Disney Castle Fireworks

Today's post contains three photos, but all were taken during the same time frame so I included all of them in one post. The very first day at the Magic Kingdom we got to experience the Electric Light Parade as well as the show "Wishes" which contains a pretty extravagant firework display. Unfortunately the first night the vantage point that I picked out was not prime for taking shots of the fireworks so I scouted out a few possible locations to set up at for when we went back a few nights later. I finally decided on a spot across from the castle that had a nice viewing angle and, most importantly, no obstructions. I got to the spot at about 7:30 and waited until the fireworks show slated for 10:00. I probably could have set up around 8:00, but by 8:15 people were already trying to get a prime location for watching the parade, day in the park photo/video presentation, and the fireworks, so I think arriving on the early side was a much better approach.

The first shot is of the castle itself illuminated in one of the many colors that it can be seen in starting shortly before sunset. I like the way that this color turned out the most, but the clouds in the background also made the photo a little more complete in my eyes. I cranked up the aperature to f/13 a bit to try to get the motion more blurred to help the stationary people pop out a bit more from the motion in the background.

Green Disney Castle

Canon 60D, on tripod, 3 shots (-2,0-2), EF 17-40mm f/4L (@17mm), Aperature f/13

The next two shots are from the "Wishes" fireworks display which was pretty impressive to watch (although the best overall show we saw at Disney was Fantasmic!, held at Hollywood Studios, which I didn't bring my camera for). I managed to get several shots (around 75 I think) of the fireworks but these two are by far what I consider the most appealing. These photos are once again not really HDR (HDR firework shots really don't come out looking that good) but I modified them using the Nik Software suite and other tweaks such as selective coloring and curves to try to bring out the photo more vividly than the way it was captured with my camera.

Capturing fireworks are tough, you have to be quick enough to get the shot, but you don't want to let too much light in and oversaturate the rest of the photo. There is a very fine line and I think every setting is unique, you just have to try a few different approaches early in the display to hopefully get the details just right so you can capture most of the show.

Disney Castle Fireworks I

Canon 60D, on tripod, 1 RAW shot, EF 17-40mm f/4L (@17mm), Aperature f/8, manual 3.2 second exposure

Disney Castle Fireworks II

Canon 60D, on tripod, 1 RAW shot, EF 17-40mm f/4L (@17mm), Aperature f/8, manual 3.2 second exposure

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Daytona Beach Beach

Today's photo is one of the last shots that I took on our vacation, it is a shot of Daytona Beach, but quite a bit south of the "beachfront" located in the city. We drove for about 20 minutes to a spot to the south to find somewhere that was inundated with people, fortunately this spot ended up being perfect. I set the tripod up very low to the ground to take this shot from through the seagrass. I am really happy with how this shot came out even though it is a "psuedo" HDR, as it is generated entirely from one RAW image (the grass blew way to much to try to get a good handle on de-ghosting so I just did it from one shot).

Daytona Beach beach

Canon 60D, on tripod, 1 RAW shot (-2, 0, and +2 through DPP) EF 17-40mm f/4L (@32mm), Aperature f/8

If you are so inclined, please feel free to leave any comments or feedback. Also remember that clicking on the photo takes you to my online gallery hosted over at smugmug where you can view the photos that I have posted in various sizes. Thanks for stopping by!

Star Wars At Disney

Today's photos were taken at Disney Hollywood Studios during our vacation to Florida. The first day that we visited the park I didn't take my camera, thinking that there would not be much there that I would be interested in shooting. Boy was I wrong!

The first photo is looking up at a recreation of the Ewok Village on the Forest Moon of Endor. As you wait in line for the ride "Star Tours" (which was unfortunately closed during our trip) the queue wraps around the Ewok Village. I purposely took the shot with the sun casting some glare because I think it adds to the overall feel of the shot. I did a small bit of touch-up brightening on the base of the tree in the center of the photo, but I only modified that small little bit from the resulting image in Photomatix.

Even though the area was closed off I managed to slip in during one of the parades and get enough shots to compose this photo before I was asked if I was "lost". Yes, I definitely was "lost", but it was in the wonderment of being able to actually photograph something that I had seen in Return of the Jedi growing up!

Ewok Village

Canon 60D, on tripod, 9 total shots (-4 through +4), EF 17-40mm f/4L (@17mm), Aperature f/8

The second shot is of an AT-AT that was located near the village. This was a pretty difficult shot to process because it was quite windy when I took these shots, so despite my best efforts the trees are slightly blurred, although once again I think this enhances the centerpiece of the shot, the very menacing AT-AT. I thought about adding a little emphasis to the shot like a glow around the barrels as if it had just been shooting at me, but ultimately decided against it.

AT-AT

Canon 60D, on tripod, 9 total shots (-4 through +4), EF 17-40mm f/4L (@32mm), Aperature f/8

If you are so inclined, please feel free to leave any comments or feedback. Also remember that clicking on the photo takes you to my online gallery hosted over at smugmug where you can view the photos that I have posted in various sizes. Thanks for stopping by!

Endeavour on launchpad

Today's photo was taken during the Discover KSC: Today & Tomorrow tour at the stop which is closest to the launchpad itself, approximately 5000 feet away. Before the launch there is a security buffer a mile in diameter that prevents any individuals from getting any closer, and the tour actually provides the closest vantage point that you can visit before a launch. I took this shot with the Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L lens which I rented from borrowlenses.com (thanks guys, the lens was great!!). At this site there is also a small bunker which was constructed to protect a generator (from the sound waves (and anything else that could happen in a failed launch)) that powered cameras placed near the site to monitor a launch. The front of the shuttle was protected by the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) that protects the shuttle and is usually pulled back about 24 hours before the launch. That was not the case for the launch attempt on Friday as severe weather rolled through Thursday night and it was not retracted to just before midnight. And then the issue with the heaters on the APU scrubbed the launch so the pictures that I took during the tour are the "space" highlights from our vacation to Florida.

Endeavour on the launchpad

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Hogwarts - Day and Night

Today's photos come from Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, the theme park that is located next to the original Universal Studios Park near downtown Orlando. The "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" is one of the newest and most heavily promoted attractions at the park. The area includes three roller coasters (two of them are the same ride) and a recreation of the town of Hogsmeade, complete with shops and attractions. The center piece is the castle itself, which contains a ride that takes visitors on a ride around the "world" of Harry Potter. Visiting was pretty interesting, but I think the castle itself was by far the highlight of attraction.

It was a little windy when I took the day shot, so the trees have a little bit of ghosting, but once again I like how that looks, especially compared to the stationary castle. I managed to Photoshop the floodlights out of the day shot, but I wasn't able to remove it from the night shot as I would have to had modify the castle and I feel that would detract from the overall quality of the shot.

Hogwarts - Day

Hogwarts - Night

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