WOW! I am just catching up on your trip report. I have enjoyed it so much! Your costumes are phenomenal!! And your photos are fantastic. I really have enjoyed reading all about your trip. You have just sold me on bringing my DSLR to Disney in August (really, what's another 28 lbs to carry when you already feel you're about to stroke out from the heat)
I was sort of set on bringing my G10, but your pictures are just so incredible that I know I will be sorry if I don't bring the 40D or maybe the Mark II.
Did you use your external flash dialed back for all of your lowlight pictures. The quality is great and I was wondering if you didn't use a flash, if you ran them through noiseware.
Can't wait to see more. By the way, your daughter is absolutely stunning! A classic beauty. No wonder the fairy godmother remembered her.
First, thank you so much for the kind comments on Katie!
It is a pain to carry a larger camera around, especially if you bring multiple lenses and a tripod. Still, I also know that I'll regret not bringing home a bunch of photos of all the beautiful things I see at Disney.
I gave a lot of thought to how to photograph the Christmas parade. I even started a thread in the photography forum here on the DIS last summer to see what all the experts there thought. I had been to the Christmas party in 08 and loved the shots I took with no flash, but knew there were some floats, and some characters that were not lit well enough to get a good shot without some flash. I tried to find that thread to post here, but found it had been merged into an 85 page super thread on flashes.
Anyway, if you want to see the discussion, it's on this page starting with post 1101:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2210346&highlight=mvmcp+mom2rtk&page=74
There was actually a variety of opinions on how to handle it. I didn't come away with a consensus at all. So I decided there was no perfect answer. I watched what was coming toward me and turned the flash on and off depending on the situation. I had the flash exposure compensation dialed back to -1.
I did use the noise reduction function on Lightroom 3 for most of those shots.
So enjoyed seeing the most recent day... All of the amazing holiday
pixie dust!! Sharing in the photos, dresses and character meetings is so great - thanks for the nice break away from my DH and the NCAA tourney games... after 3 hours I had to retreat to my laptop and get caught up! And I love hoops, but clearly not more than WDW
I'm glad you decided to hang out here when you needed a break from the hoops!
Thanks for all the nice comments! Nothing like a little girly fun to break up the sports!
Just found out a bit of trivia about this float. . . Since I know you're a big fan of Magic Kingdom parades, you know this float appears in nearly every parade. I was a CM on the college program in 1993 and I worked in Frontierland so our breakroom was near the parade float storage building. For some reason I remember this float being in that building, so I always notice it when I see it in pictures. The other day I read that it was first used in a parade in 1986 for the WDW 15 year anniversary! I guess Disney has gotten their money's worth out of that float!
Perfect timing on this shot - absolutely beautiful! Can't miss with a shot of Cinderella in front of her castle!
I also love the outlaw Katie photo - your posed shots are stunning as always, but I'm a sucker for the candid and fun shots too
Thanks for the great story of the princess photo shoot. Pixie dust was plentiful that night in the Princess tent - free candy and a room full of princesses and princes - what more could a girl (and her mom) ask for?
I really couldn't have asked for anything more. It was an awesome evening.
Thanks for the behind the scenes history on the parade float! I knew it had been around a long time, but had no idea it had been THAT long. How cool that you got to work at Disney in the College Program! I kid Katie about that. Who knows if she'd do it, but wouldn't that be fun?????
And thanks for the kind comments on the photos. I got off 5 or 6 shots of that carriage and was holding my breath looking through them for just ONE with them both looking my way. I was really quite happy to have gotten it.
I got so behind, and I can't remember all I was going to say now.
I love all the photos. All of the parade shots are so great. Did you use a tripod for those and the firework shots?
Love the Dwarves shot. I would've probably said something to the people in the 2nd line too. I can't beleive they got nasty. But imagine how mad they would've been if they waited and realized it when it came time to see the Dwarves.
How do you carry all your stuff? Do you bring a duffle with the costumes and keep some stuff in a locker?
Also what kind of camera bag do you have. I have a backpack, but it is just too heavy, so I also have a smaller bag for the parks. The one I had was basic and getting junky so for X-mas of 2009 I got a new one. I like it, but haven't had a chance to test it out for a real trip yet. I have used it on one of Claire's field trip days, and it kind of got heavy after several hours. I guess I'll find out soon how happy I am with the choice soon.
Hey Jen! First off..........
For being down to TEN days! You really deserve a lot of pixiedust
on this trip just for SHEER perseverance!
I carry a backpack and a totebag most days in the park. The backpack has my camera stuff and the tote bag has anything else we want to bring. We usually get a locker and stop off there to put anything we're not using right away...... jackets, blanket, tripod, costumes for later in the day. We usually make it back in the afternoon to swap out for anything we're done with and to pick up the tripod if needed. I purposely shopped for a tripod that was lightweight and folded up nice and small, just for our Disney trips.
The fireworks pictures are definitely done with a tripod. They require longer shutter speeds. Most of mine were 4 or 5 seconds long. The Christmas parade is not done on a tripod. Since the parade is moving, the key is to get the ISO high and get a fairly fast shutter speed. As I mentioned above, I dialed the flash down and used it on some of the shots.
As for the "dwarf incident".......... I was really back and forth on whether to say anything. I was pretty sure we were in the right spot. But they were closer over to where all the traffic was. And when a few other people started joining their line, I decided I had to say something. We had been there for about a half hour in the bitter cold already.
Thanks for that! I've been lurking a bit on your TR recently, but I know I've missed a lot. I absolutely love all these dresses and that Katie is still into doing this. Your pictures are wonderful. 
Darn preschool room at daycare... A bunch of those little ladies have older sisters and now Barbies are all the rage... how could the princess phase be over already and she's not even 5!??!?!
the picture of Cinderella and Prince charming in the coach in front of the castle. That should be in an add for 
)
Any time you have questions, post over on the photography board. My friend decided to buy a DSLR last week, so I posted a thread asking about various models, and they answered all her questions quickly, and offered links to the best deals. She went for the Sony A500 DSLR.
I'm not exactly sure why, but I have always felt like it had something to do with the cold weather. They also canceled the show on the castle steps because of the cold. I found out here on the DIS after the fact that they gave tickets for the Thursday night party (12/16) to anyone who complained in Guest Relations. Since we already had tickets for the 12/16 party, you'll see why I wasn't a big fan of that plan........ Regardless, we certainly got more than our money's worth that night and would of course do it again in a heartbeat, cold weather and all! 
Here is what I carried aroudn for three weeks, by the end of that tiem I started leaving crap in the room, I brought WAY TOO much 
