First ever pix of fireworks at Animal Kingdom

[Marlton Mom]

I'd like to share with you this never seen before picture of the fireworks show at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Please note I used the most advanced and currently trendy method of applying multiple Neutral Density filters to my lens to preserve the most true to life color of the fireworks at Animal Kingdom.

Next I photoshopped this baby to death to make sure that no highlights or low lights were missed.

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the one and only photograph of the fireworks at Animal Kingdom...... Enjoy!!!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5578417828_1f81ab87ec.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marlton-mom/5578417828/)The fireworks at Disney's Animal Kingdom! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marlton-mom/5578417828/) by Marlton Mom (http://www.flickr.com/people/marlton-mom/), on Flickr

;)
~Marlton Mom
PS Happy April fools day!!

[PrincessInOz]

Marlton Mom LOVE LOVE LOVE :lovestruc that fireworks shot! Just superb and about the best fireworks shot I've seen on the boards. I hope you don't mind, but I checked out the exif and have taken careful note of the settings for the next time I'm at DAK so that I can recreate the shot.

Thanks in advance.

princess::upsidedow

[disneyboy2003]

Looks like it was a BLAST! :thumbsup2

[Golf4food]

I think you must have mis-timed it between blasts... :)

[VVFF]

Well your problem was obviously your shutter speed, 1/1000th a second is WAY too short to pick up on those beautiful bursting shells above AK.

[boBQuincy]

Sure, the HDR is impressive but I would like to see the "straight out of the camera" version to compare. ;)

[Groucho]

Not to be a wet blanket, but they have had fireworks at Animal Kingdom. :) The Expedition Everest grand opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQphZkhjUDc) had a fireworks show. Granted, it was relatively low-key, but still a good amount of explosions and noise. I wonder what they did to not upset the animals... or maybe they decided that that corner of the park had few enough animals to be able to do it without bothering them.

OK, still, it's a good joke. :thumbsup2

[disneyboy2003]

Is that a hidden Mickey I see? ;)

[TheImagineer]

So awesome!

[disneyboy2003]

What lens did you use? :confused:

[Marlton Mom]

What lens did you use? :confused:

Well since I was too lazy to actually go to the park for this magnificent fireworks show I shot it from the comforts of home using the Telephoto AF-S Nikkor 600,000mm f/4G ED VR Autofocus.

Thank god this lens had image stabilization! It was quite hefty coming in at a whopping 40 pounds so just hefting it up to the tripod I was using was an adventure. The first tripod I tried to mount it to collapsed under the weight and shattered the lens so I just wrote it off and ordered another one from B and H lickety split. The upside is that I now have enough points on my Disney Visa to book a month long stay at club level at the Grand Floridan!

I took special care to reinforce my new 2 pound carbon fiber tripod with lumber supports from Home Depot so the second attempt at mounting my new lens was way more successful than the first. Yeah sure, the tripod now looks like something that was hand crafted by the Beverly Hillbillies but I was never much for style anyway.

I had a number of technical difficulties when shooting the Animal Kingdom fireworks picture from Marlton N.J.. Air traffic control must have been having a busy night because I found my self having to shoot around a number of planes and the occasional UFO that wandered into my shot.

I'm pleased to say that all my hard work and dedication paid off in such a marvelous capture of the nightly fireworks at AK. At one time I was considering publishing a book on my shot of the Fireworks at Animal Kingdom. I contacted Vanity Press and they showed tremendous interest! They even agreed with me that having more that just the one picture would dilute the artistic intent of the book, there by reducing it's popular appeal. I'm sad to say however that we could not come to an agreement on shipping charges and the project came to a BITTER end!

I don't recommend that any of you try such technically difficult shots as photographing the nightly fireworks show at the Animal Kingdom. Once it's been done, and done SO WELL I might modestly add, it's just not worth doing again.

~ Marlton Mom

[disneyboy2003]

Well since I was too lazy to actually go to the park for this magnificent fireworks show I shot it from the comforts of home using the Telephoto AF-S Nikkor 600,000mm f/4G ED VR Autofocus.

Why didn't you get the f/2.8 version of this lens? The larger f/2.8 aperture is better for low-light photography. :rolleyes:


The first tripod I tried to mount it to collapsed under the weight and shattered the lens so I just wrote it off and ordered another one from B and H lickety split.

Lol! That's what happens when you buy your first tripod from Walmart or Best Buy. ;)

Lesson learned: when buying tripods, do it right the first time, and spend a little extra buying a high-quality, sturdy tripod. :thumbsup2

[millys]

For best results - view on black....:rotfl2:

Milly

[Marlton Mom]

Why didn't you get the f/2.8 version of this lens? The larger f/2.8 aperture is better for low-light photography. :rolleyes:


Jeez! Waddaya think I am, made of Money?? The F/ 2.8 version was wayyyy to expensive. I could only afford the consumer version of this lens.

~MM

[Evad]

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see anything.................... must be a monitor problem...

[Marlton Mom]

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see anything.................... must be a monitor problem...

Obviously you are not using a calibrated monitor. Try downloading the free monitor calibration software from Sweden. The Lirpa Sloof site will be sure to have it.

Here's the link http://dt-goodbadugly.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-lirpa-sloof-day.html

I hope that 'helps'.

~MM

[Experiment_626]

After all that effort, it must just kill you that your white balance was obviously set incorrectly. That just really jumps out at me and ruins an otherwise-perfect image.

Scott

[NateNLogansDad]

Is there a good place around here to rent that lens?

Can I borrow that picture for my scrapbook?

[Marlton Mom]

Is there a good place around here to rent that lens?

Can I borrow that picture for my scrapbook?

Now you know I would lend you the lens, heck I would even lend you the Beverly Hillbilly tripod. Hopefully you will have access to a pick up truck with reinforced suspension. I've stated before that the lens weighs 40 pounds but the reinforced tripod is coming in at around 400.

As for borrowing the picture..... I'm not too sure about that. The Smithsonian has contacted me about including it in their scrapbook so there may be a conflict of interest.

~MM

[Evad]

Obviously you are not using a calibrated monitor. Try downloading the free monitor calibration software from Sweden. The Lirpa Sloof site will be sure to have it.

Here's the link http://dt-goodbadugly.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-lirpa-sloof-day.html

I hope that 'helps'.

~MM

Thanks so much that helped a lot, I can now see it.... Al I can say is WOW!!!!!! Well done!!! :thumbsup2:thumbsup2

[disneyboy2003]

After all that effort, it must just kill you that your white balance was obviously set incorrectly.

I think the white balance was set to "black". ;)

[NateNLogansDad]

Now you know I would lend you the lens, heck I would even lend you the Beverly Hillbilly tripod. Hopefully you will have access to a pick up truck with reinforced suspension. I've stated before that the lens weighs 40 pounds but the reinforced tripod is coming in at around 400.

As for borrowing the picture..... I'm not too sure about that. The Smithsonian has contacted me about including it in their scrapbook so there may be a conflict of interest.

~MM

Aren't you the best!!! :banana:


I feel bad for the guy sitting underneath my carry on in October. :laughing:

[coloneldebugger]

wow those are awesome. i can't believe they don't use something that sparkly at MK.


or maybe it's just the book my 2 year old just whacked me in the head with.

[Jerry@dvcstore]

Good Stuff. Very Nice. :thumbsup2

[budmonster]

What a beautiful shot...it brought me to tears! :sad1:

[ThurlFan]

Can you recommend a point and shoot that will let me capture the same picture? Love the result but I'm a total klutz when it comes to gizmos.

Oh, and I have a budget of $83

[Marlton Mom]

Can you recommend a point and shoot that will let me capture the same picture? Love the result but I'm a total klutz when it comes to gizmos.

Oh, and I have a budget of $83

Why YES! I CAN recommend an affordable point and shoot that will provide the top notch technical dexterity required for these super-duper fireworks shots.

I recommend the Canikax camera, which in all likely-hood can be found in your junk drawer. You just gather up all your old cameras, take apart the best parts from each camera and scotch tape them all together for your brand new Canikax!

The best part about this camera is that it winds up costing JUST UNDER $83, with most of that going for scotch tape, so it's a win win proposition for sure.

Reduce, Reuse, recycle! Try the Canikax point and try to shoot camera, available in closets and junk drawers near you.

~Marlton Mom

[Luv2Scrap]

Best fireworks thread ever! :worship: