"What's the Catch - Do I Not Get Bacon?" - 11/27 - TR started!

[teekathepony]

Hi there Wendy! I'm excited to read your photography tips. Love the big hole, little hole explanation. I can definitely relate to those terms. I'm proud to say that I used my DSLR almost exclusively this last week when I was traveling... however, I kept it on Auto. Shame on me for not even trying! Anyways, I love your tips and look forward to your next installment to pull all these together. I'm so glad that you give examples of photos using the various settings since I'm a visual person.

As for your planning.... YAY for scoring BOG! I love Kona, but it's even better when you have a dismeet planned! Awesome!

For the small difference in price for OOP vs DDP, I would go with the "I don't have to worry about it" option and pre-pay.

Happy Friday!

Welcome back, Brenda!

I am glad to hear the photography lessons are doing the trick! I love to talk cameras and so this is fun for me too. I am a visual and hands on learner, so I am trying to get as much visual aids in as possible since I can't be with each of you to do it hands on! I'm going to try to get the next lesson done today (depending on how busy the rest of my shift is -- I'm at work! Shhh! Short shift though so it's all good. )

I am very excited for my Kona Dismeet! And yes, the small price difference is nothing compared to not worrying with the meal plan.
Happy Saturday!

 

[OrangeJuice]

Glad you got a Dismeet Sounds like fun!

 

[teekathepony]

Glad you got a Dismeet Sounds like fun!

It was kind of ironic how it came up but now I'm really excited for it!

 

[silverhaze269]

Gotta start off by saying that I LOVED your TR from last September! It was awesome getting to see all your photos and the adventures you guys had. I especially liked the bit you added on the end about your souvenirs was awesome! I really liked getting to see the little bits of Disney you've brought into your home

I also have to say that I'm excited for your guys' upcoming November trip My parents have a vacation booked from November 11-16, taking advantage of the free dining offer they got a PIN for. I was really REALLY hoping and trying to go with them (they even added me to the reservation), but $1500 is a lot to come up with in just 4 months, and even my parent's aren't so sure they'll be able to go, and so here in lies my idea for our hopeful next trip...but I'll get to that in my upcoming PTR/TR ...I think I may even try and re-visit/work in last year's trip in it somehow. Keep an eye for a new link in my siggy

 

[teekathepony]

Before I get into today's post, I wanted to share a story that I meant to share in the last post but forgot! It's the story behind the title. It was just a silly little thing, but it made me laugh so hard I had to hold onto it.

It was late and we were high on sugar and Disney excitement. We were pricing our meals to see about the meal plan and whether it really was worth it. We priced Boma twice -- once for dinner and once for breakfast. Dinner at Boma will cost you $38.33-$42.59 depending on the day. Breakfast on the other hand, runs $20.23-$24.49. When Johnny saw that he was so confused as to why breakfast was so much cheaper than dinner and he said to me "What's the catch? Do I not get bacon?"

Being in a silly state, we laughed our heads off and I said right then that would be the name of my PTR. Johnny was happy he had helped.


Activities

So we know when and we know where and we know who, how about the why and the what?

As for the why, we will be celebrating our third wedding anniversary. The actual date is October 16th, but we took our honeymoon in November so we'll just say it's the anniversary of that. We are Christmas lovers to the core and love to start the season in the Happiest Place On Earth!

There are so many activities going on while we're there, so what are some of our plans?

First and foremost, the most important, highest priority item on our list:

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

We did this party in 2010 and absolutely loved it. Everything is so adorable and magical, from the beautifully lit castle to the snow on Main St. This was, as I say, our highest priority and we wanted to make sure we would be there for the party.

Number two on the list:



The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights!

Again, something we saw in 2010 on our honeymoon. It was so stunning! I could have walked around looking at those lights all day.

Number three:

We wanted to do the F&W again, if we could and if it did not interfere with getting there for the Christmas party. Luckily it overlapped by three days! We hope to get to Epcot early in the day on the second last day of the festival and avoid much of the evening crowd. We're picky eaters so unfortunately we won't be taking full advantage, but we'll try something new.

A possibility (though getting lower on the priority list ever time we talk about it, I must admit) is this:







The Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party!

We went last year and loved it, but in the interest of time and budget, we might skip it this year. We're still undecided.

Anyone have any other favourite special events this time of year?

*********************************************************

Photography 101
Lesson 4: Tying it all together.

So we know that the aperture is the hole in the lens that lets light in - big hole = small number, small hole = big number. Shutter is what opens in front of the sensor. Slow shutter lets in more light but also more motion. ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor to light. High ISO = brighter but also grainier.

How do these things all tie in together?

All three exposing elements need to be in some sort of balance to get a great picture. You can always change any one of those to get more or less light. The lighting situation and your other settings will dictate which setting to change for best results. Remember there is a fourth exposing element, flash, but we'll get to that later so for now we're working with just the main three.

Let's do this by examples.

If you are in a dark ride (let's say we're all on Spaceship Earth together) and your settings look like this:

Shutter speed: 1/60
Aperture size: f3.5 (Maximum)
ISO: 200

and the image is coming out too dark. What would be the best thing to change?

Changing your ISO in this situation. Your aperture is at max, can't get any bigger. Your shutter speed is as slow as you want it to go before you start seeing noticeable blur. Your ISO is still pretty low, you can bump that up! Depending on your camera you might get bad grain as low as ISO 400, but it will get you an image.

New situation. You're outside getting a picture of one of the adorable statues around the hub in MK. Your exposure (that is, how bright/dark your photo will be) is perfect, but you really want to try blurring the heck out of your background. Your settings:

ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/125
Aperture size: f8

To get the desired blurry background, you have to open that aperture up as wide as you have available. Let's say you're using a kit lens with a max. aperture of f3.5. That means that from f8 to f3.5, you're opening your aperture up 7 extra stops -- that's a lot of extra light! Don't forget that originally your image was perfectly exposed. With 7 extra stops of light you're going to have too bright an image. What then? Change your shutter speed. Unless your camera goes down to 50 ISO which some do. Change your shutter speed by 7 stops to compensate. If you're using an SLR on manual, that means increasing the shutter speed 7 times which should get you to a speed of 1/640. That's super fast, but on a bright sunny Florida day, you just might need it.

One more!

It's coming on dusk and you're walking around World Showcase. It's getting darker and you notice your pictures are all coming out blurry, but it's bright enough (exposure is good). You have your camera on an auto mode with no flash. Your settings:

Shutter speed: 1/30
Aperture size: f3.5 (MAX)
ISO: 100

Here we first address the blurry pictures. They're happening because your shutter speed is too slow. Up that shutter speed by at least three stops to 1/60. Now your pictures aren't blurry! But they are dark. Since your aperture is as big as it gets, you have to turn to your ISO. Up that by three stops to 800 and your picture will be bright again. Every time you up your ISO your grain will get more visible, but it will get you a picture and grain is easier to deal with than blur!

I could go on forever with examples, but I hope you get the gist. If your image is exposed right, and you adjust one element, you're going to need to compensate with another. If you need to change the exposure (brightness/darkness) then take into account your current settings and choose the best one.

I know many of you like to shoot on Auto and I shoot on some automatic modes too, but knowing how each element works can help you if you're having a specific problem with your auto. I know it's too much thinking to shoot manual all the time while you're on vacation, but soon I will get to the different modes on your camera and what they can be used for. For now let's just say - Tv and Av are your friends!

As always, feel free to ask if you have any questions!

 

[teekathepony]

Gotta start off by saying that I LOVED your TR from last September! It was awesome getting to see all your photos and the adventures you guys had. I especially liked the bit you added on the end about your souvenirs was awesome! I really liked getting to see the little bits of Disney you've brought into your home

I also have to say that I'm excited for your guys' upcoming November trip My parents have a vacation booked from November 11-16, taking advantage of the free dining offer they got a PIN for. I was really REALLY hoping and trying to go with them (they even added me to the reservation), but $1500 is a lot to come up with in just 4 months, and even my parent's aren't so sure they'll be able to go, and so here in lies my idea for our hopeful next trip...but I'll get to that in my upcoming PTR/TR ...I think I may even try and re-visit/work in last year's trip in it somehow. Keep an eye for a new link in my siggy

Ooooh how exciting!! I'll keep an eye out for links!

 

[SAT887]

I was wondering about the Bacon title and how it would come in to play the Osbourne lights are amazing, we walked around almost mindlessly in December just watching! Do they have the Christmas Storytellers in Epcot yet in Nov? Loving your photo tips! I was checking out the noise with the higher ISOs on the 7100- amazingly better! I am going to NC soon and I can't wait to really play with my camera

 

[MEK]

You should definitely teach photography classes. What great explanations and examples you are giving. Please don't stop. More. More. More. Same concepts. Just more examples.

Too funny about how your got the name for your TR. Love how you are going to combine the best of F&W and Christmas.

 

[teekathepony]

I was wondering about the Bacon title and how it would come in to play the Osbourne lights are amazing, we walked around almost mindlessly in December just watching! Do they have the Christmas Storytellers in Epcot yet in Nov? Loving your photo tips! I was checking out the noise with the higher ISOs on the 7100- amazingly better! I am going to NC soon and I can't wait to really play with my camera

Hubby likes bacon. Yes, enough to skip a restaurant that had no bacon for breakfast. Hehehe
I don't think they have the storytellers in November but ill have to double check.
Oh man, I bet the 7100 has some good ISO! The newer cameras are coming out with better and better sensors and the iso cabilities that go with them are awesome.

 

[teekathepony]

You should definitely teach photography classes. What great explanations and examples you are giving. Please don't stop. More. More. More. Same concepts. Just more examples.

Too funny about how your got the name for your TR. Love how you are going to combine the best of F&W and Christmas.

I'm glad you enjoyed the lessons! At work we were thinking of giving classes, I keep pushing for it because I want to teach them! Hehehe I'll do more examples for sure. I do this with Johnny at home, he wants to learn how to do this stuff too.
It does look like its going to be a great trip (but I may be biased!) combining the best of everyone! Hehe

 

[natebenma]

Boma- breakfast- not doing it this year, but my favorite memory is a bored waiter bringing over a heaping plateful of bacon to my son.- Johnny would LOVE that! Hahaha

I had to dig out the picture of the plate of bacon. Well, not quite as heaping as I thought, but not bad!

The waiter then took a picture of me with Ben. Can't believe how small he is! Mini-me???

Kona- breakfast- we have this in July- my favorite thing to eat in Disney is here. Not the Tonga Toast, but the TT gets everyone else there.-That's right, you like the macadamia nut pancakes, am I right?



Great memory!!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Hahahaha. Nope Johnny, you get bacon, no worries.

You're definitely going during a great time of year. I love that time too, with the castle dreamlights and F&W.

 

[natebenma]

Perfect timing for your trip!!! I love that you get to enjoy some of the F&W fest, then Christmas stuff. Can't wait to see your Osborne lights pictures.

We have booked the Wishes Dessert party for the first time, and it will be extra special since we have never even seen Wishes.

Thanks for sharing the origin of the PTR title. Hilarious!

Finally, thanks again for taking the time to share your knowledge and photography tips with us. Great lessons. I haven't had a chance to really play around yet, but I will definitely be studying up before my trip in July.

 

[silverhaze269]

Those tips are really helpful! I'm starting to get it I think, but now I just have to go out and practice! I've got the Canon PowerShot SX240HS, because I didn't feel like spending the extra money just to have the GPS feature, (if I don't know where I took the photo, there's something wrong ) and so far on auto it's given me really awesome shots. I LOVE the zoom on it, and it's extremely portable. My work sells the T3 now, which I picked up a few days ago (literally, just held) and I liked the feel of it, despite it being a large camera, so now I'm curious.

Awesome plans so far though! MVMCP is an awesome party! I just loved seeing the castle light show And of course, the "snow" on Main St always gets me. If I could spend every Christmas in Disney World, I would do it in a heartbeat!

Food and Wine is awesome, but be warned about the crowds. It was INSANE in the few fleeting days, because the locals were trying to get their last fix too. Just be prepared for crowds and you'll be fine.

As for that PTR, I've had it sitting in a word document for a few days, but I've been too busy to post it Soon though, soon.

 

[teekathepony]

I had to dig out the picture of the plate of bacon. Well, not quite as heaping as I thought, but not bad!

The waiter then took a picture of me with Ben. Can't believe how small he is! Mini-me???





That's awesome! It's a fairly heaping plate, it's enough for me for sure!
Awww what a cute picture of you two! Mini-me is right!

Hahahaha. Nope Johnny, you get bacon, no worries.

You're definitely going during a great time of year. I love that time too, with the castle dreamlights and F&W.

Hehehe Johnny was very happy when Allears.net confirmed that bacon is still on the menu.
It's such a wonderful time of year all around!

Perfect timing for your trip!!! I love that you get to enjoy some of the F&W fest, then Christmas stuff. Can't wait to see your Osborne lights pictures.
I'm really excited for the time of year, all the best things rolled into one! I hope to take my tripod this year so I get some better Osbourne pics than last time, I just had my little point and shoot camera!

We have booked the Wishes Dessert party for the first time, and it will be extra special since we have never even seen Wishes.
Oh really? Wow! What a great way to do it! We loved the dessert party last year.

Thanks for sharing the origin of the PTR title. Hilarious!

Finally, thanks again for taking the time to share your knowledge and photography tips with us. Great lessons. I haven't had a chance to really play around yet, but I will definitely be studying up before my trip in July.

I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the lessons, I love to talk cameras.

Those tips are really helpful! I'm starting to get it I think, but now I just have to go out and practice! I've got the Canon PowerShot SX240HS, because I didn't feel like spending the extra money just to have the GPS feature, (if I don't know where I took the photo, there's something wrong ) and so far on auto it's given me really awesome shots. I LOVE the zoom on it, and it's extremely portable. My work sells the T3 now, which I picked up a few days ago (literally, just held) and I liked the feel of it, despite it being a large camera, so now I'm curious.
That's a really nice camera, I love the SX series and I love Canon so much! The T3 is one of the smallest SLRs on the market, it's really nice too.


Awesome plans so far though! MVMCP is an awesome party! I just loved seeing the castle light show And of course, the "snow" on Main St always gets me. If I could spend every Christmas in Disney World, I would do it in a heartbeat!
The snow on Main St. tickles my heart a little, it's just so Christmassy! I love my Christmas at home, but there's no better way to start the season.

Food and Wine is awesome, but be warned about the crowds. It was INSANE in the few fleeting days, because the locals were trying to get their last fix too. Just be prepared for crowds and you'll be fine.
Yeah we had that issue on our honeymoon. We're prepared (though not looking forward to it! hahaha)

As for that PTR, I've had it sitting in a word document for a few days, but I've been too busy to post it Soon though, soon.

Post it! I'm in already! Can I claim first now?

 

[silverhaze269]

There, all posted. You can claim your "first in" status now

 

[teekathepony]

There, all posted. You can claim your "first in" status now

Mission: Accomplished!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Followed you over from my PTR and joining in! Really like your ADRs! And I am extremely green with envy about your BOG ADR!

We will be staying at AKL for our family trip in January. It's been my second dream resort after Poly and am very excited about it. We LOVE Boma for dinner. Sort of opposite of your situation, we have yet to have tried Boma for breakfast.

 

[teekathepony]

"More Examples for Mary Ellen, Who Asked (And for Anyone Else Wishing For More.)"

This post is all about the photography lessons so if you're here for the report you can skip this one

Before I start, if anyone out there is thinking of a scenario and wishing I would address a certain issue, please speak up! I'm taking requests!

This is more examples of scenarios and problems, like the last post. Also, I'm going to put the answers in white. That way you can quiz yourself to see if what you thought matched what I thought. For anyone new to secret text, you can just highlight the white text with your mouse to see it

Example 1:
You're in AK on the Safari and you're so excited to get pictures of all the animals. You've got your big zoom lens on and you're stretched out to 300mm! Hello close-ups! It looks bright out, but you notice that your pictures of some animals are coming out dark and blurry!

Aperture size: f11
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100

Some animals are deeper in shade than you would think -- there are lots of trees on the safari! First to address the blurriness. You might be thinking that I said you can hand-hold as slow as 1/60 so what's the deal? If you're using a zoom lens, you have to up your shutter speed. Remember that your shutter speed should roughly match your focal length, so if you have a zoom all the way out to, let's say, 300mm, you're going to need a 1/320 shutter speed. That's 6 stops darker so of course you need to adjust somewhere else. First up, aperture. Before you up your ISO (creating grain) you should open up your aperture if possible. If you're zoomed out to 300mm, your max. aperture will probably be smaller (unless you have a lens that will make me drool!) so let's say f5.6. That's 6 stops bigger, which makes up for your faster shutter speed. But wait -- I also said the pictures were dark! Let's say you also up your ISO to 400. That's enough to brighten your image without getting too grainy.




Example 2:
You're up in the train station above Main St. in MK. You're trying to get a nice wide angle shot of Main St. but you notice your depth of field is very shallow (remember that's when not very much in front of and behind your subject is in focus.) Exposure is good, no blur, no grain.

Aperture size: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/2000
ISO: 100

Your very wide aperture is what's causing the shallow depth of field. In landscape shots or anything where you require objects at varying distances from you to be in focus, you should make your aperture smaller, which increases your depth of field (if anyone wants to know why that is, I'll do a lesson on that in a while. It's technical but fun.) Stop down your aperture to about f8 at least, or even f11. To compensate, slow down that crazy fast shutter to about 1/320 -- still fast! Leave your ISO as it is.





Example 3:
Can a situation ever be too dark AND too bright? Sort of. We're watching Festival of the Lion King! It's dark in there but the lights on the stage vary from very bright to sort of dim. You're all over the place but mostly the pictures are blurry! They're usually bright enough, no grain, your focal length is about 100mm.

Aperture size: f11
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 100

The easy answer here is to put your shutter speed and aperture wider -- faster shutter will stop the blur (fast moving characters here!) and the wider aperture will ensure your scene stays bright. Use the shutter priority (Tv usually) mode! I'll do modes in the next lesson, it will make things so very much easier.




Next lesson will be all about the different modes your camera has. Most point and shoot cameras have different modes too so this one should help. Anyone worried about thinking too much about your camera on vacation -- this one will be for you!

 

[teekathepony]

Followed you over from my PTR and joining in! Really like your ADRs! And I am extremely green with envy about your BOG ADR!

We will be staying at AKL for our family trip in January. It's been my second dream resort after Poly and am very excited about it. We LOVE Boma for dinner. Sort of opposite of your situation, we have yet to have tried Boma for breakfast.

You're a ninja poster! Posting at the same time as me!
and thank you so much for stopping by! Too funny that you're opposite with Boma. I've heard so many excellent things about dinner there