We Defected to the West! DLR 2013

[mvf-m11c]

Thanks Bret! I do use the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens for my dark ride shots. If you like shooting dark rides, you really need to find a way to try this lens.

I am growing a little weary of the 30mm length though so have added the new Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 for our upcoming trip. I'm going to give up that little extra bit of aperture in favor of a wider field of view. We'll see how that goes. If I like it, I might ditch the 30 mm lens when we get home.

I have read and see great reviews of the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 when used for the dark rides. I wanted to get some good pictures while riding HMH when it is up next week and the later trips. The only thing is that I have the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 which is not that bad but it is not as good as the Sigma where I have taken nice shots with. Do I want to spend extra money on buying or renting a lens that I will only use it for the dark rides which I will want to have a everyday type lens like the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens.

I believe I said this again on your thread about the Sigma lens. That is nice to hear that you are going to try the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens for your upcoming trip. This is another lens that I have been thinking about trying one day but for spending about $100 just to rent it for a week might not be worth renting and it will make it easier just buying instead for only using it 1/8 of the price for a trip. I can understand of renting the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens which makes sense since it is so expensive to purchase. This is why when I think about this so much that these things will happen to me of where I want to try this.

 

[mom2rtk]

Has your new lens arrived yet? It's going to be interesting to see how you like the new Sigma compared to the 30 mm.

It's here, but I haven't had a chance to do much more than snap a couple quick trial photos. I like what I see so far but still need to get out and put it through its paces.

I have read and see great reviews of the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 when used for the dark rides. I wanted to get some good pictures while riding HMH when it is up next week and the later trips. The only thing is that I have the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 which is not that bad but it is not as good as the Sigma where I have taken nice shots with. Do I want to spend extra money on buying or renting a lens that I will only use it for the dark rides which I will want to have a everyday type lens like the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens.

I believe I said this again on your thread about the Sigma lens. That is nice to hear that you are going to try the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens for your upcoming trip. This is another lens that I have been thinking about trying one day but for spending about $100 just to rent it for a week might not be worth renting and it will make it easier just buying instead for only using it 1/8 of the price for a trip. I can understand of renting the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens which makes sense since it is so expensive to purchase. This is why when I think about this so much that these things will happen to me of where I want to try this.

I had the same problem with renting lower cost lenses Bret. When first considered the Sigma 30mm lens, I was thinking of renting it. Then I looked at the cost of rental (including shipping) compared to the cost of buying it, I decided to go ahead and buy it then sell it later if I needed the cash back out of it. So far I still have it.

So then as I considered the 18-35 and looked around to see the cost of renting it. I probably would have stuck with the rental plan, except that it's so hard to find to purchase these days I figured I'd get down to the wire and not be able to find it to rent either. And if I had to rent early just to make sure I could get a copy, it was going to cost even more. So I decided to buy it for this trip. Then I'll decide what I think of it compared to the 30mm. I just generally like shooting wider. And honestly, I've shot the dark rides with the 30mm lens so many times it's time for a different perspective. I do consider the 30 and the 18-35 to be somewhat duplicative though, so will probably sell one after this trip. I've sold a couple lenses on Craigslist before, and a couple on Ebay. I usually try Craigslist first (to avoid the ebay fees).

There's a small rental shop here in town that I have rented from before (so I can at least save on shipping charges) but so far they don't even have the 18-35. I rented the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 from them when each of the boys graduated high school.

 

[mom2rtk]

I updated all the chapter links in the second post again.

 

[KCmike]

Really wonderful update. The photos are just wonderful, as usual. Really I think the photo with your daughter holding the autograph book is really cute with the FGM. The book kind of adds a certain charm to the photo. Still too bad you didn't get it exactly how you would have liked.

Those dark ride shots are spot on. I see you had your flash on your camera but you never use it on the dark rides? Do you jack up the ISO and set the focus as wide as it will go or do you use a fast prime all the time? The colors really pop on IASM too. They are lovely. How much do you find that lightroom helps your dark photos? I don't use it but I know most photographers do.

Are you all scheduled for your next Christmas trip out West?

 

[mom2rtk]

Really wonderful update. The photos are just wonderful, as usual. Really I think the photo with your daughter holding the autograph book is really cute with the FGM. The book kind of adds a certain charm to the photo. Still too bad you didn't get it exactly how you would have liked.

Those dark ride shots are spot on. I see you had your flash on your camera but you never use it on the dark rides? Do you jack up the ISO and set the focus as wide as it will go or do you use a fast prime all the time? The colors really pop on IASM too. They are lovely. How much do you find that lightroom helps your dark photos? I don't use it but I know most photographers do.

Are you all scheduled for your next Christmas trip out West?

Thanks Mike. It really wasn't a huge deal that FGM wouldn't sign then take the photo. Just odd. Almost laughable. Through the years I've always asked small adjustments with characters to get the shots I want. Never anything wild or unreasonable. Just stuff like "Can I just turn a little this way to get the sun off your face?" At CRT I would ask if we could turn just a bit so I could get the windows behind them. That sort of stuff. And in all the years we have been at it, this is the very first one to just flat out say no! Maybe she was just having a bad day? Uh, no. Tune in tomorrow.

I leave the flash on the camera all the time at Disney. We're just in and out of so many varying light conditions and I don't want to be fumbling in my bag for it when I need it. But it always stays turned off on the dark rides. I generally set the ISO as high as I can stand and open the aperture as wide as it goes and hope the camera can get an acceptable shutter speed. Some do it opposite and set the lowest shutter speed they can handhold and let the camera select the aperture. Neither is perfect, and sometimes I mix it up. Really I try lots of stuff just because I can. And I find it fun. I generally consider 3200 to be the highest usable ISO on my camera. Occasionally I try 6400 in the really dark rides, but I'm usually not happy with the results. I would love to have a camera with a usable 6400.

I do consider Lightroom to be an important piece of what I do. It's worth the cost if you never use anything but the noise reduction. It's part of the reason I'm OK with using 3200 ISO. But the other features are quite remarkable too. I bought it in 2010 right after seeing someone on the DIS post a before and after shot they processed in LR. The before was almost completely black. The second looked completely normal. I was sold. That's when I started shooting in RAW as well. It just gives so much latitude to fix things at home after the fact. I used to want to be a good enough photographer to shoot RAW. Now that I do, I want to be good enough not to NEED to shoot in RAW!

We still are not committed on dates for December. I'm waiting for the final details of the holiday season to be announced to be sure there's nothing in there that might affect our plans. Hopefully soon.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I had the same problem with renting lower cost lenses Bret. When first considered the Sigma 30mm lens, I was thinking of renting it. Then I looked at the cost of rental (including shipping) compared to the cost of buying it, I decided to go ahead and buy it then sell it later if I needed the cash back out of it. So far I still have it.

So then as I considered the 18-35 and looked around to see the cost of renting it. I probably would have stuck with the rental plan, except that it's so hard to find to purchase these days I figured I'd get down to the wire and not be able to find it to rent either. And if I had to rent early just to make sure I could get a copy, it was going to cost even more. So I decided to buy it for this trip. Then I'll decide what I think of it compared to the 30mm. I just generally like shooting wider. And honestly, I've shot the dark rides with the 30mm lens so many times it's time for a different perspective. I do consider the 30 and the 18-35 to be somewhat duplicative though, so will probably sell one after this trip. I've sold a couple lenses on Craigslist before, and a couple on Ebay. I usually try Craigslist first (to avoid the ebay fees).

There's a small rental shop here in town that I have rented from before (so I can at least save on shipping charges) but so far they don't even have the 18-35. I rented the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 from them when each of the boys graduated high school.

Just as you said that it doesn't make any sense to rent lower cost lenses where it does make sense to rent higher end lenses. I was also thinking of the same thing and just buy the lens from somewhere and if I am not satisfy with it, I can always sell it.. It is difficult to decide on what lenses to get for your own specific needs.

If it is only for this trip and nothing else like you for example, it does make sense to rent the Sigma lens or any other high end lens. For me since I go a lot since I have an AP, will it make sense to buy it so I can use it a lot for the future trips. I also want to try other different types of lenses instead of using the same one over and over again during other trips.

There is also a store in NorCal that you can pickup rental equipment from borrowlenses.com which I have done before and it does save you a little money on shipping.

Thanks for your input.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just as you said that it doesn't make any sense to rent lower cost lenses where it does make sense to rent higher end lenses. I was also thinking of the same thing and just buy the lens from somewhere and if I am not satisfy with it, I can always sell it.. It is difficult to decide on what lenses to get for your own specific needs.

If it is only for this trip and nothing else like you for example, it does make sense to rent the Sigma lens or any other high end lens. For me since I go a lot since I have an AP, will it make sense to buy it so I can use it a lot for the future trips. I also want to try other different types of lenses instead of using the same one over and over again during other trips.

There is also a store in NorCal that you can pickup rental equipment from borrowlenses.com which I have done before and it does save you a little money on shipping.

Thanks for your input.

There's a rental place near WDW that rents equipment. I love knowing that if my camera dies while I'm there, I can call up and get something delivered to me fairly quickly. I wish there was some place close to DLR that did that.

This fear of course, is based on reality for me. In 2007 my SLR died in DL half way through our trip. I was happy it was under extended warranty when it happened, but not happy to realize that meant I had to wait until I got home and contacted the warranty folks before I could get a new camera. The funny part was that we had to drive home to Missouri with that broken camera...... only to be told it had to be shipped back to.......... wait for it...... southern California.

 

[Glennie5]

So excited that I stumbled upon your trip report, I can't believe I almost missed it. Katie sure is growing up fast, I miss seeing her in all of your fabulous gowns though.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great photos of the castle, and of Mary & Bert!

Awesome getting to meet Jack, especially with a short wait!

Mickey and the Magical Map looks like a fun show.

Cute costume on Mickey. However I would've been hoping for Steamboat Mickey too!

Sounds like another great evening

 

[mom2rtk]

So excited that I stumbled upon your trip report, I can't believe I almost missed it. Katie sure is growing up fast, I miss seeing her in all of your fabulous gowns though.

Thanks Glennie! So glad you found us in time.

Your timing is awesome. One day left. And it might just include one fabulous gown!

And look at your adorable princess! Is that Christmas Belle?

Great photos of the castle, and of Mary & Bert!

Awesome getting to meet Jack, especially with a short wait!

Mickey and the Magical Map looks like a fun show.

Cute costume on Mickey. However I would've been hoping for Steamboat Mickey too!

Sounds like another great evening

I really want to find a way to meet Steamboat Mickey next time. I just don't want to wait through the line over and over again only to meet the same ones. Not sure how that's going to go.......

And as much as I loved having a short line to meet Jack, I was really hoping he'd have Sally with him. That's another one we're going to have to figure out before our next trip. At least now we know what area to keep an eye on.

 

[YodasMom]

Awesome update and photos, Janet! Are you going to do a trip report of your western trip from this summer, or photos?

 

[mom2rtk]

Awesome update and photos, Janet! Are you going to do a trip report of your western trip from this summer, or photos?

Thanks Karen! You know, I almost forgot about that! I'll try to do a quick recap with some of my favorite photos soon. I actually did an 8 x 8 scrapbook already so I should have enough photos edited already. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[jenseib]

LOL, they must have ordered the rain especially for you. Gives you something to look forward to when you go back, right?

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my photo editing. But when I'm done here, I'm going to retire. OK, so you know me better than to believe that. But I'm definitely taking a nice LONG break.

I'm going to work on an update in a minute, but this is going to be fun. I just noticed my numbers on my images went all cuckoo in this batch. What the HECK is up with that? The numbers jump all over the place. So when my photo storage system stores them numerically, they jump all over the place. As a result, they're all out of order on Flickr too. Yuck.


.

On flickr you can edit the album and have it arrange in order of time taken...I have been doing that which works so nice as it is throwing my phone pictures in the right spots as well. Also when I use 2 cameras it helps too.

 

[mom2rtk]

On flickr you can edit the album and have it arrange in order of time taken...I have been doing that which works so nice as it is throwing my phone pictures in the right spots as well. Also when I use 2 cameras it helps too.

You couldn't have taken time away from your daughter's shower to tell me that YESTERDAY?

Now back to trying to figure out just WHY my camera went all wacky with the numbering. When I put that with the flash issue I had last year and the lens issue I'm trying to sort out now, I'm back to thinking it's the camera that's full of gremlins.

 

[jenseib]

You couldn't have taken time away from your daughter's shower to tell me that YESTERDAY?

Now back to trying to figure out just WHY my camera went all wacky with the numbering. When I put that with the flash issue I had last year and the lens issue I'm trying to sort out now, I'm back to thinking it's the camera that's full of gremlins.

Oops.....sorry!

Love all the updates. I just got caught up. I really want to get on Small World there now...even with out the Christmas overlay.
I could feel the cold you were describing too! I remember how you said it was so cold that trip. I hope this year is better.
That is an odd meet with the FG. Wonder why she wouldn't sign first?
You got some fabulous shots on HM too. Those ghost gingerbreak guys are kind of creepy!

 

[mom2rtk]

Oops.....sorry!

Love all the updates. I just got caught up. I really want to get on Small World there now...even with out the Christmas overlay.
I could feel the cold you were describing too! I remember how you said it was so cold that trip. I hope this year is better.
That is an odd meet with the FG. Wonder why she wouldn't sign first?
You got some fabulous shots on HM too. Those ghost gingerbreak guys are kind of creepy!

I'm afraid now I won't want to do Small World again unless it has the Christmas overlay! We really enjoyed it. Ended up finishing 3 of our park days with that ride.

As for Fairy Godmother...... she was just persnickety. There wasn't even a big line she had to worry about moving along. I hear she's not out in the parks any more. I'm glad I didn't complain or I might feel guilty for getting her fired!

You really need to put a Christmas trip to DLR on your "Disney to do" list. We're thinking of swapping to Halloween next year but I'm really sad at the thought of not being there for Christmas.

 

[ArwenMarie]

All caught up! Great update as usual.
You are so making me want to go there!

 

[YodasMom]

As for Fairy Godmother...... she was just persnickety. There wasn't even a big line she had to worry about moving along. I hear she's not out in the parks any more. I'm glad I didn't complain or I might feel guilty for getting her fired!

Janet, this same Fairy Godmother was at The Plaza when we were there for ABD on July 9 for breakfast. She was inside with the other characters going around meeting people. I have a photo that one or our ABD guides took of her with me. Just compared photos and she's the same one! To my recollection, she was fairly quiet......Of course, I didn't ask for an autograph, though I did ask her to move so that the photo the guide took wouldn't be focused into the sunny window!

 

[mom2rtk]

All caught up! Great update as usual.
You are so making me want to go there!

You really should find a way to work out the details. Maybe sneak into town?

Janet, this same Fairy Godmother was at The Plaza when we were there for ABD on July 9 for breakfast. She was inside with the other characters going around meeting people. I have a photo that one or our ABD guides took of her with me. Just compared photos and she's the same one! To my recollection, she was fairly quiet......Of course, I didn't ask for an autograph, though I did ask her to move so that the photo the guide took wouldn't be focused into the sunny window!

She was also at our breakfast the next morning. So more on her coming up.

Did she move when you asked?

 

[YodasMom]

She was also at our breakfast the next morning. So more on her coming up.

Did she move when you asked?

LOL!!! Yes, she did move. Just realize, though, that one of our ABD guides was taking the photo and maybe FGM was behaving in her presence! The guide didn't use the best composition, though, and cut off FGM's hand when she was trying to pull her dress out to take her pose....LOL!