Reflection of Earth Photo
Spaceship Earth at Walt Disney World’s Epcot (or EPCOT Center as many fans, including me, still call it) is one of my favorite things to photograph. It’s something you won’t see anywhere else, and it’s truly majestic. I’ve taken thousands of photos of it, and given that, you might think that I’ve exhausted unique photo ideas for it. Not at all. Taking a unique photo of anything in the Disney theme parks really isn’t that difficult. It just takes some creativity, and sometimes some diligence.
Take this photo. There is absolutely no Photoshop trickery here. To achieve the look to this photo, I actually had to set my camera in a puddle of water in front of Spaceship Earth! I took the photo on the first night of our February 2012 trip. Shortly after walking from Disney’s BoardWalk Resort, where we were staying, to Epcot, Sarah called it a night because of the rain. I had forgotten my poncho, but luckily I had remembered my camera’s poncho, so I powered on, continuing to take photos as I got soaked, hoping that the skies would clear and I’d have a chance to take some great wet pavement night shots.
Even with the camera-poncho, this proved difficult, as raindrops kept landing on the glass of my lens, ruining many otherwise good shots. But I kept going. Finally, I ended up in Future World, which was all but empty thanks to the rain. After taking a few photos on the side of Spaceship Earth, I decided to wait out the rain by enjoying the attraction. Then, I saw a glorious puddle of water in an uneven area of pavement. Knowing this puddle might dry up or be mopped up by Cast Members, I decided to delay the ride. I positioned my tripod as low to the ground as possible, trying my best to angle the camera so I captured as much of the reflection as I could. Finally, I determined that I needed to get even lower. I carefully set my camera on my camera strap so that the camera itself wouldn’t get wet and started snapping away. Since my camera was so low to the ground, I also had to get low to compose the shot. I can only imagine what other guests thought as they saw some fool lying on the ground with his camera in a puddle of water.
I may have been soaked for the rest of the night, but it was worth it.
Technical details: shot with a stabilized Nikon D7000 and Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens. See our guide for more photography equipment recommendations.
Want to see more Disney photos? Check out the other photos in our “Disney Photo of the Day” series!
Like this Disney photo? Use the “Like” and “Share” buttons on this page to show it to your friends!
Wow. I absolutely love this. I’m a frequent WDW visitor and I love how inspiring your photos are. Makes me want to grab my camera and run to WDW to look at it with a whole new eye.
It looks like the “Leave A Legacy” panels aren’t there anymore… Are they still there?
Yep the Leave a Legacy pillars are still there. It looks like this was shot between the fountain and spaceship earth. So past the pillars.
I have to agree with David, this is your best Spaceship Earth shot.
You had a camera cover and a tripod! Of course it’s worth it! That’s hardly reckless. 🙂 And all great shots require a little bit of risk to them, whether it’s you or the camera. 😉
Very very much worth it!
Totally worth it! I would have done the same!
What an amazing shot. I think this may be my favorite shot of yours.
Breathtaking!!! You have a gift for composition, creativity and know-how!
This was the perfect picture where we needed Sarah to get the “behind the scenes” photo!
Yeah I agree!!!
Wow, this is my new favourite Tom-Bricker-Spaceship-Earth-photograph! =D
Wow, that’s saying something given how many Spaceship Earth photos I have! It’s not my favorite, but I like it a lot!
So, which is your favorite? I am a huge Spaceship Earth fan as well. It is my most photographed at Disney too. Hundreds and hundreds of angles. It is a spectacular piece in the park. I love this photo. I wish I could have it framed in my house. Gorgeous.
“I can only imagine what other guests thought as they saw some fool lying on the ground with his camera in a puddle of water.”
I would have thought “Holy crap, is that Tom Bricker?!?”
Ha! I doubt the average park guest has any idea that this website even exists!