May 10, 2011

Daily Photo Tour - There's Always My Way


"Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination, hmm?" What suspense and build to having the pants scared off of you with a hanging body illuminated by lightning storming overhead. I love trying to get pictures inside the Haunted Mansion. It's such an amazing ride and getting halfway decent shots is such a challenge. Maybe that's what the ghost host should say, "I offer you this chilling challenge - to take a good picture!" Of course, there's always my way.

Disneyland - Haunted Mansion Stretching Room
Photo by Matthew Hansen

Comments (16)

On May 10, 2011 at 8:51 PM , Unknown said...

This is my new favorite photo!! omg. incredible!

 
On May 10, 2011 at 10:04 PM , Corkscrewed said...

WOW. Knowing how insanely difficult it is to get photos on this ride, I am amazed that you not only got a great photo, but a great HDR photo!! Amazing!

 
On May 10, 2011 at 11:27 PM , Gaylin said...

Somehow I don't think my point & shoot could have taken this! I am so glad you have mad skills and a good camera!
Amazing.

 
On May 11, 2011 at 6:54 PM , Matthew Hansen said...

Thank you all very much! I tried a number of times to get this shot. I think it was 999 to be precise, but I figured there was always room for one more! It's such an epic part of the ride, I feel very blessed to be able to share it in this way.

 
On May 13, 2011 at 10:01 AM , Mitchell said...

Just THINKING of taking a shot this good of the hangster in the Haunted Mansion portrait gallery gives me a cadaverous pallor! Fantastic!

 
On May 14, 2011 at 11:52 AM , Adam Hansen said...

Amazing! I have tried capturing this scene a number of times and have yet to come away with anything.

 
On November 9, 2011 at 2:37 PM , Christina said...

I'm a Mansion CM and this is the best picture I have ever seen of our Host.. Love!!

 
On June 22, 2012 at 1:05 AM , how to convert mp4 to avi said...

HDR photo of such complexity?? Congratulations! I bet it wasn't easy, but your picture is just amazing! Well done :)

 
On June 28, 2012 at 4:56 PM , Greg said...

This is software HDR, not multiple exposure HDR, correct? Very nice photo.

 
On June 28, 2012 at 5:57 PM , Matthew Hansen said...

Greg - Thank you! Believe it or not, it is multiple exposure. I typically bracket 3 shots because that's what my Nikon D90 can do. In this case the overexposed picture gave me the dark parts of the stretch room. The normal gave the ceiling area. The under gave me the "Ghost Host" and the brightest spots on the ceiling.

 
On February 28, 2013 at 1:07 PM , chimera15 said...

How long was your longest exposure, and what lens did you use? It didn't blur out? I love shooting the mansion too, it really is challenging. That's awesome! I've adapted one of my cameras to remove the ir blocker to try again sometime..just to get this shot.

 
On February 28, 2013 at 1:09 PM , Sean said...

3 picture bracket? HOW? The shutter lag would have been atleast a couple of seconds with the exposed and upder exposed brackets and by then you would have clearly missed this shot. Please explain young Nikon Jedi Master, your Canon apprentice is curious.

 
On February 28, 2013 at 1:23 PM , Matthew Hansen said...

chimera15, Sean - Longest exposure was four tenths of a second but that's probably a little misleading. As you know the "lightning" flashes to reveal the ghost host and you can use this to your benefit as a sort of external camera flash (think faster shutter speeds). That's how I think of it anyway. In this case the longest exposure was actually darker than the first exposure because of the varying light levels during the flashes. I only ended up using two of the three bracketed shots for this since the third one didn't offer any additional light information. As for the lens I used, it was the 18-105 kit lens. Glad you guys enjoy the shot!

 
On February 28, 2013 at 1:31 PM , chimera15 said...

Really cool.. my shot is so grainy..but not hdr..I didn't think I could get an hdr in the time he's shown..so awesome. What iso then? You kept it at 100, maybe that's the secret?

 
On February 28, 2013 at 1:33 PM , Matthew Hansen said...

It took me several tries to accomplish this. I shot it at ISO 1000.

 
On February 28, 2013 at 1:50 PM , chimera15 said...

Seriously!? I'd love to talk photography with you sometime. I'm Phil Sustachek on facebook. My d200 seems to grain out beyond 600..but it should way outperform a d90...? Maybe not...still really impressed going back through your work, it looks so pro compared to mine, even though I'm using the same techniques.