One of the last shots around the Epcot resort area before the rain storm started on our last night of our trip. I really love the hanging lights that line the Boardwalk, so I wanted to add those into my composition. And of course since we weren't able to go to Jellyrolls, I wanted to at least get a shot of it. I do like the how calm the feel of this one ended up. What do you all think? Enjoy!
Via Flickr:
So this shot comes with a bit of a fun story. After we took in the Main Street Electrical Parade, the Magic Memories and You show, and Wishes we decided to walk Tomorrowland to get a few night shots. As I set up this shot, my tripod fully extended as high as it could go, camera mounted on top at a bit of an odd angle since it was my UWA, I proceeded to take a set of bracketed shots. Now this is just one shot, because the HDR didn't come out like I wanted, but I originally shot three shots. As I was waiting the 30 plus seconds for the shots to snap, I notice someone over my shoulder. A cast member from Space Mountain had wondered over to see what was going on. "What are you taking a picture of?" she asked. I told her that I was shooting the top of the palm and she had a hard time believing me. When the last shot finished, I showed her what I had captured and she was quite impressed. She couldn't believe that I was able to get the whole palm from that close. :) It made me so happy about my decision to purchase the Sigma ultra wide angle lens. Please let me know what you all think of the processing here and as always, Enjoy!
I know that the composition in this isn't totally strong, I would've preffered to be over by the Imagination Pavilion, but who could deny a monorail passing across that sunset cutting through the clouds. I thought it was quite appropriate with the light rays cutting through the clouds, that it was the Tronorail passing by at the time. After seeing it in person, I don't really mind it too much anymore, I fit in pretty well cruising through Epcot. I'd of course side with the majority and would like to see the original designs back on all monorails. Shooting into the sun is never easy, so any and all feedback would be appreciated. Enjoy!
Some fun with my ultra wide angle lens in Tomorrowland. I had a bit of a time processing in this one because of the bright light in the shot. Please let me know what you all think and as always, Enjoy!
Here we are on our first morning in the Magic Kingdom. I did not like the fact that this shot was backed by an under construction Confectionary. I do think, however, that the foreground makes up for it. I know I've said a couple times that many of the WDW Cast Members love to interact with those of us with larger cameras. I think it just captures their attention a little easier. The Fire Chief was driving the Fire Engine around Town Square with the Mayor of Main Street. He saw me put my camera to my eye over on the curb and instantly started to ham it up for the camera. One thing I will always love about Walt Disney World is that they don't have employees, they have cast members. And I think that anyone that has never been there, doesn't understand this fact. Please let me know what you all think and as always, Enjoy!
As I've said before, I got a lot of flack from some of my family members about shooting a lot of signs and random things such as benches. lol. My response was always a simple and sincere, "My Flickr friends will understand!" :) I caught the Concourse To Tomorrowland sign during golden hour and couldn't resist getting a shot of it. The wide open close ultra wide angle proved to be quite effective on a number of occasions. Please let me know what you think and as always, Enjoy!
This is literally the third shot that I took on our last to trip WDW. This a shot of the fountain overlooking the courtyard that was in the center of our building cluster. It was a really good view to have every time we were at the resort. I will definitely be staying at Port Orleans French Quarter again. Enjoy!
Jenea and I's morning at the Magic Kingdom was a bit delayed due to the rain, but after it cleared up, it was really quite enjoyable. Not too warm with blue skies starting to emerge. We had a great time that morning and this is evidence of that. I was a little upset that the Confectionary was under refurbishment because I couldn't shoot it. I was able to get this one of the Main Street Cinema that I was pretty happy with. What do you all think? Enjoy!
After our breakfast at Whispering Canyon, we wandered around the resort to get some shots. Here's one of my favorites with some nice purple flowers. Enjoy!
One thing that has always amazed about plants and flowers is how diverse they are but how simple they remain in their basic design. Take these flowers in the foreground for instance. I spent a good deal of time taking these in, and found it neat that the flower buds hang down because they are heavier. When they bloom the reach for the sky and sun.
As I was enjoying these flowers, I saw a nice composition unfold before me. A pink flowering tree framing the France pavilion very nicely between itself and the red flowers I'd been enjoying. I was very glad to have walked down the International Gateway a bit, because I doubt these flowers would have caught my eye if I hadn't been walking right by them. I was shooting with my UWA Sigma lens and cranked it wide open to try for some nice depth of field. The light cutting through the tree at the top of the frame was intense, but overall I'm pretty happy with the result. What do you all think?
Enjoy!
This was a shot from our last night as we strolled around the Epcot resort area after watching Illuminations one last time before we had to leave the magic for home. As we came past the Swan and Dolphin resorts, we started feeling a very light drizzle start to fall. Knowing that with this usually comes a considerable Florida rain, I started rushing from location to location of the shots I knew I wanted to try and get. Didn't get quite the number of shots that I wanted, but we missed the hard rain and got some decent shots. Two shots after this one we found ourselves ducking into the store on the Boardwalk to escape the heavy rain. Please let me know what you all think as I'm still sharpening my night time processing skills. Enjoy!
A quick shot of the Expedition Everest entrance sign as I was walking around the Asia area of AK snapping some shots early one morning. I really liked how the shadows played with this one. What do you think? Enjoy!
Not too impressive of a shot today. But while roaming around Sunset Blvd with my 50mm f/1.8, I wanted to try and get a shot of the Cadilliac that isn't seen too much before. I'm pretty sure I've seen shots like this but mine is unique because... I'm in it! lol. I would definitely like to try this shot again to get a little closer, maybe a different lens on it, but this is a bit of a self portrait of sorts. :) Please let me know what you think and as always, Enjoy!
Two great things about today's shot, one would be that this Bambi topiary was located inside the butterfly house which was really nice. And two, I experienced a lot of what the Flower and Garden Festival had to offer with a great group of Flickr friends. I've seen a couple different versions of Bambi here on Flickr, so I'm interested to see what you all think of my take on it. Enjoy!
An evening at the Magic Kingdom led to us passing by this beautiful sight of Cinderella Castle bathed in golden hour light. We have all seen this shot before, but it's one of those "classic shots" that I couldn't pass up. Let me know what you think of my take on it! Enjoy!
Getting close up to the Space Mountain in Tomorrowland to get a close up ultra wide shot of the sign outside the attraction. I really like the new color in Space Mountain and have always been a big fan of WDW signage. Let me know what you all think! :) Enjoy!
A shot I snapped right before we all changed the world at Captain EO while at the WDW Photography meetup at the Flower and Garden Festival. Monorail yellow past by and I couldn't resist getting a couple shots. I liked how there was so much sky in this with the monorail gliding silently by. Enjoy!
A quick shot of the waterfall inside the lobby at the polynesian. This is definitely one of those favorite spots of mine at my favorite resort. The early morning sun coming in through the sky lights was a bit uneven so processing was rough. Let me know what you think and as always, Enjoy!
Blue Sky Disney, a group on Flickr.
About Blue Sky Disney
This group is for all those great shots we all get from the Disney parks that are made even better by some great sky! Any kind of sky will work, cloudy, clear, or otherwise. I just ask that all shots you submit be either outside or looking outside, and of course featuring our beautiful sky!
I see so many shots from my "home park" at WDW where that great Florida sky is a big part of the composition.
Don't think that limits this group to just WDW, I want to see clouds and Disney from around the World!
I'm putting a two a day limit on the group so everyone's shot get a chance to be viewed by all. I will be sharing as many of these on twitter as well to spread the Disney love.
Have fun and please, if you add a photo, please be considerate and comment on someone elses. It's only curtious and will not be enforced. Just play nice! :) Enjoy!
Running around the Epcot Resort loop before heading back to the resort on our last night, I was rushing to setup for some shots around the area before the storm hit. I really liked how the Swan came out in this one. They were working on the Yacht Club lighthouse so I couldn't get that in my composition like I wanted. Next time. :) Enjoy!
On the last morning of our trip, I made it a point to make time to walk around the resort one last time. I was able to get under the giant shell by the main pool to get a close up ultra wide shot of some more jazz jamming gators. As I've said in some of my last posts, Port Orleans French Quarter was a fantastic resort. I would recommend this resort to anyone for around a week long trip. It's a great relaxed resort during the day so on those extended trips, it's a place you end up wanted to go back to in the middle of the day. Extremely peaceful to wander at night. Nice sized food court with a lot of options for all meals. I will say that if you've never stayed at French Quarter, make it a point to book a trip there at some point. My favorite resort is the Polynesian, but the new rooms at FQ were really quite nice, and less than half the price per night. :) Enjoy!
A shot near the exit of It's tough to Be a Bug inside the Tree of Life. A late afternoon sun peaking through the trees provided some great sun rays and a nice flare. I was capturing the waterfall at the base of TOL and got a bit more than I expected, but in a good way I think. This is a 3 shot HDR bracketed -2 0 +2 and merged in photomatix. Please let me know what you all think and as always, Enjoy!
Courtesy of the 50mm f/1.8, one of the many yeti idles throughout the Expedition Everest area. It was extremely bright out when I took this so I had to bring things down a lot. Please let me know what you think. Enjoy!
The Disney Imagineers must have been thinking of the sunrises at Disney's Animal Kingdom when they built Expedition Everest. This is a shot shortly after park opening in the morning where I was trying to highlight this great feature of AK. I love how the golden light comes from behind the mountain and washes over everything it touches. Enjoy!
After reviewing the shots I had snapped this night, I definitely fell in love with this one. I really like the different color in the lighting from warm to cool. The last bit of sunlight on the horizon was another thing that drew me to this shot. What do you all think? :) Enjoy!
\As everyone agrees, one of our favorite spots in all of Epcot as photographers has to be the Imagination Pavilion and the surrounding area. This shot highlights just one of those elements in the reverse waterfall fountain. I've always been drawn to this area because of all the kinetic asthetics and it only made sense that it would follow me into my photography. This is one of the nights I was able to sneak away from the family a bit for some night shooting around Epcot. This is a 3 shot HDR bracketed -2 0 +2 and merged in photomatix. Please let me know what you think, as night shooting and especially night HDR shooting was a bit more a challenge for me than I originally thought it would be. Enjoy!
Here's my take on the classic shot of the viking in Norway. I was really happy with the clouds over the building so I wanted to include those, but still compose the shot so that both the viking and the building behind him were the focus. I know we've all seen shots of this guy a bunch of times so any feedback on my take would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Another example of how well my Sigma 10-20mm Ultra Wide angle lens fared in WDW. I've always loved the Temple of Heaven, and the detail on the under side of the levels is my favorite part of the building. I wanted to get a shot of the whole building, while highlighting these features. This is a 3 shot HDR bracketed -2 0 +2 and merged in photomatix. Edits done in Lightroom and Photoshop with the compliment of Nik Software's Color Efex plugin. Please let me know what you all think of the processing and as always, Enjoy!
A shot of the fountain in Germany basking in an afternoon sun. At first I didn't like all the people in the shot, but then as I processed it I began to like the activity. And the sun flare was too hard not to post. Please let me know what you all think as these types of into the sun shots have always been tough for me to process. Enjoy!
My take on the arches in the Italy pavilion. I went with a close up, wide open and ultra wide approach with this one. I liked how the left side starts to bokeh and the ultra wide lens distortion I was pleased with overall. Please let me know what you all think and as always, Enjoy!
Another shot from the Italian pavilion in Epcot. I really like how my UWA makes everything seem as if it's towering over me. :) The flowers in and around the Italian pavilion were just stunning for the festival. It was nice a bright out this afternoon as those of you that were there can agree, so processing was a bit tough. Please let me know what you think and as always, Enjoy!
The Neptune Fountain in the Italian pavilion has been a favorite of mine for a long time. This was one thing on the extensive list of things I had to shoot while I was down on my last trip. This is a 3 shot bracketed -2 0 +2. All comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated and as always, Enjoy!
