Category Archives: Walt Disney World

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Posted by Mike on

One aspect of Disney photography that has eluded me is dark ride photography. Getting images inside an attraction while the ride vehicle is moving with minimal light and ‘no flash photography, please!’ just was not something I was able to accomplish. The very first group event at Photo Magic 2013 was riding The Great Movie Ride at Hollywood Studios. Oh boy! I listened to the advice being offered by members of the group. I switched to my fastest lens (35mm f/1.8) and thought… ‘I can do this!’. OK, maybe I didn’t actually think that. I was still unsure of myself but what the heck, it was only space on a digital memory card and the delete button would be right there.

The fixed lens did present a few challenges. I know there were a few scenes I was not able to capture and some close up opportunities that escaped me but I did manage to come away with a few good images. I learned a few tricks, got a better appreciation for using the higher ISO settings on my camera and figured out how steady myself as the vehicle was moving. In the end it was a great experience. It was fun riding the attraction with such a large group of photographers and listening to the click of the shutters as everyone was trying to grab their view of the ride. Heck, I might even spend more time next visit trying to get those scenes I missed…

Follow the Yellow Brick Road Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/3.5, ISO 6400

Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/3.5, ISO 6400

Wordless Wednesday – Two Movies

Posted by Mike on
Two Movies Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 400

Two Movies
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 400

Pangani Forest Exploration Trail

Posted by Mike on

The Animal Kingdom park at Walt Disney World has never received the respect I think it is due. Most tote the park as a half day visit but if you only invest that much time you are missing out on a plethora of opportunities. Last year in May when I had my first solo photography visit to WDW I discovered areas of the Animal Kingdom I had never seen in any of my previous visits. Now I know to slow down and look in every nook and cranny of this wonderful park.

One of my favorite areas to explore is the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which is accessed very near the exit for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. There are an amazing amount of animals on display and for someone with a camera the available views are very natural. On this last visit the gorillas were not afraid of the midday sun and I was able to get some nice images of the adult silverback.

Quit Watching Me Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/400s, 125mm, f/8, ISO 800

Quit Watching Me
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/400s, 125mm, f/8, ISO 800

I Still See You Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/160s, 200mm, f/8, ISO 800

I Still See You
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/160s, 200mm, f/8, ISO 800

Wheel Well Motel

Posted by Mike on

I so enjoyed my trip to Disney but the work it takes to get back into the groove almost feels counter-relaxing. This week has been very busy and my opportunities to get out exploring with the camera have been zero. This leaves me with filling my posts with more images of Disney. Not something I get tired of seeing but I promise to move past this phase soon… 😉

Disney, to me, is all about the details. I enjoy looking for things most people walk past and hardly notice. This image is from the Cars section of the Art of Animation resort. I rode the bus to this resort one night since the line for the bus to my resort was ridiculously long. Disney never completed the second phase of the Pop Century resort and a few years ago converted the building shells into the Art of Animation resort. Luckily for me the two resorts are connected by a walking bridge and after ‘peeking’ at the details on my walk back to my room I grabbed the camera to do some exploring. It didn’t matter that it was almost midnight that night, the details were calling me…

Wheel Well Motel Nikon D5100, Sigma 17070mm f/2.8-4, (1/5, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3 & 6s bracket), 17mm, f/11, ISO 400

Wheel Well Motel
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17070mm f/2.8-4, (1/5, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3 & 6s bracket), 17mm, f/11, ISO 400

Creating an Image

Posted by Mike on
...as the World Spins Out of Control Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3, ISO 200

…as the World Spins Out of Control
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3, ISO 200

The image above is the result of a happy coincidence as well as an on the spot decision. As most of you who are regular readers know I spent the past week at Walt Disney World for the Photo Magic 2013 event hosted by the Disney Photography Blog. I was between scheduled events one night in the Magic Kingdom and wanted to capture an image of the Mad Tea Party attraction with the ride in motion. I love the effect of moving water and thought the blurred look as the ride was in motion would create a similar effect. The colors at night are also very vibrant on this attraction and I was hoping I could capture that as well in the motion blur.

I picked my spot just outside the fence and was getting the camera ready when a thought struck me. It all came at once and I am sure it was a result of the scene in front of me. There was a tea cup in the foreground that had the riders facing away from me. I pictured my image of the blurred attraction with this lone tea cup frozen in space. I quickly set my exposure and captured the ride before it started to move. You can see the result in image 1 below.

I left the settings the same as the shutter speed was at 1.6 seconds which knowing the speed of this attraction I was confident it would produce the blur I wanted. I captured several images of the ride as it was in motion to ensure I would have one with the lighting the way I wanted it. The best of these blurred images is image 2 below.

...as the World Spins Out of Control - image 1 Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3, ISO 200

…as the World Spins Out of Control – image 1
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3, ISO 200

...as the World Spins Out of Control - image 2 Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3, ISO 200

…as the World Spins Out of Control – image 2
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1.6s, 17mm, f/6.3, ISO 200

Once I transfered the days images to my computer this was the first image I wanted to work on. Even though I got back to the room late I started assembling this image before getting to sleep. I use Lightroom for most of my image processing and all of my transfer work. I have a few basic development settings applied on import so both images were consistent. For what I wanted to accomplish I needed to bring both into Photoshop Elements. I haven’t found a need to use anything more powerful then Elements for my processing beyond Lightroom. It has been more than capable in letting me create what I envision.

Each photo was brought on to a separate layer in Elements with the blurred image as the background. I applied a layer mask to the image of the stationary tea cups and added a layer mask changed to black which lets all of the layer below show through. It was then just a matter of using a basic brush and painting over the mask with the color white to reveal the portion of the stationary tea cups I wanted. I used an opacity of 100% for all of the interior right up to the edge of the cup and then switched to 25% to fade in the edges to the blurred image background.

All in all I am very happy with the image I was able to create. Surprisingly it is very close to what I envisioned as I stood in front of the attraction that night. I think this is some of what is fun and interesting to me about photography. I love capturing what I see but I also love pushing myself to create something more than what is actually in front of me. Maybe a little of having to create an image is not having all the skills to capture what I want with the camera but images like this could not be captured with a single click of the shutter. In the end, the story in the image is what matters…

Disney and Photo Magic 2013

Posted by Mike on

I am so far outside my comfort zone with this Photo Magic 2013 event at Walt Disney World. I’m having a great time and meeting a lot of great people. Here are a few of my favorites so far…

Tomorrowland Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, (10, 25, 30s bracket), f/16, ISO 400

Tomorrowland
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, (10, 25, 30s bracket), f/16, ISO 400

Chim Chim Cheree Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/1.8, ISO 1600

Chim Chim Cheree
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/1.8, ISO 1600

Oscar's Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/1600s, 17mm, f/8, ISO 400

Oscar’s
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/1600s, 17mm, f/8, ISO 400

Nights, Lights and Reflections

Posted by Mike on

I was feeling a little homesick, well, more accurately second homesick, so I decided to look through my unprocessed Disney images. What can I say, this is me…

In recent years my visiting habits have changed dramatically. I am no longer in a rush to see and do everything. I have slowed down and taken the time to enjoy all the little details that are prevalent in the parks. Amazingly some of the best detail and atmosphere can be enjoyed at the resorts themselves.

I fell in love with the resorts around Crescent Lake a few years ago. The area “behind” Epcot is my favorite quiet spot in Walt Disney World. This prompted me to purchase my vacation club points at the Beach Club Villas. I know, I’m spoiled. The ability to take a leisurely walk around the lake or have two parks within walking distance does have its advantages. I’m a morning person and most days will be up and out of the room before sunrise. This allows for some great photography. On my most recent trip, sadly almost 9 months ago, I was able to capture some early morning images of the Boardwalk with great reflections in Crescent Lake.

Boardwalk Floating Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 30s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 200

Boardwalk Floating
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 30s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 200

Night Lights Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 30s, 28mm, f/22, ISO 250

Night Lights
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 30s, 28mm, f/22, ISO 250

Scott’s Assignment 25: Your Photography Passion

Posted by Mike on

This is the big 25 for Scott Thomas‘s photography assignments. He really took it in a different direction and is looking for our photography passion. I delayed as long as I could on this and even as I write this I’m not completely positive the direction I will go.

I’m not confident I am far enough along in my journey to identify or even understand what my passion is. I do know I love being out with the camera. I carry the thing with me everywhere I go. I will stop along the road and chase after a view I spotted. I’ll get up early and stay out late just to catch the light at the bookends of the day. Even tonight, I was getting ready to do the dishes after dinner and I spotted an illuminated solitary dandelion under the pine tree in the back yard. I dropped everything, grabbed the camera and tripod to headed outside. I’m not sure anything will come of the image but I had to try and capture what I saw.

Scott kindly provided a few links about photography passion in a separate post and I am going to borrow a few lines from one of them.  In a post on the Psychology for Photographers website this passage caught my attention:

Passions are often confused with hobbies, but there is a critical difference. A hobby is “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.”

Passions, on the other hand, are not relaxing. Passions don’t leave you alone. Passions insert themselves into your life whether you have time for them or not. Passions soothe you and drive you crazy at the same time.

We think of a passion as something we love, an overwhelming feeling of devotion and obsession. But in older English, ‘passion’ also meant ‘suffering‘. And even now, passions will exact a high price from us – but one we never seem to mind paying.

By that definition I know I can identify a few passions in my life. One is Disney. As any reader of this blog might have concluded by now I am a huge fan of Disney. I’m not just talking about the theme parks but more about the man and what he built. I know it isn’t perfect, what is, but I enjoy it immensely. I travel to Walt Disney World numerous times a year. I enjoy reading about Walt, the company, the theme parks and just about anything I can get my hands on. I troll eBay for used books I can’t get new any more. I have close to 75 books on this subject alone.

The second passion in my life, although it has been on the back burner lately, is video games. I grew up when the whole culture was just beginning. I never had any of those early systems myself but would spends hours playing on anything I could when at friends houses. And then I grew up and could afford my own stuff. I’m writing this in a room that has an entertainment system in one corner with just about every modern video game system there is. Don’t look in the other corners… there are shelves full of Disney memorabilia. LOL

My third definite passion is photography. My only problem is I can’t identify what my photography passion is. I like to capture landscapes. I’m pining over a macro lens so I can get better close up images. I’ve recently discovered I really enjoy long exposure and intentional camera movement photography. And I have found I want to create images that do more than capture the scene. I want to try and capture the feeling or mood. I want the image to evoke an emotion. I’m not always successful and not every image has to bring that emotion forward. Sometimes, an image is just a pretty picture.

So for now, to answer to Scott’s question: my photography passion is photography. I’m passionate about learning everyday. I try new things, make mistakes, turn and try something different. I’m passionate about using the camera to let this unknown creative side come out. A side I think I forgot I had. And I’m passionate to share what I have created. The feeling I get when someone comments about an image is fantastic. I’m not sure if this is what Scott was looking for in this current assignment but I will say it had me thinking.

The dandelion under the pine tree…

Illumination Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/320s, 200mm, f/5.6, ISO 200

Illumination
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/320s, 200mm, f/5.6, ISO 200

You can view an assortment of my favorite types of images by following these links: landscapes, long exposure, intentional camera movement and Disney.