Towering Above the Treeline

There was once a time when I could never seem to photograph the Tower of Terror at night in a way with which I was happy.  Whether I used HDR or single shots, I struggled to properly capture the light balance, exposure, and colors of this macabre architecture after the sun had set.  Mostly, it was because the blue and purples were too blown out, or the pictures were too saturated, or too dark.  Well, eventually, I learned that shooting in RAW, with the camera on a tripod, at a low, baseline ISO, and a long exposure, preferably using the superior sensor of a full frame camera, all contributed to solving my dilemma.  Was it an expensive solution? Yes.  And can the same photo be achieved without the full frame?  Well, now that I've played around with picture taking, I'd say the answer is also yes.  So good news for the rest of you.  But then again, good photography technically is figuring out the right combinations for the exposure!

The Tower of Terror looms above the trees, as it does.