Entering the department store in the Japan pavilion, you pass this small moat around the building. I really love this little detail because it feels as if you are actually entering a fortress. I really love the clear clean water against the beautiful cloud filled sky. Enjoy!
Jenea and I stopped off in the Japan pavilion to shoot and ended up spending a little while longer than we thought in there. The bokeh that I found that I got with my UWA when it was wide open was pretty surprising. The processing was a little rough because of how bright it was. What do you all think about it? :) Enjoy!
Morocco was one of my favorite countries to shoot this past trip. One because I had my trusty D90, and two I was with some great company. I wanted to take a bit of a "different angle" with this one! I took the obligatory fountain and arch shot, but this one I was a bit happier with. Please let me know what you all think and as always, Enjoy!
Here's another wide angle view this time of my favorite place to get an adult beverage in all the parks! The Rose & Crown is a delightful little pub with a great patio, a great fish & chips stand next door, and the great bridge for watching Illuminations! The processing was a bit tough with the giant cloud in front of the sun at the time. But what do you all think? Enjoy!
A ultra wide angle view of the Tigger Topiary in Epcot during the Flower and Garden Festival. Today was the day of the WDW Photography Meetup. Jenea and I walked the park with a great group of great photographers. We had a great time and again it was great meeting everyone! Enjoy!
After leaving DHS a little earlier than everyone else in our group, Jenea and I headed back to the resort to change. We had a dinner ADR at Jiko which was a new experience for the both of us. We had the dinning plan so it was a good opportunity for us to try it. We started dinner with the Taste of Africa appetizer that was just beautifully done and very good. For entrees, we both go the Fillet Mignon with roasted potatoes and fresh green beans. One of the best dinners we had on our last trip. Dessert was equally yummy and delightful. Our dinner experience (and that's what I would call it at Jiko) was just shy of three hours and had we had to pay for the meal out right, we both agreed that it would have been worth every penny. The dinning plan just made it that much easier despite it being a 2 table service credit restaurant. I encourage all of those of you who have not dined at this restaurant to do so as soon as you can! :) After our dinner we were meeting the family in Epcot for Illuminations. Of course I was not about to leave an opportunity to shoot the AKL lobby at night. I went up to the bridge, set up my tripod and snapped this one. I really knocked down the reds because they were extremely strong. I know the lights are a bit bright, but I didn't want to lower the exposure and lose the bottom half. So as always please let me know what you think and Enjoy!
A walk on Sunset Blvd. with my lovely 50mm lens. This is a shot of the front of the Carthay Circle Theater. It was pretty bright in the afternoon so processing was a bit difficult. Please let me know what you think! :) Enjoy!
I didn't really have anything to put up just for Easter, but I thought this might do. An abstract angle of this neon art inside the Contemporary Resort. I like all the different colors and the electric neon Mickeys. I hope that everyone has a great Easter and Enjoy!
On the balcony outside of the Contemporary Resort shooting with my UWA. I looked up, as we are all told by Lou Mongello to do, and saw these awesome clouds on the glass of the Contemporary. I had to set up for an HDR and this is the outcome. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
I've always really liked Mary Blairs work whether it be her concept art for many of the early Disney animated features, or her work in the parks on attractions such as It's a Small World. I think my favorite Mary Blair piece would have to be this mural at the Contemporary Resort. There is so much color in this thing on top of it's just massive! This shot would definitely be filed under "I love my UWA lens" for sure. I was sitting on the floor with my tripod about ten feet away from the corner of the wall and got the whole thing in one shot. I was really pleased with that, now it's on you all. Please let me know what you think and as always, Enjoy!
My first time back to the Grand Floridian in quite some time was a great one since I had my D90 along for the ride. I spent a lot of time walking around the resort setting up the tripod and spending a good deal of time with each shot. I was really pleased that the colors in the sky that day contrasted so well with the building tops and brick work. HDR processing is still a bit of a weak point for me so any and all comments or suggestions are appreciated as well as an overall what do you think? :) Enjoy!
After breakfast at Kona, we roamed around the Poly for a little bit and of course I walked around with my tripod to get some shots. I was really excited for our resort tour so I could shoot. This I would consider another "classic shot" of the Polynesian Resort from the boat dock. This is a three shot HDR merged in Photomatix and edited in both Lightroom and Photoshop. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
This morning on our trip we had a breakfast ADR at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort. This was our first time here for breakfast for two reasons. Kona coffee and Tonga Toast. And that's exactly what I had. :) Tonga toast for both me and Jenea and we split a press pot of 100% Kona coffee. It was a very very good breakfast. We decided early on that we wanted to do the Magic Kingdom Resort loop on the Monorail and visit the other resorts along the way. And breakfast at Kona was our first stop. Enjoy!
Even though the Chinese Theater was basically hidden from view by the giant Sorcerer's Hat, but on the plus side it gives us two icons to photograph. I grabbed this shot while we were walking around DHS at night. I was quite surprised that I pulled this one off hand held with the ISO cranked to 6400. The UWA did a great job in low light with high ISO without going too grainy. Please let me know what you all think and as always, Enjoy!
Right before we had dinner at 50's Prime Time, we got a drink from the Tune In Lounge and waited in the "Living Room" for our table to be ready. I snapped this as we went in since it was getting to be golden hour. It was really making the colors vibrant. Got to love all the neon signs of the Hollywood Studios! Enjoy!
I think that The Darkroom is a Disney photographer staple. We all have to shoot it because it directly pertains to us. :) Disney made a shop front just for us photographers. I wanted to try a couple other angles on this one, but we were kind of rushing to our ADR. Next time though. :) What does everyone think? Enjoy!
So after an afternoon in Epcot, we took the boat from the International Gateway over to the Hollywood Stuios for dinner at 50's Prime Time and some night time touring. It was our first time over at 50's and it was just awesome! Everyone was very pleased with their food and it was just good ole comfort food. But after some fun at dinner, we did some shopping and Jenea and I snuck off to do some night time shooting before calling it an early night to a busy day of visiting three parks. This is a shot I grabbed just as we were entering the park that evening. Golden hour was just starting and I've always loved the entrance of Hollywood Studios. :) Nothing too terribly exciting about the shot accept those hints of golden tones starting to show up. As always, please let me know what you all think and of course, Enjoy!
My favorite part of our last trip had to be that it coincided with the start of Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival. One of my favorite parts of the festival would have to be these huge beds in between Future World and World Showcase. The color in this festival is absolutely amazing and in total Disney fashion. Enjoy!
I was really happy this past trip that we took in the details inside the seas pavilion. It's just a really nice space and a interesting take on an aquarium. I know that this shots been done before, but most of my shots have. And that's exactly why I wanted to take shots that people have seen already so I can get some good feedback. So now it's up to you all. What do you think? Enjoy!
Even though I'm a huge fan of the Living Seas and the abstract mural that used to reside here, I really like the style they went with when they updated it. It's got great color in it and it flows (pun intended) nicely. :) I also noticed that there are quite a few cacti around this area too. Enjoy!
It's time for my obligatory balloon shot from Main Street U.S.A. Again it was still a bit cloudy after the rain before it cleared up, but the color still turned out good. Let me know what you all think! Enjoy!
On this morning, Jenea and I went to Magic Kingdom to shoot Main Street. Unfortunately, it started pouring down rain as soon as we got there. So we went and got breakfast, then went into Adventureland to do some shopping and wait for the rain to stop. As the rain was stopping and we were heading back towards the hub, I had to stop and get a shot of classic Tiki Gods. I liked that they were a bit darker because of being rain soked. I would've much prefered a blue sky in the background, but I can deal with that. I know this one's a pretty common shot so please let me know what you all think! Enjoy!
So as most of you know, I post my stuff around 7 o'clock (central time) after I get home from work and eat dinner. So I know I'm a bit early for Showtime Saturday, but I have to work in the mornings and it just works out better this way. :) Anyways, seeing and shooting the Main Street Electrical parade for the first time ever was a double blessing. It was a wonderful show and I got a chance to really capture and remember it. I'd noticed after the first day of our trip that for some reason, face characters and the like seem to be attracted to us and our bigger cameras. It seemed every time I turrned around I was getting a pose. When Cinderella past us by during the parade, I was hoping to zoom in and capture her for my cousin's nieces. To my surprise I looked through my camera looked up at the coach, then back through my camera and saw Cinderealla looking and waving straight down my camera! And it came out halfway decent too! I honestly was thinking I would be doing much character shooting over this past trip, but boy was I wrong! Enjoy!
So, posting this a little early before Friday actually starts, but I'm excited about my first Fireworks Friday! The first time that I shot Wishes with my D90 and Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 combined with a 2 stop ND filter turned out quite promising. I adjusted my angle a bit during the middle of the show, but I actually liked this angle that included the crowd. The only downside to the Magic, Memories, and You show is the scrim they put up in the middle of the balcony for the projections. I would've much preffered a nice clean castle, but nevertheless I like what I ended up with. Please let me know what you all think because as it's my first shot at this, pun intended, I would appreciate any and all constructive feedback. Enjoy!
As many others have posted before me, I add one of my shots of the Magic, Memories, and You castle projection show to the pool. Like many of you have heard from me I was really impressed by this show. The seemlessness of the projections were brilliant as well as the flow of the show. Like this scene, I really liked how the vines grew up from the bottom of the castle, the movement of the projections was also a great part of this great show! If there's anyone that hasn't seen it, please make a point to do so, it's classic Disney magic hard at work. I was very surprised at how well my D90 did cranked up to an ISO of 6400. Fast enough to capture the show with surprisingly low amounts of noise. I was quite happy with how well this show photographed and look forward to hearing what you all think of it. Enjoy!
The suns angle during golden hour is ideal for Tomorrowland shots. I couldn't resist getting those lovely red rocks in with the avenue of the planets. The clouds are working some nice shadows too which I liked. What do you all think? :) Enjoy!
This was a great and eventful evening at the Magic Kingdom. First we had some golden hour MK shooting, then the Main Street Electrical Parade, the Magic, Memories, and You show, Wishes, and ending with a little night time shooting in Tomorrowland. I'm really excited to shares this evenings shots with you. Enjoy!
After seeing shots from this location at Flame Tree BBQ I realized two things. One, that I'd never eating at Flame Tree, which we did later in our trip. And Two, this is view is spectacular! The blooming trees in the sea of green was a nice touch to the scene too I think. :) Enjoy!
That's what I was hearing as I shot this bench. And yes, I know that is just a bench but it means so much more than that. This is proof of Disney's attention to detail. This bench looks like it's been sitting there for fifty years. It's the little things at Disney that make the biggest difference. If these little things weren't there, these little details, then the magic wouldn't be quite as, for lack of a better term, magical. :) Trying some more of the wide open shooting. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Thought I would throw my hat into the ring for a little bit of the Showtime Saturday scene. This performer is located in the Animal Kingdom in the Asian area of the park. I believe it's between Flights of Wonder and the Yak and Yeti Restaurant. I'm not sure what she was playing but they were made out of bamboo and sounded quite nice. In this shot, she was playing "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and it was beautiful eclectic. We were fortunate to catch her performing again when we back in Animal Kingdom later in the week and her performances are quite enjoyable. If anyone knows a bit more about this wonderful performer please let me know becuase I scoured the web last night and couldn't seem to find anything about her. Enjoy!
