What's in a title anyway? How about 1300 pictures? 4/15/11-> Bonus Section pt1 & 2

[NateNLogansDad]

I am joining looks like a great trip report

I hope you were able to finish reading it, unfortunately it's all over There may be another soon for the May trip but who knows

Ha Ha Ha!!! Tim is a piece of work! We were down at the Phillies game yesterday and they were talking about how Sean is the last of the boys to turn 21 this summer and that lead to my brother asking if I was coming out to celebrate Sean's 21st with them in July! Who am I to turn down a night out! So how was the May trip? Will there be a TR? Hope all is well!

Heck yea! A night out is a night out! We're heading with a bachelor party tonight to Allentown to see a minor league game (the Iron Pigs) and I can't wait to get out of the house for a few hrs! The May trip was fun but honestly, it kind of felt like there was something missing. I do want to do a TR soon but I know the weekends during the summer are going to fly by. Plus, honestly I've gone through maybe 1/2 of the pictures I took and so far have pretty disappointed. We'll see maybe if I can save enough of them with photoshop or something, I'll post something soon.

Hi first of all i want to say thankyou for this report. We are going back to disney for second time but for my daughter 7 now i seems like the first. we went throught your whole report took us 3 days as my daughter had lots of questions at the end we told her we were going to dw and she started to cry. SO thank you again as this was a perfect report with all the pictures for my daughter and i a disney dad 44

OK, let me set the stage for you on this one. I'm at work, it's around midnight, and I'm in the break room with a bunch of other drivers. The week has been a little stressed at times and I'm tired and feel like I'm going to loose it. I pull out my phone and read your post and instantly got a little misty eyed. I had to pretend I was yawning to cover it up That was so sweet of her and I hope you always get a reaction like that. I'm sure that's something you'll remember for a long long time. From one Dis Dad to another, I know you'll enjoy every minute of your trip. Take it all in and don't forget one smile or laugh that she shares with you!

 

[sthnbell19]

First I have to say I loved your trip report! The photos were fantastic. If you do not mind me asking, what settings did you use for the fireworks photos. I could have sworn I read a post where you told. I have a D5000 and will be at Mt Rushmore in a week and want to try to take some photos of the fireworks/light show they do at night.

 

[nilla]

I'm going to have to read this one, because:

1) Not a lot of TRs on here are the work of a guy, so we have to look out for one other

2) You're from not that far away from me, apparently

3) You have a ton of pics, so I should be able to breeze through it pretty quickly

4) Oh, and it looks like a good one

Of course, if I do, I'll be the only one still commenting on it, but what can you do?

 

[NateNLogansDad]

First I have to say I loved your trip report! The photos were fantastic. If you do not mind me asking, what settings did you use for the fireworks photos. I could have sworn I read a post where you told. I have a D5000 and will be at Mt Rushmore in a week and want to try to take some photos of the fireworks/light show they do at night.

A little late now and I really apologize, but here's my secret, I love shooting in auto. For our May trip, I wish I had stuck with auto so I would have had more keepers but I really messed up for most of them. Auto is my buddy but very rarely do I use the one with the flash. For the fireworks, Shutter priority @ 4 seconds, ISO set to 200, on a tripod with a remote and the lens is set to manual focus @ infinity.

I'm going to have to read this one, because:

1) Not a lot of TRs on here are the work of a guy, so we have to look out for one other

2) You're from not that far away from me, apparently

3) You have a ton of pics, so I should be able to breeze through it pretty quickly

4) Oh, and it looks like a good one

Of course, if I do, I'll be the only one still commenting on it, but what can you do?

1.) And a good looking one at that! No, I'm just kidding. There's no camera in the world that can fix this mug! I have noticed it too where most trip reports are done by women, weird huh? My money is on the fact that most of us guys just can't spell. Let me know what ya think though.

2.) Not at all. I actually bought my boat from a Lou's Marina in your neck of the woods. Nice place less than an hour from here.

3.) That all depends on your internet connection

4.) Never judge a book by it's cover, if it weren't for the free popcorn and adult beverages in the lobby, I think most people would have walked away. For the next TR, I'm installing a big screen and an in-ground pool with a water slide so people will hang around longer during the intermission

Oh, and I'll comment back so you won't feel like you're talking to yourself.

 

[Donald Duck888]

I wanted to say I really enjoyed reading your trip report, really like all the pics especially the night pics at the castle.

We are heading down in about a month and I am planning on bring my new DSLR.

I saw in prev post what you used for the fireworks shots but may I ask what setting you used for the inside no flash shots? I always seem to have trouble keeping them sharp as the ride is usually moving, any tips would be great.

Oh yeah and I wouldn't be a true Sox fan if I didn't mention that we may very well be meeting your Phillies in the world series this year.

I have to admit though your Phillies look pretty tough to beat especially their top 3 starters.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

First off, I'll address the important part. I'd LOVE to see you guys with us in the World Series. Just last night we were watching a thing on the Sox from 2004 and we both said how the Boston and Philly Fans were so close to one another. We've all seen our bad times and totally savor all the good ones. PLUS, whoever....let's say....doesn't care for the Yankee's as much as we do, is OK in our book.

Now, for the inside shots. First off, Know how much noise your camera gets in dark situations at what ISO. I shot a lot with my ISO set up to 3200 and the real bad ones either get darkened later on to cover it up or just deleted and never spoke of again.
With the ISO set to 3200, I'll use shutter priority and set it to maybe 1/15th of a second. It's hard to stay steady that long so sometimes I'll move it to 1/30th of a second.
My best tip is TAKE MULTIPLE PICTURES. I try to keep my keeper/throwback ratio around 1:10. For every 10 pics I take, if I get one keeper, I'm doing good. Take extra memory cards and fill them all up. I average between 1,000 and 1,500 pictures a day when in the parks. Every night I dump them into my laptop and start the next day with at least 2 8gig SD cards. I always fill one and partially fill the other.

Last tip. Try Shooting In RAW. Raw files give you much more flexibility to "tweak" them later on. You get full control over the white balance and it's great for bringing out details in darker things like shadows.

Feel free to ask if you think of anything else before you go. I'll tell you whatever I can....even though it'll prove that I am no real photographer!

Practice before you leave outside at night while you're walking. Practice good techniques on holding the camera, that helps a lot also!

 

[Donald Duck888]

Thank you very much for the info. I am going to try some of those things out before going as you suggested. I was going back and forth in my head about if I was going to bring the DSLR (a Canon Rebel XS) this trip (weighing carring it around vs much smaller point and shoot) But when I checked out your picks it kind of made up my mind for me on bringing it.

I have mostly used it in auto mode but have recently gotten around to figuring out how to use it in the more manual modes. Seems I have just scratched the surface on what it can do.

Once again thanks for the info.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Thank you very much for the info. I am going to try some of those things out before going as you suggested. I was going back and forth in my head about if I was going to bring the DSLR (a Canon Rebel XS) this trip (weighing carring it around vs much smaller point and shoot) But when I checked out your picks it kind of made up my mind for me on bringing it.

I have mostly used it in auto mode but have recently gotten around to figuring out how to use it in the more manual modes. Seems I have just scratched the surface on what it can do.

Once again thanks for the info.

Speaking of weight, make sure you have a decent strap for that thing. After a few hrs, it get's heavy! I picked one up from best buy for ~$20 and it's the best thing I could have done for the money!

b/t/w I could never see myself go to WDW again without my DSLR. I thought about it before and it sends shivers down my spine! There was a day or two I left it at the hotel for a while when we went in May but I could never leave it home!

 

[Donald Duck888]

Thanks for the tip on the strap. If you can believe it I had never even thought about replacing it.

I have been looking at different straps and was wondering if you have any thoughts on the Black Rapid RS 4 or RS 7 straps. I am seriously thinking of getting one of these as I like the idea of the camera by my hip vs hanging in front of me.

Also congrats on your teams league (NL) securing homefield for WS, thanks in large part to the pitching of 2 of that scary rotation your Phillies have. At least I can take a bit of solace in the fact that the only run the AL got was due to a HR by one of my SOX LOL.

 

[disneemama]

I am late to your TR but so excited to stumble on it when you had questions about a trip to WTC. (Hoping to take my Grandsons some day.) It will take me a while to check out your pics entirely but I love what I have seen so far. They are amazing, you really take spectacular pictures. My family loves Disney(DD was married at the WP in May) and love, love, love the Phillies!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I am late to your TR but so excited to stumble on it when you had questions about a trip to WTC. (Hoping to take my Grandsons some day.) It will take me a while to check out your pics entirely but I love what I have seen so far. They are amazing, you really take spectacular pictures. My family loves Disney(DD was married at the WP in May) and love, love, love the Phillies!

Thank you very much! I'm surprised it's still up! As for the Phillies....the last 6 games are driving me nuts!!!!! I know we don't need to win but it's the end of the season. In a few weeks baseball will be over and I want to enjoy every last one!

On the upside, we will be sporting some Phills gear throughout Disney World in just a few weeks which means a new Trip Report soon!

 

[disneemama]

I agree, my husband, son and 2 grandsons where at the game last Saturday when they clinched it. They were beyond excited. Its been down hill ever since but have faith all will be well soon. We always go to WDW with many Phillies shirts, last year we did a pic with everybody wearing red Phils shirts. It was quite a sight to see, (15) people walking down main street with Phils shirts on. I look forward to seeing your new pics, as well as the ones from May. We just returned from a Aug/Sept trip that was so much fun, since the wedding in may was not much of a park trip from the boys. Have a great trip.

 

[Susan121302]

I just finished reading your TR that I stumbled upon last week. I took my DS to Disney in October for 5 days (and had to stay off site) and we want to return for a week and stay at the Beach Club. So we are starting to make plans for 2013. To feed our Disney addiction we have been looking at the DIS boards and watching You Tube videos. I have to say of all the Trip Reports I have read, this by far is the best one I have seen. You not only have OUTSTANDING photography skills but you captured the Disney emotion in your writing style. Thank you so much for that. I am hoping I can find another trip report from you from any subsequent trips you have taken since this one. Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!


p.s. We are from Boston so we will just not talk about baseball at all and pretend we didn't see that first page! But in true Boston fashion and to quote your aversion to bats ... "ewe" Phillys!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I just finished reading your TR that I stumbled upon last week. I took my DS to Disney in October for 5 days (and had to stay off site) and we want to return for a week and stay at the Beach Club. So we are starting to make plans for 2013. To feed our Disney addiction we have been looking at the DIS boards and watching You Tube videos. I have to say of all the Trip Reports I have read, this by far is the best one I have seen. You not only have OUTSTANDING photography skills but you captured the Disney emotion in your writing style. Thank you so much for that. I am hoping I can find another trip report from you from any subsequent trips you have taken since this one. Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!


p.s. We are from Boston so we will just not talk about baseball at all and pretend we didn't see that first page! But in true Boston fashion and to quote your aversion to bats ... "ewe" Phillys!

First off, how in the heck did you possibly find this thing? It's been over for a while now Second, it's funny you should mention another report....I might just be ready to start another I have a few thousand pics I took from our last trip...in OCTOBER When were you there??? We stayed at the animal Kingdom Lodge from October 21-28.
Also, thanks for helping the photography ego a bit I'm probably my worst possible critic on my own pictures. 99.5% of the ones I take, I want to delete as soon as I look at them on my computer. The ones I like are usually a lucky shot that wasn't what I was originally trying for.

Oh yea! For this trip we just went on, I had a newer camera so hopefully the pictures will be a little bit nicer I'll post back on here when I finally get the report started and put a link.

As far as baseball.....88 days until Spring Training!!!

 

[Susan121302]

First off, how in the heck did you possibly find this thing? It's been over for a while now Second, it's funny you should mention another report....I might just be ready to start another I have a few thousand pics I took from our last trip...in OCTOBER When were you there??? We stayed at the animal Kingdom Lodge from October 21-28.
Also, thanks for helping the photography ego a bit I'm probably my worst possible critic on my own pictures. 99.5% of the ones I take, I want to delete as soon as I look at them on my computer. The ones I like are usually a lucky shot that wasn't what I was originally trying for.

Oh yea! For this trip we just went on, I had a newer camera so hopefully the pictures will be a little bit nicer I'll post back on here when I finally get the report started and put a link.

As far as baseball.....88 days until Spring Training!!!

I happened to be poking around the Beach Club thread, since that's where we want to book our next trip, and noticed one of your posts with the link to your trip report and I couldn't resist a title that claimed to have thousands of pics.

We were there Oct 25th - 30th. So we overlapped for some days! It was a great week to be there. The weather was nearly perfect. I had never been there during the Halloween season so I got to go to my first MNSSHP! I was dressed as Princess Leia and DS was Luke Skywalker. I am not a halloween person and never dress up, so this was WAY out of the box for me. I soon learned that if there's one place you can feel comfortable being a kid again, its Disney. We had a blast! We didn't get to do half as much as we wanted in the 5 days we where there, and that's why the BIG vacation is in the works. I want to do 10 days, but we may only be able to do a week. SAB, dining plans, park hoppers, OH MY! It adds up. (they need to make an emoticon where he's just throwing cash around, btw)

Anyway, I will keep an eye out for your new TR and see if we are in any of your backgrounds!
In the meantime, I think I will go check out your '09 TR.

I think the Red Sox need to get their @*&$ together in the next 88 days. And quickly! DS is still devastated about how it all went down at the end of the season.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I happened to be poking around the Beach Club thread, since that's where we want to book our next trip, and noticed one of your posts with the link to your trip report and I couldn't resist a title that claimed to have thousands of pics.

We were there Oct 25th - 30th. So we overlapped for some days! It was a great week to be there. The weather was nearly perfect. I had never been there during the Halloween season so I got to go to my first MNSSHP! I was dressed as Princess Leia and DS was Luke Skywalker. I am not a halloween person and never dress up, so this was WAY out of the box for me. I soon learned that if there's one place you can feel comfortable being a kid again, its Disney. We had a blast! We didn't get to do half as much as we wanted in the 5 days we where there, and that's why the BIG vacation is in the works. I want to do 10 days, but we may only be able to do a week. SAB, dining plans, park hoppers, OH MY! It adds up. (they need to make an emoticon where he's just throwing cash around, btw)

Anyway, I will keep an eye out for your new TR and see if we are in any of your backgrounds!
In the meantime, I think I will go check out your '09 TR.

I think the Red Sox need to get their @*&$ together in the next 88 days. And quickly! DS is still devastated about how it all went down at the end of the season.

I was so excited at the possibility of playing the Sox in the World Series. We were talking about that most of the summer to be honest. Who in the universe would have thought things would have gone the way they did Oh well, that's officially the past!

I have a thought for you about the beach club... If you aren't booking a free dinning deal, try to find someone you can rent DVC points from. It's so much cheaper that way and you can still add on the dinning plan. Another option is to maybe spend the first few days at a cheaper hotel. Again, I'd say to go through DVC if possible. A studio at the Animal Kingdom lodge might be close to the same price as a moderate or even value hotel room. It's just a thought. Definitely make the Beach Club the 2nd part of your stay though, being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios is phenomenal and it will be missed if you go elsewhere! I honestly can't wait to go back there but it's just not in the budget right this minute. That was where we went on our first trip, and it's always going to have a special place in our hearts. I hope you have just as much fun and make even more memories than we did! I'm so excited for you!!!

 

[Susan121302]

I was so excited at the possibility of playing the Sox in the World Series. We were talking about that most of the summer to be honest. Who in the universe would have thought things would have gone the way they did Oh well, that's officially the past!

I have a thought for you about the beach club... If you aren't booking a free dinning deal, try to find someone you can rent DVC points from. It's so much cheaper that way and you can still add on the dinning plan. Another option is to maybe spend the first few days at a cheaper hotel. Again, I'd say to go through DVC if possible. A studio at the Animal Kingdom lodge might be close to the same price as a moderate or even value hotel room. It's just a thought. Definitely make the Beach Club the 2nd part of your stay though, being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios is phenomenal and it will be missed if you go elsewhere! I honestly can't wait to go back there but it's just not in the budget right this minute. That was where we went on our first trip, and it's always going to have a special place in our hearts. I hope you have just as much fun and make even more memories than we did! I'm so excited for you!!!

Thanks so much for the great advice!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Thanks so much for the great advice!

No problem. When we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Beach Club that's how we did it. There's even a section on the Disboards that's dedicated to renting Disney Vacation Club points.

 

[Susan121302]

Hi there, I looked into your advice about DVC rentals and now want to ask you a couple of questions if you have time. My email is susan121302 at hotmail.com. I would PM you but my post count is really low.
Thanks so much!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

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