Author Archives: Mike

Sunrise on the Village

Posted by Mike on

Harambe Village, Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

I’ll be staying in the Animal Kingdom today. There has been some great activity at this park over the past few years, some subtle changes and also a big expansion. Disney made a deal with James Cameron to bring an Avatar related area to the park and this required moving the Festival of the Lion King show.

Keeping with the theme of the Lion King Disney expanded the village of Harambe in the Africa area of the park and created a new show building for the festival. Now as you cross the bridge from Discovery Island into Harambe this is the view of the new area. I love getting to the park early so I can enjoy the sunrise.

Sunrise on the Village Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/80s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 100

Sunrise on the Village
Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/80s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 100

Water & Transportation

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Harambe Village, Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

Water & Transportation Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/200s, 26mm, f/5.6, ISO 250

Water & Transportation
Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/200s, 26mm, f/5.6, ISO 250

The Chicken Coop

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Backyard

Every time I see the sunlight hit this tree in the backyard I get my camera. There is something about the way the branches and leaves hang with the back lighting that catches my eye. I am never sure of the view I want to capture or how best to show what I see. The other night I was in the same situation. Playing around in the yard and field after dinner once again brought me here. I decided to attempt once again this tree but this time I included the farmer’s chicken coop next door. I’m still not sure this is the final version but it is a good start…

The Chicken Coop Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/250s, 32mm, f/8, ISO 400

The Chicken Coop
Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/250s, 32mm, f/8, ISO 400

Karamell-Kuche (Caramel Kitchen)

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Germany Pavilion, World Showcase,
Epcot, Walt Disney World

I admit one of the reasons I love walking around the World Showcase at Epcot is the variety of food items I can sample. I am somewhat adventurous and willing to try new things. This is part of the reason I love attending the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival in the fall. There are a few staples though that I always return to and the Werthers Karamell-Kuche is definitely worth a visit.

Hi, my name is Mike and I am a chocoholic. It probably has been less than an hour since my last infusion of chocolate.

Combine chocolate with Werthers caramel and I am hooked! There is a chocolate covered caramel in this shop that I buy every visit. I shouldn’t but I do. There are a lot of other tempting delights but I try to limit myself to the one treat (that doesn’t always work).

I have been trying to capture this building at night for quite a few visits now. Mu last trip in May was my most successful attempt. I captured a three shot bracket, combined it with Photomatix and finished off the image with OnOne’s Perfect Effects 9.

Karamell-Kuche Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, {5, 8 & 16s bracket}, 20mm, f/11, ISO 200

Karamell-Kuche
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, {5, 8 & 16s bracket}, 20mm, f/11, ISO 200

Throwback Thursday – Clover

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Throwback Thursday

I’m attempting to stick with this Throwback Thursday theme I created two weeks ago but as you can already tell I missed a week. Maybe I need to play this one loose and see what shakes out. Anyway…

This week I’ll stick to an early period in my photography and use another image captured with my Sony P&S. This one is from October 2011 and I believe I was exploring as much as possible in my own yard. I was getting out more often but still only capturing a few images at a time. This was also at a time when I was exploring Google Plus more and attempting to participate in as many week day themes as I could.

The original image is a monochrome conversion of a piece of clover from the field behind the house. I was going for a back light setting and totally lost the sky when I over exposed the image. I converted it to monochrome in an attempt to hide what I had done… 🙂

Clover - Original Sony DSC-H20, 1/40s, 12mm, f/4, ISO 100

Clover – Original
Sony DSC-H20, 1/40s, 12mm, f/4, ISO 100

There technically is not a lot I can change on the image. I went with my square format as I like the balance better. I played with the colors in the original file to allow me to convert to B & W with a little more ‘pop’. I stayed with the over exposed look but toned it down a little and then added a silver tone to the over all image.

Clover - New Sony DSC-H20, 1/40s, 12mm, f/4, ISO 100

Clover – New
Sony DSC-H20, 1/40s, 12mm, f/4, ISO 100

Cavern Cascade

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Watkins Glen State Park

Cavern Cascade Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1.6s, 28mm, f/16, ISO 100

Cavern Cascade
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1.6s, 28mm, f/16, ISO 100

My attempt at a close-up of the cascade failed this year but here is an image from two years ago.

Cavern Cascade Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.8, 3, 13s bracket), 26mm f/13, ISO 100

Cavern Cascade
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.8, 3, 13s bracket), 26mm f/13, ISO 100