Only one more day to go - trip report now complete

[YEKCIM]

Groucho:

Really enjoying your photos and commentary, and hope you are feeling better. Your close focus / shallow DOF shots are most impressive and have given me some ideas for the next time we happen down that way.

Thank you much for taking the time for the daily updates. Much appreciated by us all.

~Ed

 

[Groucho]

Thanks Ed! I am feeling better, both yesterday and today, and am mainly just dealing with a raw throat at the moment.

Things are really quiet here this morning so I'll keep up the trip report, since I already posted some pics from that day.

On this morning, the Magic Kingdom opened at 9 but we had a breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace for 8:05am. Now, I'd asked a couple cast members about bus schedules, and it sounded like they started about an hour before, and that maybe we should consider a taxi to get us there on time. OK, fine, I supposed I can handle that. Well.............

First problem was that we got a late start (unsurprising after I only got three hours of sleep), and it was maybe a minute or two before 8am when we went out to the front of Beach Club to head to MK. I was tempted to check the bus stop just in case there was a MK bus there but saw a taxi waiting so decided just to hop in there, since that'd get us there faster. So we hop in and as soon as I can see the bus stop - sure enough, there's a MK bus waiting there. OK, fine, we'll still beat it to the park, right? Well... no. I didn't realize that the taxi drops you at the Ticket & Transportation Center, not the front of the park itself, like the bus does. So I give the driver $16 ($13-change plus tip, ouch) and we go wait for a monorail. We get one, then have to wait as they do morning checks on it. Argh!

So, all told, we actually get to Crystal Palace at probably closer to 8:45 or so, later than if we'd just taken the bus, and $16 poorer to boot. Oh well, a lesson learned...

Breakfast was good as usual though I was feeling a bit bleah after waking up with a slimy-feeling throat. We headed for Fantasyland to try to get some kid's rides in before it gets too crowded. We did Dumbo, the Carousel, and Snow White's Scary Adventures - sorry, no Peter Pan this trip, ISO6400 fans, I'll let Gdad corner the Peter Pan market for the moment. Haunted Mansion was next (again), I like the new additions (especially the audio changes in the stretching room, especially when they turn the volume down - apparently the CMs can change the volume every time and once it was a little quieter and not as impressive) and the ride still holds up as my absolute favorite attraction. Next up was Country Bear Jamboree, then my wife stopped for a Dole Whip and I went ahead and stopped to listen to the piano player, who we chatted with a little bit. He played Maple Leaf Rag for us, which is one of Jack's favorites (the fast version on the WDW/DL records) but Jack was sound asleep at the time so missed it entirely.

We continued on to the Main St Bakery and I grabbed an ice cream cookie sandwich - a terrific use of a snack credit. (Hmm, one snack credit for a single cookie, or two of the same cookies plus two scoops of ice cream? Hmmm!) Soon it began raining slightly and we headed to Tomorrowland and hung out in the covered area near the Noodle Station until I finished my snack. I mounted my 50-135mm lens so I'd have a fully weather-sealed camera/lens setup and we continued into Tomorrowland. We did Buzz, TTA, Speedway, then headed west and I grabbed a Splash Mountain fastpass and rode Pirates again. This time (unlike the first day), the Davy Jones mist screen effect was working, but my manual-focus efforts didn't catch it very well.

Next stop was lunch at one of my favorite quick service spots, Columbia Harbour House, for their great tuna sandwich. Being sick dampened the taste a little but it's still a really nice spot IMHO.

At this point, my Splash Mt fastpass was usable already so I rode that, and was happy that the camera survived terrificly, even as I kept shooting all way down and through the big splash. Unfortunately the pics didn't turn out great since 50mm is a bit far and it's harder to get decent focus in the big drop with a 50mm focal length vs 10mm! I would have used the fisheye and just covered it with my hat during the actual splash (as I've done before) but it was raining and didn't want to take a chance of any water getting into that lens - I really doubt it would, but technically it's not sealed so it's possible.

We rode the Liberty Belle next, where it was bright and sunny, then it began raining pretty good again. We decided to take off early to do some other things, so we stopped by the Bakery again and loaded up on cinnamon rolls, a cherry turnover, and crumb cake for the next two days of breakfasts. We also went through some of the shops and watched the glass artisans and such. After bidding goodbye to Magic Kingdom, we got back to our hotel room just in time to see the last few minutes of Illuminations from our balcony. I didn't have time to set up the tripod but took a few handheld shots.

We hit the sack early, all the better for the walking we'd be doing at Epcot the next day, our 6th of 7 days.

 

[DVC Jen]

Great report and photos Groucho - the photo of that cute kid and eeyore - you are 100% right - VERY cute kid!


.. Ok I am patiently awaiting your next installment.

 

[MICKEY88]

did you by chance, change focus on this and get the same shot with the castle in focus and the flowers blurred..

that would be cool to frame the 2 side by side...

 

[Groucho]

did you by chance, change focus on this and get the same shot with the castle in focus and the flowers blurred..

that would be cool to frame the 2 side by side...

I did that for some other photos, but not this one. I did do a few shots with the focus in slightly different places on the flowers, but I'm not 100% happy with any of them (including the posted photo.)

In an unrelated note, I just had a mild disaster when I was clearing space on the laptop before I could copy on the last day's photos from the memory card. I had just burnt a pair of identical DVDs and I deleted a large folder (big enough that it skipped the recycle bin) then double-checked and found that I'd deleted about 300 photos that hadn't been backed up yet!

Fortunately, I keep a bunch of utilities on USB drives that I carry with me and quickly fired up an undelete from there. I was able to recover all but eleven of the photos. I do have small (1280x850) jpgs that I had exported from Lightroom for quick browsing and picking out ones to post, and there's really only one that I would have liked to have kept. It's the bride and wedding cake from HM, I think that with a little cropping and mild tweaking, it could be a fairly decent photo of her. Here's the photo "as is":

OK, here's some photos from Epcot, our 6th day.

Which one of the following two do you like better? I can't decide.

 

[MICKEY88]

I like this one better, the foliage across the top gives it more of a 3d feel, plus the main subjects are better lighted..

 

[LMarge]

Groucho~
Hate you're feeling bad - try a gargle of hot/warm salt water, it'll taste gross, but it works everytime! Get's that whole slimy throat thing under control! It's an old grandma thing, and I've used it on my kids and it works - next day they are good to go!

Now - (appropriate tribute to the photo king!) Thanks for sharing such fantastic shots - your fisheye photos are so much fun to look at! Makes me ponder that whole spurring on the economy thing! (Actually, I did today - got a 85mm f/1.8 to use for basketball and gymnastics shots! )
Keep posting - we're all enjoying the show!

 

[cpbjgc]

Great work and great eye (not that I expected otherwise)

Which one of the following two do you like better? I can't decide.

I like this one better, but would like to see a little more brightness on the figures. I like the darkness otherwise, giving the feel of an old and lush forest with the two figures at its edge.

 

[cjstarr]

Groucho, I like the 2nd one better also, it takes away the background that to me is distracting and puts the focus on the figures, but I like the angle from the first photo better and the 3D effect that it gives to the photo.

 

[YEKCIM]

Next stop was lunch at one of my favorite quick service spots, Columbia Harbour House, for their great tuna sandwich

Amen and Amen!!

My bro told me about this a couple years ago and I replied, "I dont like tuna sandwiches". He said, "Neither do I - go get one anyway". We did, and CHH has been our favorite MK eatery ever since. The upstairs dining is usually a good away-from-the-unwashed-masses place to dine and grab a little down-time.

~Ed

 

[Groucho]

I think that on the Chinese characters photo, I actually prefer the first a little bit - but it'll be hard to say for sure until I adjust the exposure a little and get them even.

I did mild post-processing on a few, and fortunately in there were some other bride photos that are, IMHO, better than the one I lost. Phew!

Here comes the bride!

 

[Gdad]

Very nice- I have tried to get this shot several times with nothing to show for it.

Enjoying your trip report BTW- fine work throughout.

 

[AndrewWG]

Very nice- I have tried to get this shot several times with nothing to show for it.

Enjoying your trip report BTW- fine work throughout.

Ok, I gotta ask, what is that? I'm assuming it is from HM?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thanks for the trip report and pictures. HM is my favorite, too. Love the giant shot (still haven't found it yet myself)! Hope you're feeling better now.

 

[Groucho]

Very nice- I have tried to get this shot several times with nothing to show for it.

Thanks. I did get lucky - the doom buggies stopped briefly in the room. I got several photos, none of them great, and that was a spot where the 31mm would have worked better than the 50mm I had mounted (mostly to get the floating Leota head closer). None are great, several are at least "OK". It is very, very dark! I also probably should have gone up to ISO 6400, I think I locked it at 3200 there, and most of the time set Auto to max at 4500. I think I was overly afraid of 6400, it always look better on the PC than on the LCD. Of course, I'm also stuck using an laptop screen at the moment, which always seems to make things look worse or at least noisier, since you have to look at it at just the right angle to get the proper colors.

Ok, I gotta ask, what is that? I'm assuming it is from HM?

Yes, that's the new Escher's staircase effect near the beginning of the ride, where there used to be a spider (with a hidden Mickey) but not much else. It's at the top of the first ascent, just before the neverending hallway and the coffin being opened from inside. It was added during the recent $30m rehab. There are staircases going in different directions - up, down, sideways, etc, and sometimes ghost footprints move along them, as seen in that shot.

Thanks for the trip report and pictures. HM is my favorite, too. Love the giant shot (still haven't found it yet myself)! Hope you're feeling better now.

The giant is from the Sir Mickey's gift shop, right behind the castle. I had never seen (or at least, noticed) it before but saw it in someone else's photo recently. I also have a head-on shot, but I decided that the side shot was more interesting.

 

[jann1033]

That is too bad about your feeling bad. I hope the rest of the trip is still enjoyable for you.

Good to hear about the crowd levels in early January. I am still wrestling with the idea of having DD out of school for that week. We'll see how it goes. DS is running the half marathon so I wanted to go cheer her on, and of course, visit the World!

last time we went during the marathon the crowds were great but it was 32 degrees and windy one day...might as well stayed in ohio ( well, that's a lie ) lots were in shorts and tee shirts so that might have accounted for some of the crowdlessness, they were all frozen in one big blob someplacetrying to stay warm

groucho where is the atrium type shot from..i gotta start looking up evidently...and i think i am catching on to one of the secrets to your fisheye shots..you seem to have something linear in the ones that really show the effect best...ie the tracks, the lighting rigs at fantasmic, etc i've been using it more for landscapes and not as happy with them

 

[HowWeird]

awesome pictures! i'm so jealous of your 2gb, 8gb cards

a little bit on the tink picture with the reflective sphere ... that would make a great HDRI map if you're into computer modelling and rendering. which i'm into ... haha any chance you have a high quality of that shot that you can send me? maybe i can model something and render it out to show you the worth of that picture

 

[Groucho]

groucho where is the atrium type shot from..i gotta start looking up evidently...and i think i am catching on to one of the secrets to your fisheye shots..you seem to have something linear in the ones that really show the effect best...ie the tracks, the lighting rigs at fantasmic, etc i've been using it more for landscapes and not as happy with them

The atrium is in the Crystal Palace, at the end of Main St on the left, right next to the Adventureland entrance.

My favorite fisheye shots are ones where it's obvious that it's a fisheye shot - you certainly can use a fisheye for landscapes but you'll probably want to defish them, and you may be better with a rectilinear lens. But I like the curves.

a little bit on the tink picture with the reflective sphere ... that would make a great HDRI map if you're into computer modelling and rendering. which i'm into ... haha any chance you have a high quality of that shot that you can send me? maybe i can model something and render it out to show you the worth of that picture

I assume that HDRI is the same thing as HDR. I actually don't care for the look of most HDR photos, they look overprocessed and too "fake" to my taste, but I know many people love 'em. I don't mind HDR if you don't even know it's happening, but I think they often go over the edge.

Here's a few more with mild post-processing (the real work begins when I get back home):

This one is so difficult to white balance... I haven't figured out yet what will make it look right. Maybe b/w is the key.

This is another one where I haven't hit just the right WB yet.

 

[Mckymousefn]

Groucho.. i was wondering how you get your own personal copyright on your pictures. I mean, how do you make it and put it on the picture.. Photoshop?

 

[MICKEY88]

Groucho.. i was wondering how you get your own personal copyright on your pictures. I mean, how do you make it and put it on the picture.. Photoshop?

technically that's just a watermark, not a copyright,

it's easy to do with paint shop pro photo X2,

but I prefer Photowatermarkprofessional

it allows you to do all kinds of neat things, colors/colorblend set opacity all very simple, you can create multiple watermarks and save them to a library, so you can quickly pick the one you want to use..

you can easily batch process adding a watermark to all pics in a folder...

it's well worth the investment..