POTD - Pizzeria In The Clouds

Pizzeria In The Clouds, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

I was very curious starting this trip to see the then brand new Via Napoli building. I wasn't sure how it was going to work and where it was going, but of course Disney pulled it off and it seems like it's been there forever. Not to mention they have easily the best pizza on property. It never ceases to amaze me the detail that Disney puts into everything, including their buildings and signage. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 Disney Trip Report - Day 5

I'll start today's post off like we started this day of our trip out with one word and one word only, KONA!

POTD - Rich Red

Rich Red, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Here's another shot of our beautiful Red Panda from the St. Louis Zoo. I thought that this shot really showed off her colors. The very subtle patterns on her face, rings on her tail, and that jet black fur on her legs and stomach. I've heard that we will eventually have two Red Pandas in their very own brand new enclosure. I'm sure you all know I'm pretty excited about that. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Big & Tall

Big & Tall, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

There's Jeff... taking pictures of another sign! That's what I heard constantly over our last trip. It's not my fault that the signage of Disney photographs so well and is all so different. Having the arch here, I had to get close with my UWA and stretch things out a bit. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 Disney Trip Report - Day 4

Today was a photography kind of day for us. Jenea and I decided that we would head to Magic Kingdom for the beginning of the morning to shoot some photos in Magic Kingdom, with a focus on Main Street. Then we were going to meet up with my cousin Andy at Epcot after.

Where To?

Where To?, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Here we have a early morning golden hour shot of one of the beautiful sign posts in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom. A lot of us say it all the time, but the textures and detail throughout Animal Kingdom, particularly Asia, is amazing. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Living Off The Green Line

About a week ago, I decided that I wanted to revamp my blog. So I decided to change the name and address.

This is for anyone that has the address dishippy.blogspot.com set as a favorite or a link. At this point that link will no longer work to get to the blog. Please change your favorites and links to the new adress:
livingoffthegreenline.blogspot.com

Now for a little background on the name. In the classic story of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, there were three different lines. The Blue Line was what would take you around the tour of Tomorrowland. While the Red Line was a line to take to people to different planets. Then there's the Green Line, which is for taking people back and forth to the "hover-burbs". This is where my blog lives, where the Disney fan and nature lover in me come together, photographing as much as I can along the way.

One Year Later - 2011 Disney Trip Report - Day 3

Today started a recurring theme throughout the rest of the trip. Me getting up early and being completely ready to hit the parks.... and then everyone else gets up. LoL. Such is the life of a Disney nut amonst regular Disney fans.

I took the opportunity from being up early to snap a couple photos, I went and got a soda, and just took in the resort on a beautiful cool morning.

Fireworks Friday - Strike Your Colors

Fireworks Friday - Strike Your Colors, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Not the best or most balanced fireworks capture, but does anyone who know me think I wouldn't be in love with all that color? This is probably one of my favorite lightings for the castle during the fireworks show. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 WDW Trip Report - Day 2

This trip brought with it a lot of new experiences and new memories. Not all were new to me, but seeing things that were new to my girlfriend Jenea and cousin Andy was a real treat. Today was no different, so please watch your head and step as you board the blog and enjoy your ride on this trip report.

Snowy Portrait

Snowy Portrait, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Yet another shot of the Snow Leopard at the St. Louis Zoo. I'm sure no one can tell, but I love shooting photos of the big cats at our zoo, and I've gotten pretty good at focusing past the wire and cable mesh of their enclosures. I'll have to snap a photo of what the enclosures look like some time. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 WDW Trip Report - Day 1

I've long been eager to get back into my Blog here for more than just another place to add my Flickr photos. It's about time that I get back to my trip reports, as I remember from my last 2008 trip report that I got some good feedback. So here goes nothing.

It's been over a year since my last trip, our dates were February 26 through March 5 of 2011. This will lead into one of the main points of my trip report and my Blog in general. I'm not a person who gets to Disney every year or multiple times of year like a lot of others (who I envy). So what is a guy longing for a Disney fix to do in the years in between trips? Why write a year old trip report of course! Let's see how well I can remember this trip from my photos.

Warms And Cools

Warms And Cools, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

I think I'm the most excited to get back to Wilderness Lodge to shoot it again. It's a challenging resort lobby to shoot, a lot like Animal Kingdom Lodge. There is just as much natural light coming into the lobby as there is artificial light. The warm and cool lighting really makes for difficult processing, but I'm happy with the way this one came out as the reds get out of control here really quick. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Napoleon Complex

Napoleon Complex, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

As I said the last week when I posted my Red Panda shot, this day at the STL Zoo was a great day for shooting. I finally saw and shot photos of the Red Panda, as well as this little guy. It's very rare to see, much less get a good shot of the burrowing owls here. Lucky for me that this guy was right up against the wire barrier for his enclosure. I got down to his level to get some pictures, and I think he may have seen his reflection in my lens. He got all puffed up and tough, which was funny since burrowing owls are about 10 inches tall. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Hustle and Bustle In The Hub

Hustle and Bustle In The Hub, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Sitting on the curb on the inside of the hub at our awesome spot for the night time festivities in the Magic Kingdom. I took this bracket of the castle and the clouds. I really liked how the crowd came out, since everyone was running around trying to find a good spot at the last second. The only thing I didn't like about this shot was the schrim banner they were pulling up for the Magic Memories and You show. Please let me know what you all think about this as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Fountains In Blue

Fountains In Blue, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This isn't the best composition out there, but I really liked the blue hour sky. I also love the jumping fountains so any chance I get to shoot them, I take it. I have so many new shot ideas with no WDW trip insight, it's really quite tragic. ;) Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Sunny Imagination

Sunny Imagination, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This is a 3 shot handheld bracket in the morning on our last trip at the Imagination pavilion. Of course, I was not graced with a monorail until I was past this spot. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Peacock Pattern And Color

Peacock Pattern And Color, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

I don't know if any other zoos do this so please let me know, but at our St. Louis Zoo we have several Peacocks that are allowed to roam the park freely. This allowed me to grab this shot last time I was there. I know this is a pretty cliche shot, but you all know how I feel about the color green. Another thing I really like about this one, is that I was shooting with my 50mm, and since these guys aren't in any enclosers, I was about a foot away from him.

Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow's Color Palette

Tomorrow's Color Palette, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

I know that so many of us absolutely love seeing Tomorrowland at night, I am no different. As I've said before, with the size of my group last trip, night shooting was a bit rare. So it was shoot while you can, and since none of my bracketing worked out well since I wasn't very experienced at the time, this is just a single exposure. i think for that fact, though, I'm quite happy with it. I love night shots that are void of people, but I also like night shots with ghosts of guests walking by too. I think my favorite thing about this particular frame is that I nailed lining up the top of Astro Orbiter with the bottom of the Tomorrowland sign.

Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Enjoy!

Foliage Framing

Foliage Framing, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Discovering this seating area for Flame Tree BBQ is a real treat for any photographer. Since this was taken in early spring, the greens in the foliage were very vibrant, and I wanted incorporate that into a composition with Everest. On top of the great greenery and mountain in the frame, I was graced with a sweet sky and reflections.

Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Enjoy!

Red Panda

Red Panda, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

The red panda is a cousin of the raccoon, while the more famous giant panda is more closely related to bears. These engaging animals make their home in mountain forests and bamboo thickets, where they live in small groups or alone. They are active mainly at night and spend their days sleeping in trees, out of the reach of most predators. Red pandas are primarily vegetarians, with bamboo shoots a favorite food, but they also eat small animals.

The number of wild red pandas is declining as their bamboo forests are cleared for human development.
sourced from www.stlzoo.org

This May will be two years of my having my Nikon D90 and for all the times I've been visiting the St. Louis Zoo with my camera, I've never seen the Red Panda. Finally, on Monday I was up at the Zoo early in the morning and this beautiful girl was out. I spent quite a long time shooting photos here. At this point she had actually noticed me there and almost posed for the photo. This was a great day for shooting at the Zoo, I'll be sharing more from this day for sure.

Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Enjoy!

Pure Style

Pure Style, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

I know that not everyone gets into the vinylmation, but I wanted to show off my new display. My girlfriend got me these cubes and so now we can see them all at the same time. I think what I really like about these vinyls is that the artist is limited to the one shape. It shows how limitless the creative mind can be. Of course the tie back to Disney doesn't hurt either. Our bedroom is north facing so I shot a 7 bracketed shot that I fused with exposure fusion in Photomatix. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

Beautiful First Sight

Beautiful First Sight, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

In trips past, the Magic Kingdom has always been our go to park for the first park to visit when we get on property. Over the past couple of trips, we have been spending more and more time in Epcot Center.

I made an ADR for San Angel Inn on the first night of our last trip so that Epcot Center would be our first park of the trip. Even better than that was that it was right at the beginning golden hour when we got there. There's not much better than Spaceship Earth during golden hour, accept Spaceship Earth at night.

Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Enjoy!