Majestic Ornament Valley

A lot of people ask me on Instagram, "How in the world do you get those empty photo pics? That's amazing!!" Well, my answer is simple: I wait. I wait until the park closes, then I wait some more for the guests to clear out. Then I take my shot. 

But there is a cheat to this, and it's demonstrated in the photo below. Rather than wait for everyone to leave, you can do a long exposure that is of sufficient length that people passing through the frame won't really register on the sensor, and thus won't really appear on the photo.  Now, it's not perfect, of course. If someone lingers just a bit too long, he or she will be ghosted on the image. And if someone walks through with something lit--well, that'll register on the camera sensor no matter what (unless you have an exceptionally long exposure, which can only be made with the help of a neutral density filter to lower the amount of light passing through).

In this photo, I had the shutter open for 30 seconds.  My ISO was at 100--the lowest setting, and I also had a pretty high f/stop of f/16 to make everything sharp and increase my depth of field.  The photo was taken at 7:30 in the evening, well within operating hours, but it looks largely empty--except for those clues that sharp eyes can discern!

Stillness in Cars Land--interrupted by the long exposure of a guest walking by with a flashy toy.

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