Tag Archives: walt disney world

A Little Help for a Friend

Posted by Mike on

Disney Friendship

I originally had a different post planned for today. June 14th is Flag Day in the United States. I had a picture from the Hall of Flags in the American Adventure in Epcot at Walt Disney World. I’ll still post that picture even though I stole the idea from another Disney photographer. Anyway…

Last night I received a message from a friend. This is a friend I met back in October 2013 at my first Walt Disney World photographer’s meet-up. We have been close since the first “Hi!”. Natasha and her husband Steve live a few states away but together we helped each other improve our photography via the web. Instant messaging, emails and Facebook posts kept us together. We would come up with a photo theme each week and post three pics of our interpretation of the theme. It was a great way to learn and explore. It really got me out and about as well as to actually “think” about my images.

Life sometimes gets in the way and our weekly challenges were set aside but the friendship has remained. One of these days we will all meet up again in our shared happy place. Well, the reason for this long intro, Natasha has a GoFundMe page to raise money to help her Mom take her brother to Walt Disney World. You can read more about it here: Driving Mr. Joel  I would really appreciate any help in spreading the word about this project to bring the Disney magic to someone special.  Thanks!

Oh, and here is the Flag Day pic!

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Hall of Flags

Hall of Flags
Olympus OM-D E-M1, 1/25s, 12mm, f/4, ISO 800

Flower Power

Posted by Mike on

Monorail Monday

I think I will always walk around Future World in Epcot looking for interesting views of the monorails. I can’t help myself. I will wait. I will plan. And I will wait some more. It is part of my fun while I am in the park.

This Monorail Monday image is of Monorail Green gliding through Future World in front of a few pretty big flowers. When I spotted the these flowers on the grassy knoll before Mission: Space I knew a monorail image would not be far behind. My wait was only seven minutes for this opportunity to present itself. Usually my biggest challenge is getting a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the monorail.

  

MLCreations Photography: Epcot &emdash; Flower Power

Flower Power
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/640s, 13mm, f/14, ISO 400

12:33

Posted by Mike on

WDW in B&w – WBW08
Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World

  

MLCreations Photography: WDW in B&W &emdash; 12:33

12:33
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/16, ISO 200

Fresh Epcot

Posted by Mike on

International Flower & Garden Festival, Epcot

Typically my Spring trip to Walt Disney World is for the International Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot. Not that I use any of the information or ideas I gather while touring around the park when I get back home.  I like to capture pictures of the flowers. Especially after a winter in Upstate New York.

Disney usually pulls out all the topiary and strategically places then around the park. I will say it seemed this year there were fewer topiary to view. I’ve never taken an official count but some of my favorites were missing… 😦

I did have to share this particular image of my buddy Donald Duck at the entrance to Showcase Plaza. I tried to get an angle that included his nephews but I could not maneuver into a good location that minimized the background distractions.

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Fresh Epcot

Fresh Epcot
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 25mm f/1.8, 1/800s, f/4, ISO 200

Reflection Warped

Posted by Mike on

Monorail Monday
Walt Disney World

I hate to say it but due to inclement weather the Walt Disney World posts will have to continue. I was hoping to bring some of the great Florida weather back with me last week but it looks like my return had the opposite affect… I apologize. Forecast for most of this coming week is rain out here with me. Wishing your weather is better.

The start of the work week is also Monorail Monday in the Disney photography community. I am sure most of the regular readers of this blog are well aware of this fact as I do my best to contribute each week. This week is interesting though due to the nature of the image I chose to share.

The first image is my normal or classic monorail image. I love a reflection and when I can capture the monorail and its reflection I am one happy camper. As I was processing this image I became more aware of the unique quality of the reflection. It is distorted by a set of ripples traveling through the water. I chose to reprocess my image focusing on the distortion. The second image in this post is my result.

I changed the format to square and processed the image differently than my original. I started with a preset from Trey Ratcliff called ‘A Beautiful Release’ and modified it slightly. I also added a subtle vignette to keep you focused on the reflection. Did it work?

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Reflection Warped

Reflection Warped
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/160s, 12mm, f/9, ISO 400

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Reflection Warped Part Two

Reflection Warped Part Two
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/160s, 12mm, f/9, ISO 400