Tinker Bell's Flight

Most of the time, when I'm at Disneyland, I'm not camping out for a prime spot to shoot the Disneyland Forever fireworks.  So recently, when I was at the park after work, I decided to bust out my telephoto lens to see if I could capture some details.  One of my subjects Tinker Bell, and what I found once I processed my photos was a little surprising!

An overview shot from the beginning of the month. Tinker Bell sweeps across a long exposure.

I've never actually zoomed in on Tinker Bell before.  Classic Tinker Bell has always been played by an actress, but to my surprise, the Tinker Bell of the Disneyland 60th Anniversary fireworks has a costume that's a little more elaborate than just an outfit with wings.  There's much more to it, actually.  Read on in the captions to find out what!

In this photo, Tinker Bell certainly looks like Tinker Bell.  The wings, the green dress, and the wand are all there.

But something seems a little odd about her head--in that it seems a little cartoonish.

As it turns out, the actress playing Tinker Bell wears a mask for the show, which ends up a bit unnerving up close!

The mask serves two purposes: 1) Tinker Bell looks exactly like she does in the movies, and 2) it protects the actress' face as she flies around from any stray fireworks fallout or discharge from the shells fired near the castle.

And we'll close this exhibt out with Tink doing a bit of parkour. Well, at least the illusion of it!