My photos from last week's trip

[barrie]

Hi everyone - I'm back from my short solo trip to see the mouse. Thanks for all the help on camera settings before I left. I think it really helped. I did mostly use the auto settings but I also played with some of the manual ones. I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt at using a DSLR - although I still have a lot to learn! What a difference from my Fuji though!

Here's a link to my trip report with photos. [url="http://www.squidoo.com/wdwtripreport5-06/"]http://www.squidoo.com/wdwtripreport5-06/[/url]

If you just want to look at the photos, scroll down the page. There's a link for photo favorites from each day.

Let me know what you think and I'd love any constructive criticism that you have to offer. Thanks - Barrie

 

[makinorlando]

Your photos are beautiful. Your eye and your camera make a great team! Even though I am at the parks regularly, this was like a whole new trip for me!

I love how we all see the same things, but through our cameras, we all "see" them differently. I love your close ups - that is something I am trying to concentrate on more.

ETA: I just finished viewing the photos. I am in awe! (Note to self - start saving for DSLR!!!! By the time I can splurge, I will hopefully have gained some more knowledge through practice and the Dis board!)

Your night time photos are fabulous - something I'm still working on (I still need the tripod).

Your AK pics are wonderful too - thanks for the parade viewing tip. I think your Lion King photos are awesome. Last time I was there I was too far back, and had someone else who kept sticking their camera up in front of me!!!

I spent a solo day on Friday at EPCOT, and had the best time. It was my first day ever out alone with my camera (you'd think I'd had a date or something!!!!)

I had never noticed the thatched roof in Norway before.. so that was a surprise - sadly at the time I was there, the sun was shining right into the shot I wanted!

Looks like I will get another chance of Saturday to go alone!

 

[Greg K.]

Some spectacular stuff here!

And most of 'em were shot on Auto, no? Very cool. May I ask what size lens you used? Telephoto, I presume? You really captured some wonderful moments, and great expressions on those faces.

 

[Charade]

Very nice!

You managed NOT to make the mistake that a lot of people do. Which is you filled the frame.

I'd like to know as well what lens you used because of two things. One is the EXIF data showed 550mm to 1850mm and two, you wrote:

"I am a new lensmaster and thought I would try my hand at building a lens to share my experience and photos."

What's up with that?

 

[Laura]

Your photos are absolutely gorgeous! They don't look like a beginner's shots to me.

 

[campinggal]

AWESOME job!

I'm curious about your lenses too- I get the 'lense master' part- that refers to the site you created your trip report on but as the above poster mentioned the EXIF data for focal length showed quite a range so I'm curious what lenses you traveled with.

Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[Showe]

wow, nice pix. thanks for sharing

 

[barrie]

Thanks everyone - I get nervous to post my pix here because everyone is so good!

makinorlando - The tripod made all the difference on the night shots. I also used the timer as was suggested on these boards. No matter how still I try to stand I can't get clear shots without those two things.

I had the same trouble in the Lion King show - people kept holding their P&S cameras high up in the air to take pictures so it was really hard to get any photos without floating cameras in them!

I had 2 lenses with me: 18-55 and 55-200, both Nikkor. I mostly used the 55-200 because I like the closeup shots. Almost everytime I switched to the 18-55, I wished I had the other one so eventually I just left it on. I thought about exchanging it for an 18-200 mentioned on another thread so I didn't have to switch back and forth but I changed my mind. It would be easier but I think I'd rather just try to get better at knowing which lens to use when. I don't know anything about the exif data. If it says "550mm to 1850mm " does that make sense with the lenses I had? Or is something reading wrong?

Campinggal - You're right about the Squidoo lenses and the lensmaster thing. Squidoo is a new thing that I have been playing with. They call their pages lenses and the people who build them are called lensmasters. A little confusing when it's about photography I guess. They are fun to build though, and easy. I thought it might be a fun way to share Disney info.

Thanks again for the compliments. I wouldn't mind feedback on how to do better though too. Thanks - Barrie

 

[Dan Murphy]

Wow, what wonderful pictures, barrie!!!! Goodness they were pretty to look at. Just learning? You have to be kidding. I aspire to take pictures like those. Let us know when you have more, thanks so much for sharing.

 

[skyfire]

Lovely pictures! You did a great job of capturing the essence of Disney World. I especially enjoyed your nature life and night time pictures. Keep up the good work.

 

[jockey]

Wow Barrie those pics are amazing! I got the D50 nearly two weeks ago and I am still on auto mode but totally inspired by your pics - can you share some tips. At the moment I only have the 18 - 55mm lens but am going into town tomorrow to buy a telephoto - hopefully a 70 - 300mm!!!

 

[handicap18]

Awesome job barrie. Well done. DW and I are going in about 3 weeks without the kids for 3 nights and I'm going with the intent on taking pictures they way you did. I hope I do as well. I too have the D50 and love it. I can't wait to put it to a real test. I'll have 3 1gig cards and am also bringing the lap top to download along the way.

I loved the pic's of Epcot, especially Morocco (which happens to be one of my favorites in Epcot).

I got myself 2 new tripods. 1 is a travel tripod that closes to about 14 inches and fits perfectly in my backpack (although it doesn't have a tit head for verticle shots) and I also have a small table top that I can position just about any way (got it on clearance for $10, well see how it works).

Once again, outstanding pictures. You've done yourself proud.

 

[barrie]

Dan Murphy - You're funny! You are one of the people that I try to copy! I've admired your photos for a long time.

Wow, tips huh? I don't think I'm qualified to give tips really. But I'll take a stab at descibing how I got the photos I took:

• I tried to get as many as I could without people in them - not so easy at WDW. Often that meant looking up - so then I tried to find interesting angles, signs, rooftops, etc. This works for me because I'm really interested in buildings and architecture.
• The other way was to get really closeup shots, which I tend to do a lot. I tried to make sure every shot was tight in to the main subject with little open space around it.
• I don't care much for symmetry so I often framed the main subject more to the left or right than in the center. And some things that a lot of people seem to shoot head-on I would try to shoot from a slight angle or from the side.
• This one's a tip I guess - Spend time just taking in a scene before deciding what to snap. A lot of times I would just sit on a bench for a few minutes absorbing what was going on around me. I think the best shots came from just paying attention to where my eye rested and what part of what I was looking at was pleasing to me.
• Here's another tip too - Look at other people's photos that you like and try to do what they did. I spend a lot of time on the DIS boards, mostly looking at photos. There are so many good photographers here! When I see photos that just wow me I try to visualize actually taking the photo and imagine how they captured what they did - then try it when I am there.
• Here's an example of that last tip: I saw photos on here that almost appeared layered. They had something in the foreground that overlapped what was in back. I played with that a lot on this trip, sometimes focusing on the foreground and sometimes on the background. It was fun and made much more interesting pictures.
• Lastly - using the tripod and timer made such a huge difference when taking low light and night time pictures. I thought this fancy new camera would magically make those shots come out crisp and clear all on its own. I found that without the tripod, no matter how perfectly still I stood, they were still blurry.

I don't thinks these are tips really, just a description of my style. It would be fun to get good enough that I felt like I could actually help other people get better shots. Right now I am just trying to soak in as much knowledge as I can and practice as often as possible. I think I'm heading to Seattle this weekend for a little photographing jaunt. Anyone have any favorite places for taking pictures there?

 

[Dan Murphy]

Not funny, barrie, I am dead serious, beautiful shots. And thanks for your comments too.

I do like to frame shots too, and also have something in the foreground for perspective purposes, helps put the viewer in the spot where the picture was taken.

On your tripod, how tall is it, opened up?

 

[JR6ooo4]

Wow, great pics indeed! Anyone with Nikon questions I am sending your way.
Mikeeee

ps. I am also jealous of 4 days of shooting and eating!

 

[Deedee]

They are great Barrie i have just bought a Nikon D50 and i am so looking forward to being able to use it in WDW in september.

 

[Wiggle]

Hi, Barrie. I looked at all of your photos, and I can only think of one suggestion. The still photos (buildings, fireworks, etc.) are really well composed, IMHO. The parade photos get a little trickier, and they're harder to do with such crowds and parade elements, etc. all in the frame. My suggestion is to play around with depth of field on the parade and crowd shots. That is to be able to really diffuse the busy and distracting backgrounds (like upcoming floats, characters, people along the parade route) to be able to bring out the subject of the photo. For example, your pictures of Baloo and Pluto on Day 4 are busy and therefore distracting from the characters themselves. But your picture #DSC_0206.JPG (the girl with a cone-shaped hat and an orange with purple inset dress) really blurs out the background nicely.

My personal challenge is parade photos of tall floats. I don't care for the "looking up from the ground" look when they come by, and I commonly am on street-level for the parades. Anyone have any composition suggestions so that they don't all look like I'm photographing a pair of nostrils with a big sky background? Overcast days give me big, white areas. At least blue sky days with fluffy clouds are prettier in those pictures!!

 

[barrie]

Dan - Fully extended it's 61". Why do you ask?

 

[barrie]

Wiggle - Thanks so much for the tips, I really appreciate the specific feedback. I know exactly what you are talking about. There is a street fair in my neighborhood this weekend where I can practice this (decided not to go to Seattle). I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Dan - Fully extended it's 61". Why do you ask?

I was just wondering. I use a very small table top one, and was thinking about maybe a bigger one. Does it fold up small? So as to carry easily?