DON'T Read This TRIP REPORT If You're a Princess Hater!

[kathymu501]

With 3 grand daughters waiting to go to Disney how could I not like the Princeses Grand Daughter is into Snow White.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Hey there!

Not sure if I commented before but I've been reading along!

Those dresses are all GORGEOUS!!!! The Belle one is my favorite I think. It's beautiful!!!!!

 

[rndmr2]

12/16/10 Continued:

Any guess where we were headed first???????

I just started your TR yesterday (Saturday) and I spend a good part of both days getting caught up but I wanted to jump in to say I just Love this dress!!

I have really been enjoying reading about your Mother/daughter trip, it sounds like you had such a good time and all your daughter's costumes are so beautiful too.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Hey Janet! Just checking in for a quick hello!

Hope you guys had an amazing weekend (and happy belated birthday to your new "adult"!)

I'll be back to answer your flashing questions once I've poured a pot of coffee down my throat.

 

[joy13]

Well, I was in Las Vegas last week and had a great vacation! I'm back and caught up on your report, can't wait to see the rest of the party! I'm not sure if I want to go or not if we go this year. I wanted to update too and say I won the auction on that dress, I was the only bidder!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I should get a difuser. I do twist my flash around, but it just never seems to work right in real life. At home I can bounce it off anything, anytime I put a subject in it seems to have a mind of its own.

The diffuser would help a ton, you wouldn't believe how much it will change your direction of light. It's crazy!

Best rule of thumb is to use the lowest ISO possible. If you can get a lot of light (via flash or window light) you could likely get away with 500/640.

Well, mine only goes from 400 to 800, so I'm guessing 800 is probably the lowest I should go?

Lowest = smaller number. If you can get away with 400, do so. 800 really is where you'll start to see your images "break" or pixelate.

Now, this is all good and fine unless you have a quick-moving subject. You could easily lose your fine focus point using rear curtain.

But for a situation like photos with a character at a meal, would you use rear curtain? Or do you just save this for special situations, like pictures in front of a Christmas tree or something?

I don't think I would. I would be more afraid of the subject getting blurry using the rear curtain sync. I'd rather go normal with a slightly long shutter speed and let the background go out a bit **but you have to find the balance between just enough and too much... you can easily put too much "motion" in the image if your background blurs out too much.

For example... we got yelled at by a Photopass photog because we "moved" when he was taking a shot of us at night near Cindy's Castle. He shot the flash off first and was afraid if we moved that we would be blurred. He didn't know the rules well enough to know that we would be okay. Had he done rear curtain sync, you would have seen more movement by us because of the pre-lit ambient light from Crystal Palace. By flash first, that overpowers the pre-existing ambient light so only the background would continue to "burn" into the film.

Like E said, the fill part is just that... it's filling in the parts that aren't lit enough.

For example, you want to take a picture of Katie on the beach with a GORGEOUS sunset behind her. If you were just to put the camera into auto mode, the camera would expose for the bright sky and sun behind her, leaving her completely in the dark (a silhouette). To properly expose for Katie, you would expose the camera for a stop below the correct exposure for the sun and sky, and then use a flash to "fill in" the proper exposure on her face.

Does that make sense?

Well, I can make sense of it sitting here reading through it. But I get all flummoxed when I'm actually trying to decide settings in real time. So sometimes I still just throw it in program mode and dial the flash down a bit.

Practice! Practice! Practice!!! I will also throw out several practice shots ahead of time so I'm "set" unless the light changes.

Originally Posted by kwitcherkicken99

I try to bounce light when I can, especially on the verticals (you should be able to turn the head of your flash upward and on an angle) but if I can't bounce the light, I still angle the flash toward the ceiling slightly to knock down some of the intensity. You may have to adjust your exposure slightly, but it can help at times.

So let's use CRT as an example. There's a really high oddly shaped ceiling. Would you just use your flash directed square at the subject?

1900 PF is different. I think there's a fairly uniform ceiling, but I'm not certain of that. If it is, would you do your character shots bouncing the flash off the ceiling?

For CRT, I'd use some kind of diffuser over the flash head, pointed directly at my subject (similar set up to Akershus in a way). I used my little pull down diffuser that's already on my flash. It's not much but it helps even out my fore- and background.

At 1900PF, I'd probably try to bounce off the ceiling unless it cut my exposure WAY down. Then I'd either use a bounce card or some kind of a diffuser.

Found it... I've seen variations of this exact same thing, but here it is.

I've seen a number of photographers with what looks like a notecard strapped to the flash just pointed up. Will that do enough to bounce the flash toward people out in front of you?

That's the frugal version. I fashioned one myself with a bit of cardboard, white cardstock, and duct tape. I hold it on the flash with electrical tape.

Thank you so much for patiently answering all my tons of questions!

No problem at all!

If you get a chance, could you pick a couple of flash scenarios and walk me through your decision making process (in terms of camera settings and flash usage)?

I'll have to think on these a bit. Any particular situation(s) you are seeking?

 

[jenseib]

Thanks..that info helps and I will getting a diffuser before the next trip

Janet, my external flash is the 430EX.

 

[AGPrincess]

LOVE this costume! Disney should use these as promotional pics for the tea party, your DD looks so perfect -- especially the one of Alice curtseying to her, lol! The holiday Belle costume is amazing as well. Can't wait for more!

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

LOVE this costume! Disney should use these as promotional pics for the tea party, your DD looks so perfect -- especially the one of Alice curtseying to her, lol! The holiday Belle costume is amazing as well. Can't wait for more!

I agree!

 

[basketkat]

I agree!

I carry the motion!!!!!

 

[llaxton]

Kind of off subject here but I have yet to find the perfect camera bag for DW what are you using?

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks a lot, that is very nice of you!



I hope so too! I would love to meet a lot of characters!



Well, that explains everything!



I can't wait for the trip report to be continued!

Many thanks! Sorry I've been slow to update again. Things were just way too busy on the homefront! I'm working on my next batch of photos right now!

I have to add that I shot all my Easter shots in Raw today. Now to see what I can do with them. I have to admit most were not taken with much care or thought though.

Hey Jen! Did you figure out how to get the RAW images converted so you can use them? Sorry I wasn't much help. I'm still feeling my way through this. Lightroom3 just has me spoiled. It's really user friendly, and easy to convert to JPEG when I'm done. I have a massive book to help me learn the myriad of tiny little things I can do with it.......... but honestly, it was easy to sit down on day 1 and and start making important adjustments even without the book.

I just found your TR tonight and I read the whole entire thing I can't wait for more updates!

I can't believe you make all of those dresses. Oh my Goodness they are so legitimate. That really is fantastic!

Also, you are an EXCELLENT photographer! The pictures of all of the parades and fireworks are phenomenal. WOW!

Thank you so much!

And............

Glad to have you along!

With 3 grand daughters waiting to go to Disney how could I not like the Princeses Grand Daughter is into Snow White.

We love Snow White here too. After all, she was the original Disney Princess!

 

[jenseib]

I did get them converted...but I have to say I didn't see a difference in any of my raw pictures. Actually most of the Easter ones were awful. And with lightroom I couldn't figure out how to remove noise. Maybe in 1 the feature just isn't so good.

 

[mom2rtk]

Hey there!

Not sure if I commented before but I've been reading along!

Those dresses are all GORGEOUS!!!! The Belle one is my favorite I think. It's beautiful!!!!!

Hi! and welcome aboard!

Many thanks for the kind comments! I've wanted to do that Belle for years. I'm really glad I finally did! We've been kicking around when to take our next trip. Katie says she wants a few costumes, but I'm actually having a hard time coming up with new ideas!

I just started your TR yesterday (Saturday) and I spend a good part of both days getting caught up but I wanted to jump in to say I just Love this dress!!

I have really been enjoying reading about your Mother/daughter trip, it sounds like you had such a good time and all your daughter's costumes are so beautiful too.

Many thanks for the kind words and

I have really loved our mother/daughter trips. It's just a different kind of bonding than you get when everyone is along.

Hey Janet! Just checking in for a quick hello!

Hope you guys had an amazing weekend (and happy belated birthday to your new "adult"!)

I'll be back to answer your flashing questions once I've poured a pot of coffee down my throat.

Thanks! We did have a great weekend, but man it went fast!

Robbie turned 18 and enjoyed his special family dinner out at the Hibachi restaurant on the Plaza here in KC.

But I have to say, the years when Easter bumps up against one of the boys' birthdays are not my favorites. Too much fun all at once is just not a good thing. This Easter Bunny just gets too tired........

Well, I was in Las Vegas last week and had a great vacation! I'm back and caught up on your report, can't wait to see the rest of the party! I'm not sure if I want to go or not if we go this year. I wanted to update too and say I won the auction on that dress, I was the only bidder!

I'm glad you had a great vacation. We have been through Vegas a few times, but always on our way to go somewhere else. You can read about one of those "adventures" in my other trip report linked below....... We have driven to the west coast and back 4 times in the last 6 years. We usually go through Vegas with great intentions of doing this or that, but are usually behind schedule by then and end up skipping most of what we had planned. My favorite time was when we got stopped on the highway about half an hour outside Vegas for 2 1/2 HOURS with the car thermometer reading 126 degrees...... Ah, the memories.........

Congrats on winning the dress! It was SO pretty!

 

[mom2rtk]

The diffuser would help a ton, you wouldn't believe how much it will change your direction of light. It's crazy!

I have had one of these for some time and really like it!


Lowest = smaller number. If you can get away with 400, do so. 800 really is where you'll start to see your images "break" or pixelate.

I've been going with a higher ISO in an attempt to get more background light into the photos. I seem to think that at the lower ISO's, the subject is well lit, but the background seemed darker. Is that not the case? Or is it perhaps that I just needed to adjust my shutter speed or aperture to allow for that ambient light instead of the ISO????????


I don't think I would. I would be more afraid of the subject getting blurry using the rear curtain sync. I'd rather go normal with a slightly long shutter speed and let the background go out a bit **but you have to find the balance between just enough and too much... you can easily put too much "motion" in the image if your background blurs out too much.

For example... we got yelled at by a Photopass photog because we "moved" when he was taking a shot of us at night near Cindy's Castle. He shot the flash off first and was afraid if we moved that we would be blurred. He didn't know the rules well enough to know that we would be okay. Had he done rear curtain sync, you would have seen more movement by us because of the pre-lit ambient light from Crystal Palace. By flash first, that overpowers the pre-existing ambient light so only the background would continue to "burn" into the film.

Hmmmm......... I'll try that approach next and see how it goes. What is the longest shutter speed you would use in this situation?


Practice! Practice! Practice!!! I will also throw out several practice shots ahead of time so I'm "set" unless the light changes.



I hear you........ I need to fire off more practice shots.

For CRT, I'd use some kind of diffuser over the flash head, pointed directly at my subject (similar set up to Akershus in a way). I used my little pull down diffuser that's already on my flash. It's not much but it helps even out my fore- and background.

What sort of a pull down diffuser do you have? Was it something you added? Or was it like the one you linked earlier for Jen?

At 1900PF, I'd probably try to bounce off the ceiling unless it cut my exposure WAY down. Then I'd either use a bounce card or some kind of a diffuser.

I think the hardest part about all of this is that we go to Disney once a year, if we're lucky, and don't get to practice in similar surroundings in between. Yet they are photos I don't want to take a chance on not getting right.

More test shots at the scene....... I have to keep reminding myself.....


That's the frugal version. I fashioned one myself with a bit of cardboard, white cardstock, and duct tape. I hold it on the flash with electrical tape.



No problem at all!


I'll have to think on these a bit. Any particular situation(s) you are seeking?

Well, how about walking me through the steps you'd take at CRT, either sitting out in the middle with a high, oddly shaped ceiling, or maybe over to the side with lower ceilings, but dark wood all around. Don't recall the color of the ceilings.

Then how about how you would handle the Mickey meet & greet indoors?

Then how about meeting a character under a shady tree?

I'm assuming I'd be using flash in all situations. But how would you approach your settings and your use of flash?

Did I say thank you??????

Thanks..that info helps and I will getting a diffuser before the next trip

Janet, my external flash is the 430EX.

I think that's one of the ones I have. I also bought the newer smaller 270EX. I use it the most because it has a lower profile and it's easier to carry around on the camera at Disney.

I could see going back to the 430EX if I thought it would help though. It does offer more flexibility for bouncing.

Jen, I did use the 430EX when I took pictures of my daughter's basketball team this winter. I was happy with bouncing the flash off the ceiling in our small grade school gym. I even turned the camera vertical and was able to still adjust the flash so I got the full bounce straight up. I was pretty happy with those shots.

LOVE this costume! Disney should use these as promotional pics for the tea party, your DD looks so perfect -- especially the one of Alice curtseying to her, lol! The holiday Belle costume is amazing as well. Can't wait for more!

I agree!

I carry the motion!!!!!

Awwwww........ thanks guys!

And yes, those photos were an awesome gift to find, especially since we went into the experience assuming it would be just like the other 2 times she went.

 

[mom2rtk]

Kind of off subject here but I have yet to find the perfect camera bag for DW what are you using?

Hi Liz!

Funny you should ask. I just took a drive across town yesterday and stopped at a camera store to look for a new camera bag. The problem I have is that everything I find that is big enough to hold my stuff is too big to carry! I'm still struggling to find just the right one.

I did buy a Lowepro slingshot 202 right before this trip thinking it would be perfect. But I quickly found out, even before the trip, that I hated the sling style. I loved the side access to the bag, but hated having it sling over one shoulder. It hurt my back on a short outing to a cross country meet. It just didn't distribute the weight well enough.

So at the very last minute I ditched the new bag and went to Disney with my old standby..... my cheap $15 regular backpack from Wal-mart. I've used it for years and would keep using it, but the padding on the shoulder straps has squished down so bad it now cuts into my shoulders. I put the lenses I want to carry into individual lens pouches and keep them in one compartment. I don't put the camera away much, but when I do, it's roomy enough to just sit on top of the lens pouches. There's also room for autograph books, rain ponchos, etc.

But here I am again..... right where you are....... hunting for the perfect bag.

I do recommend going to a camera store and trying out some of the bags before you buy.

I did get them converted...but I have to say I didn't see a difference in any of my raw pictures. Actually most of the Easter ones were awful. And with lightroom I couldn't figure out how to remove noise. Maybe in 1 the feature just isn't so good.

Jen, the real value of shooting in RAW comes from the flexibility RAW gives you in editing them. For example, if I shoot a picture and then find out it was underexposed...... there's a LOT I can do with that RAW image to fix it. If it's a JPEG already, there's SOME I can do to fix it, but not nearly as much.

Also, if you shoot in JPEG and the white balance is off, it's far harder to fix. With RAW, the white balance isn't set until you export it as a JPEG.

I know you're trying to work with what you have, but you really ought to at least try the 30 day free trial of LR3 before you give up on it.

I think RAW is perfect for where we are.... desiring to learn more about photography, but not experienced enough at it yet to be certain of what we're doing. Experts can shoot JPEG in the camera and stand a great shot pun intended......) at getting it right. I am at a point where the latitude I have with RAW helps me get it right AFTER the fact.

 

[mom2rtk]

12/16/10: Continued

Once we had our wristbands and took some photos, we were off to Toontown to start the princess line. It was around 6 and the party didn't start until 7. The attendant at the entrance didn’t know what to do with us there so early, but we were ready to get off my feet after a long day, so we just sat down to the side. It didn’t take long for others to get in line behind us. We had fun chatting with the others in line like we always do!

Once it hit 7 PM, they opened the doors to the Princess Room…… and…….. of course no Belle. I told the CM’s just outside the door that we really wanted to see Belle. I was glad they let us wait outside and said they’d come get us when she got there.

Honestly, the character changing thing drives me nuts more than anything at Disney. They don't have THAT many special characters out for MVMCP. They really need to find a way to make Belle available all night. To be honest, if Katie didn't have the Belle dress on, I'm not sure they even would have done that for us.

Finally around 7:30, they came and got us. Belle was there! (I know she's SUPPOSED to be there, but after spending so long looking for Snow White on Tuesday, I wasn't counting on ANYTHING!) We worked our way across the room. First was Cinderella and Prince Charming:

Next were Aurora and Prince Philip:

And finally.......... Belle and the Beast!

We had a ton of fun with this meet & greet. It was well worth the time waiting!

 

[jenseib]

What a great meet. So glad they let you wait.

I know what you mean about the camera bag. Mine cut in my shoulders the whole trip. It has a padded area, but it is not of soft material. I need it to be draped in velvet or silk so it's comfy!

I was really unimpressed with the exposure of a couple of the raw easter shots. I need to play around a little more I guess. But they were unexposed by me and then when I brought them up they had so much noise.
I swear I am going backwards instead of forwards with my shots. I need to get out and practice. I would love to take another class too, but I don't see any reasonable ones offered in my area like there used to be.

 

[TinyDancer]

Great pics, and I love her Belle dress! Gorgeous, as usual!

 

[basketkat]

Great update!!! I love her Belle dress!!! And as always the shots are great!