When the ladies got back from the Grand Floridian, they told us all about the nice time they had at the Tea, and I tried to take some notes on what they did and what tea they had. Other than that, we just took it easy and enjoyed animal watching from the balcony.
This picture was taken at 6 pm.
And this one was taken at 6:30&so I guess we just hung out for a while.
James and I went down to Community Hall and played Tron on the Wii. Around 7:30, Judy called me to tell me that shed cooked a frozen pizza and it was ready, so we went back to grab some dinner. After that, we did some laundry and folded the ponchos that wed hung on the doors to dry.
I went down to Joharis to buy a post card stamp and while I was down there I stepped out to the animal viewing area. It was really nice out and animals were bedding-down, so I decided that it was time to break out the night vision goggles once I got back to the room to see what critters were out down at our end of the savanna. When I got to the room, the kids said that there were giraffes right outside our window. I quickly got the night vision goggles working, and we had fun passing them around for everyone to see. I think my dad kind of enjoyed trying out the new technology, and they worked fairly well for something at the lower-end of the price range. I figured that we wouldnt be able to see out very far into the savanna with them, but they did fine for the giraffes that were nearby.
Since the giraffes were being so still, I thought Id try taking a picture using the tripod. I started out by trying a 10 second exposure time.
These were taken at about 9:40 pm, so it was plenty dark out, but I didnt use any flash. I just counted on getting enough light with the long amount of time that the shutter was open, and that the giraffes would hold still. I tried reducing the exposure time a little. This one was for 8 seconds.
I put the zoom lens on and dialed the exposure time down to 4 seconds.
It was now almost 10 oclock and everybody else was getting ready for bed, but since I had the camera all set up on the tripod I thought Id go down to the firepit and see what pictures I could get.
I started by setting up near the firepit, shooting back toward the lobby window. For this one, the shutter was open for 2.5 seconds.
Then I experimented taking pictures of the fire. I tried different exposure times, and with using the flash or not. I think my favorite is the 1/6 of a second, no flash.
1/13 of a second, no flash.
1/5 of a second, no flash.
1/6 of a second, no flash.
1 second, with flash.
1/3 second, with flash.
5 seconds, with flash.
While I was taking those, a young boy, probably 8 or 10 years old came over to watch me. Im sure he thought I was crazy.
Then I moved over to try another shot of the lobby window. 1.3 second exposure.
I tried to get artsy by getting low and taking a picture of the chair with the window behind it. 2 second exposure. I wish the chair had been in focus. Stupid chair.
Then I took a closeup of the chair with a 3.2 second exposure.
And the Lobby window, a little closer. 3.2 second exposure.
From there, I moved up to the balcony animal-viewing location to take a picture of the library, with a 1.3 second exposure.
It was kind of funny, because there was a big ugly blower in there, in that space between the table and the light in the foreground. I guess theyd gotten rainwater in there with all the rain wed had and they were trying to dry the place out. Well, it wasnt running when I was there and I didnt want it in my picture, so I moved it out of the frame, and then moved it back after I was done.
After that, I thought that Id go out front and take another picture of the porte cochere, like what Id taken a few years ago. I started out with an exposure time of 3.2 seconds. Someone was sitting near the doors, but that was okay since this was just a test shot.
I tried reducing it to 2 seconds, but got some ghostly images as people walked through.
This next one was a 1 second exposure, and that gave me the warm colors that I was looking for, but I still had people in the picture. It was just too busy of a night to take pictures out front.
It was going on 11 oclock by this point, so I gave up and went to bed.
For comparison, heres the one I took back in 2009. I guess I took the picture from just a little bit closer.
Up next: A friends mini trip report
Link to next chapter
WHAT DO I WIN? 
That's what vacation is all about!
I love to look around at GF!
You know the way you do from your own TR!!!
For the location and ambience, I think it's not too bad of a splurge. I think it was worth it for the memories they made.
I'm Glenn's favorite!!! 
And I even got my additional Eagle Eye point you promised me!!! 
