…as the World Spins Out of Control – Mike Christoferson

The image above is the result of a happy coincidence as well as an on the spot decision. I was between events one night in the Magic Kingdom and wanted to capture an image of the Mad Tea Party attraction with the ride in motion. I love the effect of moving water and thought the blurred look as the ride was in motion would create a similar effect. The colors at night are also very vibrant on this attraction and I was hoping I could capture that as well in the motion blur.

I picked my spot just outside the fence and was getting the camera ready when a thought struck me. It all came at once and I am sure it was a result of the scene in front of me. There was a tea cup in the foreground that had the riders facing away from me. I pictured my image of the blurred attraction with this lone tea cup frozen in space. I quickly set my exposure and captured the ride before it started to move. I left the settings the same as the shutter speed was at 1.6 seconds which knowing the speed of this attraction I was confident it would produce the blur I wanted. I captured several images of the ride as it was moving to ensure I would have one with the lighting the way I wanted it.

I used Photoshop Elements to blend the two images together creating the picture that was in my head the night I stood in front of the attraction. The images where captured with a Nikon D5100 using a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 lens, exposure was 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3 and ISO 200.

–Mike