Slideshows From my Early December Trip

[MarkBarbieri]

I have posted some slideshows from my early December trip to WDW. These slideshows are executable programs that display the pictures along with background music. They only work on Windows, not Macs or Linux (unless Windows is emulated).

I put together 5 shows, one that is a summary of the overall trip and then a separate one for each of the major theme parks.

I'll get around to uploading the photos to my SmugMug site in the next couple of days if you are interested in the pictures but not interested in downloading and executing a slideshow.

The slideshows are Barbieri Family Slideshows & Video

 

[poconoboatniks]

Loved the photos and your choice of music.

Pocono

 

[Dan Murphy]

So far I have just done the summary, Mark. EXCELLENT!!! Such beautiful shots, what a lovely family. Looks like you guys had a ball. Really, really nice.

Camera details, please.

 

[handicap18]

Outstanding work Mark. I really enjoyed all the slideshows. A few that really stood out was having your boys pose in the porthole of Donalds boat in Toontown, excellent idea. I'll have to use that next time. I also really liked the picture of you and your family taken around dusk at Epcot with SSE lit up and the sunset colored sky in the background. What was the setting on that one? I'm guessing there was a fill flash used.

Once again, excellent work.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

WOW!!! Will you follow me around on my trip and be my photographer? You got some *amazing* pictures! I loved the close-up of the small world hula doll! Your pictures are all so well done- very impressive!

I've never seen the tigers playing like that- what a lucky catch! And where was that rat at AK? (A friend of Mickey, maybe?)

What did you use to put the slideshows together?

 

[Michele]

All I can say is WOW!!! AWESOME!!!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I also really liked the picture of you and your family taken around dusk at Epcot with SSE lit up and the sunset colored sky in the background. What was the setting on that one?

I'll have to go back and check. I'll have them all up on Smugmug soon with full EXIF, so it will be available there. I did use a fill flash, but I don't remember the rest. The light was better earlier, but it was changing rapidly and I was waiting for some poor guy that couldn't get his camera to operate properly.

I've never seen the tigers playing like that

They were like that for all of three seconds. They were lazing about when we got there. They wandered over to each other, high fived, and then went back to laying down again.

And where was that rat at AK?

Isn't that what they call a "Hidden Mickey"? Seriously, that was part of a gag at the Birds of Wonder show in the Animal Kingdom.

What did you use to put the slideshows together?

I used a product called Pictures2Exe. There are better products for making a photo DVD, but it's my favorite for making a computer slideshow. I prefer computer slideshows because DVD's have much lower resolution. It works well for us because we have Media PCs at both of our TVs.

I should also point out that the limo you see at the end was an accident. We paid to have a towncar take us home from the airport because it was no more costly than parking there or renting a cab. The towncar company got backed up because of bad weather and so they substituted the limo for a towncar. The kids thought it was a hoot.

 

[manning]

What camera did you use??

 

[MarkBarbieri]

What camera did you use??

I just used the camera on my phone. They've gotten a lot better.

Seriously, I used a Canon 1D Mark II. For lenses, I used the Canon 17-40 f/4.0mm, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, and Canon 50mm f/1.8. I occasionally used a Canon 580EX flash as well.

About mid-week my 7 year old tried to take a picture of his younger brother at lunch and dropped the camera. The body and the flash were no worse for wear, but my 24-70 has been kinda wonky since then. It'll be going in for repairs.

I lugged a tripod all the way there and back, but never used it. I only took it to the park one day and that's the day we decided to leave early.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Well, Mark, I have been on these boards for going on eight years now, and I think these are (I watched all five presentations) the very best I have ever seen here. Not only are the attractions pictures stunning...the clarity, colors, focus, everything...but the pictures of your family, wife, kids and I guess maybe grandparents, are just unbelievable. You captured the very essence I think, of what we all enjoy at the World so much. 5 masterpieces.

How did you get the pictures on the rides, so clear, so focused, like on Test Track, Kali, ToT, and on and on, LOL? I am so impressed. Lot of manual shots or many auto? Goodness, could I ask you the questions, LOL

 

[dmslush]

Those are absolutely fabulous!!!! I am so impressed!!

I have to say, I peeked at your son's 'first four years' and that one is my favorite!!

 

[DVC Jen]

Fantastic photos. I can only hope that I am able to take pics like that some day. Your boys are adorable - made me smile many times - just from the looks on their faces.

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Thanks for the compliments! I had to hurry to get mine posted before boBQuincy as I'm sure that his are better than mine.

How did you get the pictures on the rides, so clear, so focused, like on Test Track, Kali, ToT, and on and on, LOL?

For most of the fast rides, I bumped up the ISO and put the camera into either aperture or shutter priority mode to ensure that I'd get a fast shutter speed. That's important because no matter how steady you are, if the ride is moving fast, you need a high shutter speed. Then I zoomed out really wide, held the camera out, aimed by guessing, and took several shots. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't.

Normally when I take pictures I do everything in aperture priority mode. I really like having tight control over depth of field. At the parks, I found that conditions changed so rapidly that I left the camera in program mode most of the time and just adjusted the aperture on the fly.

BTW, I added links to the individual photos on my smugmug site to a new thread at: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1301653

 

[boBQuincy]

I used a product called Pictures2Exe. There are better products for making a photo DVD, but it's my favorite for making a computer slideshow. I prefer computer slideshows because DVD's have much lower resolution.

Love your slideshows, Mark!

I use ProShow Gold for similar shows and have a question about Pictures2Exe. ProShow does ok with basic quick fades but
when I use a long, slow pan or zoom with ProShow the exe often takes more than the PC can handle and the audio starts to skip or go out of sync. Does this happen with Pictures2Exe?

I usually burn my shows to DVD but agree that the loss of resolution takes a lot away from the show.

Nice work!

 

[Dan Murphy]

........For most of the fast rides, I bumped up the ISO and put the camera into either aperture or shutter priority mode to ensure that I'd get a fast shutter speed. That's important because no matter how steady you are, if the ride is moving fast, you need a high shutter speed. Then I zoomed out really wide, held the camera out, aimed by guessing, and took several shots. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't.

Normally when I take pictures I do everything in aperture priority mode. I really like having tight control over depth of field. At the parks, I found that conditions changed so rapidly that I left the camera in program mode most of the time and just adjusted the aperture on the fly.

BTW, I added links to the individual photos on my smugmug site to a new thread at: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1301653

On my first bold above, did you take a wide view and then crop to the subject? Because, again TT good example, you are in the car, obviously, sitting next to your sons, and pictures (and expressions) are flawless, like you had it set on a tripod, LOL in a studio. And on my second bold, I so noticed that depth of field preference you like, it is so effective. I did, as dmslush did, take a look at a few others there....4 year history, one of the dragon boats, a block party...(all excellent again) and your subjects are clear as a bell and anything, seemingly within inches, is blurred, really leads your eye to your subject. Very effective method there, very talented.

I'd like to tag along with you some day, picking your brain on picture taking, Mark, LOL.

 

[YEKCIM]

Mark:

That is *INCREDIBLE* <YEKCIM tosses his own cameras in the trash, on the way out the door>.

~YEKCIM

 

[JohnW]

A few recent business trips to Austin have shown me that the word awesome is used far more frequently in the US than here in the UK. So when I say these pictures are awesome, I mean it in the British sense.

 

[Groucho]

I'm waiting for the actual pics rather than looking at the slideshow... I'm not sure if I want to look at them or not, I'll either be inspired to do better on my upcoming trip or get depressed and just leave everything at home, based on what others are posting.

 

[DebºoºS]

Breathtaking slideshow pics! Thanks for sharing them! Your family is beautiful as well as your pics. Dan is right, they are the best DIS pics ever!!!!

 

[YEKCIM]

I'm waiting for the actual pics rather than looking at the slideshow... I'm not sure if I want to look at them or not, I'll either be inspired to do better on my upcoming trip or get depressed and just leave everything at home, based on what others are posting.

Grouch: you need to view the slideshow, too. The effect is more "magical" (has Disney copyrighted that word yet?) than just looking at Mark's pix.

~YEKCIM