Walt Disney World, besides being "The Happiest Place on Earth," is the most photographed place on Earth, and has been for years. With the advent of the digital camera for consumer use in 1997 that distinction will probably last forever. To get started making your digital memories you need to know a few basic things about digital cameras and taking digital pictures:

The Camera: You can buy a good digital camera for about $67 US, which was about $200 not too long ago. However, that cheap of a camera may or may not meet your needs. I am not going to recommend any particular brand to you, but the leaders in the field are Canon, Casio, Fujifilm, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. To help you choose the right camera check out this site: www. steves-digicams. com. I have found it to be very comprehensive and the reviews and supporting pictures are excellent. Consumer Reports magazine does an excellent job too, but their articles are written far in advance of publication and many times the cameras are discontinued and/or obsolete by the time the magazine reaches you.


For the beginner "snapshot" taker a 3. 0 megapixel camera (for making realistic looking prints up to 11" x 14") is sufficient. What's a megapixel (pixel is short for picture element, using the common word "pix" as the shortened version of picture)?Well, without being too technical, think of the megapixel as an indicator of the quality of the picture you will get and how it will look on your computer or TV, or after you buy or make prints of your pictures. Look for a camera that has at least a 3X "optical" zoom (you can also get 5X, 8X and 10X) for close ups, or distant shots. Don't pay any attention to "digital" zoom. Digital zoom is simply blowing up a section of the scene you are looking at thru the LCD display or traditional viewfinder (the image in the viewfinder only approximates the scene, but uses less or no battery power) and often makes your finished picture look grainy. While some digital cameras are the size of a deck of cards nowadays and take excellent pictures, the fact that "bigger is better" still holds true with digital cameras. The larger the lens (glass is usually better than plastic) of the camera will allow you to capture more light. That said some of the new small cameras have great low-light capability. Another thing worth getting in a camera is image stabilization, or anti-shake, ability. This feature will save many pictures from being blurry, especially if you are trying to get that once-of-a-lifetime picture of Mickey kissing your son or daughter, etc. Automatic "red eye" reduction in the camera is also a useful feature. I have mixed emotions about the pre-flash on some cameras to reduce red eye. It can take several seconds to take a flash picture while everyone is saying "cheese"! While digital cameras are almost perfect most have this one bad trait, along with long processing times when using flash or taking pictures in low light. It´s a good idea to take some flash or low-light pictures with the display models in the store before buying a camera.

The greatest thing about digital cameras is the fact you can take hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures on a memory card. Memory cards (look for Lexar, Kingston, PNY, SanDisk, and Viking brands) come in all sorts of sizes, from the now large Compact Flash, or to stamp-size and most popular SD cards. While most cameras will have "built in" memory it is usually only there for emergency use when your card is full and you need to take a few more pictures of Tigger and Pooh. Like all electronics, the price for memory cards has fallen every year. Cards that were $100 a year ago can be had for $10 with rebates on www. amazon. comor www. buy. com. Since memory cards are so cheap, get the most megabytes you can afford, but don´t do overboard since most cameras can only handle about 1 gigabyte (1000 megabytes), even though 2, 3, and 4 megabyte cards are appearing. Don´t get suckered in by the claims of "super fast", or "professional grade" memory cards unless you are indeed a professional photographer and/or your camera can process the data at faster speeds. It´s always a good idea to have at least two memory cards if are you going on an extended vacation and don´t have a computer or photofinisher nearby-but more on that later. Most cameras also have movie/video taking ability. The length of the movies/videos you take will depend on the size of your memory card. These movies/videos will usually be of low quality compared to a video camera, but if you want to capture a few seconds of SpectroMagic to forever remember Jiminy, then go right ahead.

The worst thing that can happen to you at WDW is your battery going dead during a character breakfast or dinner. Always, always, have a spare battery or two. What kind of batteries? Well, it depends on you camera. Most cameras will have either a built-in rechargeable battery (try to avoid this type of camera for obvious reasons), or one that can be removed and charged in a unique charger. However, some of the brand specific batteries can be very expensive, and the charger likewise. The ideal is a camera that can use rechargeable AA size batteries, or use the new lithium-ion batteries made for digital camera use. Some cameras will also accept regular alkaline batteries in a pinch.

In summary, if you are in the market to buy a digital camera I would suggest a brand name 3, 4, of 5 megapixel camera with 3X optical zoom that uses brand name SD memory cards and removable, rechargeable batteries and charger; preferably all on sale.

The Pictures:Okay, you are now equipped with the digital camera you just bought, or was given to you, and are at Walt Disney World ready to use it. Digital photography is almost exactly the same as old film camera (analog) photography. You have to follow the same rules to get the best pictures. Taking pictures is about having the right amount of light and where the light is coming from. There are two "magic" hours in the day for photography. The hour after sunrise, and the hour before sunset, but of course you are not going to limit your picture taking to those hours, but try to take some at those times and you will be surprised at the results.

Did you know that all the theme park "icons" (Spaceship Earth from World Showcase) are situated due north? This was done purposely by Disney so that you, and the Disney photographers, always have the best lighting. Try to avoid pictures when the sun is directly behind the subject. Some cameras will have a setting when the subject is "backlit". You can also use the "fill-in" flash to make you picture better on cloudy days. Since you want memories of Walt Disney World, be sure to have some clue(s) in you pictures as to where you are. Nothing ruins a WDW memory more than not remembering where, or when, it was taken. If you camera has a date/time stamp, or sound, feature use it on some pictures for reference, or leave it on all the time, but remember the date/time stamp may cover something in the picture you really wanted to see.

While most guests at WDW take pictures of their families/friends/characters at the parks or the resorts with a building/ride/attraction in the background, be different and take pictures inside. You can take pictures of all the neat things in a ride/attraction that makes WDW so magical. Remember though the "no flash photography" warnings given by the CMs. Flash will ruin the effects and/or mood of the ride/attraction. Speaking of CMs, take pictures of them too. They love to be a part of your memories.

The is nothing worse then getting home and wishing you had a picture of your room at the resort, swimming pool, or the icons, etc. With a digital camera you can take plenty of pictures and if you don´t like them you can erase them. Don´t be afraid to take pictures anywhere at WDW, with the exception of restrooms, but I have seem guests take them in there too. You can even take pictures thru windows or glass. Most digital cameras will have a "long distance" mode, which is identified with an icon of a "mountain". Use this setting when taking pictures from the monorail, underwater shots of the hippos, or the big silverback gorilla in the viewing gallery at Animal Kingdom.

Finally, most digital cameras will have several different picture taking modes, for taking pictures at night, in museums (turns off the flash), for close-ups, and for general situations like parties, fireworks, etc. Experiment with these modes before you take some pictures of Main Street at night or Wishes, etc. , or just point-and-shoot using the automatic (auto) mode.

The Processing:Sadly, the time will come and you will have to leave WDW for home. Luckily, you now have one of more memory cards full of great pics. What do you do now?Well, back in the days of film cameras (by the way, 35mm film for the consumer will be around for a few years; maybe 10 or so) you would take your film to the local drugstore or mart and hope they came out and/or were not lost. Now, you have full control of what happens to your pictures. Most digital cameras will come with a dedicated software package to load on your computer. Then you can download your pics from the memory card onto your hard drive and the software will allow you to edit (be sure to get rid of the "red eye"), erase, of add special effects before you print them on your photo printer and/or store/burn them on a CD or DVD. Since Kodak (the word Kodak by the way has no meaning, but George Eastman, one of the founders of Kodak, said it reminded him of the sound of a camera shutter) is the official photographer at WDW, I am sure they will not mind if I recommend their free EasyShare software that you can download from their site:www. kodak. com. About 20 million persons use EasyShare. You can also store your pics on their site for a nominal charge, or order prints from your free gallery (pictures in your gallery will expire in a few months). EasyShare also allows you to e-mail your photos and/or have your friends and family view them/order prints from your gallery online. You don´t have to have a Kodak camera to download your pictures. You do have to "sync" your camera to the software, which is easy if your camera and computer has a USB port (newer computers will have the 2. 0, which is faster than 1. 0).

Another option you have is to take your memory card to the aforementioned drugstores or marts and use the convenient kiosks (Kodak and Fuji are the most common) where you put your memory card in and pick and choose (after editing if you want) which pictures you want printed. Prices range from 15 to 25 cents for a 4x6 print, the most popular size. Wal-Mart also has its own photo site, or you can get a free copy of their "My Wal-Mart Digital Photo Center at Home" software you can download from a disc. However, your computer´s firewall may interfere with the software.

Remember when I first mentioned the words "megapixel and megabyte" in this article?Well, it´s time to get technical. The more megapixels (picture elements) your camera has the better the picture will be and you can then make prints up to poster size in some cases. More megapixels mean using more megabytes of memory. However, having too many megapixels/megabytes has a down side, especially if you want to upload a pic to DisneyWorldTrivia. com, or some other site. Mega means million and most sites only want a picture that is a few hundred or thousands of pixels in size-vertical and horizontal. What to do?Well, Windows XP will allow you to resize your pictures from your "My Pictures" folder. For example, a pic I took of Mickey last February was 1536 x 2048 pixels in size and took 1. 02MB of memory. When I resized it to "small" it was only 768 x 1024 (half the size), but only 0. 244MB of memory (1/4 the amount). Voila! I got to share my photo with the other DWT members and Lou didn´t have to take the time to go into the gallery and unclog my mess.

The End: Well, all good things must end. I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a little or a lot. If you´re not into taking pictures yourself, check out the grrreat pics in the DWT Members Gallery of their pictures of WDW.

P. S. You have my permission to copy any of my pics to your computer for your future enjoyment.