Instagrammable Photos - FAQ

Who doesn’t love taking photos in the parks? Of the beautiful scenery, fun details, and of course our families having a blast. Even though we have been to the parks over and over again we still take tons of photos every time we visit. We are not big on fancy equipment, so our photos are iPhone pictures with a little editing in an app. We have a couple of iPhone photo tips and tricks, and then some insight into where and how we grab that "perfect pic”.

If you are looking for our recs for WDW Istagrammable locations (plus our cheat sheet)click here.

What are your best iPhone picture hacks?

• Turn on grids (Settings-Camera-Grids). Then use the grid to center your subject into one of the thirds created by your grid.

• Tap to focus your camera on your subject. This also controls the exposure. You can adjust it by dragging your finger up and down for more and less exposure.

• Turn on portrait mode. This can create professional look pics, gradually blurring the area around the subject. However, by turning off live photos you will not have those mini-clips that are great for making reels. The iPhone 15 can turn a live photo into a portrait mode in editing and blur out the area around the subject, assuming the photo has enough depth.

What editing app do you use?

We use Adobe Lightroom on the iPhone to edit pictures and videos. There is a free version, but we use the upgraded version which allows video editing. It also comes with pre-sets that automatically adjust exposure and color level, etc. You can purchase other pre-sets from third party vendors or even make your own.

How can you take fabulous pictures without the crowds in the parks?

• Get to the parks at least an hour before rope drop. Even then it may be difficult to grab a pic of a super congested area, like Pandora or Toy Story Land, but you can usually get pics in front of the icons without extra people.
  

• Go all the way to the base of the castle. Lots of people will take a photo from half way down Main Street USA or at the Partners statue and then be saddened by the people crowding around in their photo. By continuing all the way to the base of the castle you can get some fabulous photos with fewer people intruding. Note: This works best when you arrive before rope drop, because most people will be crowding to run to Seven Dwarfs rather than getting family photos.
  

• Grab an end of the evening dining reservation. We have gotten fabulous pics of the park on the way out after leaving a table service restaurant after park close. Just remember you can only take pictures on your route out of the park, and you are unable to go everywhere.

• Disney's After Hour Events - these are pricey, but the parks feel almost empty. You can get some unique shots you are unable to access after a dining reservation.
  

Where are some of the best places to get photos around the park?

We have a post over here all about the most instagrammable locations around the parks. Plus here is a cheat sheet with some of our favorite locations. But our real advice is just to look around, there are so many great details all around the parks that make for neat backgrounds or fun action photos. Some of our favorite photos from years past have been ones we took spur of the moment as we were enjoying time together as a family.