New Camera? Sounds like a perfect excuse... (Sept 2011) (Completed...Rushed the end)

[Cafeen]

New Camera? Sounds like a perfect excuse for another Disney trip! (Sept 2011)
​

Welcome to the Trip Report. Here at Cafeen Industries, we are constantly working on improving our lengthy walls of text punctuated with pictures. As such, we have created this Trip Report just for you, our loyal customers.

After much note taking (which we may have rushed through, and then stopped after a few days...), we feel that the content included is accurate, potentially humorous, possibly enlightening, and most likely, way too wordy.

Please sit back, relax, get back up, do the hokey pokey, turn yourself around, that's what it's all about, sit back down, grab a drink (for which, you'll likely have to stand back up, walk, and sit back down again), put your feet up, keep arms, legs, and other appendages inside the trip report at some times, and please, no flash photography. Well, really, you can do all the flash photography you want, but taking flash photos of a computer screen doesn't come out very well. Trust me, I've done it.

Description​

So, originally, I was just going to continue the PTR of the same name as my TR. I've decided that I don't like that format. Mainly because it requires the hassle of me PMing a moderator to move the PTR thread, and then new readers have to go though all 3 pages of that thread to get to the TR. That's too much hassle.

What's in the box?​

For your Trip Report reading enjoyment, there will be the usual stories, day to day activities, tangents, food porn, as well as the added bonus of going into detail on some of my better photos. Since this TR is likely to carry around 1,500 photos, I'm not going to go into detail on them all, but I will for some of the ones where I (or you) feel it necessary, interesting, entertaining, or just if I feel like typing more words.

A special note about the photographs - 28 May 2012
You may notice that some of the early photos in the TR (before Post #62 or 63, one of those) have borders while some have the little white tag in the corner. When I restarted this TR, I decided to go through all my trip photos and reprocess. As such, I decided that some should be cut from the collection. These did not get reexported and were left with the little white tag. The reprocessed photos will all have the black (and better looking) border around them. In all, I cut roughly 500 photos from the collection, most of which were either too similar to others, or simply not fit for sharing. Of course, you won't miss those, since you never saw them in the first place!

If you'd like any shooting or processing details on any of the photos, just let me know. Now, I'm, by far, not an expert on either end of the process, but I'll be more than happy to let you know what I did with them .

Table of Contents​

• The PTR (Yes, it has the same name. It was intentional.)
• Welcome to the Trip Report - That's this post so I'm not putting a link.
• Introductions All Around..............................Post #2
• Chapter 1 (Day 1 - 9/22/2011)
  • The Journey......................................Post #3
  • The Arrival......................................Post #3
  • Epcot for Lunch..................................Posts #7, 14
  • Jiko for Dinner..................................Post #22
• Chapter 2 (Day 2 - 9/23/2011)
  • The Anti-Dentist.................................Post #32
  • Cruising The Seven Seas Lagoon...................Post #32
  • It's a Magic Kingdom Morning.....................Posts #40, 46
  • It's Still a Magic Kingodm Morning?..............Posts #57, 62
  • A Midday Break then Back to the Magic............Post #63
  • This is Halloween... This is Halloween...........Post #64
• Chapter 3 (Day 3 - 9/24/2011)
  • Let's all go to the Movies!......................Post #65
  • Zoom Zoom Zoom...................................Post #72
  • Dr. Jones........................................Post #73
  • A "Small" Extra Charge...........................Post #73
• Chapter 4 (Day 4 - 9/25/2011)
  • The Future (World) is Now........................Post #74
  • I walked halfway around the world for this?......Post #81
  • Behind the Seeds.................................Post #84
  • A Mexican Dinner.................................Post #84
• Chapter 5 (Day 5 - 9/26/2011)
  • Morning with the Animals.........................Post #85
  • A Mysterious Guest...............................Post #86
  • Boma, it's what's for dinner.....................Post #87
  • A Hollywood Night................................Posts #91, 92
• Chapter 6 (Day 6 - 9/27/2011)
  • A Bit of a Late Start............................Post #93
  • Hanging at Epcot.................................Post #95
  • High Above the Seven Seas Lagoon.................Post #98
  • Struck Down......................................Post #101
• Chapter 7 (Day 7 - 9/28/2011)
  • Waltzing around the Wilds........................Post #106
  • An Untamed Lunch.................................Post #109
  • Under the Boardwalk..............................Post #112
  • How Illuminating.................................Post #113
  • Recovering from the Trees........................Post #114
• Chapter 8 (Day 8 - 9/29/2011)
  • Another Magical Morning..........................Posts #115, 116, 117
  • Another Epcot Afternoon..........................Post #118
• Chapters 9, 10, 11 (Days 9-11 9/30/2011 - 10/02/2011)
  • An Abrupt Ending (to the TR!)....................Post #119

Disclaimer: While I have all photos exported and uploaded, I will constantly be tweaking as I see areas for improvement. As such, some pictures may change slightly over time. My apologies for confusion caused by this (if any ).

 

[Cafeen]

Introductions All Around​

So, there's not much to introduce...

The Cast and Crew
For starters, there's me. I'm a 32 year old WDWphile. This is trip #12 or 13, not sure which, but it's #3 since I've been what they call a "grown up".

Here I am with some random character:

My Mom also played a role in this trip, as she joined me for the first half again (much like she did last year). I don't have a picture of her that I've processed and that she wouldn't kill me for posting. Since I happen to like breathing (and it's pretty important to do if I want to write this thing), I'll refrain from doing so.

The Details
So, the details of this trip...

If you read my PTR, you'd already know. I really shouldn't repeat them here as that just rewards laziness. However, since I'm also super lazy and would like to be rewarded for it some day, I suppose I'll go over them again and hope that karma gets my back at some future date.

• How? Not sure how to answer this? On my feet?
• Why? Well, I heart Disney World and I bought a new camera in March. Does there need to be another reason?
• When? Ahh, I know this one! Thursday, September 22 through Saturday October 1, 2011.
• Where? Well, other than Walt Disney World, which you all know already (otherwise I'd be in the completely wrong place!), I stayed over at the Coronado Springs Resort (aka CSR) for the third time.
• What? I said that, I STAYED AT THE CSR. (Caps indicate volume, I'm speaking up here so you can hear me!)
• Who? Who's Johnny? Erm, I mean, Me. Mom came along for some. I think I already told you this, I really shouldn't have to keep repeating myself...

Now that I got you all psyched up for the actual trip. I'm stopping at this point for my first 2 1/2 days worth of photos to finish exporting and all that stuff. I'll have to start the upload tomorrow before work, then write the scripts at work (shh) to add them to the database so they'll display.

The Kit​

Since my camera takes center stage, or at least the results of it, I should probably list out the basics of my kit for you all. Or, at least for the ones that care. This represents roughly $1,800 worth of photo equipment, I only have another $3-4k on my Wish List .

• Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T1i body
• Lenses:
  • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF IS "Kit" lens
  • Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 AF IS "Kit" lens (though I did buy separately)
  • Canon EF-S 50mm f/1.8 AF lens (aka "Nifty Fifty")
  • Sigma 8-16mm f/4.0-5.6 DC HSM lens
• Slik Pro II Mini table-top tripod
• All sitting in my Lowepro Fastback 200 camera backpack

Guest Stars​

(Oops, forgot this section when I originally posted...)
In addition to the full cast above, a few other individuals will make special appearances during this trip. Well, not really appearances, since I didn't get a single picture of the people I met, but you get my drift.

• Katmark (Kathy) and Mark
• Simba's Mom
• jesemeca and her dad
• Someone else who's name I either never got, or forgot (that last day was rough on my brain )

I'll fill in those missing things once I figure it out (e.g. they remind me or I actually remember!)

 

[Cafeen]

Chapter 1
The Journey​

They say getting there is half the fun. Well, in this case, not so much. The trip there wasn't bad or anything, but it was pretty boring and far less than half the fun of the whole trip.

However, in our context, the "getting there" can really start once we start planning, and in this case, it was certainly a good portion of the fun. You can skim through the PTR (linked in the first post) for more detail, so I'm not going to get too nitty gritty or anything, but I did have quite the time of planning everything out for this trip. Which was fun.

At any rate, moving on to the actual trip itself... The night before I left I did all my laundry (I don't have that many clothes, so most of my "summer" clothes would be packed (well, for Mobile it's more like "spring, summer, and fall" clothes, since I wear shorts from about March through November ).

I was all packed and set to go by about 10pm or so, which was good as I had a 4am pickup scheduled. I managed to get to sleep around midnight and soon enough the beep beep beep from my alarm was waking me up. Quick shower, dressing into my travel clothes, and packing up my phone charger and I was ready. Cab showed up about 4:07 and I was off.

The airport is close to the house, so by about 4:15 I was getting out and just kinda standing there. The counters were not open yet, so I hung around outside and stuff. Around 4:30ish, the counter opened up and I checked in almost without incident. I did have to work with the agent, as the kiosk wasn't working for me (it was functional, just my reservation needed agent intervention). Unfortunately, I got aisle seats for both flights, not ideal as I prefer the windows by far, but since I got on these flights later, there wasn't much to choose from. I stepped outside again before going through security (it's a non-smoking airport ), and after security I picked up a drink and a thing of Cheez-Its. I figured, if I couldn't get anything to eat in ATL, at least I'd have SOMETHING in my belly.

So, we took off about 6 and I quickly dozed off. I sleep when I travel, always have. It made the drives from NH to FL back in the day a bit easy, and it helps with air travel since it's just so boring now.

Landed at ATL concourse D right next to a nice little smoking lounge, so that came in handy. Quick stop and I was on my way down to A to get the next flight. Again, took off on time and everything was uneventful. There were quick a number of people all going to Disney though, it was pretty nifty. Sleeping ensued and soon enough we were at MCO and my excitement started growing.

I headed to the ME area, with vouchers in hand as always, and then proceeded up the CSR line. I had JUST missed the last bus, so the wait was longer than I've had in the past, and the place was really filling up. Busier than I'd ever seen it, even the CSR line was getting pretty lengthy, something that I'm not used to at all.

Eventually the bus for our area arrived and we all piled in.

The Arrival​

Roughly 45 minutes after walking onto the ME bus, I was there. We were let off at CSR around 12:30pm and I walked right over to the front desk, hopped in the Online Check-in line (1 person in front of me waiting), and then was pulled over to concierge to check in.

After a few minutes, I was checked in and ready to go. They had my building number and floor, but the room wasn't ready yet, so I asked them to leave the parking pass and another ticket for Mom. Dropped my laptop bag off at the luggage room and took a quick break behind El Centro.

All of the following pics were taken using my new toy, the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. I used this lens quite a bit, but due to how my legs were feeling, I didn't get nearly as much low-angle stuff as I had wanted to.





​

After that break, I walked back out front to meet the Epcot bus. Soon enough, it was here and I was on my way to lunch at Epcot...

​

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey there! I'm joining in. Of course, you already know that since I posted that I'm here.

 

[threvester]

Wow..it really is a small world...I just stumbled on this trip report and im 99.9% positive you and your mom sat at a table for two right next to my son and I at Tusker House breakfast on Mon the 26th!! crazy stuff

 

[Cafeen]

Hey there! I'm joining in. Of course, you already know that since I posted that I'm here.

Hey Lisa, thanks for joining in!

I have been lurking on your current TR a little, mainly checked out Lacey's wedding pics and they were beautiful!

Wow..it really is a small world...I just stumbled on this trip report and im 99.9% positive you and your mom sat at a table for two right next to my son and I at Tusker House breakfast on Mon the 26th!! crazy stuff

Haha, possibly. That was the day we went there, and we did sit next to a man and his teenage son there.

That's a crappy blurry picture taken by the handler guy who obviously didn't know how to use my camera (I even set it to Program mode and popped the flash up. All he had to do was focus and fire...)

That's just crazy. If it was you guys, I think I also saw you somewhere else later in the week... but I can't remember where.

Most definitely a small world too, as I saw more than a few people multiple times over the week. Of course, the only ones who recognized me and knew who I was were the couple from the Untamed Lunch I went to. But that's just strange (in a good, "That's Neat" type of way).


---
In other news, I thought I had all my photos processed and started exporting the 1100+ that's left. Then I saw a big gap that I hadn't done... doh. (And by big gap, I mean about 500 of them). I think I've processed, just didn't exclude dupes and bad shots. I do have the first 2 1/2 days done and uploaded though, so I really could be writing another installment here, instead of going on about processing and culling more photos, but what fun is that?

I should be done tonight, allowing me to export overnight (it takes awhile) and then upload tomorrow.

(It's looking like this TR should have right around 1.5k photos... and that's about half of the shots I took.)

---
Edit: OK, NOW I'm exporting the rest of the pics, 1077 more giving a total of 1409 final photos. However, I did play with HDR a bit on my DHS night, so some of the photos in the list are made up of 3 or more... (And those HDR ones came out 100 times nicer than I thought they would. Normally I'm not a fan of too much HDR, but these night shots are pretty nice.)

 

[Cafeen]

Epcot for Lunch​

Continuing on my journey, I was heading toward Epcot at the rate of a bus obeying the local traffic laws and after an uneventful few minutes including a stop at Blizzard Beach (why does the Epcot bus stop there? It'd make more sense for the AK one to, since it's on the way to AK...), we were at Epcot. I finally set foot on the ground at a Disney park for the first time in almost a year, after over 8 months of anticipation!

I took some pictures once I got through security and the turnstiles. I was waiting for the monorail to come by, but it was being slow.

​

Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I stopped this series and walked out of the good shot position, the train came rolling by... go figure. At any rate, I was hungry, but not quite as hungry as I was last year. Those Cheez-Its did their job!

I moved on toward Mexico at a slow, casual pace. I was in no hurry to get there, so I took a break or two and shot a bunch of pictures.

I was really digging the UWA lens at this point...

​

Now, you may notice a distinct lack of sky in these pictures. There's a reason for that, it was ugly. Not scary ugly, just rather plain and looked horribly washed-out in the camera, so I didn't bother.

That did change as I approached World Showcase though.

​

So, I hustled a bit over to Cantina, where my traditional first Disney meal will take place. I, once again, ordered the Tacos con Carne (or whatever they're called) and the Churros for dessert. As I picked up my tray... those dark skies let go. I shuffled over to a table on the edge of the covered area, which was not too bright in hindsight, since the wind was blowing into me, which means the rain was coming with it!

Note how wet the tray and table are... yeah, it was pouring!


​

At least I could sit on the inside chair, and stayed relatively dry.

While waiting for the rain to lessen, I took some more pictures. I was getting a bit bored, but I had no idea how weather resistant my camera bag was, so I wasn't about to risk it.

​

And by "some more" I mean one. Well, I did take more than one, but I took one halfway decent one and a bunch of not so much. Mostly just boring.

So, moving on, the rain slowed and then stopped. I had sat for about an hour, so it was time for a break! I headed on over to the break section near Mexico with the UWA still attached to the camera. I was doing my thing and then saw this little guy munching on the marigolds.

​

I quickly learned that this was the complete wrong lens to use to shoot him (erm, by shoot, I mean take pictures, that's the only kind of shooting that I do). Oh well, they still came out, but I had to get very close. I was only about a foot away from him to take these pictures.

After my break, I walked BACK over to Mexico (I retrace steps a lot, and tend to walk in circles, you'll get used to it).

Here are the pictures I took outside. Note that these were all using the UWA lens still.

You would not believe how close I had to get to this thing to get this picture. I swear I was maybe a foot away from this thing. This made me realize just how interesting using this lens would be!


​

For this next picture, I'll step back and give some photo background. I setup on the top level before the ramps down to the market area. I simply focused on the fountain, placed my camera on the rail, set the self timer, and fired away. I think I took about 5 of these, and this is the one that came out the best. It was taken at 9mm, f/11 for 1.3s. I touched it up a bit in Lightroom, mainly bumping up the color and applying some lens correction like all my photos get. I did want to get both the fountain and the pyramid behind it in the exposure, but that wasn't happening with a single exposure with this lens. At least without blowing out the lights. I still really like how this came out, but looking back, it would have been really neat in HDR as well. Oh well, there's always next trip! Looking at the EXIF that I pull out in my gallery (which you can always get to by clicking on any of the pictures), I don't display the ISO setting, and since my exports are still processing (and will be for a few hours most likely), I can't get to it right now . (Erm, nevermind, I found it in the properties of the JPG on my harddrive, it was at 1600... why did I use such a high ISO when I could have just let my camera sit for longer? I guess it's one of those things that I figured out later in the trip).

After that introduction, I know you're all screaming, LET ME SEE! Here you go.

(Note: If you're looking at this after 5/28/2012 and wondering about the " I did want to get both the fountain and the pyramid behind it in the exposure, but that wasn't happening with a single exposure with this lens." part, and now seeing both the pyramid and the fountain? Yeah, I tweaked it and did some post processing magic on it and was able to pull out the pyramid from the background. I did let the lower lights get blown a bit, but I think it's stronger now than it was.)​

 

[MAD4EEYORE]

Yipee! I made it over! Great start to the TR!

 

[jesemeca]

Might I be one of the Guest Stars you can't remember?

 

[Cafeen]

Yipee! I made it over! Great start to the TR!

Yay! Thanks

Might I be one of the Guest Stars you can't remember?

YES!

I swear I attempted to search for the spelling of the name and it didn't come up. I knew the gist, but my addled brain could not recall the whole thing. (I'll go ahead and fix that momentarily). This is not entirely an uncommon event though, for some reason, I'm just not good with names. It's a matter of record that I have actually, on multiple occasions, forgotten my own.

--

I should be writing up another installment tonight... maybe. We'll see how it goes. I do have to update the database that drives my website galleries, but at least all the photos are processed (to some extent, the selected ones will have a bit more fine work to do) and uploaded (I think, I kicked it off before I left for work, but it's about 2.5GB of files. Judging from past uploads it should have taken a couple hours, but be done by now.

I'm also rattling my brain with vacation plans... I'm more than likely going to head up to Boston, then northern VT and NH over Christmas to spend time with family. And then I'm also looking into renting DVC in late April for a "short" 5 night (or so) excursion for the F&G festival. Alternatively, a trip to POFQ could also be in order for that, no where near as much fooding though. (Yes, food is now a verb).

 

[MEK]

Chapter 1
The Journey​

allan - Can you explain how you get the distorted or collapsed look to these pictures? Is it a property of the lens you are using?

I am not well versed in using my camera and I have a 50/250mm lens with a fstop that goes to 5.6 I think. I also have the 18/50 stock lens. I would like to know how you get this effect.

I hope it makes sense what I am asking.

Fabulous pictures!

Sounds like your trip is off to a great start!

 

[rndmr2]

Glad to see you started the new TR, can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Cafeen]

allan - Can you explain how you get the distorted or collapsed look to these pictures? Is it a property of the lens you are using?

I am not well versed in using my camera and I have a 50/250mm lens with a fstop that goes to 5.6 I think. I also have the 18/50 stock lens. I would like to know how you get this effect.

I hope it makes sense what I am asking.

Fabulous pictures!

Sounds like your trip is off to a great start!

The distortion comes from just how wide the lens itself it. It could be considered a fisheye based on focal length alone, but it's corrected to produce straight(er) lines. Normally, with this lens, if you hold it straight and level to the horizon, you get pretty straight (but super-wide) lines. Angling it up, and putting straight lines on the edges of the field of view, accentuates the distortion a bit, and can be a very fun effect to play with. You'd get the opposite effect if you angled it down (e.g. the bus stop walls would tilt the other way). Just looking through the viewfinder at a straight building, then tilting up and down can really make you woozy. B&H Link to the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM lens for Canon EOS

For more examples (not of mine, but other people's work), check out the Ultra Wide Angle sharing thread down on the photography board. There are some really cool shots in there.

The two lenses you have are probably the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 and the 55-250 f/4.0-5.6, those are the "cheap" kit style lenses that Canon makes. I have both of them as well and really used the 55-250 a ton more than I thought I would on the trip. For a kit lens, it's a REALLY nice piece of glass. In fact, it was my 2nd most used lens (the first was the 8-16 we see here), and probably the one I got the majority of my "Select" shots with (mainly because I'm much better at using Telephoto than I am at using Ultra Wide).

I'm also going to edit in my camera kit (just the basics this time ) into one of the first posts, just so there's a reference.

Glad to see you started the new TR, can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thanks and welcome aboard .

 

[Cafeen]

Chapter 1 - Epcot For Lunch (Cont'd)
​

After my jaunt in Mexico, I headed on over for another of my "Blue Square" breaks. This time it was in Norway. On my way there, I took a few shots of the Stave Church, as well as of the castle. At this point, I was really saying (even more than I was saying before!) about how much fun this new lens would be. It is really that neat to play with!

I did have to process the first 3 a bit more than normal. The sun was pretty bright now and the shadows didn't work well with the dark church. So I bumped up the fill light in Lightroom. It looks a little bit unnatural, but I'm OK with it as these are more of the "Snapshot" type pics that aren't going in my "Selected" group.


You can see the UWA distortion playing out a bit in this image, note how sharply the walls appear to be pressing into the middle.








​

After my break, I headed on over to Mission Space, it was time to ride a ride. By this time, it was going on 3pm, and I hadn't ridden anything yet! Such is the life when your eye is glued to a viewfinder most of the time you're in the park.

Again, proof that I was still learning how to use the lens. If I was smart, I would have switched to either my 18-55 or even gone for the 55-250 here and gotten tighter on the birds. It was a pretty neat happening where all the little sparrow-like birds were perched on the tops of the leaves.


It's tough to see in this image, but you can kind of tell that the wide angle distortion is far less present here. This was taken at 16mm instead of 8mm, that small difference in focal lengths makes a huge difference in field of view and the amount of distortion present. It was one of the things I was hoping for with the lens, and after working with it on my test shots outside of my office, made me very happy.
​

Of course, I rode orange. Nothing less for me. The launch did seem a touch more intense than I remember, but it was still great fun. I did come to find out that my camera bag didn't really fit in the compartment. I squished it in there, but really, I probably should have had a CM hold it or whatever they do for larger bags. (Honestly, I have no idea what I would have done had it definitely not fit...)

After Mission Space, it was time for one of my all time favorites. To be honest, I have NO idea why this is one of my favorites, but it is. I think it's the smell that wafts out of the entrance. There's something about it that just draws me in and comforts me. It also happens to smell like the same sent that local BBQ places put out to draw people in. However, thanks to my Disney trips growing up, when I smell them, I think of Spaceship Earth, rather than when I smell Spaceship Earth, I think of the BBQ places. Suffice to say, the scent doesn't make me hungry.

I fitted my "Nifty Fifty" lens to my camera, and walked through the queue. I'd say that I got in line, but there wasn't one. And speaking of non-existent lines, Mission Space didn't have one either.

So, my first attempt at dark ride photography, and one of the trickiest to photograph even for good photographers netted me a few halfway decent pics on this try. Note that absolutely NONE of these pictures was taken with a flash. Also note that I rejected far more images than you see here. I'd say that these are about 25% of the ones I took, and none of them are great. (Suffice to say, they aren't going into the "Selected" group either).

How I shot these was to basically set the camera to Tv (Shutter priority) and set it to about 1/20s. This allowed the camera to choose the ISO (1600 most of the time) as well as the aperture (f/1.8 most of the time). I think on subsequent rides, I did manually bump it up to 3200 ISO, but those come later in the trip. I also turned the review off, as well as the LCD display. I was being a very good boy!

At first, this was on the cutting room floor. However, I applied some fill light, and some exposure compensation in Lightroom, and it came out pretty good. If you "pixel peep" (zoom way in), it's still a touch fuzzy, but it works ok for sharing on here, even at my "large" size of 2048x1365 (with all my photos, you can get some detail on the shot as well as see this larger size, but clicking on the image and viewing it on my gallery on my personal site).






For some reason, this guy is well lit on the ride, hence, I'll have a few acceptable shots of him. I believe he also represents Pythagoras, and since I'm a numbers nerd, it's suitable.






This is cheating. Taking a picture of bright lights is pretty easy.


I'm not really happy with the blur on this one. In fact, it should probably be on the cutting room floor with some of the others. But, since I exported it, uploaded it, and added it to the databases, I suppose it's going to be shared. Just think of this as one of the best of the worst of this set.


For the next two, I'm sure you can guess where I was. I simply dialed up the shutter time, letting the camera adjust as needed, and snapped. They're a bit abstract, but I think they're pretty neat. It also illustrates how non-smooth the ride is these days.




And finally, here's goofy/creepy looking me. For some reason, I cloned myself in the future. You'll have to view the large image, at full size to get the creepy look. I won't post it here, as the image is pretty big (2048x1365, most of these are 600x400)
​

As I left SSE, I noticed I had a missed call from Mom. She was at CSR! I called her back and her reception was horrible. I finally managed to just hop on a bus and head that way. Of course, she also said she was heading toward the room and she'll meet me there. Small problem though, the text from CSR with my room number, never came in!

 

[KatMark]

I found you. First, I didn't know you were bringing Beth and Emily next trip. When did all of that happen?

Great start. The pictures with the new camera are spectacular! Great job.

 

[Cafeen]

I found you. First, I didn't know you were bringing Beth and Emily next trip. When did all of that happen?

Great start. The pictures with the new camera are spectacular! Great job.

Yay! Welcome Kathy.

Well, it hasn't happened officially yet, but I've been toying with the idea for awhile now, and if I can plan it out financially so I'm not scrambling at the end like I did this year, I should be able to swing it pretty easily.

I'm also toying with the idea of taking a quick trip down for F&G in late April. Will probably do POFQ or possibly renting at BWI (which would be ideal) and spending most of my time in Epcot for the festival. I'm not big into gardening, but as you'll all see later, my photo talent really shines with that subject matter.

The current photos on there are decent, but I wouldn't call them spectacular. Of course, I'm probably my own worst critic. I did learn a ton within the first few days though, that really helped later on.

 

[MAD4EEYORE]

Great pictures! Yippee Mom arrived! My DD and I are toying around with going to F&G. DD was the one wanting to go. I can't wait to see the pictures that insipred a possible trip to F&G.

 

[rachel09985]

I am in! Loving your beautiful pics!! crazy how you managed to make the park look empty! there are no people in your pictures.

For just buying your camera it seems like you know a lot already!!!

 

[Cafeen]

Great pictures! Yippee Mom arrived! My DD and I are toying around with going to F&G. DD was the one wanting to go. I can't wait to see the pictures that insipred a possible trip to F&G.

Here are a couple preview shots. Note that these will be reposted once I get there, but they're on the last few days of my trip, so it'll be awhile.







As you can see, I'm a LOT better at those types of things than I am at the Ultra Wide or other types of shots.

I am in! Loving your beautiful pics!! crazy how you managed to make the park look empty! there are no people in your pictures.

For just buying your camera it seems like you know a lot already!!!

Thank you .

For starters, the parks were pretty empty most days. MNSSHP on the 23rd was packed and a couple of the days leading up to Oct 1st were getting busy, but overall it was the typical end of September time frame. So that helped. The rest is timing, angles, and luck. Some of the night shots is simply due to longer exposure as well. If I'm taking a shot for 15 seconds and someone walks through the frame in 2-3, they aren't going to show up . You'll see a lot of this on my DHS and Epcot nights. (And some especially neat effects dealing with light up toys on my Epcot night).

As far as it being a new camera? While that part is true, I'm certainly not new to photography at all. Even when I was little (8 or 9) I used to burn through film on the little 110 cameras my parents had bought me (much to their dismay). Then about 14 years ago, I picked up a Canon Rebel X 35mm SLR and used that for a good 5-6 years.

These are both REALLY old photos, taken in 2000 with that old SLR. So it's certainly nothing new to me. Unfortunately, most of my old photos are gone from this world, and I only have a tiny smattering of what I once did left.

The fact that my new camera has relatively the same controls as that old one really helped as well. Of course, I'm still learning new tricks and ways to do things, and even evolved a lot during the trip itself.

 

[MAD4EEYORE]

Wow Allan those flower pictures are so clear! You can see each petal no matter how fine it is. I can wait to see the rest of them.