Happily Ever After Begins Here -- An Oct. 2012 TR Updated! 11/17!

[sue_88]

Incredibly sweet. And the ring is really beautiful.

 

[FancyNancy]

Oh my gosh! Wow! What an absolutely perfect engagement! Congratulations to you both and great job setting everything up like that Franklin!

 

[ZFamily5]

Just joined your January report but I have to join in here too!

There are so many things I could comment on, but the engagement was perfect! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[stindall]

I know this is an older TR but I love your Magical Ribbons! I'm hoping mine arrive in time for my trip in September, I ordered them ages ago!

 

[teekathepony]

Why would you post that beautiful story now? I'm crying at work!

Hehe but in all honesty, what an amazing, beautiful, romantic fairy tale proposal! And that ring is stunning. I love love love Jasmine's reaction and the pictures of her admiring the ring, how wonderfully priceless!

Definitely worth waiting for!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Yay!!! You put up the 4 part engagement spectacular! (Yes, I know I'm late reading it. Haha. I've been pretty busy!)

I'm so happy for you guys. That was one of the best phone calls I've ever gotten!

 

[jennab]

That is the PERFECT engagement!!!! Man I wish my DH was romantic and would have done something like that!!!!

I was choking up while reading - it truly was magical

By the way - I love your trip reports. They make me feel like I know you, even though I don't. I love the pictures and how they really tie the story together. Oh how I wish we didn't have to wait until Sept/Oct 2014 to be there... First time at F&W for us - super excited and already planning

 

[Missyrose]

CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!! Franklin is definitely a keeper and what a Romantic!! Very happy for both of you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am a very lucky girl and he is quite the romantic.

The setting was perfect, the ring is beautiful but the look on your face was priceless - thanks for sharing.

The beautiful ring is what caused the priceless look on my face!

Congratulations to the two of you! What a perfect proposal! Are you getting married in Disney also?

Thanks! We thought about getting married at Disney. But we've been together for 10 years and have so many friends and family who are so excited for us to finally get married, that we didn't want getting to the wedding to be cost prohibitive. But trust me, there will be LOTS of Disney touches throughout the wedding. Plus, we get to hop on a plane to Disney about 12 hours after the wedding ends!

Incredibly sweet. And the ring is really beautiful.

Thanks Sue!

Oh my gosh! Wow! What an absolutely perfect engagement! Congratulations to you both and great job setting everything up like that Franklin!

It really was perfect. A fairytale, if you will!

Just joined your January report but I have to join in here too!

There are so many things I could comment on, but the engagement was perfect! Can't wait to hear more!

Glad to have you aboard both TRs! Don't forget the May trip too, here's the link. Lots more fun coming up!

I know this is an older TR but I love your Magical Ribbons! I'm hoping mine arrive in time for my trip in September, I ordered them ages ago!

It's older, but we're still rolling along! I loooooove my Magical Ribbons. My collection has reached a ridiculous size, but they're all just so cute! I even just placed an order for Hayley to do some custom bows for myself and the bridesmaids for some wedding photos! I know she's plugging along on all the orders now that she's finally settled into her new house. I always have a stack of her business cards with me at the parks because people will come up and ask where I got my bows!

Why would you post that beautiful story now? I'm crying at work!

Hehe but in all honesty, what an amazing, beautiful, romantic fairy tale proposal! And that ring is stunning. I love love love Jasmine's reaction and the pictures of her admiring the ring, how wonderfully priceless!

Definitely worth waiting for!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Awww Wendy, don't cry! Well, I actually found myself crying a little bit as a thumbed through all the pictures again. All the feelings and memories from nine months ago came flooding right back to me.

Jasmine was hilarious and it was exactly the kind of interaction you can only have at Disney!

Yay!!! You put up the 4 part engagement spectacular! (Yes, I know I'm late reading it. Haha. I've been pretty busy!)

I'm so happy for you guys. That was one of the best phone calls I've ever gotten!

You've been VERY busy throwing me the best bridal shower a girl could ever ask for and then being the saintly designated driver after our crazy night at the piano bar!

That is the PERFECT engagement!!!! Man I wish my DH was romantic and would have done something like that!!!!

I was choking up while reading - it truly was magical

By the way - I love your trip reports. They make me feel like I know you, even though I don't. I love the pictures and how they really tie the story together. Oh how I wish we didn't have to wait until Sept/Oct 2014 to be there... First time at F&W for us - super excited and already planning

Thank you! Well, I have plenty of TRs going now (and in the pipeline) to keep you very busy until your trip next year. We've got these three, then there will be the Disneymoon TR, then a Star Wars Weekend TR and a family trip in August 2014. Lots to share! You will LOVE F&W, it's Franklin and my favorite time of year to be at Disney. Let me know if you have any questions, we're old pros at it by now!​

 

[theburkes]

Joining in very late but have to say congratulations!!! Wishing you so much happiness in the present and future!

This has been a great thread! Wonderful pics and reviews! Thanks so much for sharing

 

[abbybeth]

What a wonderful, perfect, impeccably tailored to you and your relationship proposal! I teared up a little. Just perfection, and reading your accounting of it made it just feel so tangible and real.

Congratulations and best wishes to you BOTH!

 

[natebenma]

Getting caught up!

MNSSHP looks incredible!!! I LOVE the vantage point with the partners statue. Genius!

Great choice for the parade too.

As always, unbelievable beautiful and moving pictures!

I especially love the Haunted Mansion float and the zombie band.

The pictures of you and Franklin with Minnie and Mickey are priceless. Perhaps Franklin should have had a private talk with the Big Cheese about his plans for later in the week.
Wink Wink Nudge Nudge.

For Dee, her favorite crocodile!


​

Actually, my second favorite croc. Here is my favorite:

 

[natebenma]

Now- Boma and EPCOT

I have only been to breakfast at Boma once, but loved it! Kona still gets top honors, and we have done Tusker House, too, but it didn't hold a candle to Boma. Characters, yes, but not as much character!

Wait, What?!? I did not know about the preferred concert and Illuminations seating for Chase Visa holders. That's awesome!

I am not a wine drinker- I prefer beer- your lunch looked amazing. Loved the food and loved the pairings. I like a lighter beer, but the last two you described sound really good!

And we shall call Super Fan "Man II Boy"


Looking forward to the next chapter(s)!!!

 

[rachel09985]

What a perfect proposal! The ring is gorgeous!

It gives me hope for me and my boyfriend. We have been together for 10 years. Still no engagement! Haha.

I can't wait for your honeymoon trip report.

 

[stindall]

It's older, but we're still rolling along! I loooooove my Magical Ribbons. My collection has reached a ridiculous size, but they're all just so cute! I even just placed an order for Hayley to do some custom bows for myself and the bridesmaids for some wedding photos! I know she's plugging along on all the orders now that she's finally settled into her new house. I always have a stack of her business cards with me at the parks because people will come up and ask where I got my bows!

She actually just emailed me shortly after I posted that comment and said she was shipping them out! So excited! I ordered the Spaceship Earth bow, Rafiki, Paperman, Tardis, Mk Park Map, and the adorable new Mickey's Philarmagic one!

 

[natebenma]

Missy & Franklin-

That.was.AWESOME!!!

What a beautiful, meaningful, memorable, magical proposal. You done good, Franklin!

So happy for you two! Thank you for sharing this special moment in your life with all of us.

 

[fabulousfive]

Thank you so much! Yes, the lighting conditions are horrible. It's extremely bright outside and very dark inside. I knew that going in and the most important photos were going to be us with the stained glass in the background. That was what I was going to prepare for. So yes, I was getting nice detailed shots of the stained glass and of the whole room. But really I was dialing in the proper exposures for the main event.

Now for the actual settings. For most people it's not what you expect.
Test shot, the dining room with the stained glass. What you want to do is expose for the brightest part of the scene, the stained glass. With digital photography, once areas are too over exposed, it's difficult to recover that detail. I also knew I eventually wanted to use flash (it was not used in this photo). That meant, the fastest shutter speed I could use was 1/200. I set the ISO to 100 and aperture to f/4. Not good... shutter speed came to 1/250. But for this photo, it's okay since I didn't need flash. For flash photos, I would need to stop down to something like an f/7. I also got lucky for this photo. Since it was still morning, sunlight was still lighting the room. Had it been mid-afternoon, it would be darker inside, as the castle blocks sunlight into the room.

Once I had settled on settings for flash photos, I left it in manual mode. Yes, we did have a photopass photographer, but I also asked the event coordinator for CRT, just moments before, if someone could use my camera too, so we had something while we waited for the photopass CD. By leaving the camera in manual mode, it was less likely the camera would be fooled under those difficult lighting situations. And someone can just pick it up and snap away.

I just used the built-in flash on my camera. The flash was in auto (TTL) mode. But, dialed in a -0.7 flash compensation. That just means, I wanted the flash to be a little darker. I generally dislike the look of flash, and it's usually because it's way too bright. As I mentioned before, the camera is in manual mode. ISO 100, 1/100 shutter speed, f/7.1.

Low ISO, Fast Shutter Speed, Small Aperture. Those settings control the super bright background, the stained glass windows.

Flash was forced on (TTL), but dialed back -0.7 stops. That will expose the foreground (people and characters) properly.

Need a comparison? Let's take a look at the PhotoPass photographer's photo.

There weren't any settings information attached to the photo, but I could give a pretty good guess what happened here. He was probably using a much higher ISO and stuck to the default shutter speed with flash. Which is usually 1/60th for Nikons. Aperture was probably wide open, f/3.5, something the camera would default to in Program mode with flash. Those setting make the windows too bright.

I'm not saying our PhotoPass photographer was bad. He was great, actually. He took photos of the ring and slipper on the rose petals in the back, before it was brought out. He stayed as long as we wanted, and took as many photos as we needed.

Unfortunately, with extreme lighting conditions, the equipment will start to have an impact on the photo quality. First, you will definitely need a camera that will shoot in RAW format (not just JPG). That will help retain detail in the brightest and darkest areas of the image, something a JPG image file can not do. Then you would need a photo editing program to be able to read the RAW file. I have been using Lightroom and it works great for me. Smaller cameras are not going to be able to handle this lighting situation, let alone have a manual mode to get what you want. A DSLR or mirrorless camera would be the best option here.

NOTE: These settings are only for facing the stained glass windows. If the windows are behind the camera, you can use your normal indoor settings.

And yes, I was thinking all of that, in addition to the actual proposal.

You rock Franklin!!!! Wow! Thank you for taking the time to share how you got those awesome photos! I'm shocked that your ISO was so low. In those conditions I always crank mine up. Hence the blown out windows. I would have thought the inside would have been too dark with your settings, but it all looked gorgeous. What a great explanation. Totally changed my thinking on those kinds of shots -- thank you! I am totally going to try this when we are at CRT this winter for breakfast. And yes, just started using Lightroom this year & love it! So much better than my old Bridge.

And I always keep my flash in auto when I use it. I do keep a diffuser on it (Gary Fong) for softer light but perhaps I should try to learn how to adjust it too. Maybe that's what you did with the mice. I'm truly amazed at the clean, bright shots you get in such dark light. Thanks again for sharing your settings. So helpful!

You really planned everything out for this proposal! From the setting, perfect details, & even getting the best photos to always remember the special moment. Congratulations! We are all so happy for you & Missy!

 

[Missyrose]

Joining in very late but have to say congratulations!!! Wishing you so much happiness in the present and future!

This has been a great thread! Wonderful pics and reviews! Thanks so much for sharing

There's no such thing as being late to the party! You're always welcome. Thank you so much for the good wishes.

What a wonderful, perfect, impeccably tailored to you and your relationship proposal! I teared up a little. Just perfection, and reading your accounting of it made it just feel so tangible and real.

Congratulations and best wishes to you BOTH!

Thanks Abby! I'm was so glad to get to share that wonderful morning with everyone!

Getting caught up!

MNSSHP looks incredible!!! I LOVE the vantage point with the partners statue. Genius!

Great choice for the parade too.

As always, unbelievable beautiful and moving pictures!

I especially love the Haunted Mansion float and the zombie band.

The pictures of you and Franklin with Minnie and Mickey are priceless. Perhaps Franklin should have had a private talk with the Big Cheese about his plans for later in the week.
Wink Wink Nudge Nudge.

Actually, my second favorite croc. Here is my favorite:

We love the Halloween party so much. The fireworks and parade are worth the price of admission alone. And we had such fantastic character interaction with us all dressed up. Just wait till you see the Mickey interaction we have later in the week!

I love the picture of your favorite croc, he's so young in it!

Now- Boma and EPCOT

I have only been to breakfast at Boma once, but loved it! Kona still gets top honors, and we have done Tusker House, too, but it didn't hold a candle to Boma. Characters, yes, but not as much character!

Wait, What?!? I did not know about the preferred concert and Illuminations seating for Chase Visa holders. That's awesome!

I am not a wine drinker- I prefer beer- your lunch looked amazing. Loved the food and loved the pairings. I like a lighter beer, but the last two you described sound really good!

And we shall call Super Fan "Man II Boy"

Looking forward to the next chapter(s)!!!

I love Boma, I'm trying to figure out a way to slip breakfast in there in October, but it's looking like I might have to wait until May. I had no idea about the Chase preferred seating/viewing, it was an awesome perk!

The beer pairing lunch was amazing, it was so tasty. If you love beer, you'd totally love that lunch!

Man II Boy,

What a perfect proposal! The ring is gorgeous!

It gives me hope for me and my boyfriend. We have been together for 10 years. Still no engagement! Haha.

I can't wait for your honeymoon trip report.

Thank you, I love my ring so much! Almost as much as I love Franklin. Don't worry, your DBF will come around. We never felt like we HAD to get married, even as everyone around us did. We just felt like the time felt right. I definitely need to finish one of these three current TRs before we leave for the honeymoon!

She actually just emailed me shortly after I posted that comment and said she was shipping them out! So excited! I ordered the Spaceship Earth bow, Rafiki, Paperman, Tardis, Mk Park Map, and the adorable new Mickey's Philarmagic one!

Oooohh! I want the Philharmagic and Paperman bows. Here's what my collection looked like before my last order:

Since then, I've added Donald, Ballroom Belle, Snow White and a DHS park map. I just placed my bridal custom order, and also snuck a new Minnie bow and a Rapunzel in there too!

Missy & Franklin-

That.was.AWESOME!!!

What a beautiful, meaningful, memorable, magical proposal. You done good, Franklin!

So happy for you two! Thank you for sharing this special moment in your life with all of us.

Thank you Dee! Franklin did very, VERY good. It was a magical day.

​

 

[Pixel Dust]

You rock Franklin!!!! Wow! Thank you for taking the time to share how you got those awesome photos! I'm shocked that your ISO was so low. In those conditions I always crank mine up. Hence the blown out windows. I would have thought the inside would have been too dark with your settings, but it all looked gorgeous. What a great explanation. Totally changed my thinking on those kinds of shots -- thank you! I am totally going to try this when we are at CRT this winter for breakfast. And yes, just started using Lightroom this year & love it! So much better than my old Bridge.

And I always keep my flash in auto when I use it. I do keep a diffuser on it (Gary Fong) for softer light but perhaps I should try to learn how to adjust it too. Maybe that's what you did with the mice. I'm truly amazed at the clean, bright shots you get in such dark light. Thanks again for sharing your settings. So helpful!

You really planned everything out for this proposal! From the setting, perfect details, & even getting the best photos to always remember the special moment. Congratulations! We are all so happy for you & Missy!

You're welcome! And Thanks again!

It may still look dark in the camera. This is a situation where it is very difficult to get it right in the camera. As long as you balance the bight parts to dark parts, you can recover enough detail with Lightroom and RAW format. These photos were heavily processed, just to look normal.

Actually, I did use the Gary Fong Puffer at CRT.

Downstairs, where the mice were, I didn't use flash at all. ISO 1600, 1/8 shutter at f/4. I was standing very still and holding my breath. You can see people are blurred in one of the shots.
​

 

[fabulousfive]

Thanks Franklin for sharing more tips! I was thinking it may be a situation I try my best & then work with in LR too. Thanks! And I'm excited to hear the setting for the mice. I'm taking notes & just can't wait to get there! Enjoy your engagement & I can't wait to hear more TRs from you both!

 

[courtneybelle]

Hi! New reader on board!

First, I know you hear this all the time, but Franklin is honestly one of the very best Disney photographers I have ever seen! I'd love to use one of his pictures as the desktop background on my computer but they're all so great I wouldn't be able to decide which one I love the resort pictures in particular.

The engagement story was amazing! I love the glass slipper, and you both look so happy too cute.

'Ohana is my absolute favorite Disney restaurant as well. I've been three times and have never had a bad experience there.

I'll continue reading along and check out your other TR this weekend when I have a little more free time!