couldn’t use it. It is a good bit bigger than the normal gorillapod, but was still nowhere near obtrusive as a tripod. I’ve since bought the normal gorillapod but its really not big enough for a 5dM3 and a 16-35mm lens.
Their rules there say anything that obstructs others is prevented. Though I am surprised they stopped you for that.
Thx for the workflow info.
I presume you will be sharing photos taken from Tokyo Tower. An unexpected surprise when I visited Tokyo MANY years ago.I had been to the observation area and restaurant at the Eiffel Tower and years later found myself being transported up to Tokyo Tower’s 2 observation areas.. .Â
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Didn’t go to Tokyo Tower actually. ran out of time.
Your pictures are amazing! I really like how they turned out.
Thank you… In both cases a longer exposure was needed. I appreciate the kind words.
I was at Disneyland Tokyo last month and brought my Joby Gorillapod SLR in. I got a stern warning from security at the gate entrance that I couldn’t use it. It is a good bit bigger than the normal gorillapod, but was still nowhere near obtrusive as a tripod. I’ve since bought the normal gorillapod but its really not big enough for a 5dM3 and a 16-35mm lens.
Their rules there say anything that obstructs others is prevented. Though I am surprised they stopped you for that.
Thx for the workflow info.
I presume you will be sharing photos taken from Tokyo Tower. An unexpected surprise when I visited Tokyo MANY years ago.I had been to the observation area and restaurant at the Eiffel Tower and years later found myself being transported up to Tokyo Tower’s 2 observation areas.. .
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Didn’t go to Tokyo Tower actually. ran out of time.