Front Row at Disneyland Forever

Last Friday, I finally was able to shoot the Disneyland Forever fireworks in a proper and prepared setting.  I met up with the Capturing the Magic Facebook group I'm a member with, and we had a nice time setting up and taking pictures of this fabulous show. 

Beforehand, I had struggled with choosing a location for my first attempt to photograph Disneyland Forever.  One optimal location is the very end of Main Street, looking up the street and catching the projections on the building facades.  But previous reconnaissance and indicated that this would require a wait of over six hours--something I wasn't quite willing to do.  Other locations further up the street required less patience but wouldn't quite accommodate the size of our group.  Ultimately, we settled on being pretty much up at the front, and we split into three smaller sets located front and center, front and a little left and center, and curb and center.

My location was just left of center, so that I could capture the Matterhorn in the frame.  I knew that I would want to get both the fireworks, the castle, and the mountain during the Finding Nemo scene, when the Matterhorn transforms into an underwater volcano.  My only concern was that the main bursts that launched behind Mickey's Toontown would be too far left and obscured by trees, but as it turned out, the angle of my position left plenty of room to see the fireworks.  Here are a few of the shots, with much more to come in the future!

Dozens of spotlights shine up into the sky at the beginning of the show.

The first fireworks burst is the Mickey Mouse silhouette.

Tinker Bell flies through the scene as the show launches through its theme.

Pretty streams over the the castle.

One of my favorite parts is the Finding Nemo segment, where the Matterhorn turns into Mount Wannahockaloogie.

The show is dazzling and beautiful in its own right.