POTD - A Wider Doorway

A Wider Doorway, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This was taking inside the Temperate House at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The arch doorway and the gate were most effected by the fish effect. I liked the vines and sun peaking over at the top. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Arching Through

Arching Through, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This is probably my favorite shot from my first day of shooting with my Rokinon fish. I was very proud to finally get this shot, because I spent a good deal of time trying to get and get it just right. These arches are at the top of the fence, so I had to blinding hold my camera at the top of the fence with one arm and try. It's still not 100% straight and centered, but I still really like it, and you all know how I feel about MOBOT and the Chihuly glass. Please let me know what you all think, any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Golden Festival Dreams

Golden Festival Dreams, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

I'm back and still alive everyone! It's been a whirlwind week for me. I had my last day at Sears on Thursday, we found out we were moving this weekend instead of the middle of May, and finally today was my first day at my new job at Creve Coeur Camera. The move went swimmingly as far as moves go. My first day was exciting for the new camera knowledge I will be introduced to along the way at this job. I will say though, through all this craziness and for how busy I was, I really missed being here on Flickr and sharing some photos.

Of course when I miss Flickr, I start thinking of photos from Disney, so that's what I went with for today. This is from golden hour the first night of our last trip, which was just at the start of Flower and Garden Festival. This bed and the bed over by the Imagination Pavilion were the biggest highlights for me personally. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Ottoman Eye

Ottoman Eye, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Taken from the Ottoman Garden in the Missouri Botanical Garden, this dome just begged for attention from the fisheye. This was one of those compositions I had thought about doing in fish so many times before I had it. It's a little unsettling when you look at it for a while, because it looks like an eye... and it's starring at you. I took a good while to line up and center this, so any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 Disney Trip Report - Day 8

First off, I will apologize for this update coming a bit later than anticipated. We found out that instead of moving into our new house in the middle of May, we are moving in this weekend. So instead of three weeks to pack, we've had three days. On top of that, my last day here at Sears is Thursday, and I start at Creve Coeur Camera on Monday. Needless to say, I've been pretty busy lately.

Now then, onto today's post. Sadly, this was our last morning on property. We didn't have park tickets today since we had to get on the road back home. Usually when we have days like this, and today was no different, we get our last little drops of Disney magic from Downtown Disney before we go home.

POTD - Sun Soaked In Tall Glass

Sun Soaked In Tall Glass, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This shot started out as a fisheye composition, but after looking at it for a while, I saw something better. I did some cropping and came up with this. I was drawn to the isolation of just the sun, blue sky, and the Chihuly arch standing out and basking in the sun. I know how many shots of these arches and the Chihuly pieces at MOBOT that you've all seen on my photostream, so I hope you aren't getting bored. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Curved Mosaic Garden

Curved Mosaic Garden, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This was taken inside the Temperate House at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT). As most of you know, I love using wide angle lenses to allow me to get extremely close to something and get my whole composition in the frame. The 8mm fisheye is definitely no different. One thing I have noticed about MOBOT in shooting with the fish, is that they pay very good attention that everything is lined up and centered together. It was pretty easy to get this one lined up right. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Sun And Shade

Sun And Shade, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This is from the Japanese Garden section MOBOT. The curves in the combed rock garden compliment the fish eye well, just like the domes of flowers here too. I was also fairly happy with the half sun, half shade composition and how it turned out. So what do you all think? I'm still learning this lens so those of you who've had one for a while, I'm talking to you! :) Enjoy!

POTD - Spring Flower Sunday

Spring Flower Sunday, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Keeping with the theme of our "aquarium" tour of the Missouri Botanical Gardens (MOBOT) with my new rokinon fisheye lens. These were freshly planted pansy flowers. I was able to get a nice low, close, and wide angle on the bed, and I was able to get that sun in the corner too. I have to say I was a bit worried about how this lens would preform shooting into the sun, being a fisheye, but it handled it quite well. I know I'm loving stretching the curves at angles with this lens, I think it's really going to compliment my style and cannot WAIT to get this lens to a Disney park. Please let me know what you all think as any comments or suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Entire Chinese Garden

Entire Chinese Garden, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This shot is evidence of just how wide this lens actually is. This is just about the entire Chinese garden from MOBOT. It took a lot of waiting on the breeze to calm down and moving here and there just slightly to get those sun rays. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Fishing In China

Fishing In China, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Yesterday, I was finally able to have a good weathered day off work so I could go shooting with my new Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 AE fisheye. I went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens (MOBOT). I already had several spots in mind for MOBOT that would be perfect in fisheye, so I ended up taking quite a few shots in the couple hours I was there. This is the gateway to the Chinese garden, I learned very early on just how wide this lens actually is. Later in the morning, I was fighting my shadow from being in my photos. It's also more critical with the fisheye lens to be straight on, level, and center with your composition. Unless your going for an extreme angle, which I'm do often, it's kind of tricky at getting things perfectly straight and level. This is literally my second official photo with this lens, it's a 9 shot hdr processed in photomatix with exposure fusion. Please let me know what you all think as suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 Disney Trip Report - Day 7

Today would be our last day in the parks, as we were leaving to head back home the next day after spending the morning at Downtown Disney. We were heading to Animal Kingdom this morning to get in some more attractions that we didn't do earlier in the week.

POTD - Leading Lights

Leading Lights, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This was as we walked up towards Expedition Everest, just before the sun exploded from behind those clouds and made for a great morning of shooting. I really liked the lights and prayer flags helping the eye back to the beautiful shaded mountain. Please let me know what you all think, as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Melody Time

Melody Time, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Another one of my favorite gators in the world! lol. I had an absolute blast shooting photos of these guys, and I can't wait to get back and visit so I can shoot more photos. This was taken with my ultra wide angle, but cropped back to be a little better composition. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

One Year Later - 2011 Disney Trip Report - Day 6

I have to put a little bit of a heads up on today's post, and that's to settle in, it could be a long one. Today was the day that Jenea and I were going to Epcot to attend the Disney Photography Blog's 2011 Flower and Garden Festival Meet. This all started when I was asking on Twitter if anyone else was going to be down at the same time we were. That of course got Cory Disbrow's attention, probably because he hadn't been in the parks in like a month and that's just crazy talk! Anyway, Cory was a pretty easy sell on the idea that we could do a little meetup to shoot the beautiful color around Epcot.

We ended up with nine people total in the meet and we met up right under Spaceship Earth. I remember my parents and even Jenea to some extent wondering why we were going to shoot photos we people we'd never met before. The way I looked at it though, is I already knew all the people I met in person that day through our conversations on Flickr and various other social networks. This was just putting faces to names, and those names we Cory Disbrow, Ryan Pastorino (I know! I knew them before they were famous podcasters! LoL), Jeff Krause, Katie Marino, Andreea Radu, both Larry White and his wife Kathy, Jenea, and myself.

POTD - Clocks And Crafts

Clocks And Crafts, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Today's shot is very fitting as the next day in my trip report is from the day this was taken. Shooting with some great photographers at the Disney Photography Blog's Flower and Garden festival meet. We had a lot of fun and I got a lot of neat shots once the sun finally came out. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Things May Get Fishy

Things May Get Fishy, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

In catching up on my blog reading, I came across Tom Bricker's review of the Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens. Some of you may know, I've been looking at this lens for quite a while. When I read Tom's review, I found out that they had released another version of this lens that has an auto exposure chip built in so it will meter on my D90. My new lens is something I already know is going to be a great addition to my bag. The couple of test shots I've taken with it around the house are a lot of fun so I can't wait for some good weather on a day off to get this bad boy outside. :) I know a lot of great photographers shoot with this lens, I hope I can do it justice.

Disney Photo A Day Trivia Contest

I've eluded to this contest for about a week, so it's time to get to it! I've been graciously provided a pair of promo codes of the "Disney Photo a Day" iOS app where you are presented with a beautiful new Disney photo everyday. I decided the best way to give these out on the site is to have a little contest.

POTD - Down In The Briar Patch

Down In The Briar Patch, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Here we have a nice, sunny blue sky shot of Splash Mountain. It was getting very sunny this early afternoon, but still had a great sky. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!