Disney Photography | Walt Disney World | Disneyland • Matthew Cooper Photography

Chillin’ Like a Villain

by Matthew Cooper January 19, 2019

This is the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain which I shot with the Nikon Z7 and 35 1.8S lens. This is an incredible dark ride combo and very light weight. Sharpness is through the roof in comparison to my DSLR and prime lens setups. My only complaint, as has always been the case with the 35mm is it’s a bit too tight for some of the dark rides for my taste. I think that 28mm is the perfect focal length for 99% of dark ride shots in the parks, which is why my Nikon 28 1.4 remains my favorite lens to shoot the dark rides. Additionally, the rendering appears to be just a bit nicer on the Nikon 28 1.4 compared to the 35 1.8S. Of course, the Nikon 28 1.4 is $2000 and the 35 1.8S is only $850 so you’re getting a lot of value from the 35mm.

January 19, 2019 0 comment

Disney

Splash Mountain Disneyland

by Matthew Cooper January 18, 2019

written by Matthew Cooper

It’s been quite some time since I looked at my Disneyland catalog and I realized I still have many untouched photos from that trip. So, I guess I’m going to start mixing some Disneyland back into my feed as I go through them again. I keep my Walt Disney World photos in a separate Lightroom Catalog from my Disneyland ones (I separate catalogs by locations) so I just need to remind myself to switch back and forth instead of always perusing the Walt Disney World one for new shots to edit.

January 18, 2019 0 comment

Disney

Pandora’s Last Light

by Matthew Cooper January 15, 2019

written by Matthew Cooper

Pandora sunset photos have become my absolute favorite photos to edit from Disney World. They are probably the closest you’ll get to a pure landscape photo in the parks and this lends well to my editing style. I did a 2-shot blend here along with a copious amount of dodging and burning and light painting. The light painting allows me to mold better the shape and direction of the light within the photo. This adds dimensionality you can’t obtain just by moving a few sliders around.

January 15, 2019 0 comment

Disney

Splash Mountain Fences

by Matthew Cooper January 10, 2019

written by Matthew Cooper

I rarely shoot the parks with other people. It simply doesn’t fit with my fast-moving shooting style, but on this night I made an exception to shoot with fellow IDP admins Cliff Wang and Nick Barese While this did slow me down from my typical pace, the chance to make Canon jokes at Nick’s expense more than made up for this. For this shot Cliff provided some additional external lighting on the Splash Mountain hut that really helped pop it out a bit more as it was getting lost in shadow. Enjoy!

January 10, 2019 0 comment

Disney

A Quiet Night at Gaston’s

by Matthew Cooper January 4, 2019

written by Matthew Cooper

This shot was taken with the Nikon Z7 and Nikon 24-70 F4s. For anyone looking to lighten their load but not lose out on image quality I can’t recommend this pairing enough. In fact, the images are sharper than what I was getting out of my DSLRs! Per usual I’ve color corrected Beast’s Castle so it’s not a single blue color. This is done with a curves adjustment layer where I manipulate the various color curves to change the blue of the roofs to a red color like what is seen during the day.

January 4, 2019 0 comment

Disney

Cinderella Castle Dreamlights at Warp Speed

by Matthew Cooper December 27, 2018

written by Matthew Cooper

I believe this is my first time taking this shot with the inclusion of the side towers. This shot was again taken on the night with the fast-moving clouds. I love the movement and energy they lend to the shot. The orange cast of the lights along with the breaks of blue from the intermittent clearing makes for an interesting color combination. Enjoy.

December 27, 2018 0 comment

Disney

Cinderella Castle Dreamlights & the Rivers of America

by Matthew Cooper December 24, 2018

written by Matthew Cooper

I don’t have anything interesting to say about this photo. It’s Rivers of America. It’s Cinderella Castle with Dreamlights. Enjoy.

December 24, 2018 0 comment

Disney

Cinderella Castle Sunset Between Two Trees

by Matthew Cooper December 20, 2018

written by Matthew Cooper

My alternate title for this shot was going to be Creepin’ on Cinderella Castle. I decided I’d go for the more obvious title in the end… but now since I’m telling you anyways you get the best of both worlds. I opted to shoot from here as I have tons of sunset shots from here and they are all the standard wide view from the bridge. I probably framed it with too much tree (and I didn’t like my crop options) but at least it’s something I haven’t done many times before.

December 20, 2018 0 comment

Disney

Pirates of the Caribbean Quiet Night

by Matthew Cooper December 17, 2018

written by Matthew Cooper

The last time I shot this scene I was still shooting the Nikon D7000. I’ve been through 3 cameras since then, so it was time to give it another go. Honestly though, they are very similar, especially viewed at smaller sizes. The major improvement for web viewing is improved color handling. The increased resolution also gives a sharper look even when down sized. Finally, the expanded dynamic range allowed for an edit that pushes sliders while maintaining a cleaner look.

December 17, 2018 0 comment

Disney

Fantasyland in Motion

by Matthew Cooper December 10, 2018

written by Matthew Cooper

Having shot so much around Walt Disney World it’s refreshing when the weather offers something new you can capitalize on. In this case, fast moving clouds always look really cool with a long exposure. To boot they were just thin enough to allow some stars to shine through.

December 10, 2018 0 comment