PRINCESS Palooza 2011! 9/9 Update: Departure Day

[mom2rtk]

Janet,

remind me again what camera you use. Your color and sharpness never cease to amaze me.

Can't wait to get to the MK, the buses there always take forever

Thanks for the kind words! I use the Canon T2i and process in lightroom 3....... which I have to say is a far more enjoyable experience on my new computer! When I got the old computer I hadn't even gone digital yet, and that was a long time ago........ in 04.

It really DOES take forever to get to the MK from the POP. But is there anything better than the anticipation of your first park day ......... in the MK?

 

[2kids2luv]

Joining in too. How lucky that you get to go during Christmas. We went last year in early Dec. and the kids and I missed going this year. Can't wait to hear about all the fun.

 

[joy13]

Here and caught up - I can't wait to read all about your trip and see the beautiful pictures and gowns!!!!

 

[katt789]

I'm caught up so far! That display looks awesome! It's always something that I've wanted to do, but have never had the motivation to do with my own window.
Man, does your camera take awesome photos! Those around Pop are amazing!!

 

[Scraps-of-heaven]

I'm along for the ride. :0) Can't wait for the next batch of pics.

 

[KCmike]

Thanks for the kind words! I use the Canon T2i and process in lightroom 3....... which I have to say is a far more enjoyable experience on my new computer! When I got the old computer I hadn't even gone digital yet, and that was a long time ago........ in 04.

It really DOES take forever to get to the MK from the POP. But is there anything better than the anticipation of your first park day ......... in the MK?

How difficult is LR3 to use for a beginner?

 

[mom2rtk]

Joining in too. How lucky that you get to go during Christmas. We went last year in early Dec. and the kids and I missed going this year. Can't wait to hear about all the fun.

Hi there and

As much as I want to go back during Halloween again, Christmas time wins for me. And if you were there last December, you really SHOULD have been there this December. The weather really made up for last year!

Here and caught up - I can't wait to read all about your trip and see the beautiful pictures and gowns!!!!

Thanks Joy! We won't get to the first gown until Sunday night at the party. The days my husband was along were more ride-centered.

I'm caught up so far! That display looks awesome! It's always something that I've wanted to do, but have never had the motivation to do with my own window.
Man, does your camera take awesome photos! Those around Pop are amazing!!

It was funny too. Drew knew I wanted to decorate our window, so I think he enjoyed pointing out our "neighbor's" window. They set the bar pretty high.

Thanks for the kind comments on the photos. It was nice to get to wander around and see some more of the POP icons this trip. I kept trying to let them sleep a little later, but it just never seemed to work out that way.

I'm along for the ride. :0) Can't wait for the next batch of pics.

Hey stranger! Glad you found us! I LOVED the capri sets you did the appliques for. Sadly though, I'm thinking this was it for the applique sets. Maybe I'll start doing some for myself!

 

[jenseib]

I love that rooms little tree, how cute. I wonder if it is a Diser?
You got some great morning pictures. I know all about getting up at the crack of dawn at Disney!

 

[mom2rtk]

How difficult is LR3 to use for a beginner?

I use it. No need for additional comment.....

Seriously, you can use it a little or a lot. You can grow into it over time. I still have not scratched the surface of what it can do. But the noise reduction alone is makes it worth the price. It's just a slider bar.

I also love the exposure adjustments. I wasn't sold on the whole deal with shooting RAW and spending time with each photo until someone posted 2 shots side by side. One was the RAW massively underexposed shot straight out of the camera (almost completely black) and their rescued shot after using LR3. It was amazing. I bought it shortly after that and started shooting RAW.

The program is what I would consider VERY user friendly. Just a series of slider bars. Use as many or as few as you like. For each shot, I usually adjust 1) white balance (if needed) 2) exposure 3) contrast 4) sharpness and 5) noise reduction if needed.

The first time you slide that noise reduction bar over and see the difference, you'll be sold. They have a trial version online that you can dowload. If you decide to buy it, all you have to do is fill in the product key.

I love that rooms little tree, how cute. I wonder if it is a Diser?
You got some great morning pictures. I know all about getting up at the crack of dawn at Disney!

Well, thankfully..... I mean sadly..... the competition ..... I mean the neighbors..... moved out after a couple days so I'll never know. I liked their idea, but doubt we would want to give up our table. I didn't bring the tree back this year, partly because I could only find 2 of its 3 feet, and partly because I didnt' like giving up our table for it.

Maybe the owners will see it here and claim it!

I always get up at (or before) the crack of dawn. Where I start running into trouble is when I have late nights too. I STILL can't sleep late no matter how hard I try.

 

[Caretames1]

YAY, an update! Beautiful night shots! LR3 huh? may have to check it out!


If I got a phone call at 2:15 am, I would have shoved the phone up their nose and called it!

My favorite shot... the Tye Dye 60's. It's awesome!

 

[mom2rtk]

YAY, an update! Beautiful night shots! LR3 huh? may have to check it out!


If I got a phone call at 2:15 am, I would have shoved the phone up their nose and called it!

My favorite shot... the Tye Dye 60's. It's awesome!

Thanks Carey!

I was pretty tempted to give them a piece of my mind when the phone rang. But I NEEDED to get back to sleep and didn't want to wake myself any more.

Of course when I got up in the morning it dawned on me the with the boys at home alone, taking the phone off the hook probably wasn't the best plan, especially since our cell phones got no reception n the room.

Do you guys get reception on your cell phones in your resort rooms?

Not that it matters. We got those phones the night before leaving and we're committed for 2 years now. And honestly, after finally finishing up changing carriers, I don't want to change again any time soon!

I hope to get another installment posted tonight. I feel like I at LEAST need to get you guys into the park!

 

[Caretames1]

Thanks Carey!

I was pretty tempted to give them a piece of my mind when the phone rang. But I NEEDED to get back to sleep and didn't want to wake myself any more.

Of course when I got up in the morning it dawned on me the with the boys at home alone, taking the phone off the hook probably wasn't the best plan, especially since our cell phones got no reception n the room.

Do you guys get reception on your cell phones in your resort rooms?

Not that it matters. We got those phones the night before leaving and we're committed for 2 years now. And honestly, after finally finishing up changing carriers, I don't want to change again any time soon!

I hope to get another installment posted tonight. I feel like I at LEAST need to get you guys into the park!

I did get reception on my phone, but John didn't. We have tracfones, so it was surprising how varied our coverage was. I got full bars in the parks and internet as well, and he struggled everywhere except for DTD.


I wanna be in the park, I wanna be in the PARK!

 

[mom2rtk]

I did get reception on my phone, but John didn't. We have tracfones, so it was surprising how varied our coverage was. I got full bars in the parks and internet as well, and he struggled everywhere except for DTD.


I wanna be in the park, I wanna be in the PARK!

LOL! I promise we'll get there tonight! I know I'm ready!

Can I stop for a muffin first?

 

[Caretames1]

LOL! I promise we'll get there tonight! I know I'm ready!

Can I stop for a muffin first?

I'd rather have a cupcake! Darn, there goes my New Years diet already!

 

[mom2rtk]

I'd rather have a cupcake! Darn, there goes my New Years diet already!

Never fear. These don't have calories. They're virtual pastries!

And you definitely should try the trial of Lightroom 3. It's a lot of fun to play with. Try shooting a couple photos in RAW and playing with what you can do.

When I first started to learn what I was doing, I thought only the really good photographers shot in RAW. I was shooting Jpeg. Now that I've started to figure some of this out, I can see that RAW is the best format for those of us who aspire to be really good, but aren't quite there yet. That's because it gives the most latitude of fixing things on the computer I didn't get right in the camera.

Now I aspire to be good enough to go BACK to Jpeg one day..... so the files won't take up as much space! I figure the photographers who really know what they're doing get it right in the camera as a Jpeg from the start!

 

[jenseib]

Mine phone is spotty at Pop. In the rooms it's hit or miss, but usually outside no problem. I have nextel/sprint. I used to have alltel and it was not good at all

 

[jenseib]

Can you edit jpegs in LR3? I shoot jpeg, but edit in camera raw on photoshop. I have only scratched the surface in there though. I need to read up more on it.

 

[mom2rtk]

Mine phone is spotty at Pop. In the rooms it's hit or miss, but usually outside no problem. I have nextel/sprint. I used to have alltel and it was not good at all

We just switched to T-mobile. We didn't have phone or internet reception in the room and it's 4G. I had to go outside every time I needed to make a call. At least it wasn't as cold outside this year!

 

[mom2rtk]

Can you edit jpegs in LR3? I shoot jpeg, but edit in camera raw on photoshop. I have only scratched the surface in there though. I need to read up more on it.

Yes you can. But there's a lot less you can do with the file. A RAW file just captures more date, which is why the dang things take so much memory. My T2i is an 18MP camera, but the RAW files are over 23.

I'm pretty lost in photoshop. I have a really old elements that came with my first digital camera. I haven't put it on the new computer since I use it less and less since I got LR3. I'm thinking of getting one of the newer Elements programs, but am not sure what I really want to do with it. There's a lot TO do with it, but I'd probably need a class or something.

 

[joy13]

I did get reception on my phone, but John didn't. We have tracfones, so it was surprising how varied our coverage was. I got full bars in the parks and internet as well, and he struggled everywhere except for DTD.


I wanna be in the park, I wanna be in the PARK!

I have a Tracfone too and I had good reception everywhere. I also was using a ZTE Peel mobile hotspot through Virgin Mobile (uses Sprints network) for my iPod Touch to get internet and I had a good signal for that the whole trip as well.