Sep 2009 Photo Trip Report - Day 3 Monday

[boBQuincy]

Monday – Studios, Beach Club, Epcot

All photos taken with a Canon Rebel Xsi, 24-105, 10-22, 70-200

Our last full day, time to figure out what we haven't seen yet and get with it!
We got up almost on time Monday to make rope drop at the Studios. The boat had just left but another arrived soon.

Toy Story Midway Mania was tops on the list so after arriving at the Studios we went to the FP dispenser, no line at all. Across the way we saw Luxo Jr. dancing to a medley of hits.

We walked around the streets, took in Muppet 4-D, checked out the latest pins under the hat while High School Musical 3 ran, and it was about time for lunch. We have had many Cobb salads at many places but none were as good as those at Hollywood Brown Derby! This is a "must-eat" for every WDW trip we take. The lizard outside thought topiary Mickey’s nose tasted good.

After lunch it was almost time for our FPs but on the way we stopped in the "One Man's Dream" exhibit. Although we know a fair amount about Walt Disney's achievements it is still amazing just how much this man accomplished. His inventiveness and creativity were almost boundless, his works and ideas are still enjoyed by millions. I imagine Walt would be pleased with the remake of Fantasyland, it seems like something he would dream up.
On to Toy Story, where DW proclaimed she would win. Almost, dear… We looked for some streetmosphere action but there wasn’t much going on until Bucky Greenhorn coaxed The Diva into a temper tantrum.

After that DW wanted to try a massage at Beach Club so we headed back to the Studios boat dock, where we ran into our first rain of the trip. Richard told a few (bad) jokes on the trip to keep us entertained.

The rain ended just as we docked and we never got more than a few drops on us, what luck!

 

[boBQuincy]

While DW was relaxing I figured my Canon Xsi needed some more exercise, with a quick trip into Epcot to get some more photos.

I stopped to listen to the British Invasion who sounded just great (much better than in December). 90 minutes later back at Beach Club DW was ready for some smackerals and B&C was right next door so we had a light dinner and topped it off with a No Way Jose! Beaches & Cream was fairly deserted (pun intended).

Since this was our last evening, after taking advantage of the nice pool at Beach Club I was headed to Epcot but first took a few photos of the sunset from our verandah.

After that I walked to Epcot for Illuminations but first went to the Fountain of Nations to try some HDRs there. HDR does not work so well when the water patterns *and* the colors change between (or even during) exposures! Later at home I was able to put some of the exposures together but at the time it didn't look too promising.

Oh well, after an hour or so of this it was getting close to 9:00 so I walked to World Showcase and found a nice spot right at the fence for my tripod at 8:55! Quick, set the focus to infinity and manual, set the aperture to f/11, ISO to 100, shutter to 4, and wait for the fireworks. Whew!
Some small children were standing behind me so I motioned for them to come up front figuring they might bump the tripod a few times but not enough to worry about.

We Go On!



The problem with photographing Illuminations is that people on this board are getting *so * good that photos like this are almost commonplace now. After the fireworks I took a few photos on the way out of Epcot and back at Beach Club before quitting for the night.

The movie on the beach was Monsters Inc., right at the part where Mike is on a date at “Harryhausen’s” restaurant, hilarious!
Of course I could not walk through Beach Club without taking a few photos.

It was a great day!

 

[annnewjerz]

As always, very nice Bob! Love the last few shots of Illuminations with the inclusion of the standing people and the final shot of the Beach Club.

AND---I'm glad to hear that the Cobb Salad at HBD is as good as I was hoping. We have a lunch ADR there in December and I've really been looking forward to it.

 

[saturndb]

Bob,

You pictures are great! Your Illuminations pics are very nicely done.Makes me want to go to Disney right now!!


Dave

 

[IndyShutterbug]

Love the photos! The HDR photos are very nicely done, and lack the common "halo effect" you usually see. I would be interested in your method of achieving them, if you have a few minutes.
We fly out in 11 hours for a 6 day trip, and I am very excited to take my new equipment.

 

[boBQuincy]

Oops, I forgot to put in the photos of Spaceship Earth at night. I just added them to Part 2.

With my memory it's no wonder I use Program mode most of the time!


boB

 

[annnewjerz]

With my memory it's no wonder I use Program mode most of the time!

 

[rcraw45425]

Gorgeous photos! I spoke with Amazon and I can trade the non IS for the IS version of that telephoto lens. I hope that the pictures I take are 1/10 as good as these!

 

[racreel]

Great images! Looks like you had a great trip.

 

[boBQuincy]

Love the photos! The HDR photos are very nicely done, and lack the common "halo effect" you usually see. I would be interested in your method of achieving them, if you have a few minutes.
We fly out in 11 hours for a 6 day trip, and I am very excited to take my new equipment.

Thank you! I use Photomatix, usually with a high setting on smoothing to avoid halos. If I want a more dramatic effect and end up with halos I go back with another darkened layer around the halo area and use a mask to blend the halos out.

For image capture I use AEB, set to +/- 2 stops with aperture priority. For scenes that appear to have a lot of range I take three exposures with compensation set to -2, and three at +2, using the five distinct exposures in Photomatix. This gives a total range of about 16+ stops, that is usually enough!

 

[Todd_H]

All great shots, Bob! You make it look too easy.

You're right about people getting really good at shooting Illuminations. I've seen some shots on this board and on flickr that make me never want to try it again ! The bar is waaaaaay too high.