1st Trip to WDW with DSLR

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

After 8 months with a DSLR and almost a year of learning the fundamentals of photography, my family (DW, DD14, DD8) and I spent 10 glorious days at WDW for our family vacation. I mention this because it was a family vacation not strictly a photography trip so a lot of my shots were snapshots. I did get a few decent shots but nothing fancy. This is only our second trip to WDW with our last one being a 4 day commando raid on each of the parks. I thought that 10 days would be enough this time but there were many things that we did not get to. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort where we stayed before and enjoyed it (pictures later on in the week). We had the DxDP because we like to eat, so we got to sample several restaurants which was one of my most fruitful photography sources. Weather was hot and humid but only rained a few times and did not slow us down that much. On our last trip we avoided any ride that we have here at Disneyland and rode the ones unique to WDW. This time we did as many rides as we could to compare them to DL and I will comment as to the differences especially the lighting of indoor rides.

What I took:
Nikon D90 with MB-D80 battery pack
SB 600 Flash
Nikkor 18-105 (had this on most of the time)
Nikkor 70-300 (only used it at AK)
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (had the most fun with and always had with me)
Nothing fancy tripod that I took on select evenings but did not use as much as I wanted
ML-L3 wireless shutter release

So lets get started. Trip from LA to Orlando.

LAX is a busy airport. Overcast and cool, soon to change.

Taking off from Phoenix I tried to get a shot that would depict our speed but did not come out as well as I wanted. 1/50 f/32 ISO 200

We landed 15 mins early but were stuck on the tarmac in Orlando due to a thunderstorm for almost an hour. We wound up getting to CBR about 10pm but was ready for this sign on the bus. 1/25 f/1.4 ISO 3200

 

[raysnkaysmom]

I'm new to this board...but I hope this is me next year...so I'm anxious to see your pics

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I thought that it would be a good idea to get over the time change on the first day so we had a 8:05am reservation at Tusker House the first morning. Well it sounded good on paper but the family was not to happy with me that day. It was fun to walk through the park before opening but surprised at how many people had the same idea.

Tower outside of Tusker House.

We were the first to be seated in our section. 1/25 f/4.5 ISO 1600

After breakfast we were able to hop on the Safari ride with minimal wait.

The ride itself was not very productive as many of the animals were already seeking shade.

Even the bats were cooling themselves by the time we got to them.

My girls really enjoyed the dance show in Africa.

I already posted my gorilla shot on the Nikon thread. Here is one of one sleeping.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

We were welcomed to Florida with our first thunderstorm as we arrived at Epcot for dinner. We ducked quickly into the Seas.
1/250 f/2 ISO 720

While waiting for our table, chefs at Tokyo.

The infamous onion volcano.

At the end of the meal.

Who would have thought I would like Chocolate Ginger cake.

The girls had to stop by France on the way home at the Perfume shop.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Awesome shots!! My fav is the onion volcano

Did you use your Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for most of the indoor shots?? I'm bringing mine with me for the first time next month and can't wait to use it!

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Awesome shots!! My fav is the onion volcano

Did you use your Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for most of the indoor shots?? I'm bringing mine with me for the first time next month and can't wait to use it!

Thank you Karen. Yes all of the indoor shots are with the 30mm except the shot inside Tusker house. You will have a lot of fun with the Sigma.

 

[annnewjerz]

So glad to see you started your TR, Roger!

Really looking forward to seeing what you pulled off with the D90 since I will be going for my first trip with a dSLR, my D90, in only 50(ish) days!

Can't wait to see more,
Ann

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Ann, between Tom and my report you should be able to get a good idea of what the D90 can do. I really wish that I could have had a UWA lens for the trip but I could not swing it. Will have to save that for next time.

Day 2 we spent the day at Epcot.

1/25 f/5.6 ISO 1600 18mm

1/40 f/1.4 ISO 2000 30mm

This looked so peaceful and for once it was not blaring sun or completely overcast.

We had lunch in Germany which was a lot of fun. 1/60 f/5.3 ISO 1000

After having dinner at Coral Reef we headed around the world. 1/100 f/3.5 ISO 200

We made as far as Morocco again. Seemed like we could never make it past Morocco at night. Although I had my tripod with me I took this with out it. 1/25 f/3.8 ISO 3200.

With the tripod. 4sec f/10 ISO 200

My first time seeing Illuminations was from a terrible spot in Morocco under a tree. Since I have never seen the show I thought I would just practice on the fireworks. 3sec f/11 ISO 200

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Next day we had 8:20 ressies at Crystal Palace. We had to wait 45 mins for a bus and wound up being late for our appointed time. I was really hoping to be there right at 8am to have a somewhat empty Main Street. Oh well.

1/125 f/10 ISO 200

People kept giving me strange looks with my Gary Fong attached to the flash. Everyone wanted to know what the toilet bowl was suppose to be.

Next we went on IASW. I have never been on the one at WDW before and it was a weird experence. I have been on the one that is at DL since 1964 when it was at the NY worlds fair and it just seemed strange. Your canal is a lot wider than ours (same with pirates) and everything is so spaced out. Also the music is much different. Your lighting seemed to be much better than ours though as I never have enough speed for the Italian boy. 1/60 f/1.4 3200.

Haunted Mansion was next and I have to say I like yours a lot better but the lighting in most places is much lower than ours. Here is my terrible shot of the caretaker just for reference. At home ours is much better lite.

There was one shot that is much easier than at DL. I can never get this shot at home. 1/30 f/1.4 3200.

Next we went on POTC. Yours is so much different from ours. Lighting over all is a little better but as mentioned the canal is wider so you are shooting from a greater distance. This shot is one that I could never get at home. 1/60 f/1.4 2200

and this one I would have shot even faster if I had noticed the ISO. Also on ours CJS only sticks his head out every so often. 1/60 f/1.4 1000

at ours CJS is sitting right next to the boat, your feels like he is sitting a mile away. 1/40 f/1.4 3200

 

[handicap18]

Excellent work. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Lookin good, GotHS! Really like the gorilla hands shot.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I am liking these photos... Keep em coming

 

[Todd_H]

Great shots, Roger! Looks like you guys had a great time. Looking forward to seeing more!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

beautiful photos!!

 

[YesDear]

Great shots. It is nice to hear a comparison between the parks!

Enjoy!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

People kept giving me strange looks with my Gary Fong attached to the flash. Everyone wanted to know what the toilet bowl was suppose to be.

Nice shot Roger. I really like the look of that flash diffuser. Which Gary Fong are you using? I assumed it was the lightspere, but noticed they have a ton of different ones, some clear, some white, some they call the cloud lightsphere, one they call the Universal Sytem cloud, etc. Which one do you use?

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Nice shot Roger. I really like the look of that flash diffuser. Which Gary Fong are you using? I assumed it was the lightspere, but noticed they have a ton of different ones, some clear, some white, some they call the cloud lightsphere, one they call the Universal Sytem cloud, etc. Which one do you use?

I have the cloud lightsphere with an additional amber dome which I have not used that much.

 

[Evad]

Very nice Roger!! Keep the pics coming!!

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Thank for the kind comments everyone. Sorry had to go back to work and have not had time to continue. So here we go with day 4 @ HS.

We did not make to the GMR the last time we were there and looked forward to it this trip. I treated it like any other dark ride and the light was pretty good. But vehicle speed added a challenge that POTC or HM don't. Again with the Sig 30 f/1.4.
1/60 f/2 1100

1/60 f/1.4 2200

1/60 f/1.4 600

We next when on the Backlot tour which the kids love.

This is the part that they really love. Not remembering how close the water came I sat on the far side of the vehicle.

This is one was inspired by Mark so I had DD8 take it of me.

Both of my girls are hams and when DD14 was posing, I noticed that DD8 had creeper into the picture.

We when to Sci-Fi for lunch, another first and these speakers use to be a great fascination for me when I was a kid.

The wilderness must be explored!

Unfortunately we had dinner with a large group at Prime-Time Diner so I did not take my tripod this night which I should have so I had to settle for this shot of DD.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Well something I ate at Sci-Fi or Prime Time was tainted and I spent the night praying to porcelain god. We planned on going to BB the next day but I stayed at home to catch up on some sleep. Sorry that I missed the water park but I wondered around CBR while mousekeeping cleaned the room. It was already 10am and it was bright so I did not not expect much. Later in the week I went out before sunrise to get some better shots.

The girls came back and I was feeling better so we headed to Epcot for our groups Grand Gathering that night. On the way we stopped by the Cool Club. I had read that the one from Italy was kind of nasty and was ready.

After our dinner at the Odyssey were taken over to a prime spot for Illuminations. I had only seen the show once before so I was hoping to make the most of it. I grabbed a good spot but I may have been too close. They did come out as good as I had planned because of the bright light from the fireballs.

more tomorrow.....