Hi everyone! My name is Barrie and I am a big Disney World fan. As a child I received a book about Disneyland from an aunt in California. It was a photo book of all the rides and attractions with small descriptions of each. I'm sure you've seen similar books for sale in the parks. I used to spend hours looking at that book and dream about being able to hang out in the Swiss Family Robinson tree house and ride on the monorail. But I lived in Ohio and California was a long way away. There wasn't much chance of me going there.

Disney World opened in Florida when I was in my twenties but by then I was, of course, way too cool for Disney. I was so cool in fact that I decided to move to Oregon to become one with nature. A few years later my mother moved to Florida, only two hours from Orlando. Oh my gosh, I could barely contain my excitement. I guess I wasn't so cool after all! That was about 17 or so years ago and since then I have lost count of how many times I have been a guest of the Mouse.

In the past few years I've become a bit of a photography buff as well. I've always been interested in photography. Now that I think of it, it's probably because of that book! Until recently I couldn't really afford it as a hobby though – it just cost too much to develop roll after roll of my not-so-great photos!

But once digital cameras came onto the scene I was bit by the photography bug. I started out with a cheap little 1.5 megapixel point and shoot camera. A little over a year ago I graduated to a Nikon D50, my first real dslr camera. Disney World is absolutely my favorite place to take pictures and when I am there I am rarely without my camera to my eye. I still consider myself a novice and as I learn more I like to share what I've learned with other Disney World fans. That's why I'm so excited that Deb asked me to join the AllEars® team of bloggers.

I hope you'll enjoy my view of Disney World. Along with sharing some of the Disney World photos I've taken, I plan to offer up some tips for taking great photos on your next trip. I will also share a few resources and fun photo projects I've discovered. We may even play some photo games. I'd love to hear from you if you've got comments or suggestions – just use the feedback form. And as I close this introduction I'd like to offer my gratitude to Deb for the opportunity to connect with you all – thanks again Deb, this is going to be fun!

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 8s shutter, f4.6

Although many people will tell you what a great view there is while riding the Astro Orbiter, I think the best view is of the ride itself, especially at night. This retro looking rocket ship ride is located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.

I decided to start with this photo because it is one of my favorites. I just love all the bright colors against the night sky. In fact, I love night shots in general and will probably be posting many in the future. If you haven’t spent much time exploring Disney World after dark, I highly encourage it. They do such an incredible job with lighting. It's just beautiful at night. It can be a little challenging to capture it all on the camera just right, but what a great time I have practicing!

Quick Tip: Whether you are using your camera’s manual functions or you’re using an auto setting, the key to getting nice crisp night shots is to stabilize your camera.

A mini tripod works well at Disney World. It can sit on top of a trash can or bench – both of which are everywhere in the parks. A really cool gadget is a Gorilla Pod which is a small, bendy tripod that can be wrapped around fence posts and railings. You can even set your camera on a wall.

If you don’t have any of these things available, do your best to brace your body against something stationery before you click your shutter. The more stable your camera, the sharper your photo will turn out.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/200s shutter, f4.9

Say hi to Donald Duck, star of the new Mexico attraction “Gran Fiesta”. This was taken outside of the Mexico pavilion at Epcot where Donald was doing a meet and greet with park guests. In between posing with children Donald turned and gave me a quick wave. I was so glad I already had my camera focused on him.

Quick Tip: When taking photos of characters, be sure to get some close-up shots. Try to fill the bulk of your frame with the character’s face. Be careful with your zoom though. It’s easy to lose important detail if you get too close.

This picture of Captain Hook would have been much better if I had gotten his hook in the picture. The photo of Donald works because I got some of his sombrero and colorful tunic in the frame to give context to the shot. When in doubt, take your shot at a slightly longer distance. You can always crop it tighter later.

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/13s shutter, f5.6, 1600 ISO, -0.3 EC

In a previous blog entry, Barrie talked about ways to stabilize your camera when shooting in low light at Walt Disney World. Camera system manufacturers now have another alternative for you. New lenses which compensate for image blur caused by small, involuntary movements (wobbly hands, shooting from a moving vehicle, etc.) called camera shake. Manufacturers have various names for this technology. Canon calls it Image Stabilizer (IS) technology while Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR) system help give you sharp images with their digital SLR cameras. Other manufacturers and third-party lens makers like Sigma and Tamron have their own versions.

The links I've supplied above will give you the technical details of how these lenses work, I just know that they do. The picture taken during the first scene of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at the Disney-MGM Studios is an example of a Nikon vibration reduction lens at work. This image was captured using available light at a shutter speed of 1/13 second using the Nikon 18-200mm VR zoom lens fully extended to 200mm. The best part is, I was sitting in the third row of the theater and hand holding my camera. One must still take steps to stabilize the camera by holding arms in close to the body, holding one's breath and slowly pressing the shutter, however, these lenses will produce a higher percentage of great images in low light conditions. So, the next time you are told, "No flash photography". Smile knowing your VR or IS lens will allow you to capture the show.

You do know photography can be an expensive hobby, right? These new lenses are no exception, ranging in price from $250 to over a $1,000 depending on the focal length, zoom range and speed of the lens. Nikon claims and I have been successful getting an extra two stops without the need for a tripod. This means while I would normally not use shutter speeds below 1/60th of a second. Using the VR lens, I get excellent results at 1/15th of a second or lower hand holding my camera. These lenses will never replace a tripod but they do give you more flexibility for those times you can't or won't carry one with you.

Cinderella topiary at Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/160s, f/11, 200 ISO, -0.3 EC, 18mm Focal Length

In digital photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on to an image sensor. It's really quite simple even though there's a lot of science and engineering behind how your camera does it. I leave that to the engineers and enjoy the fruits of their labors.

In the time ahead, I will be going more in-depth into the photographic terms of exposure and how they effect our photographs. These terms are: Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO (or Sensor Sensitivity) and Exposure Compensation.

Aperture is how wide the lens' iris is opened. Like your eye, a lens has an iris. You can tell how wide it is by the f-stop number. Those funny numbers you see on your lens or through your viewfinder often designated with an f/ in front of them. In the photo of a topiary taken during Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival, the aperture setting is f/11. The lower the number, the wider the aperture is and the more light is transmitted through the lens. Reciprocally, the higher the number, the less light comes through. Aperture controls the zone of focus or depth of field in your images and can be used in very creative ways.

Shutter Speed is how long the camera's shutter stays open to expose it's sensor to the subject being photographed. Most of the time it's just a short fraction of a second. The photo above used a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second. The dimmer the light, the longer the shutter speed is to get a well-exposed picture. Low light and night photography can sometimes take seconds or minutes to capture a scene. For fast action like children playing or theme park rides, you'll want to use fast shutter speeds like 1/500th or faster to capture the action. Playing with various shutter speeds is a lot of fun!

ISO is how sensitive your digital camera's sensor is to light. You want to use the lowest ISO you can to get shootable apertures and shutter speeds. The higher or faster, as it is referred to, ISO number, the more sensitive your sensor is to light. With a lot of light available, the topiary image was taken with an ISO of 200. As day turns into night, I will increase my ISO from 200 to as high as 1600. This does increase what's called noise (they look like little specs) into the images. Unlike film, the noise is not nearly as bad as film grain was and there are software products available, which can clean up most of the noise.

Exposure Compensation or Bias is a way for digital photographers to dial in their exposure. Most digital SLR and some advanced Point & Shoot cameras have an exposure compensation button which allows you to do slight adjustments to your cameras image sensor. Usually in one half to one third intervals, this little button can make the difference between an image with too light or too dark areas into a properly exposed gem. In this blog's photo, I made a slight -1/3 (or -0.3) adjustment to keep from over exposing or "blowing out" the light background behind the topiary.

For an excellent book on this subject, I highly recommend Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure which has been updated for digital photography.

The magic is in the details.

A visit to Disney World is like no other experience. From the moment you arrive you are engulfed by the atmosphere. Seems like every step you take provides a new treat for your senses, from the sound of beating drums to the sight of spectacular colors in every direction. There's so much to absorb that your brain focuses on the big picture rather than on the details. And that's the plan - Imagineers don't just create a set for us to look at, they immerse us in the set so that we actually feel something magical. For them it's is all about the detail. It wasn't until I started photographing Disney World that I really began to see the amazing intricacies of their work.

Let's see how well you focus on the details. Each week I'll post a photo of some small bit of Disney World. See if you can figure out where it comes from. The following week I'll let you know the answer. Let's start.

Where in the world is this?

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/60s shutter, f5.6

I’ve had a wicked sweet tooth lately and I couldn’t resist posting this photo. These yummy looking treats are Cloudberry Horns. You can find them at the Kringla Bakery in Norway at Epcot. Those are Berry Tarts in the foreground. So far I’ve been satisfied to just photograph these pastries but I think I’m losing my will power. On my next trip I’m definitely going to have to see if they taste as good as they look.

Quick Tip: Some things just need to be photographed super close. I think food is one of those things. These pastries wouldn’t look nearly as tempting if you couldn’t see the sugar crystals and the lightness of the filling. Here’s a secret: My original photo was a bit bigger and further away from the goodies. I set my camera to the highest resolution possible. Then after taking the photo, I cropped it to get the look of a macro shot.

Answer to last week’s Where in the World challenge:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/1250s shutter, f4.6

If you guessed Asia in the Animal Kingdom you’re right! This string of lights crosses the path on the way past the restrooms disguised as a mountain trading post. That’s Expedition Everest in the background.

Quick Tip: Head to Asia in the afternoon to get good photos of Expedition Everest. Later in the day the sun will be at your back, shining brightly on the mountain.

This week’s challenge: Where in the world is this?

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 1/400s shutter, f4

Early evening is a great time to enjoy the Boardwalk in the Epcot resort area. I just love the feel of the area at that time of day. Whenever I go to Disney World, I always build in time to hang out there, even if I am staying somewhere else. I think what I like best is that people linger on the boardwalk throughout the late afternoon and well into the evening. Even though it's bustling with activity, it's a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. There are kids playing everywhere. Many people are out walking just for the pleasure of it. There’s always someone sitting in a rocker with a good book. Friends have a beer together at Big River Grille and laugh about the fun they had earlier in the day. The Boardwalk just feels good. I like the energy of it.

Quick Tip: The best photographic subject is not always in front of you. While waiting in line to ride the Friendship water taxi to Epcot I turned around and saw this scene. For me, it captured some of that lazy summer evening feeling that I love about the Boardwalk. When you’re walking around the parks and resorts remember to look at what you might be missing in the opposite direction.

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 1/250s shutter, f5.1

I remember reading about DiVine on some of the Disney forums and I had no idea what people were talking about. People talked about how beautiful she is and how gracefully she moves. When I finally saw her last December I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was mesmerizing.

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, DiVine is a stilt figure who hangs out on the path to Asia in the Animal Kingdom. If you don’t know to look for her you may easily miss her because she blends in quite nicely with the vegetation along the path.

Quick Tip: When photographing the entertainers at Disney World, or anyone for that matter, be sure to focus your camera on their eyes. It sounds pretty simple but I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of people with perfectly focused noses and blurry eyes! To make sure that doesn’t happen to you, lock your focus before taking the photograph.

Here’s how: First, focus your camera directly on the person’s eyes. Then press your shutter halfway down. This will lock the focus on their eyes. With your shutter halfway pressed, move your camera to reframe your photo the way you want it. Now wait for the right moment and then press the shutter the rest of the way down to capture your perfect shot. As long as your subject doesn’t move closer or further away before you fully press your shutter, you should get a nicely focused picture.

Shutter speed is the time for which the shutter is held open during the taking of a photograph to allow light to reach the image sensor in a digital camera. A fast shutter speed will freeze the subject but needs plenty of light. A slower shutter speed needs less light and a more stationary subject or will cause image blur. However, you can use this to your advantage, as this article will show you.

Expedition Everest explorers emerging from the mountain. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/800s, f/7.1, 400 ISO, -0.3 EC, 135mm Focal Length

In the mid-afternoon Florida sun, it is easy for our cameras to select fast shutter speeds. From the observation area of Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest ride, I wanted to freeze the ride vehicle and guests as it came out of the mountain by using a shutter speed of 1/800 of a second. By doing this, you can see their expressions and body language as they see the plunge before them. One guest in the lead car is even video taping! To capture fast action, the faster the shutter speed the better to make the images sharp and clear.

The Beatniks entertaining guests in Disney's Animal Kingdom. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/30s, f/7.5, 200 ISO

When I came upon The Beatniks as I walked towards Dinoland in Disney's Animal Kingdom, I saw an opportunity to show not only their colorful costumes but their energy by using a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second. Photographs record still images, however, with the creative use of slower shutter speeds, a photograph can convey movement. The trick is not getting so much movement the subject is unrecognizable. The other trick is being able to keep your camera still while making the photo. I talked about how using stablizing lens technology can help in a previous entry. You can practice at home and test how slow a shutter speed you can use and still get acceptably sharp images. To get really long exposures slower than 1/15 of a second, you will need to either anchor yourself against something like a wall or pole, use a tripod or place your camera on a flat surface. At Walt Disney World, I've found the tops of garbage cans to be particularly useful.

Quick Tip: To take control of your shutter speed, set your camera to Shutter Priority Mode. In this way, you set the shutter speed and the camera calculates the aperture or f/stop for you. Be careful the aperture will give you the results you are looking for.

Answer to Where in the World challenge #2:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 0.002s shutter, f5.3

This bronze sculpture of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket is one of several character statues in the garden in front of the Cinderella’s castle at the Magic Kingdom.

Quick Tip: Giving a photo a shallow depth of field will really make your subject stand out from the background. I set my aperture to f/5.3 to make the flowers behind this statue look blurry. You can get a similar effect by using the portrait setting on your camera.

This week’s challenge: Where in the world is this?

Spaceship Earth. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/10s, f/5.6, 1600 ISO, -1 EC, 135mm Focal Length

Many people have sent in questions about how to get good low-light and night photography pictures at Walt Disney World. The key is to get enough light to your digital camera's sensor to record a well exposed image. You can do this a couple of ways. Use a tripod and increase the shutter speed or increase your camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive the sensor becomes and less light needed to record an image. Instead of using a tripod at ISO 100, you can dial in a higher setting like 400, 800 or 1600 and get a faster shutter speed. Thus, letting you hand hold in low light or in getting fast action shots like themepark rides, children playing or sporting events.

Epcot's Spaceship Earth is a favorite subject of many photographers during the day but, at night, the geodesic sphere takes on a surreal quality. To successfully show this, I increased my ISO setting to 1600. This is the highest my camera, a Nikon D70, can go. There are digital cameras today that go as high as 3200 ISO. I still needed a steady hand, propped elbows on a fence and a vibration reduction lens to shoot at 1/10s. To increase my chances of getting a great photo, I took a series of them with this being the best of the lot.

Shooting at such high ISO settings does bring about an increase in noise. Noise looks like color speckles and is noticed in uniform colors like the black sky in the Spaceship Earth photo. While it is a concern in digital photography, noise is a lot less apparent then with high ISO films. Those would show large grain in the processed prints. There are many software products available to reduce any noise which does creep into our photos.

Obviously, the less noise the better so, the lower the ISO, the finer the images your camera will produce. Check out your camera's manual to see how you can change the ISO and how high and low the settings are.

Quick Tip: Some digital cameras have an Auto ISO Setting. My Nikon D70 does and it allows me to let the camera pick the best ISO for the available light. This comes in handy as the light changes throughout the day into night or going in and out of buildings and rides at Walt Disney World.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 0.002s shutter, f5.6

It doesn’t take many hamburgers, funnel cakes and chicken fingers for me to start craving the fresh “California Cuisine” offered at Wolfgang Puck Café at Downtown Disney’s Westside. I’ve never been disappointed with a meal that I’ve had there. On my last trip I had a very tasty broiled halibut that was cooked to perfection. I also like their pizzas and Sushi.

In addition to their regular dining room and outdoor seating, Wolfgang’s has an open kitchen with counter seating and a sushi bar. I often go to Disney World on solo trips to take photos and I find Wolfgang Puck’s a very comfortable place to dine alone. It’s also one of the restaurants on the Dining Plan.

For a more upscale experience, check out The Dining Room at Wolfgang Puck’s (upstairs).

Quick Tip: This photo was taken just as the sun began to rise. The best light for taking photos is at sunrise and sunset. During the middle of the day the sun is often too harsh and can wash out the colors in your photograph. When the sun is low in the sky it gives a soft glow to your photos that is very pleasing. Even if you’re not really a morning person you can still get great morning shots at Disney World. This was taken from the balcony of my room at Saratoga Springs while I was still in my jammies!

Negative Exposure Compensation of -0.3 EV. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007 Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/125s, f5.6, 200 ISO	Positive Exposure Compensation of +0.3 EV. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007 Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/50s, f5.6, 200 ISO

Exposure Compensation allows you to adjust the exposure measured by the camera's light meter and telling the camera to allow more light in (positive exposure compensation) or less light in (negative exposure compensation). On your digital SLR camera, look for a +/- button to press to adjust exposure compensation. By making it negative, zero or postive in 1/3 (0.3) or 1/2 (0.5) intervals, you "dial" in the exposure for the photograph. As you change the exposure compensation, your camera will change it's shutter speed or aperture. Sometimes, even both, as you alter how the camera's light meter is "seeing" the subject you are pointing at.

In the two photos of the Research Station camp taken on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in Disney's Animal Kingdom, the one on the left has a -0.3 EV (EV is the standard way of indicating exposure compensation) giving a rich color to the green foliage and detail in the rock face. The shutter speed of 1/125s freezes the waterfall. The photo on the right has a +0.3 EV, see how the contrast is heightened and some of the objects near the front of the tent get "blown out", which means the loss of detail, as the shutter speed decreased to 1/50s. Some of the shadowy areas now have details and the waterfall has a whispy look. The rule of thumb is to expose for the highlights, the brightest part of the scene, which is what I did in the photo on the left.

How do you know which exposure is best? You don't really, you pick the one you like the best. For me, I try not to get any blown out areas in my photos. This is not always possible. I hedge my bets by bracketing the exposures. Bracketing is taking one photo each at a negative compensation, a zero compensation and a postive compensation. Most digital cameras today can be set to auto-bracket and take a series of 3 to 5 photographs in a single shutter release.

Quick Tip: Do you know how much exposure compensation range your camera has? My Nikon D70 can go plus(+) or minus(-) up to 5 stops in 1/3 or 1/2 intervals. Don't be afraid to go as high or low as you need to capture the photograph.

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200

With of all the amazing rides and attractions that fill the Disney Parks, it’s easy to miss some of the less spectacular displays. Here’s one that I always find myself stopping for. Just outside of Germany in the World Showcase area of Epcot is a really cute miniature train village. It’s easy to miss this sweet little display if you’re trying to fit in as much as you can. But outside of Disney, this village would be an attraction all on its own. The next time you visit Epcot check it out.

Quick Tip: When taking a photo of something close to ground level, including children, try to get as close to the level of your subject as possible. Your pictures will look better if you are not shooting down at your subject. I always find it better to rest one knee on the ground for added stability. Now, if anyone has tips for gracefully getting back up from this position, I’m all ears!

Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show explosive finale. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/250s, f/8, 200 ISO, 0 EV, 20mm Focal Length

Don't go away! Histograms are not hard to understand. They are a great tool for us digital photographers to know, at a glance, if the picture we just took is well exposed. No more being disappointed when we see the photos on our large computer screens that looked so good on the camera's little LCD. If you are not sure if your camera is able to show a histogram, check its manual.

Simply put, a histogram is a graph that displays how light is distributed in your picture. The left side of the graph represents the shadows (dark areas), while the highlights (light areas) are on the right. Remember bell curves from your old math or statistical classes? Rarely does a histogram from a photo take on the look of a perfect bell curve but the principal is the same. You do not want to see the curve bunch up to either side or get cut off which is referred to as a clipped histogram. A clipped histogram to either the left (dark) or right (light) side is something to be avoided. In the histogram example shown here, while there is a spike on the dark side, it is not clipped and falls off before the edge. The spike can be seen in the dark upper portions of the image.

By taking a photograph and looking at the histogram my camera shows me, I can tell if I have overexposed (histogram pushed to the right side or cut off) portions or all of the image. From there, I can adjust my exposure using the exposure compensation button. I may need to change the ISO setting if the histogram is showing a very underexposed (everything pushed or cut off on the left side of the graph) to increase the sensor's light sensitivity moving the histogram towards the center.

Take this entry's photo from the Disney-MGM Studios Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. I had to be quick with this shot as the car flu over the ramp faster than I was ready for. Checking the LCD image afterwards, I felt it looked good. Once I saw the well-distributed histogram, I was confident it was good.

As you can tell, the histogram is an excellent way to see if you have the exposure you are looking for quickly and easily.

Further Reading: I highly recommend this article on histograms: Understanding Your Digital Camera's Histogram.

Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/250s, f/8, 400 ISO, -0.3 EV, 80mm Focal Length

This proves how popular Cinderella's Castle really is. Just a few entries after Barrie posted about this most photographed object at Walt Disney World and here I am using this photo. I know many try to capture a unique view of the castle. I wish I could say I was trying to here. It just sort of happened and I will tell you about it soon.

Since I wanted my entries to be titled using the Epcot word of "innoventions", I want to share with you a very innovative software product I found. In my travels to many photography websites and forums, I saw other people putting lovely and informative virtual borders around their photographs. My inquires found most used various versions of Adobe Photoshop or Elements to do so. I searched for a less expensive (read: free) alternative. I finally found a product called BorderMaker by programmer Thijs Orbitz from the Netherlands. It fit my needs perfectly.

BorderMaker is very easy to use. The website has some screenshots with very little documentation but it only took me 10 minutes to get the results you see above. Before installing BorderMaker, you have to make sure you have the latest version of the Java Runtime Environment. Don't worry, it's not complicated. Once that is done, you can download and install BorderMaker with ease.

With BorderMaker, you can easily create custom border templates you can save for reuse or to batch process a set of pictures. It can auto-select border and text colors depending on a photograph's color range. Other handy features let you convert a photo to other formats, show Exif data, apply sharpening, add watermarks and even resize the processed image. In the example below, I let BorderMaker choose the border and text color initially. I changed the bottom two lines of text to red. I found the Indy font online and stretched the bottom border to accommodate all the text. The software made this very easy to do.

Another BorderMaker Example. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007

Now, how did I get the image of Cinderella's Castle? About 20 minutes after sunset this past May, I got on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (most old timers still call this the WEDway People Mover) for a leisurely ride around Tommorrowland. As I came upon the first turn past Stitch's Great Escape, I noticed Cinderella's Castle silhouetted against the pre-twilight sky and took a picture. The first one didn't come out to well as my ISO setting was at 200 so the shutter speed was too slow. I got a very blurred image. I quickly bumped up the ISO to 400 and took a couple of practice shots before entering Space Mountain. From those shots I was ready. Upon coming back out above the Tommorowland Terrace Noodle Station, I went to work. Zooming in a bit, I took a series of shots with this one coming out the best. Some photos call for a title, this one was easy: "Castle at Dusk". I think the virtural border gives the added attention this photograph deserves.

This was Challenge #3:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 1/1000s shutter, f4.0

This laundry line comes from the set of the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show at Disney-MGM Studios. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this show. Having seen the Indiana Jones stunt show I wasn’t expecting to be wowed but was I ever wrong. I loved this show! Even though I’m not a big fan of car chase scenes in the movies, it was really fun to learn how those scenes are created. There are some fun surprises in the show. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, be sure catch it on your next trip. You won’t be sorry.
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Challenge #4: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Copyright © 2003 Barrie Brewer, Nikon E3100

One of the things Disney does best is put on a spectacular fireworks show. This photo, although not one of my best, has always been one of my favorites. It’s a photo of the Illuminations fireworks show at Epcot, taken from the upstairs deck outside of Teppanyaki restaurant. I took this with a point and shoot camera on the automatic/normal setting. I used the deck railing to steady the shot. At the time, I had no idea how to take good photos of fireworks. Basically I just clicked away, hoping something might come out. This was my one lucky shot out of about twenty.

One of the questions asked most often on photography forums is “How can I take great fireworks shots?” This summer I learned that it’s actually not that hard if you follow a few simple guidelines.

1. Pick a good location to shoot from. Choose a spot that is upwind from where the fireworks will be set off so that the smoke blows away from you and out of your photograph. Remember that the fireworks will explode high in the sky, so be sure to look up when choosing your spot. Make sure that your view will not be blocked by trees, buildings or giant torches – although thoughtfully incorporating some things (like the torii gate above or a child on dad’s shoulders) will create a nice composition.

2. Use a tripod. It’s the only way to be sure you will get a sharp picture. Even better, combine the tripod with a remote shutter release.

3. Turn your flash off. The only thing it's going to light is the back of the head of the person in front of you - not exactly the effect you're going for!

4. Use the right settings. If you have a point and shoot with a fireworks setting on your camera, use that. If not, set your camera to landscape. If you can manually set your camera, the following settings are a good place to start: ISO 100, 2-3 second shutter, aperture f8-f16.

5. Take lots of photos. After the first few, take a look to make sure you’re getting what you want. Now enjoy the show!

I used these guidelines to take photos of the fireworks on the 4th of July this year. I was so pleased with the results. Finally, I have fireworks shots that I'm proud of. I can’t wait for my next trip to Disney World to photograph Wishes and Illuminations.

When taking a picture, one of the first elements I think about is whether to use a Landscape (horizontal) or Portrait (vertical) orientation. A lot depends on the subject as people and tall objects like towers or castles look better to me as a portrait. While four legged animals and sweeping vistas look better as a landscape. The second element I consider is what do I want to use the photograph for. Do I want to make a large print and hang it in the living room? Or, as in the case of the crow's nest and sail outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the Magic Kingdom, will I use it as wallpaper on my computer screen.

Pirates of the Caribbean. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/250s, f/11, 200 ISO, -0.3 EV, 38mm Focal Length

I know it's popular to want to share your photography, especialy Walt Disney World photos, with other people as computer wallpaper. Just don't get stuck in taking pictures only for computer screens. When first studying photography and later when doing wedding photography, I read over and over that by turning my camera 90 degrees and shooting my subjects in a vertical orientation, it would make my photos stand out. With that in mind, I often take both a landscape and a portrait version of a photograph.

Pirates of the Caribbean Crow's Nest. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-70DX, 1/160s, f/6.3, 200 ISO, +0.3 EV, 60mm Focal Length

Don't forget to shoot vertical! You'll be glad you did. So, drink up, me 'earties, yo ho!

This was Challenge #4:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 0.077s shutter, f4.5

Apparently, this wasn’t really a challenge after all! Nearly everyone got the answer correct. Congratulations go to Melissa N. Wheeler for being the first one to tell me that Challenge #4 comes from the teepee chandeliers in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge. OK, now that I know I’m not dealing with a bunch of novices here, you can bet I’m going to step up these challenges and make them a bit harder!
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Challenge #5: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Not all light is pure white and will have a certain color temperature. Engineers express this in degrees Kelvin which you might have used in your high school physics or chemistry classes. Our eyes see color temperature as color casts like blue, green or red. Have you ever taken a picture and have it look bluish or greenish when you see it just fine? That is because your camera's White Balance setting sees color temperatures. Our brain "knows" what color you are looking at so it adjusts for color temperatures that are not too extreme. Digital cameras are getting better automatically adjusting white balance with each new model but they are not there yet.

What do we do to get the right color? Digital camera designers and engineers have given us several ways to adjust the white balance and even fine tune it. Depending on your camera, look up white balance settings in the manual. You should see similiar settngs as these with a brief description: Auto or AWB, Incandescent (sometimes referred to as Tungsten or Indoor), Daylight or Sunny, Cloudy, Flash, Shade and Fluorescent. On the camera itself, these different settings are represented by icons. You may want to copy this information and carry it with you for reference. Those icons can get confusing. On most digital SLRs, you can also fine tune these settings further. On my Nikon D70, I can adjust plus or minus up to 3. For example, I often use Auto -3, which gives me very vivid colors, especially reds and yellows. It can sometimes give me too much red as evidenced below in my photo of Ariel during the Voyage of the Little Mermaid stage show at the Disney-MGM Studios. Not only is her hair a flaming red so is her skin!

Ariel with bad white balance setting. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/15s, f/5.6, 640 ISO, -1 EV, 150mm Focal Length

Another photographer, Mark Barbieri, shows us how to set the white balance correctly. Notice Ariel's skin color is what we see during the show and how I expect the Disney Imagineers wanted us to see her. I'd like to thank Mark for allowng me to use this photograph.

Ariel with good white balance setting. © Mark Barbieri

As always, you should practice using each of the white balance settings. For instance, the Shade white balance setting will warm up colors in a scene as shade looks bluish to a camera. That doesn't mean you have to use it in shade, it will warm up a sunset just as nicely. Investigate how others are using their white balance settings on the camera you own. Photography forums have lots of information on creative uses of white balance.

Further Reading: How to Set White Balance

This was Challenge #5:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 0.006s shutter, f6.3

This challenge was a real stumper. Pretty much everyone guessed that it was part of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. That's not a bad guess given that it is a pile of canonballs, but it’s actually located off to the side of the Liberty Square Riverboat launch. What I find curious is that it is aimed directly at the people on Tom Sawyer Island. Watch out next time you’re there!

Now, I’m sure there’s someone out there who knows where this next challenge is located…
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Challenge #6: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200, 1/1000s shutter, f4.8

If you listen to our friends over at the WDW Today podcast, they’ll tell you that an hour or two is more than enough time to spend in the Animal Kingdom. They are exaggerating of course, but their point is that there just isn’t that much to “do” there. If it’s attractions you’re most interested in, then I’d have to agree. The only ones I make sure I never miss are Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris and the Festival of the Lion King.

As a photographer though, I have to disagree. I think Animal Kingdom may be my new favorite park for taking pictures. I think Disney did a fabulous job on the theming in this park. The detail is incredible. At every turn there is something interesting to capture on camera. It’s also a very beautiful park. The landscaping is gorgeous and there’s water everywhere. Oh, and don’t forget the animals. Two hours may be enough time for the attractions, but I could easily fill two days with taking photos at Animal Kingdom.

Quick Tip: I spend a lot of time looking at other people’s photos. It’s a great way to learn about what kind of photos catch my interest. Once when looking at some Disney photos I came across a photo of the Yeti Shrine with Expedition Everest in the background. It wasn’t obvious, but as I studied it I noticed the shrine seemed to have a similar shape to the mountain. In that photo I couldn’t be sure so, on my next trip I made a point to check it out. Indeed, as you can see, if you stand in just the right spot you can line up the shrine and the mountain. That was a fun discovery.

The Crown and Crest store in Epcot's United Kingdom pavilion. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/15s, f/3.5, 450 ISO, +1 EV, 18mm Focal Length

While "researching" family crests and name histories in the United Kingdom's Crown and Crest store in Epcot, I suddenly remembered the old Walt Disney themepark fan's adage, "Look Up!". I was rewarded with the view you see above of multicolored flags depicting family crests from Ol'England hanging from the wooden rafters.

Did you know most pictures are taken about five to six feet off the ground or eye level of most people? While I was standing for this photograph, many times after taking an initial photograph, I pause and think how I can make it better. Would a different angle help? What if I move closer? Or farther away? Would getting down on my knees or belly give the picture more impact? How about from above? Is it possible to come back at another time of day when the sun is low or at night?

Now, I do know it is very hard to do this at Walt Disney World with the crowds, kids in tow or rushing to get to a scheduled show or dining reservation. However, I encourage you to practice this exercise with subjects around your home, neighborhood or anywhere you have your camera with you. Thankfully, Disney Imagineers make it easy and all you need to do is look up...

Flags blowing in the wind above the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Animal Kingdom. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/250s, f/8, 200 ISO, -0.3 EV, 75mm Focal Length

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200, 1/500s shutter, f5.6

I happened upon this little guy having breakfast while walking on the path between Saratoga Springs and Downtown Disney. He was so intent on eating that he didn’t even mind me taking his picture. If you look really close you can see one of the buildings in the reflection in his eye.

Quick Tip: My tip for today really is a quickie - take time to notice the little things. Yup, that's it. So often we are trying to cram in as much as we possibly can at Disney World. If you're anything like me, you need a vacation from your vacation! Many of my favorite shots were taken when I slowed down and really paid attention to what was around me. And, come to think of it, those are some of my favorite memories as well.

Google's free photo editing software, Picasa, is a simple to use way to enhance, clean up or fix your digital photographs. I have been impressed with what I have learned in the few days I have used Picasa. It has given me a way to fix some high contrast images I took during this year's International Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot.

As most of you are aware, the midday Florida sun is very bright. When I came upon the Donald Duck and Pluto pirate topiaries at the entrance to World Showcase coming from Future World, it was around three in the afternoon. My first attempts had Donald and Pluto well exposed but the bright sky and clouds were blown out. The clouds looking more like unnatural white bloobs due to overexposure. Using the exposure compensation button on my camera, I adjusted it down to -1.3 EV before the sky and clouds became correctly exposed. Unfortunetaly, due to the extreme difference or contrast in the brightness of the sky and the topiaries, Donald and Pluto were now underexposed. In digital photography, it's best to expose for the brightest parts of the scene which is what I did in the photo you see below.

Donald Duck and Pluto topiaries before editing. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/160s, f/13, 200 ISO, -1.3 EV, 18mm Focal Length

I'm sure you can see why I might toss this image into the trash bin. However, I had downloaded Picasa and had been learning it's capabilities. Maybe I can fix it! With a gleam in my eye, I launched Picasa and went about the task of throwing some added light on to Donald and Pluto.

Picasa has two elements to it. First is the Library which catalogs all your images on your Window's based PC (as of this writing, Picasa does not have a Mac OSX or Linux version available). You scroll through all your images on the right side of the Library's window. On the left you can set up virtual folders and see the aging of other photos by folder. You can watch slideshows, email, print and upload to Picasa Web Albums from the Library.

Double clicking on an image brings it into the Picasa Editor. On the left side, you see Picasa's tools with three tab views entitled Basic Fixes, Tuning and Effects. For my pirate topiary photo, I started out by adding some Fill Light in the Basic Fixes tab, moving the slider to the right until the detail in both Donald and Pluto could be seen clearly. This kept most of the detail in the sky and clouds without blowing them out. For this image, I didn't need any of the Tuning tools and skipped right to the Effects tab. In adding fill light, some of the color of the flowers at Donald's feet got a bit washed out or dull looking. I used the Saturation tool on the Effects tab to bring the color back. Don't overdo this effect unless you want a really cartoonish look to your photo. I applied just a bit here. As you'll read in most photo editing books, I applied sharpening as the last step in the photo editng process. Here again, you don't want to give it too much or the photo looks unreal. I clicked on the Sharpened tool just once.

Donald Duck and Pluto topiaries after editing in Picasa. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007

All done! What do you think? For a free photo editor, Picasa did an excellent job. Oh, and another thing, when I saved the edited version, Picasa saved my original in a separate folder. Picasa is far from PhotoShop but you can't beat the price for such an easy and useful photo editing tool.

Further Reading: I have only shown you a bit of what Picasa can do. Google's Online Tour of Picasa goes into much more detail than I have room for here.

This was Challenge #7:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/500s shutter, f5.7

And the winner is… Marie Bertini! Marie was the first to correctly identify this photo as the Zendrum played by the Village Beatniks in Animal Kingdom. You can usually find them rocking out near the Flame Tree BBQ on Discovery Island.
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Challenge #8: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/250s shutter, f5.7

Most of us take a lot of snapshots when we are on vacation – quick photos of our traveling companions standing in front of their favorite attractions. We’re happy when we catch them with their eyes open or a smile on their face. Then we get home and realize that all of our photos look pretty much the same: there’s Barb and the kids in front of the castle… there’s Barb and the kids in front of Morocco… that’s the kids with Barb in front of Star Tours… oh, there’s me and the kids in front of Expedition Everest… hmmm, what’s that… I can’t quite tell, but it must be Barb and the kids!

Have you ever looked at some people’s vacation photos and felt like you could just walk right into the picture, almost as if you were there yourself? How is it that some pictures are so fun and interesting to look at? Some people seem to have a real knack for taking great photos. Well, you don’t have to be a professional photographer or have any fancy equipment to take photos that stand out from the typical tourist shots. People who take good photos just know how to compose them in a way that makes them interesting for others to view. There are people for whom this comes naturally, but for most of us it’s a simple matter of knowing a few composition techniques.

Over the next few weeks I’ll show you how, with very little effort, you can take photos that look like they were taken by a pro. You won't necessarily want to use these tips on every photo you take. After all, those fuzzy, crooked pix of droopy-eyed relatives in front of Tower of Terror make us smile! But it is fun to experiment and it doesn’t hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve to mix things up a bit.

Quick Tip: Although there are many techniques for composing a photo, there is no right or wrong way to do it. Don’t get too caught up in trying to follow the rules of composition. The photo above was taken at the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot last May. I didn’t use any particular technique to take it. All I did to compose this shot was move around, looking through my viewfinder until I liked what I saw. I wanted to capture the contrast between the circles created by the flower pots and the stripes created by the light in the water. When I got those two things lined up in a way that was pleasing to my eye, I snapped the photo.

Chistmas Mickey & Minnie. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/80-200D, 1/25s, f/4.5, 400 ISO, +0.3 EV, 80mm Focal Length

There are many ways to use our photos. Enlarge and frame them for our homes or give photographic gift items like magnets, t-shirts or buttons. With the advent of digital photography and the Internet, you can create online digital albums and slideshows complete with music. Many people think ahead and take unique family photographs and create holiday cards to send to family and friends.

This year, I wanted to use one of my photos taken last year during Mousefest in Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe in Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square. The figurine of Mickey holding misletoe over Minnie as she is closing in to give him a kiss was a delightful one I couldn't resist. I used available light in the shoppe and got close with the 80-200 zoom lens on my camera. Your feet is your best zoom lens. This allowed me to use the widest aperture and shortest focal length of the lens to get the most light onto the camera's sensor and blurring the busy background of people passing by the shop window.

Many photo software packages today have ways to create and order prints, cards, postcards and other items. I used Apple's iPhoto to place the photo on the front of the Christmas card. I liked this layout with the angled image, old English font for the text and simple blue border. Inside is a place for more text and pictures. From there it was a simple click to order the quantity I wanted.

This was Challenge #8:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/500s shutter, f4.8

The best resort pool on property, hands down, is Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Clubs. This beached pirate ship, named the Albatross, is the pool’s slide.

Darn - no winners this week. I guess this one was kind of hard. The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was the most popular guess. This next one will be easy for you Hidden Mickey buffs - better get your answers in early!
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Challenge #9: Where in the world is this?

Do you know where to find this Hidden Mickey? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 0.8s shutter, f4.8

I think I’ve mentioned this before - night photos are my favorite, especially from Disney World. This is Germany from the World Showcase in Epcot. I think Epcot is the most beautiful place after dark. I always try to make sure I am as far from the exit as possible at closing time!

Quick Tip: I recently heard someone say that they know their camera so well that they are able to use every function in the dark. I’m working on it but I’m a long way from being able to do that! In the meantime, I carry a small LED flashlight in my camera bag to help me see the controls on my camera at night.

I’ve been through three different flashlights and finally found one that works for me. The first two had buttons on the side of the flashlight that kept turning on by themselves. The one I have now has a button on the end, similar to a click type pen. It takes a bit of effort to press it on so I don’t have to worry about it illuminating the inside of my camera bag.

Tower of Terror collage. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/360s, f/7.5, 100 ISO, 0 EV

I love creating new artistic works from my photographs. This one I am particularly proud of as it came together over a couple of years. I first took the picture of the Disney-MGM Studio's Tower of Terror during a trip back in 2004. I liked the clouds overhead. On a return trip a year later, I was in an hour wait queue to ride the Tower of Terror. Since I had my trusty Nikon Coolpix 995 with me, I passed the time by taking pictures of things I came upon in the queue. Disney Imagineers do a wonderful job of detail and I wanted to capture some of it.

Fast forward a couple of months and I came upon a speciality photo software package called LumaPix FotoFusion which made it very easy to create photo collages. If you are a scrapbooker, you may also want to take a look at this software. FotoFusion has frames in all shapes and sizes. There are backgrounds to choose from or you can use your own graphics or photos as was the case with mine here. It makes it easy to get started creating a collage by selecting the photos you want to use and pressing the Auto Collage button. If you don't like the first layout it comes out with, press it again. Once you see something you like, you can take over for the final arrangment of the images, change sizes of the images, put different frames and borders on them, add text in any font your computer has and use special effects like shadowing and blurs.

Taking my Tower of Terror image from 2004 as the background and grabbing a few from my queue photos in 2005, I started putting together my collage. It's a lot of fun moving the images around, selecting frames, colors and effects, even rotating them. After I got done, I wanted something more. The font wasn't creepy enough. It didn't take me long to find a Twilight Zone font on the Internet which gave an authentic look to the final product.

Photo collages are a great way to create new images from photos you had no idea what to do with.

This was Challenge #9:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 10/5000s shutter, f5.6

This Hidden Mickey is on one of the totem poles outside of Canada in the World Showcase area of Epcot. Do you see it? Jacquelyn Law did and she was first to let me know. Congratulations Jacquelyn, you're this week's winner!

For more Hidden Mickey fun be sure to check out Steve Barrett’s blog here on AllEarsNet.
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Challenge #10: Where in the world is this?

Do you know where this is? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/5s shutter, f4.8

Using objects in the foreground of your shot to frame your subject is a good way to focus attention where you want it and add depth to your photo. While in the Magic Kingdom, I used the arched doorway of Cinderella's castle to frame the passageway and the carrousel behind the castle.

A frame can help give context to your photo. A desert view framed by a rock formation really gives you a sense of place. A frame leads the viewer’s eye into the photo and may even encourage the viewer to look at it longer. You are limited only by your imagination when choosing a framing element. Here are some framing ideas to get you started.

• Architectural elements such as archways, doorways, windows, a hole in a wall, bridges and tunnels make great framing elements.

• Natural elements like rock formations, a gap in dense foliage or between trees, the overhanging branches of a tree, and even people can be used to frame your subject. For example, you can shoot over people’s shoulders or between their heads. There are plenty of opportunities for this at Disney World! You can even use shadows to frame your subject.

• The absence of objects, for instance a bare wall, can frame your subject by isolating it. This is what photographers do when they use a backdrop. Another way to isolate your subject is to use a very shallow depth of field to blur the background, creating a frame that will surround your subject.

• Patterns are often used as framing devices. Imagine the shelves in the World of Disney filled with stuffed Pooh bears. Now imagine one pink Piglet in the center of all that orange. That’s a frame.

Your frame can go completely around your subject or it might just be on one or two edges of your shot. It can be close to the edge of your photo or protrude pretty far into it, even taking up most of the space in it. The key is to keep in mind is that you are trying to focus the viewer’s attention on your subject. You don’t want your frame to overshadow the subject but in the same instance, you don’t want a wimpy frame that just ends up being a distraction. A good practice is to ask yourself if the frame will add to the photo or take away from it before you click your shutter. Experiment and see what you like.

Earlier, I showed how the use of software can add light to a badly underexposed photo. What if I told you there was a way to do the same thing using your camera and not having to do any post-processing in software. Would that be worth something to ya?

Looking at the photo below taken at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, you can see that the background and sky are nicely exposed but the subject is in shadow because of the angle fo the sun in relation to the photographer.

Scottwdw (yep, that's me) at Disney's Boardwalk Resort © Scott Thomas Photography 2005
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/250s, f/6.0, 100 ISO, 0 EV

After looking at the image in the camera's LCD, I instructed the photographer (my daughter) to use the camera's flash to fill in the shadows. The result you can view below.

Scottwdw (me, again) at Disney's Boardwalk Resort © Scott Thomas Photography 2005
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/60s, f/6.0, 100 ISO, 0 EV, Flash Used

This technique is called Fill Flash as it fills in shadow and dark areas of a scene with the use of an artificial light source. In this case, the builtin flash on the camera. In digital SLR and advanced Point & Shoot cameras, you may hear the term balanced fill flash as the camera will calculate the amount of flash needed using the amount of light detected by it's light meter. You don't want the flash to overpower the available light but to add just enough to bring out darkened areas like in this example.

Further Reading: While this article talks specifically about Canon equipment, other manufacturer's cameras work in a simliar fashion. Fill-in flash use with EOS cameras and speedlites

This was Challenge #10:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/20s shutter, f4

I just love all the creative signs at Disney World. This one is located on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In addition to gorillas, you’ll find birds, fish, monkeys, duikers and hippos on this trail near Kilimanjaro Safaris.

I think the signs are as much fun to look at as the animals. Karen Dresser-Smith from Salem, Massachusetts must think so too – she’s this week’s challenge winner!

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Challenge #11: Where in the world is this?

Do you know where this is? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

Running applications on the Internet has come a long way since portals like Yahoo and Google introduced Online Email. Now you can run spreadsheets and wordprocessors as well as figure out when you can call for your Advanced Dining Reservations at Walt Disney World.

Just recently, a new online photo editor was offically launched called Picnik which lets you do many general edits to your photos as well as add special effects, shapes, text and frames. Picnik has two versions. A Basic version which is free to use and a Premium version for $24.95 annually. Picnik currently interfaces with some of the more popular photo sharing websites such as Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Photobucket, Webshots and even Facebook. You'll find links on the Photo Tab of Picnik for more information on how to use photos from those sites.

Before Editing. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007	After Editing. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/80s, f/11, 400 ISO, -0.3 EV

I wanted to see just how good such an application might be so I created a free Picnik account and got started. Since this is an Internet application, it doesn't matter whether you are using a Windows, Linux or Mac operating system. As long as your browser supports Picnik, you'll be fine. I had no trouble using Picnik in Internet Explorer or Safari. If you don't use any of the services Picnik interfaces with, you can do what I do and upload a photo directly from your computer. You can only work on one photo at a time.

For our example, I choose a photo I took of Disney-MGM Studio's Beauty and the Beast Stage Show where I had the wrong white balance setting causing a very reddish cast to the actor's faces. Picnik has tabs across the top for Home, Photos, Edit, Create and Save & Share (see screen shot below). The Edit tab is where you start to improve your images. You can Rotate, Crop, Resize, and even fix Red-Eye. You'll find adjustment tools for Exposure, Color and Sharpen on this tab, too.

To fix my image, I started with the Exposure tool. To enter any of the tools, just click on the corresponding button. In Exposure you can add or subtract exposure and contrast using sliders. An Advaced tool is also available which shows a Histogram and adds sliders for Highlights and Shadows. In this case, I added a little exposure to lighten up the photograph. This is a good place to note that all your editing is done on the entire image. You don't have a way to selectively edit like you would in Photoshop and other simliar PC based photo editing applications.

Picnik Application (click for larger image)

The major fix I needed for this example was for color. Under the Color tab, you have Auto Color, Neutral Picker and sliders for Saturation and Color Temperature. Knowing the white balance was my main concern, I slid the color temperature slider to the left which adjusts the color cast towards the blue end of the spectrum. I had to slide it a long ways and ended up at a -65. It looked good but not quite good enough. I hit the Reset button to start over. This time I used the Auto Color button and while it looked a bit washed out at a setting of -84, the skin tones were much better. All the tools in Picnik have a Reset button. In that if you find what you are doing gets a bit odd looking, it's easy to start over. Clicking the OK button, retains the edits. I added a little sharpening in the Sharpen tool, too.

Now the fun begins. While I liked the photo, it needed "something". I entered the Create tab of the Picnik application and started trying various effects. After adjusting the color temperature earlier, I noted the photo looked a bit washed out. Using the Boost tool, I added some color back in adjusting the slider to 5 percent. This brought back a little redness to the faces but it looked more natural. I found I liked the look of adding a Matte around the subjects. You can control the size, strength and color of the matte effect. I emphasized the golden color of Belle's dress and the Prince's suit trim this way. Next, I went to the Shapes tool and added the heart shape. I changed the heart's location, size, color and fading before adding the text in the Text tool.

Once I was satisfied with everything, I went to the Save & Share tab and saved the new image back to my computer's hard drive. Be careful here. Picnik will use the same name for the edited version. Picnik might think about adding some sort of extension in a future update.

I was very impressed with how far Picnik has come in the last three months when I first discovered it. The developers keep adding new tools, controls, effects, shapes and fonts all the time. Being an Internet application, you can access it from any computer in the world. Might come in handy for doing edits from a hotel room in Walt Disney World for all you bloggers and webmasters out there. I suggest giving Picnik a try the next time you need to do some photo editing and see if it might work for you.

This was Challenge #11:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/400s shutter, f5.3

You’ll see the logo for Hollywood Public Works all over Disney’s MGM Studios (soon to be changed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios). This goofy guy is one of the Streetmosphere actors who entertain guests along Disney’s streets of Hollywood. Although many people correctly guessed that this photo came from MGM Studios, Amanda Campbell was the first person to reference the Streetmosphere performers. Congratulations Amanda, you’re this week’s winner!

Check out this link for an interesting article on the History of Streetmosphere.
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Challenge #12: Where in the world is this?

Do you know where this is? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comments link below this post.

The Rule of Thirds is a compositional rule in photography and other visual arts. The rule states that an image can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The four points formed by the intersections of these lines can be used to align features in the photograph. This aligning of a photograph's subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the photo than simply centering the subject would. However, like the Pirate's Code, the Rule of Thirds is more like a guideline than an actual rule.

Below is a photograph of Off Kilter's Bassist, Mark Weldon, where I am showing you how the Rule of Thirds applies. (Note, it's not exact as I hand drew in the lines but it's close enough for our purposes.) Notice in three of the four intersections there are strong subjects close by: Mark's tilted head in the upper left and both his hands in the lower two.

Rule of Thirds.

Many people feel the application of the Rule of Thirds turns everyday snapshots into professional looking photographs. I know as I edit my photos, the ones which follow this rule stands out above ones that don't. Especially, when taking pictures of people. For instance, we've all taken pictures of a person or group of people in front of the Magic Kingdom's entrance with the train station and flowers in the exact center of the Mickey symbol. I am guilty of this. Next time, try composing the people in one of the lower intersection points. I think you'll find the photographs will appeal to you more.

Another popular mistake people make is putting the horizon right in the middle of their picture. Effectively disecting the image in two. You should try to put the horizon at either the upper or lower third of your viewfinder when composing.

By practicing the Rule of Thirds, you'll find yourself thinking a bit before pressing the shutter. Recomposing in the viewfinder or retaking an image after looking at the photo you just took. The fun of digital photography is how easy and fast it is to learn to take better pictures. Another fun project is to review past photos which you thought were okay, crop them using the Rule of Thirds and see, if by doing so, makes them better.

Now, I think I owe Mark and all of you an unobstructed look as I captured him jamming to a Celtic tune during my last trip to Walt Disney World. Off Kilter can be seen several times a day at Epcot's Canadian pavilion when scheduled to perform. Check the link for more information about the band and their schedule.

Off Kilter Bassist, Mark Weldon.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/60s, f/5.6, 200 ISO, 0 EV, 200mm Focal Length

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/55-200, 1/500s shutter, f4.4

One thing I love about taking photos of the parades at Disney World is that the Cast Members love to mug for the camera. It makes it so fun to take their pictures. This is one of my favorite photos. It was taken during Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade at the Animal Kingdom.

Quick Tip: When composing portraits, line up your shot so that your subject’s eyes are about a third of the way down from the top of the photo. This gives your viewer the sense that they are looking at your subject at eye level, regardless of how tall or short either person is.

This was Challenge #12:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/500s shutter, f8

Everyone’s a winner! There were more responses than ever to this week’s challenge and everyone knew that the photo was taken in front of the France Pavilion in Epcot. Jennifer Snapp was the first one to send in her answer and she was the first person who provided the name of this French acrobat team, Serveur Amusant. Congratulations Jennifer!

You will need to be very specific with the location of this next photo in order to win. Are you up to the challenge?
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Challenge #13: Where in the world is this... exactly?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking on the comment link below this post.
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New this month - real prizes! Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies! No more lurking out there - if you think you know the answer, be sure to send it in so that you don't miss out on your chance to win something very cool!

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 9.3s shutter, f8

One way to make the main subject of your photograph stand out is to compose your shot with leading lines. Leading lines are lines in a photograph used to guide your viewer’s eye through your photograph. When deciding how to compose your shot, consider where the line begins and ends, the direction of its flow and its angle and shape.

In this photo, my main subject is the lighthouse in front of the Yacht Club resort. There are several leading lines here: the dock, the beam of light reflected on the dock, the rope railing. Even the buildings on the horizon lead your eye to the lighthouse. The list of things to use as leading lines is endless. Even people and shadows can be used to create leading lines.

The way in which the lines flow should allow your viewer to enter the picture where the line begins and continue his or her viewing without being lead out of the photo. By changing your camera angles you can change the direction the lines in the photograph are leading. Zooming in or out can change where your line begins and ends.

You can even affect the mood of your photo by the shape of leading line you choose. Different lines are thought to have psychological meanings: vertical lines create a feeling of stature and strength and can even imply power; horizontal lines are thought to be peaceful or stable, suggesting rest; diagonal lines represent activity or motion; and curved lines are thought to be graceful and imply beauty.

Leading lines will give depth to your photo and can make an average scene look a lot more interesting. Give it a try next time you are composing a photograph.

The definition of a prop is something used in creating or enhancing a desired effect. The entire Walt Disney World resort is full of props. Some conspicuous and some not. I'm going to show you an example of each from Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The first prop is found in Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama which is like a little scene people can get into. This was taken a few months before my youngest daughter (seen here as the driver) would be able to get her driving learners permit and my eldest daughter acting out how she feels about that. Makes for a great photo from that trip. This can be found near the tail of the large, cartoon-ish brontosaurus, which you can see, in the background.

Dino-Rama Prop.
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/350s, f/7.5, 100 ISO, 0 EV

In the gorilla glass viewing area on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail there are many displays of information showing the differences between a gorilla's anatomy and Man's. Here my daughters are comparing their hands to the hand prints of a 6 year old male gorilla. Again, this prop makes for a wonderful memory and photograph.

Comparing Hands.
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/30s, f/3, 200 ISO, 0 EV

You can find props in all the parks, resorts and entertainment areas in Walt Disney World. Here's some more places you can look for on your next trip: the park bench with Roy Disney and Minnie Mouse near the flag pole on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, stage crates near Min and Bill's Dockside Diner in the Disney-MGM Studios, parasols in the Yong Feng Shangdian Department Store in Epcot's China pavilion and a life size Buzz Lightyear outside of the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney's Marketplace. Do you have a favorite prop at Walt Disney World? I'd love to hear about them and I'll share them in a later Photo Blog entry. Just send in a Comment!

This was Challenge #14:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-55, 10/2000s shutter, f7.1

OK, that was an easy one! Nearly everyone knew that this was a photo of Daisy Duck hiking with Hewey, Louie and Dewey at Camp Minnie Mickey in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Congratulations to Casey Wittekind! She was quick with her response and is the official winner of Challenge #14.

Several people thought that it was Donald leading this group, not Daisy. Maybe they know something about Donald that I don’t so I included them as winners too! That means there was an amazing 105 people who sent in the correct answer this week!

Congratulations to Amiee Stooksberry, Amy Cole, Amy Debevec, Amy Eastman, Anderson Dun, Angela Haire, Anick Nolin, Anthony Dearman, April Pangburn, Ashley, Barb Murin, Bernadette Weltsek, Bethany Mattiuz-King, Bill, Blair McGee, Brian Martsolf, Brittany Irish, Brooke Kern, Carol Gamill, Caryn Schill, Casey Wittekind, Catherine, Cheri Fitz, Chloe, Christina Romano, Christine, Christy Miller, Danielle Destefano, Darlene Harmon, Debbie Hudson, Diana Blanchard, Diane Schlicht, Ed Aleszczyk, Ella Harmeyer, Emily Presgrave, Emmy-Lou, Erin Rix, Frank Finkin, Frank Pierce, Gerry, Heather Young, Heidi Summers, Isabella Pedone, Jaclyn Frye, Jacquelyn Law, James Hickey, Jane Bradley, Jane Cash, Jennifer Bourg, Jessie Romano, Jodi Higgins, Joe V., John Ames, John Derrico, Judy Koslowski, Julie Fahrner, Jyl Deshler, Karen Dressersmith, Karen Kenney, Karen Schlumpf, Kathy Love, Kelly Scott, Kristin Padalik, Laura Barnes, Lisa Beth, Lisa Forsythe-Kane, Lisa Honard, Lynne Workinger, Marianela Olivares, Marie Bertini, Mark, MaryAnn Eckenrode, Matt Roseboom, Melissa Wheeler, Michael Gainey, Michael O'Blenis, Mike Himel, Minnie Escobar, Nancy Kruczek, Nicole Gray, Rachel, Raj Boora, Richard Martin, Riva Janes, Robert Flaherty, Robert Speed, Ronald Zinke, Ryan Simms, Samantha Sim, Sandra Shaw, Sandy, Scott Button, Scott Cerino, Shari, Sharon Pierce, Shawn Hyde, Stephen Hafke, Susan Calhoun, Susie McCallister, Tammy Bozman, Tammy Petone, Terri, Theresa Rucando, Tracey Hvizdos, Vicky. All of you will be entered in the November winner's drawing.

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Challenge #15: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!

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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

No more lurking out there - if you think you know the answer, be sure to send it in so that you don't miss out on your chance to win something very cool!

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/1250s shutter, f5

One of the first things you should think about before taking a photograph is whether it will look better with a horizontal or vertical composition. Because of the way that cameras are built, it feels more natural to hold them horizontally. Consequently, most photos are composed that way. This works well when you want to emphasize the width of your subject. A horizontal composition will draw your viewer’s eye from side to side across the frame. This photo from the Magic Kingdom gives you a sense of what a gorgeous fall day it was. In addition to the train station, I was able to capture the big, beautiful sky and many of the Halloween decorations in the shot.

Depending on your subject, a vertical composition may be a more pleasing way to frame your picture. Often, tall subjects (like trees or people) look better when framed vertically. Composing vertically can be a good way to capture a more detailed view of your subject. In this vertical shot of the same scene, the emphasis is more on the beautiful clock tower and the architectural details of the station.
Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/1000s shutter, f4.8

If you’re not used to turning your camera on its side, it may feel a bit awkward at first. As with everything, the best way to get used to it is to practice. So next time you are taking pictures, make a point of trying both horizontal and vertical compositions on every photo. It won’t take long for you to get a sense of which subjects look better with each orientation. I often take both kinds of photographs and decide later, when I’m viewing them on my computer, which I like best. Sometimes I can't decide and end up keeping both, like I did with these two views of the train station.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/400s shutter, f10

In my last tip I talked about deciding whether to orient your pictures either vertically or horizontally. Take a look at this photo of the guitar outside of the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at MGM Studios. Is this a vertical or horizontal composition?

That was actually a trick question – it’s neither! If you look closely you will see that the building behind the guitar appears to be slanted, but trust me, it wasn’t. It was my camera that was slanted. Sometimes, an unusual angle is better suited to your subject.

I wanted this photo to have a very specific look. The subject of the photo was the guitar and I wanted to emphasize the size of it. When I composed the shot I started out holding my camera vertically but then I tipped it to line up the guitar strings with the left edge of my viewfinder. I had to move both the camera and myself around quite a bit to get just the right angle. I wanted to get some of the piano keys in the photo but not the railing that is in front of them. I wanted the name of the coaster to show in the photo and I wanted the neck and strings to extend beyond the edge of the photo, near the corner, but not centered on it.

It took a little effort to get everything just right but it was worth it because I am happy with how it turned out in the end. Try taking some of your photos at different angles. You may end up with some interesting results.

In the days of film, it was expensive and time consuming to go about cropping photos. With digital photography that is no longer the case. Even the most rudimentary photo editing software will let you crop. While it's easier to "crop" in the camera, it's not always possible. The only restriction is the size of the digital image where if you crop too much, the size of the image becomes too small.

So, why do we need to crop? Sometimes we want to adjust an image to use the Rule of Thirds, eliminate unwanted parts caught around the subject or enlarge a subject to bring it front and center. Keep in mind, cropping is NOT resizing the entire image but taking a part of the image to make a better photo.

In Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden, I took this photo of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) during Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival. The original you see above is a bit too centered so I wanted to change the orientation from a landscape to a portrait and make the butterfly even more the main subject. To do this, I used a photo editor to select a 5x7 crop size and rotated to make it a portrait then aligned it as you see below.

Monarch Butterfly. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/250s, f/8, 200 ISO, -0.7 EV, 170mm Focal Length

Further Reading: Cropping Photos :: Every Picture Tells a Story

This was Challenge #16:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 10/640s shutter, f5.3

Heather Young is this week’s challenge winner. She was first to guess that this lovely jewel is on the turban of Jafar. Jafar can be found on the front of the villian’s float in the Disney Dreams Come True Parade at the Magic Kingdom. Yay Heather!

Congratulations also go out to Courtney Mitchell, Heather Young, Christina, Jess, Nick and Annette Romano, Jude Toups, Sandra Shaw, Darlene, Brooke Kern, Rita Carmack, Stacey Barboza, Chloe, Steven Gordon, Jennifer King, Pamela & Briana Bates, Betsey Pickard and Chip Vermette. All of you also gave the correct answer and were entered in the November winner's drawing.

And speaking of that November drawing… Congratulations to Blair McGee! Blair was chosen from a pool of 140 November winners to receive a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies.
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Challenge #17: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

MouseFest is finally here - and I get to tell you about it. Of course, that means I'll mostly be sharing photos. The first official land meets started today at the Magic Kingdom. Starting off the day was MouseFest 101, where Mike Scopa and Mark Goldhaber talked about the origins of MouseFest. They shared tips for first-timers and some great stories with a full house. They were followed by Dave Marx giving an amazingly brief Chairman's Kick-Off and the mingling began!

Next it was off to Mike Scopa's Fourth Annual Dole Whip Meet. I had never before tasted a Dole Whip and I gotta say, I'm not such a fan of that concoction. But the meet was fun none the less. We did a pretty good job of blocking traffic in front of Aloha Isle.

Following the Dole Whip meet I had to leave to pick up my friends at the airport. After several wrong turns and mishaps I made it back over to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I was just in time to make it to the Fourth Annual MVMCP fireworks meet hosted by Deb Wills from AllEars and Dave Card from Tagrel. But since it's nearly 2am here, you'll have to wait til my next post to see those photos!

A camera lens which has a focal length over 100mm is considered a telephoto lens. This includes the popular zoom lenses which go over 100mm. Just like a telescope, the longer the focal length, the smaller angle of view is seen through the camera's viewfinder. This has the effect of compressing objects at different distances in the field of view. Depending on the camera's depth of field or aperture setting, the objects can all be in sharp focus or just a selected object.

In the picture below of Christmas decorations down Magic Kingdom's Mainstreet USA, I compressed the wreaths, garland and Cinderella's Castle into a pleasing composition. The aperture set at f/8 kept all three subjects in focus and without the reference of buildings on either side, it's hard to tell how much distance is between them. Incidently, I took this from the Walt Disney World Railroad platform which overlooks Mainstreet USA. It's a great photographer's roost for parades, fireworks and for getting over the heads of our fellow quests.

Mainstreet Christmas Decorations. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/80-200D, 1/800s, f/8, 400 ISO, +0.3 EV, 116mm Focal Length

I promised myself I would not brood over the fact that my two blog-mates are both enjoying Mousefest at Walt Disney World today. I did attend Mousefest in 2006 so, as I looked through those photos, I found this interesting subject to talk about. I know Barrie and Lisa will be bringing us all back some great photos to share. You gals stay out of trouble, ya hear?

Further Reading: For those interested in attending future Mousefests, here's the link to the offical website: Mousefest.org

As promised, here are a few pictures from last night's Fireworks Meet at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I knew it would be very crowded so I didn't bring my tripod. Unfortunately, that means these are a little shaky. I'll get some better fireworks and night photos later that I'll be sure to share but I thought you might enjoy these in the meantime.

Now for Friday's meets. We started the day with the Seventh Annual Kilimanjaro Safari meet hosted by Deb Wills from AllEars and Fred Block from MagicMeets. This was a really fun meet. There were about 250 people who attended. We all entered the ride together through the FastPass lane, filling truck after truck on the safari. What a way to start the day!

Next up I headed over to Asia for the Expedition Everest Adventure. This meet was co-hosted by several different online communities: LimeGreenCheri, Moley, and BetsyAnn from Tagrel.com, Binnie from TheMouseForLess.com and Nathan Rose from Magical Mountain and The Magical Definition Podcast.

The Dinosaur/Dino-RADP meet had an interesting twist. Yesterday, Mike Scopa challenged Matt Hochberg to ride Dinosaur, a ride he is actually terrified of. The challenge turned into a benifit for two charities that raised close to $500, donated by MouseFesters who attended MouseFest 101.

Today was a busy day with more meets than I could possibly attend. I chose to end the day by going to the Ho, Ho, Ho Lotta Lights meet, hosted by Moley, WDWNJ, Big Red, roguepony and johnnyblack from Tagrel.com. The lights were beautiful and the company was the best - what a nice way to round out the day.

Saturday is another jam-packed day. I'll be spending a big portion of it at the Dolphin for the Mega Mouse Meet. Don't forget to check back to see the potos!

A little Mousekeeping... I apologize for the photos being out of order. Without loading them one at a time, I have no control over what the order in which they show - and there just isn't enough time for that here.

If you are having trouble viewing the slideshows, try refreshing your browser or checking back later. Sometimes the slideshows are a little temperamental!

See you tomorrow!

This was Challenge #17:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/500s shutter, f13

You’re going to have to get up early to beat the Romano family! Once again, Christina, Nick and Annette Romano have won this week’s challenge. Christina was first to let me know that this cute little fish lives on the outside of the Living Seas with Nemo building in Epcot’s Future World.

Congratulations also go out to Mary, Christina Cella, Chris Burns, Brooke Kern, Kari Svinarich, Emily Rennie, Shannon Milair, Heather Lyons, Blair McGee, Amiee Stooksberry, Belicia Dawson, Jennifer Bourg, Amanda Campbell, Anne Hainsworth, Willie Tople, RR Martin, Lisa Simons, Paula Potts, Charlotte, Shiraz Biggie, Trish Babler, Jennifer Horst, Ken Fischler, Carinne, Karen Schlumpf, Anderson Dun, Judy Koslowski, Melissa Littman, Katie Poole, Erica Adkins, Erin, gshaw7, Austin O'Blenis, Collee Dubin, Nancy Ahlsen, Deborah Shauan, Richard Uhler, Jennifer Lalli, Kelly Jean Clarkson, Cathy Adams, Melissa Wheeler, Matt Cofone, Jude Toups, Brittany Irish, David Hicks, Angie Volluz, Monica Alderman, Cheri Fitz, Jennifer Dye, Jane Bradley, Darlene Harmon, Vicki Vaught, Tim Rachuba, Catherine Chiarello, Charissa Banks, Betsey Pickard, Debbie Hudson and Sharon Pierce. All of you also gave the correct answer and will be entered in the December winner's drawing.
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Challenge #18: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Last month I did an entry on Props at Walt Disney World and asked people to send in their favorites. By far the most popular ones where all the different and fun hats you find in shops throughout the resort. As an example, my daughter is trying on a very patriotic hat in The Chapeau, a hat shop on Magic Kingdom's Main Street. This shop can monogram almost any hat and, of course, Mickey Ears for you while you wait. Hats found in World Showcase are a big hit with our Photo Blog readers from French Berets, Sombreros in Mexico, Coolie hats in China to Homburg style hats in Germany. The little outdoor shop at Rafiki's Planet Watch in Disney's Animal Kingdom has all kinds of safari hats. My daughter just had to model one for me.

Safari hat. © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/60s, f/4.5, 200 ISO, -0.3 EV, 40mm focal length

Other popular suggestions for props was RC Car from Toy Story at the All Star Movies resort, the larger than life Troll in Norway's Puffin's Roost shop, a Cinderella statue at the Marketplace in Downtown Disney similar to Buzz Lightyear I mentioned in the first Disney Prop entry and the Mickey sculpture at the Contemporary resort with Mickey ears perfect to sit kids in.

Would like to continue this topic so if you have a favorite Walt Disney World prop, I'd like to hear about it! Just leave a Comment using the link below.

This was Challenge #18:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50/18-200VR, 1/125s shutter, f5.6

Challenge #18 turned out to be a difficult one. I have lots of photos of different light fixtures at Disney World. They are always so creative and interesting. Tim Rachuba was the first of only three people who knew that this photo was of a lantern that can be found on Discovery Island in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Congratulations Tim – you’re this week’s winner. Tricia Noble and Nancy Ahlsen also had the correct answer this week. Tim, Tricia and Nancy will be entered in the December winner's drawing.
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Challenge #19: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Another MouseFest has come and gone. I can hardly believe it's over already! I had such a fabulous time. Here are a few highlights from Saturday.

The Mega Meet is an event that is attended by pretty much everyone. It was held in a huge ballroom at the Dolphin Hotel. Disney guidebook authors, web site founders, podcasters, and members of many Disney fan communities all had tables at the Mega Meet.

Everyone who visited the tables left the event with a bag full of freebies and many people were lucky enough to win some great prizes.

One of the activities that everyone had a great time with was a bingo-like scavenger hunt sponsored by MEI and MouseFan Travel. Here are just a few of the photos I took at this meet. [Just refresh your browser if the slideshow gives you an error message.]

In addition to the official MouseFest meets, different online communities sponsor dozens of meets for their members. One of my favorite community meets is the Tagrel Karaoke meet at Kimonos in the Swan Hotel. Definately one of the more wild and crazy meets I know of, this one is incredibly fun!

That's it for today. I have just one more MouseFest installment. Check back to see my wrap up with photos from a couple of the Sunday meets.

A Very...

Nikon D70/18-70DX, 1/125s, f/5.6, 200 ISO, +0.3 EV, 18mm Focal Length

The Downtown Disney Christmas Tree from 2006. Selective coloring and graphics done in Picnik.com.

Here's wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday. I will not have an entry for next week but will be back in the New Year! If you get any cool photography stuff under your tree you'd think others would like to hear about, drop me a line!

This was Challenge #19:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2005 Barrie Brewer, Fuji FinePix S5000, 1/1000s shutter, f9

This giant dinosaur calls Chester & Hestor’s Dino-Rama home. You’ll find Dino-Rama in Dinoland USA at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Stacey Van Dyke was this week’s lucky winner. She was the first one to send in her answer. Congratulations Stacey!

From the number of answers I got this week, I’d say Dino-Rama is no secret. Stacey Van Dyke, Brittany Irish, Jennifer Chartier, Austin O'Blenis, Christina Romano, Daniella and Isabells, Belicia Dawson, Jessica Romano, Willie Tople, Katie Wetzel, Amber Keen, Sherry Klinefelter, Neil Taylor, Ed Aleszczyk, Kelli Olthoff, Jude Toups, Tim Rachuba, Aruna Mohan, Bethany Cybak, Denise Cayz, Paula Potts, Carinne, Laura Barnes, April Ramey, Tricia Noble, Richard Uhler, Melissa Blackwell, Garland Cox and Jennifer Schwing will all be entered in December’s winners drawing. Good luck to you all!
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Challenge #20: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Season's Greetings! I hope everyone is having a wonderful time with your loved ones. I have a gift to share. I hope you like it. The gift is a monthly calendar for the new year. Each month I will post a photo calendar page for the next month that you can print out and use at home or work. It's just a little bit of pixie dust to brighten the days before your next trip.

You will need to have Adobe Reader on your computer to download the calendar(s). Just click on the photo to download the calendar you want.

This one prints out at 8.5" x 11". It's handy if you need a calendar that you can write on.

This one prints out at 4.75" x 4.75", the perfect size for a CD Jewel Case frame.

I took this fireworks photo at MouseFest this month. I was standing on the outside deck of Teppan Edo - one of my favorite places to capture Illuminations. I think this particular bit of fireworks was part of the Christmas tag at the end. It was spectacular.

Speaking of MouseFest - I have one more installment of photos to share with you. Watch for it later this week. Then it's back to my regular tips after the first of the year. Happy Holidays everyone!

This was Challenge #20:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/6s shutter, f4

I noticed this shelf of crayons when I was headed into Cape May Café at the Beach Club Resort. These are the crayons they give kids to play with while they are waiting for their meals. Who would have ever thought that a crayon storage space could be used so cleverly to decorate? That’s Disney for you!

Christina Romano was this week’s winner once again. Christina is getting hard to beat! She was joined by Jessica Romano, Nancy Ahlsen, Loretta Reed and Gretchen who all knew the answer and were entered in December’s winners drawing.

It’s time for another drawing winner. Congratulations to Nancy Ahlsen! Nancy was chosen randomly from a pool of 95 December winners to receive a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies.
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Challenge #21: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
_______________________________________________________________________

Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Unlike when you used film, digital photography processing is done inside your camera and produces JPEG images. (dSLRs can also produce RAW images. RAW images are often referred to as digital negatives and require processing on a computer to produce the final JPEG image.) If you are like me, you try to get all your photos as close to perfect right out of the camera. It takes a lot of practice and getting to know your camera as to what settings give you the results you are looking for. I learn each time I use my camera so if you are an old hand at photography or just starting your photographic adventures, you will one day look at the photos and wonder if there is a way to improve them.

In researching this entry I found there is no general "how to" information on approaching digital photo editing. What follows is my approach. The photo editor used was Picnik.com and the steps outlined should be available in most photo editing software. The goal for the photo I selected of my daughter enjoying a hammock on the Polynesian Resort's beach was to reclaim the colors as I remembered them.

Before Digital Processing. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008	After Digital Processing. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Original Photo Data: Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/500s, f/10, 200 ISO, -0.3 EV, 18mm Focal Length

Step 1: EXPOSURE

The original image on the left is a bit underexposed as I had dialed in a -0.3 exposure compensation (EV). Not a drastic error yet I wanted to recoup the detail lost. In Picnik.com, I start with the Exposure tab which has two sliders for Exposure and Contrast. I first moved the Exposure slider to the right to add exposure slowly until I got back the detail. Picnik.com has an advanced button for brightness, adjusting highlight and dark areas and local contrast. I like to use the local contrast tool instead of the general contrast slider as it gives me a little more control. Your software may or may not have this option. I used a radius of 5 and strength of 25%. This brought out even more detail in the hammock and tree bark.

Step 2: COLOR

After adjusting exposure, I move on to the Color tab. Here I always first try the Auto Color button. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't. As they say YMMV (Your Milage My Vary). In this case, I didn't like it and hit the Reset button to start over. Next I adjusted the two sliders available. One for Temperature and one for Saturation. I set up my camera to saturate colors so I usually don't have to add any more. However, my camera settings tends to give my photos a reddish cast to light objects. In this case, the sand and hammock color is off. In some software, you may see a Blue and Red indicator on the Temperature slider. I moved the Temperature slider to the left or blue end to a -5 bringing back the natural colors to those photo elements.

Step 3: SHARPENING

I've been learning about sharpening over the last few days and was surprised to find out most digital photos need to be sharpened. Picnick.com allows for two ways to sharpen: a simple slider and a more advanced Unsharp Mask. Don't let the unsharp mask confuse you, it is a sharpening tool. The name is a hold over from film processing days. The simple slider is great and I have used it with excellent results but no higher than a setting of 10 or less. Beyond that, photos start to look unreal.

There's a whole bunch of ways people use unsharp mask tools in photo editing software. Some are very complicated and require very expensive software. However, I want to share with you three simple recipes as recommended by Scott Kelby in his book, The Digital Photography Book (page 18):

For people, set Amount to 150%, Radius to 1 pixel and Threshold to 4 levels
For cityscapes, urban and travel photography, set Amount to 65%, Radius to 3 pixels and Threshold to 2 levels
For general everyday use, set Amount to 85%, radius to 1 pixel and Threshold to 4 levels

In the example photo, I used the general recipe in Picnik.com's Unsharp Mask tool (note: Picnik.com does not have the Threshold setting).

Now, all these adjustments are to MY taste. Yours will be different. What I have found in reading about photo editing is it is very subjective to the person doing the editing. There are techniques you can learn but no rules to follow. If you own a photo editing software product, I encourage you to find Internet resources, books, and video training for it.

I am much happier with the new version of my example photograph. To see larger versions of the Before and After photos, click on either of them. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to approach your photo editing tasks.

This was Challenge #21:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/250s shutter, f8

Only one person knew that this metal hand was part of the ESPN building on the Boardwalk and that was Jessica Romano. Congratulations Jessica! I was certain this would be an easy one. This contest just baffles me (in a fun way). Whenever I think something is going to be hard, someone gets it right away. And when I think my email with be overrun by answers, I have a lonely week!

Well, it just means there’ll be better odds for winning the monthly prize this month. Let’s see how you all do on this next one. Good luck everyone!
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Challenge #22: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Parasols in Liberty Square.
Nikon D70/80-200D, 1/200s, f/5.6, 200 ISO, +0.3 EV, 135mm Focal Length

When I can, I like to find Photographic Gems at Walt Disney World. Gems can be found literally around each and every corner. Remember to look not at just the overall scene but at parts of them. This is how I found these colorful, personalized parasols being displayed next to a cart in the Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square across from the Christmas shop. It was a busy morning and there were people everywhere but the bright colors of the parasols caught my eye as I was scanning around. The Cast Member had taken great care in arranging the parasols in a pleasing fashion. Being in the shade, the picture came out a bit bluish so I adjusted the color temperature a bit towards the warm or red color in a photo editor.

This was Challenge #22:

And here is the answer:

The Beauty and the Beast float at the Magic Kingdom is where you’ll find this cute little bird. There is always a lot of wonderful detail in the parade floats – something to keep in mind for future challenges! This week’s winner, Christina Daughtridge, is very observant. She was the only one who sent in the correct answer.

We've had two hard challenges in a row. I bet a lot of people will recognize this next picture.
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Challenge #23: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
_______________________________________________________________________
Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

If you read my December 25, 2007 blog, you know that my holiday gift to you is that each month I will post a photo calendar page that you can print out and use at home or work during 2008.

Here is February’s calendar page for downloading. This photo of Snow White from the parade at the Magic Kingdom was probably my luckiest shot ever. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The original photo wasn’t actually that impressive. I turned it into one of my favorites by cropping it and softening her features with a gausian blur effect in Photoshop.

You will need to have Adobe Reader on your computer to download the calendar(s). Just click on the photo to download the calendar you want.

This one prints out at 8.5" x 11". It's handy if you need a calendar that you can write on.

This one prints out at 4.75" x 4.75", the perfect size for a CD Jewel Case frame.

This was Challenge #23:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/125s shutter, f5.6

The Mexico Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase is the home of last week’s photo challenge. This is a close-up of a sculpture on the side of the building. Willie Tople was the first with the correct answer – way to go, Willie!

Congratulations also go out to Christina Romano, Evelyn Cowdell, Aruna Mohan, Brian G, Garland Cox, Laura Barnes, Tim Rachuba, Matt Taylor, Vickie Scioneaux, Allison DiBiase, Becky Sutton, Paula Chapman, Carrie Brenon, Barbara Zimdars, Melissa DeMonbreun, Suzie Marchetti, Kelli Vancil, Mike Stanilla, Noreen Rachuba, Ann Carr, Stacey Barboza, Jeff Warmington, and Patty Sautters. All of you also gave the correct answer and will be entered in the January winner's drawing.
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Challenge #24: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Did you get a new High Definition (HD) TV for Christmas? You might want to pull out it's user manual and see how you can get your digital photos to display on it. Most come with a way to hook up your camera or computer directly to a video input. Some, like the Samsung DLP HDTV I own, have a USB port and built-in photo viewing program. I copy some photos to a USB Flash drive on my computer then plug it into the TV's USB port. I select the photo viewer program called Wiselink from the HDTV's menu and it displays the contents of the drive (see photo).

There is a gotcha. When copying the photos to the USB drive, I make sure the photos are 1920 pixels in width to fill the HDTV's screen. However, since my digital camera does not produce an HDTV's screen ratio of 16x9, I still end up with black bars on the left and right side of each picture. This is not a big deal for me because the large, bright and clear image displayed is still breathtaking. It's a very easy way to show others your photos without everyone having to crowd around a small computer screen.

I have noticed many of the newer cameras now have a 16x9 ratio selection when taking photos. Those images would completely fill the screen. Check your camera's manual to see if it supports this feature.

Back to my HDTV, I can either manually select and view each photo or start up a slideshow which displays each photo in sequence for a set number of seconds. I can even add music while it's running. This is a far cry from the days of bulky white movie screens, loud slide projectors and long boring presentations by the photographer. Well, two out of three isn't bad!

Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom.
Nikon D70/18-70DX, 1/160s, f/6.3, 200 ISO, +0.3 EV, 50mm Focal Length

This was Challenge #24:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2008 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/60s shutter, f4

On Main Street in the Magic Kingdom is a counter service restaurant called Casey’s Corner. Casey’s the place to go when you have a taste for a good old fashioned hot dog. Decorated with old baseball memorabilia, the seating area at Casey’s is designed to resemble a grandstand from days gone by. You can sit on the bleachers and enjoy your hot dog while watching old Mickey cartoons on a big screen.

Congratulations to Melissa Mathias, this week’s winner. In addition to Melissa, Kevin Gramlin, Mike Chappell, John Williamson, Wendy Haseneier, Sharon Pierce, Bill Nuzzo, Stacey Van Dyke, Angie Young, Pat Stockhaus, Renee Soderberg, Brenda, Sheila Filipone, Chris Maupin, Trygve Cumpston, Rhonda Jackson, Terri McAleer, Michael Belemjian, John Frangakis, Austin O'Blenis, Caryn Schill, Amie Mumpower, Jane Bradley, Doug Uccollo, Kathy Lowe, Jessica Romano, John Kaanta, Bill Bathel, Elisa Dillon, Kevin Sommer, Ed Aleszczyk, Scott Price, George Z, James Tweedy, Shelley Eggert, Brittany Vander Wal, John Lacasse, Debbi Bozeman, John Harmon, Scott Bauer, Dick Nussbaum, Lou Baker, Larry Gionet, Christina Romano, Joe Marrella, Michelle Raimist, Jim Thompson, Jos Rohrbach, John Burgess, Christine Rigney, Paul Pinzer, Bridget, Gary, Nicole Blount, Bryan McIntyre, Jim Barnick, Scott Cullen, Eric Bouchet, Buddy, Chris Thomas, Jim Greenhouse, Kathy Knight, Ed Horn, Melissa Hallenbeck, Terrie Waltich, Tommy Turner, John Pasqueralli, Steve Seibert, Mike Timmerman, Mike Holland, Phillip T. Stewart, Kelly Ware, Ken Hegburg, Kenny Cruz, Linda Norton, Cheryl Edwards, David Freemyer, Adam, Anthony Iarriccio, Jen Cerce, Bill Androckitis Jr., Cindy Bunch, Jude Toups, Jane Kubarsky, Tracey Yates, Kelly Sutton, Brian Gardner, Alyssa Nutter, Kyle Ellis, Nadine Anderson, Kevin Scharf, Todd Stevens, Liz Myrato, Heather Young, CJ, Betsy Richter, Mike Kaczanowski, Leslee Rigoli, John Zawisza, Kelly Michael, Ali, Debbie Beineman, Lori LaPointe, Michele Kaanta, Erica Andrews, David Rhoad, Margaret West, Kim Christian, Jennifer Kaufman, Mike Cross, Pollyanna Buff, Pat, Ruthie Hatch, Bob Sertic, Daniel James McCarthy, Erin McAuliffe, Mildred Popp, Regina Allen, Kim Tidwell, Marilyn Flanigan, Kandice, Charles Wright, Susan McAbee, Julie Bozeman, Cindy Dore', George Taylor, Jennifer Bowling, Debra Ulicny, Heather Cottell, Jen Carpenter, Lauren, Ellen Quinn, Emily, Michael Greer, Patty Carty, Brandy White, Kimberly Wilson, Chris Kotcamp, Krista Penno, Kurt Nank, Kristen Paolello, Malima Wolf, Jeff Swearingen, Carla Kumm, Mike Leonard, Jeff Sims, Jen Renaud, Danielle Mahoney, Dan McDonald, Ed Hogan, Vickie Woods, Brandon Wilson, Arthur Hutchinson, Mark & Meg Wilson, Julie LaChance, Elaine Johnson, Tim Rachuba, Jim Newman, Kristen Baustert, David Lizewski, Monica Maury, Joe, Larry Carter, Tom Michel, Paul Perrin, Karen, Ann Fowler, Dan Hawkins, Dennis Baylis, Katie Rohrbach, Maria Mounsey, EG, Melissa Wheeler, Ken Kleiner, Regina L Tipton, Patricia Ovesny, Rebecca Payne, Amanda Campbell, Luis Rodriguez, Lauren, Garland Cox, Nathan Firth, Mary Virginia Bartlett, Anderson Dun, Ron Harper, Nick Straka, Morgan Tosczak, Nate Clements, Frank F. Fincken III, Leslie Tischler, Jeff Kincaid, Brian Yesutis, Mary Brennan, Scott Stout, Michael Gainey, Jackie Revoir, Melissa Blackwell, Kim Moore, Tina, Jennifer Tremley, Sheila Saey, Heather McFall, Dina Hodara-Bono, Sally Fralix, Kathy Francis, Becky Rodriguez, Kelly DeLeon, Jan Thompson, Scott Weber, Tim Cooper, David Lampl, James Hajek, Katrina Drillien, Chip Vermette, Brian Martsolf, Denise Dossat, Pat Holt, Ken Fischler, Ed Crawford, Karen Korcheski, Tara Jachimczak, Dolly Desiderio, Boyd, Emily Foreman, Tara M., Jennifer Cicchetti, Denise Duggan, Joan Weisse, Christine Schuler, James Hickey, Jim Hammell, Arthur, Jamie Poynton, Chris Bertelmann, Cathy Messer, Sharon Lee, Jamie Gardner and Robert Flaherty all gave the correct answer and were entered in the January winner's drawing.

Phew - that was a lot! Now, drumroll please... the prize winner for this month is Erica Andrews.

For this next challenge, I am looking for a little more detailed of an answer than usual. There is something very special about this photo. In addition to where it is located you have to be able to tell me what is special about it. Do you know? Starting this week, please send in your answer before the end of the day on Thursday to be entered in the contest.
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Challenge #25: Where in the world is this and what is special about it?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

To get the sharpest images possible with your lens, it's best not to use the widest or smallest apertures. Most lenses are optimized in the f/5.6 - f/11 aperture range and give their best performance when stopped down a couple of f-stops from the widest aperture. If you have a 50mm f/1.8 lens, it's best to use it around f/4 to f/8. Most consumer zoom lens have a sliding scale when it comes to their widest aperture. The Nikon 18-200VR lens I use has it's widest aperture of f/3.5 when it's at 18mm. At 200mm, it goes down to f/5.6. That's what it means when you see a lens' description like this: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Zoom Lens where this lens starts at f/4.5 at 70mm and goes down to f/5.6 at 300mm. Usually, the faster the lens, meaning the lens starts at a very large aperture, the more expensive the lens is.

So, why not use the widest or smallest aperture? The problem with using small aperture sizes is that light waves are affected due to diffraction and though you have great depth of field, you lose out on sharpness. Large apertures are great for low-light, but unless you have an exceptional lens, its just too difficult to produce lenses that are razor sharp when wide open.

Everest in Disney's Animal Kingdom. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/200s, f/8, 200 ISO, -1.0 EV, 20mm focal length

These are good guidelines to start from. The best way to find out the best apertures for the lenses you own is to test them. Set up a small still life with various objects. Include something with text on it like a sign. Watches are also good as they are small and very detailed. Put your camera on a tripod and put it in aperture priority mode. Take a series of photos varying the aperture size with each one from the smallest f-stop to the largest. Download the pictures to your computer and view each photo at 100%. I found the sharpest aperture range for my 18-200VR lens to be around f/8 at 18mm and f/11 at 200mm doing similar testing when available light permits.

Further reading: Creative Uses of Aperture

This was Challenge #25:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2008 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/60s shutter, f5.6

This beautiful horse lives on Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel in the Magic Kingdom. There are 90 horses on this fanciful carrousel and no two are alike. What makes it special is that this is the only one with a gold ribbon on its tail, signifying that it is Cinderella’s own horse.

Congratulations to Angie Young, this week’s winner. In addition to Angie, 127 people knew that this is the tail of Cinderella's horse. Morgan Tosczak, Carol, Sharon Pierce, Sharon Martinez, Jennifer Kaufman, Cheri Fitz, Miranda Brooks, Sarah Biggs, Brandy White, Lisa Leonard, John Agnew, Vicki Vaught, Amy Szabo, Heather Young, Sarah Smee, Belicia Dawson, Melissa Ruggieri, Jennifer Bourg, Tom Carty, Kelly Scott, Mark Carty, Melissa Wheeler, Vera, Neil Taylor, Robin Fitts, David Lizewski, Hillary, Leslie Budd, Rebecca Rodgers Johnson, Lisa Jones, Tim Rachuba, Lora Myers, Lynn Barber, Bev Carson, Greg Tucker, Bill Sosebee, Sara Lewis, Corey Vail, Marie Bertini, Chris Bertelmann, Patti Sturgis, Amy Cole, Debbie Hudson, Cindy Haley Higgins, Katie Whitehurst, Debra Kuklinski, Judy Brodersen, Kimberly Wilson, Nick Straka, Melissa, Karen Robertson, Ken Fischler, Kari Kane, Kathy Larson, Jennifer Schwing, Gregg Letts, Melissa Blackwell, Julie Ellis, Sharon Lee, Noreen Rachuba, Kathryn Hughes, Bob Hendrix, Megan, Paula Potts, Kelley, Jill Caltagirone, Terri McAleer, Karen Nelson, Kerry Ross, Shiraz Biggie, Karen Litzau, Genevieve Obrien, Brian Yesutis, Marianna Clark, Amber Keen, Jacquelin Schmidt, Paul Ignudo, Jr., Laura Pranaitis, Michelle Raimist, Lynn Brown, Emily Rennie, Kali Murry, Lisa Honard, Jaime Thomson, Karen DeSantis, Phillip T. Stewart, Evelyn Cowdell, Jennifer Cox, Austin O'Blenis, Casey Lawler, Karen Dresser-Smith, Ron Renz, Claudia Rosani, Josh Rohrbach, Ann Fowler, Amanda Campbell, Archie, Annette, Jessica, Nick, Nicholas, Christina Romano, Denise Montgomery, Chip Vermette, Carinne Kight, Kimm Bunch, Paula Chapman, Luis Rodriguez, Eileen Miller, Kelli Vancil, Brian Gallant, Jennifer Henson, Deborah Shauan, Sara Beth Wade, Dave Cole, Heather Fresa, Sue Peters, Peggy Saeger, Matt Brethauer, Wendy Ewing, Robert Lee, Becky Sutton, Dianne Brady, Joy Ludtke, MIke Keneally, Jamie Poynton, Felice Ciccione, Frank Valenti, Michelle Ellis, Leslie Losee, Hollie Hinton and Kyle Ellis all gave the correct answer and will be entered in the February winner's drawing.
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Challenge #26: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Walt Disney World is magical at any time of the day but, at night, it's extra magical. So much so that Walt Disney World resort guests are able to enjoy Extra Magic Hours or EMH in all the parks (see link for schedule and more information). It was on just such a night in the Magic Kingdom when I took this photograph. It was 1AM and the park had another hour of EMH to go so there was still people walking about the hub area in front of Cinderella's Castle.

Cinderella's Castle at 1AM. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/8s, f/3.8, 1100 ISO, -0.3 EV, 20mm focal length

Since night photography is very popular. This blog will have a few entries pertaining to how to get pictures after the sun goes down. This is when the digital SLR camera really shines so to speak. With their larger sensors, better lenses and faster and more powerful processors allowing the use of fast ISO numbers, a dSLR creates much better images after dark. The latest dSLRs get great results using ISO 3200 and even 6400. Couple that with noise reducing software and you can get amazing results.

For the picture above, I used my Nikon D70 with Auto ISO engaged and shot in Program mode. The camera selected the slowest shutter speed I would allow of 1/8 second for ISO 1100 and the widest aperture of f/3.8. The vibration reduction (VR) lens was set to ON and the rest was up to me. I did not have a tripod so I made myself into one. I leaned against an authentic WDW garbage can, used my elbows on the top of the garbage can (thankfully this was not one of the moving and talking variety), put my left hand under the lens to give it a good foundation, my right hand holding the camera firmly but not too tight, tucked my arms in close, lightly pressed the shutter halfway down to set the focus, held my breath and then slowly pressed the shutter the rest of the way. Don't mash the shutter. In fact, you should practice how to press a shutter this way to cut down vibration in the camera. As I've mentioned before, when taking photos in less than ideal conditions, you should take more than one. I took about a dozen of this scene with this being the best in the lot.

Further reading: I have lots of them. It'll be review for our regular readers but, please, read them over again as I'm sure you'll pick up even more each time you do so.

ePhotozine Night Photography Tutorial

Barrie's Astro Orbiter

Barrie's Portrait of Germany

This was Challenge #26:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 0.4s shutter, f4.5

This sculpture is in the lobby area of the Impressions de France film in Epcot’s World Showcase. I've always thought that this was a gargoyle but I just learned that this replica of a stone carving from atop the Notre Dame in Paris is actually a grotesque. Grotesques were believed to ward off evil spirits.

A gargoyle has its roots in plumbing. A gargoyle is a grotesque that directs water away from a building via a spout in its mouth. Since this carving does not have a water spout, it is technically considered a grotesque rather than a gargoyle.

Language does have a way of evolving though. Nowadays it's common and acceptable to use the term gargoyle to describe both grotesques and gargoyles. Either way, he's still kind of grotesque!

Congratulations to Kathy Love , this week’s winner. Jacquelyn Law, Mike Kaczanowski, Brian Gallant, Monica Alderman, Garland Cox, Sharon Lee, Roye Ann Morris and Allison DiBiase also all gave the correct answer and will be entered in the February winner's drawing.
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Challenge #27: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

No, it's not the name of a new ballroom dance craze. Bokeh is used to describe a certain camera lens characteristic. Bokeh comes from the Japanese word "boke" which means fuzzy. Sounds like a strange characteristic for a lens to have, doesn't it? Bokeh describes how the background looks when shooting with the lens at it's largest aperture. A lens with "good bokeh" has a nice smooth looking but out of focus (or fuzzy) background. Lenses with "bad bokeh" have spherical or other geometrical shapes with hard edges which look bad behind a sharply focused subject in the foreground.

The picture below shows what "good bokeh" looks like. The foliage behind the tiger on the Maharajah Jungle Trek is softly out of focus and does not take away from the handsome portrait. You will find when taking someone's portrait, this is the best way to separate them from the background. In my previous entry on the Creative Uses of Aperture, you can see another example of what good bokeh looks like.

Tiger on the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Disney's Animal Kingdom. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/80-200D, 1/125s, f/5.6, 400 ISO, +0.3 EV, 200mm focal length

This was Challenge #27:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1.0s shutter, f8

Sam’s BBQ is from the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This spectacular holiday display can be found at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during the Christmas season.

Congratulations to Derek Carty, this week’s winner. Jim Thompson, Patty Carty, Nick Romano, Christina, Sarah and Chris Kotcamp also all gave the correct answer and will be entered in the February winner's drawing.
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Challenge #28: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

One of the problems we all have at Walt Disney World is distracting backgrounds. From sharing the resorts with thousands of other guests to uncooperative animals or characters, backgrounds are hard to control. So, what's a photographer to do? First, you have to do some very obvious things each time you look through your viewfinder. Before you press the shutter, look behind and in front of your subject for protruding objects coming out or into the frame, make sure your subject is the focal point of the frame and not a building or person nearby and lines like horizons or buildings are not distracting by being crooked . I learned these points the hard way when I did wedding photography for a few years. Believe me, nobody wants a portrait of a bride with the church's organ pipes protruding from her head.

Another way to control the background at a busy themepark is to move around your subject until you find a more pleasing background. In the photo here of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, I tried to use a wide angle to slightly distort the statue to bring it front and center. The angle is a bit different, however, the background is very busy partially due to the use of the small f/10 aperture. You can see lights in the flower bed , a person kneeling next to a stroller in the upper left and part of the fence leading up to the statue on the right. Not very pleasing to me.

I checked out the previous picture in my camera's LCD display and knew I could do better. Since this was taken during a December trip, Disney had placed poinsettia "trees" around the hub in front of Cinderella's Castle and by moving a bit to one side, I could put one of them directly behind the statue. I tried a few different angles and liked this one the best. I zoomed in a bit here which helped to blur the background some even shooting at f/10. The direction of the light is much better as well but that's a subject for another time.

Further Reading: Getting Backgrounds Right

This was Challenge #28:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2006 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 55-200, 1/400s shutter, f10

The Atlantic Dance Hall is a gorgeous art deco club on Disney’s Boardwalk. I originally fell in love with this place several years back when they played swing music. A local swing dance club would liven up the place on weekends. They wore great clothes from the 1940s and were a lot of fun to watch. Now they have 1980s DJ dance music. Most times that I’ve stopped in recently the place has been fairly deserted. It’s too bad because it really is a beautiful club. I’d love to have a big old party there someday… maybe a fiftieth birthday bash… you’ll all be invited!

Congratulations to Evelyn Cowdell , this week’s winner. Merry Shippee, Kristen Eby, Kim Lawton, Erin, Jim Szlachta, Jude Toups, Gloria Martin, Jaime Thomson, Sarah Haas, Frank F Fincken III, Jennifer Tremley, Noreen Rachuba, Melissa Ruggieri, Gregg Letts, Mike Kaczanowski, Karen Schlumpf, Katelyn Palermo, Nora Beirne, Patty Carty, Chloe' C, Jeanine Yamanaka, Dominic Cooper, Tim Rachuba, Susan, Jared Nishida, April, Leslie Budd, Elisa Dillon, Karen DeSantis, Jennifer Horst, Jane Bradley, Melissa Littman, Ken, Michelle Raimist , Ed Aleszczyk , Sue McDonald , Ann Carr , Jim Senft , Chip Vermette, Melissa DeMonbreun, Heather Young, Neil Taylor, Ruth Cookson, Larry Carter and Suzanne Brown also all gave the correct answer by Thursday and were entered in the February winner's drawing.

Here we are at the end of another month already. We had 191 winning answers this month! Unfortunately, there can only be one prize winner and this month that person is Kathy Love. Congratulations Kathy! You will receive Steve Barrett’s newest Hidden Mickey book, along with some other great AllEars gifts.
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Challenge #29: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
_______________________________________________________________________

Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

If you read my December 25, 2007 blog, you know that my holiday gift to you is that each month I will post a photo calendar page that you can print out and use at home or work during 2008.

Here is March’s calendar page for downloading. This photo is of the Main Street Philharmonic, a 12-piece brass and percussion band that performs on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. Their antics are very fun to watch as they perform old-time favorites like "Take Me Out to the Ballpark" and "76 Trombones".

By zooming in close and filling the frame with the band members I was able to to create the illusion that this was a large marching band. Having band members that extend beyond the frame of the photo tricks the eye into thinking that they go on forever.

You will need to have Adobe Reader on your computer to download the calendar(s). Just click on the photo to download the calendar you want.

This one prints out at 8.5" x 11". It's handy if you need a calendar that you can write on.

This one prints out at 4.75" x 4.75", the perfect size for a CD Jewel Case frame.

We've all done it. You get off of the Tower of Terror a few minutes before the afternoon parade is to start and rush down Sunset Blvd. You get there and all the curb side places are taken. In fact, people had staked out their places hours before. As the crowd is three deep, you end up having to shoot over people's heads like this.

Lilo & Stitch Motorcar. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/200s, f/8, 200 ISO, 35mm Focal Length

This is where a zoom lens comes in handy. You can fill the frame with your subjects. Eliminating foreground and background distractions. At full zoom, many times you have to shoot with a wider aperture which will cause the background behind your subject to get that pleasing bokeh like this.

Lilo & Stitch Closeup. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/320s, f/5.6, 200 ISO, 200mm Focal Length

Ah, that's much better and you didn't have to barge in front of anyone. I have found a zoom lens that goes to 200mm to be an excellent way to capture parade, street and stage performers at Walt Disney World.

This was Challenge #29:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/8s shutter, f4.8

This was a tough one! By far, the most popular guess was Pirates of the Caribbean. However, the correct answer is that it can be found in the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot. This little piggy is part of the Royal Banquet window display in the Sportsman’s Shop across from the Rose & Crown.

Congratulations to Trygve Cumpston, this week’s winner. Sharon Lee, Alan Broome, Heather, Theresa Ruicando, Heather Coursen, Linda Crosby, Kellie Carter, Lynda Champion, Ida Williamson, Noreen Rachuba, Jorge, Sarah Haas, Tim Rachuba, Chris Freeman, Jennifer Shipley, and Michael also all gave the correct answer by Thursday and will be entered in the March winner's drawing.

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Challenge #30: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Joe McNally is a photographer to be admired. He's been published all over the world and in such publications as National Geographic, Time, and Sports Illustrated to name a few. In over 30 years as a pro photographer, Joe McNally has been faced with capturing photographs in some of the most bizarre places on Earth (and New York City) and under some strange circumstances and still managed to come away with publishable work. What would you give to sit down with Joe and learn at the feet of one of the masters? Luckily for us, Joe has given us such an opportunity, with some encouragement from his friends, his book, The Moment It Clicks, came out to resounding reviews and sold out of it's first printing within days. It's now in a second printing and I'm sure many more will follow.

I recommend this book if you are past the beginning stage in your photography comfort zone. He does assume you have an understanding of photography. Anything beyond that he explains in footnotes or in the "How to Get this Shot" sidebars. The real charm of this book is in all the "nuggets". These nuggets are short bits of knowledge and photographic common sense he has garnered during his career of working with clients, photo editors, models and other photographers. You would spend hundreds of dollars to see Joe in a workshop give some of these nuggets. For less than $40 you have them, examples of some of the best journalistic photos he ever produced and how he did them to reference anytime you want.

If you are thinking of becoming a professional photographer in any field. This is a must read in my opinion. Someday I hope to meet Joe and thank him for this book. While it is inspirational, I enjoyed it for the mental and physical perspiration which went into each of the photos he presents and for passing on his knowledge in a straight forward and personable manner.

Now, in Joe McNally style, here's a self-assignment I gave myself on my last Walt Disney World trip. Pictured below are my two daughters and a friend riding Big Thunder Mountain. My daughters are both in college and I don't know how many more times they'll want to spend with Dad on vacation. I wanted to capture a moment of joy. One I can look back on and recall the spirit of what the Disney parks mean to me. It doesn't matter they were hamming it up. The fact that they did is a testament to Walt Disney, himself. This is one of those moments it clicked for me.

The Joy of Disney. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/320s, f/9, 200 ISO, 18mm Focal Length

Further Reading: Here's another review from Dave Black of "The Moment It Clicks". Dave has a unique way of taking you inside the book.

This was Challenge #30:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2008 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/60s shutter, f4.5

You just never know… I thought everyone would guess this one right away. Not a single person got it though. Challenge #30 is from the façade of the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort. I took this in January when I was there for the marathon.

This is such an interesting building. It was designed by Michael Graves, who has won numerous awards for his post-modern designs. I am always drawn to take photos of this hotel. There are so many ways you can take really unusual photographs of it. Normally I tend to shy away from taking any photos that are perfectly centered, but in this shot I deliberately lined everything up in a very symmetrical pattern. When you take a photo like this it’s important to be precise about the way you compose it. Even a slightly crooked line will ruin the effect.
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Challenge #31: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, by clicking HERE!
_______________________________________________________________________

Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for a copy of Hidden Mickeys Walt Disney World by Steve Barrett and some special AllEars® goodies!

Last week, I talked about Joe McNally's book, The Moment It Clicks. However, to start making photographs instead of snapshots, you have to think a bit before clicking the camera's shutter. It takes practice. So, when you are in a Disney park or an event and things start to happen fast or you are with family or friends and have to work fast, they become second nature to you to check the following:

1. Is my Shutter Speed correct to capture my subject properly?
2. Is my selected Focal Length or my Positioning optimal to capture my subject?
3. Have I chosen the proper Depth of Field to best highlight my subject?
4. Is my subject in Focus?
5. Have I checked the Edges of my frame to minimize distracting elements?

These were taken from 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Tripping the Shutter.

I would have put "Is my subject in focus" in the number one slot. For me, if the main subject of a photo is not in focus, it takes away from the impact. Sometimes it's not always possible to get all of your subject in focus. In that case, select the most important part to you. For example, for people or animals photos, always try and get the eyes sharply focused.

If you are photographing action subjects like sports, shows or parades. You want to capture the action at it's peak points. By using your camera's burst mode to shot many frames per second, you can shot an entire sequence. Later, you can find all the gems you got. Try this the next time you are photographing the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular action scenes. For something moving repetitively, like a themepark ride, it's easy to find a place and wait for the action to come to you.

In the photo below, while I like it, I wish I had waited for the light to fully fill the "rocket thrust". I'll get it next time!

Mission Space...To Infinity and Beyond. © Scott Thomas Photography 2008
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/250s, f/8, ISO 200, 0 EV, 32mm Focal Length

Further Reading: More Questions to Ask Before Pressing the Shutter (Some of these are redundant but not all.)

Posted by Scott Thomas on March 14, 2008 5:00 AM | Comment | Permalink