I think I am starting to get it

[Master Mason]

So,

I went down for a last minute trip to DL by myself on Monday and Tuesday. In those 2 days I only rode about 4 rides, the rest of the time I spent taking pictures. Almost 1K in the 2 days.

If you have a few minutes and want to take a look they are in two sets, one for each day

http://gregghall.smugmug.com/gallery/3751727/16/215806540

http://gregghall.smugmug.com/gallery/3755316/1/216024880

If you take the time please let me know what you think.

Gregg

 

[argusp2]

As usual, your shots are amazing! I was going to ask how you were able to take the shots of the parade from such a high vantage point then I realized where you were with a wider shot. Railroad station, right?
Thanks for sharing such great pictures!

 

[Kitts21]

This is totally But are you Greg from Micecast and IMW podcasts. If so I love your shows. Just thought I would throw that out there. Now I'm going to check out you pic's . Great photos. I really like the night shots of the castle and such 325-330 I think thats the ones. Great job keep up the great work, and keep posting for our enjoyment.

 

[fan1080]

Fantastic shots, Greg.

You guys inspire me tremendously. Everytime I look at the quality of photos like this I get excited about photography, and my anticipation of our upcoming Feb WDW trip goes into overdrive.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[senecabeach]

Thanks for sharing this "Great" gallery, Gregg !!
Sure wish I had this many "good" low light keepers...
Guess I don't get it yet ...still trying!!
What lens/settings did you use???

 

[gokenin]

Was wondering what tripod do you use for the night shots and did you just bring it at night or did you use a locker and store it there for the day and go back and get it for the night shots? I ask because looking into buying a tripod and yours pictures look like its a rock steady set-up

 

[Master Mason]

This is totally But are you Greg from Micecast and IMW podcasts. If so I love your shows.

Nope, that's not me sorry.

Railroad station, right?

Yep, I was at the railing on the City Hall Side on the top level. Definately different seeing it from up higher.

What lens/settings did you use???

I was using my 24-70 f/2.8 for I am pretty sure everything in both of those galleries. The setting varried if you hit hover over one of the pics with your cursor, and then hit the i button it will give you settings. If you have a more specific question about a particular shot, I will be happy to give you exif for it.

Was wondering what tripod do you use for the night shots and did you just bring it at night or did you use a locker and store it there for the day and go back and get it for the night shots? I ask because looking into buying a tripod and yours pictures look like its a rock steady set-up

I was using a slik 714 with a monfrotto 488 ball head. I just got it last week and am very very pleased with it. I had driven down, so I just left it in my car, after dinner, I would run out to the car and get it and change as the day/night temp swing was pretty good at this time of year. For carrying it, I actually got a disney camera strap, put one end around the neck of the ball head, and left the little connection ring on the other, then I just hooked the connection ring on the center colum hook, and it went over my shoulders perfectly.

And thanks everyone, for the comments, I was pretty pleased with the results, after proccessing them, I did find I had a lot more keepers than normal.

 

[DebºoºS]

Thanks for sharing your fab pics! You are amazing!

 

[MICKEY88]

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing....


I was looking at your exif info

and I'm a little confused...


on your daytime shots, the iso jumps around 160,250,320,400 etc...

then your nite shots of the castle were mostly all shot at 100 iso,

that seems to be the opposite of what I learned and am used to seeing

 

[willis37862]

First of all I always love the pictures you post You have a great eye and take some great shots.

Your galleries are great ! I love the Nightmare before Christmas pictures.

Where are the Monsters Inc ones taken? Do they have a ride there? Sorry I have never been to DL and I don't know all the attractions they have.

 

[Master Mason]

on your daytime shots, the iso jumps around 160,250,320,400 etc...

then your nite shots of the castle were mostly all shot at 100 iso,

that seems to be the opposite of what I learned and am used to seeing

On the day shots I was setting the ISO where I thought it should be for various different shots, on the night shots of the castle, I used low ISO, an average appeture, and a long shutter, with the camera on a tripod. To me that gives you the best shots of a stationary item at night.

Where are the Monsters Inc ones taken? Do they have a ride there? Sorry I have never been to DL and I don't know all the attractions they have.

Yes there is a Monsters Inc Ride in DCA, it is a Dark Ride like the ones in FL, but with a mosters inc theme. They are getting ready to redo DCA and as part of that I have heard they are going to build an entire Car's land as well.

 

[MICKEY88]

On the day shots I was setting the ISO where I thought it should be for various different shots, on the night shots of the castle, I used low ISO, an average appeture, and a long shutter, with the camera on a tripod. To me that gives you the best shots of a stationary item at night.
QUOTE]


for sunny daytime shots, you might want to try keeping your iso at 100,

making your adjustments with your aperture and shutter speeds..

you might find that you get an even better keeper ratio,

by keeping the iso consistant, you eliminate one variable, making it easier to quickly learn what to expect from your camera and various exposure settings..

 

[Code]

Thanks for sharing, and great job! Smugmug started running really slow for me so I didn't make it all the way through day 2 but I'll check it out when I get home from work.

Not sure if you're looking for C&C (and I'm hardly qualified to give it) but the one thing that stood out to me was the use of 3200 ISO and Program mode on the night parade (I'm assuming P mode was used due to varying apertures). On some of the shots the aperture wasn't quite wide open and you were still getting shutter speeds with room to go slower. In this situation, I would switch to aperture priority and keep it wide open at f/2.8, allowing you to avoid 3200 ISO. But then, some of the shots were at the very limit even wide open with 3200 ISO, so you'd probably end up with fewer keepers. It's a tough give and take.

 

[handicap18]

Well done Gregg. Thanks for sharing. You certainly got a lot of keepers from that mini trip. Keep up the great work!

 

[Groucho]

It might be fun to see a few of your favorites posted in this thread.

I did flip through a little - you're a brave man to try HM photos with a zoom lens. Where is the "Benevolent & Protective Order of the Mouse" sign? I don't think I've seen that one before.

I think we must have set up our tripods in nearly the same position for the King Triton photos, I got almost exactly the same shot. I'm glad you're liking your tripod!

 

[Master Mason]

The order of the mouse sign is on the railroad crossing bridge as you walk down the tunnel to Toontown. To be honest that was the first time I had seen them as well, but I don't go to toontown that often with my youngest being 15.

The zoom I was using goes 2.8 so it is pretty fast, and I also think it is a bit brighter with the current overlay than normal as well.

 

[orchjoe]

Gregg,

I really like this picture you took... Great job on the rest of the shots.

 

[Master Mason]

Thanks, I almost didn't get that shot, I was walking down the street, and they came bustling around the corner, just bairly got my camera to my face in time.

 

[MICKEY88]

Thanks, I almost didn't get that shot, I was walking down the street, and they came bustling around the corner, just bairly got my camera to my face in time.

sign of a good photographer, camera always in a position for a quick shot, and great reaction time..

that's great shot


that's why my camera is always around my neck or in hand, you never know when agreat photo op is going to present itself, and disappear just as quickly..

 

[Groucho]

I can help explain those characters walking around. There were probably coming from the "Drawn to the Magic" show in California Adventure, a little live show that features some singing/dancing and ultimately appearances by Mickey, Cinderella, Woody, and I think one or two others. (Buzz?)

It was far from crowded when we saw it, and the characters do a meet-and-greet afterwards - this is a good and I think fairly unknown way to see some of the most sought-after characters up-close without big lines.