Picture 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.

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 #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!
_______________________________________________________________________

Challenge #22: 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!

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.
_______________________________________________________________________

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!

This was Challenge #41:

And here's the answer:

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

This amazing chandelier is located in the lobby of Disney’s Boardwalk Inn. It’s breathtaking the first time you see it. This photo only shows one quarter of the massive fixture. There are actually four giant hippocamps* and four angels holding candelabras. It really is an incredible piece of art.

*Creatures with the head and foreparts of a horse and the serpentine tail of a fish are known as hippocamps in Greek mythology. Believed to be the adult form of a seahorse, they were ridden by Poseidon. (I learn the most interesting things when I write this blog!)

Dawn Bach was the first to send in the correct answer this week! Congratulations to Dawn and all the readers who got the answer right: Kim, Nora Beirne, Michael G, Nicole Cyr, Poopymail, Eric, Heather Coursen, Jeremy Hardy, Amy, Damon Carter, Jamie Poynton, Kellie Carter, Noreen Rachuba, Tim Rachuba, Maryann Eckenrode, Ed Aleszczyk, Hillary W, Josh Rohrbach, Katelyn P, Jennifer Horst, Susan Pitts, Heather, Ed Nawrocki, Jacquelyn Law, Austin O'Blenis and Garland Cox. Each of you will be entered in the June winners’ drawing.
_______________________________________________________________________

Challenge #42: 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, June 19, 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 some special AllEars® goodies and a copy of PassPorter's Walt Disney World by Jennifer Marx, Dave Marx, Allison Cerel Marx!

Sidelighting is light illuminating from a 90 degree angle to the subject. This gives an almost three dimensional effect to the subject being photographed. As seen below in this photo of The ESPN Club at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, the sidelighting creates shadows in the restaurant's exterior features showing depth in a two dimensional medium.

Sidelight hits The ESPN Club near Disney's Boardwalk Resort giving a 3-D effect.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/800s, f/8, 200 ISO, EV -0.3, 200mm Focal length

Have you heard of photowalking yet? Photowalks are a great way to spend time with other photography enthusiasts, get a little fresh air, exercise, and have some fun taking pictures. Technically, photowalking is defined as “the act of walking [or wheeling] with a camera for the main purpose of taking pictures of things that the photographer may find interesting”. Pretty simple, eh?

You can do solo photowalks, but organized group photowalks are where it’s at! It’s really fun to spend some social time with other photographers, doing what we all love to do – taking photos!

Group photowalks are for everyone. There are no special skills or equipment required. Just show up with a camera, ANY kind of camera, and that’s all you need. You can use a simple point and shoot that fits in your pocket or a fancy dslr with a whole bag of lenses. Really, the only thing you need to join a photowalk is the desire to walk with other people and take photos.

It works like this: someone schedules a photowalk and then invites other people to join in, usually via the internet. On the day of the walk, everyone gets together at the starting place and time and introduces themselves. After a few minutes of milling about and discussion, the group takes off on their pre-determined route to take photos. Everyone goes at their own pace, chatting and chimping* along the way. When they reach the end of the route, there is likely to be a little time to gather and do some more chimping, usually over coffee or beer! Then when everyone goes home, they upload the photos they took to a group site on the internet so they can see what everyone else thought was interesting enough to photograph. And that’s how friendships are formed!

Well, Lisa, Scott and I are all about photography, fun and making friends, so we’ve decided to host a photowalk at MouseFest this year and you’re all invited! You’re all going to MouseFest, right? Of course you are! So, here are the details:

What: Picture This! Photowalk meet at MouseFest 2008
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008
Time: 7am - 9am (yup – that’s the crack of dawn!)
Where: Disney's Boardwalk - meet at the Wedding Pavilion, finish at Boardwalk Bakery
Who: Everyone is welcome!

We’ve set up a Flickr group with more information, including a map of the route we’ll be following. That is where everyone can RSVP, introduce ourselves and chat about the meet. Afterwards, this is where we’ll share our photos. You’ll need to join Flickr to RSVP but it’s free and safe, I promise. You won’t get any spam from them.

We’re very excited about this meet and hope to see lots of you there. And who knows, there may even be some goodies available for those who attend**.

For a more in-depth article on photowalking, check out this post by Jeff Revell. To find a photowalk in your area check out photowalking.org or just google “photowalk” and your city.

Don’t forget to RSVP on the Flickr site.

*looking at each other’s photos on their lcd screens
**There's nothing wrong with a little bribery!

One of the first things I had to deal with when I first started using a digital camera was how to organize all the files I was creating every time I went out taking photographs. The camera manufacturers think their simple system of a strange prefix followed by a number is what anyone would ever need. Blah! After producing hundreds of image files, I ended up doing folders for each time which got even more chaotic.

When facing this ongoing problem, I first identified the need to name this files so I could easily sort them. I read how others were doing it. Many like to use some sort of descriptive name which includes a prefix of meaning (like WDW for Walt Disney World) followed by a date designation and a sequential number. I tried this type of system for awhile but found the prefix was a bit confusing for me and decided to use a standard prefix for all my photos. Here is what a typical name for one of my digital photo files looks like: STP_20080905_025.jpg. The prefix of STP stands for Scott Thomas Photography then an underscore to separate the date which is in long year, month, day format which is easy to sort in chronological order with another underscore separating the sequential order. This works for me. You may have come up with a different system. I only use one camera right now. If I add another camera in the future, I will add a camera type to the prefix so it will be easy to see which camera took what photo. Don't forget, there's a lot of data contained in each photo's Exif which in future weeks I'll show how that can be used.

Now, how did I get from the camera's name for the files that look like DSC_2345 to my system? For that I use a program which takes my files from the compact flash memory card and loads them onto my laptop. As it copies the files down it renames them using the photo file's date and adds the prefix and sequential number suffix around it. For instance, below is my photo STP_20070524_0008.jpg. This also happens to be the location where the AllEars.net Pictures This! Photowalk at Mousefest will start (click on link for more information and to sign up).

Sea Breeze Point near Disney's Boardwalk Resort.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/500s, f/5.6, 200 ISO, 0 EV, 200mm Focal length

Disney's Boardwalk comes to life after sunset.
Nikon Coolpix 995, 1/15s, f/2.6, 400 ISO, 0 EV

Disney's Boardwalk Resort Area comes alive after sunset with arcade games, entertainers and kiosks selling popcorn, drinks and other yummy snacks. I took this from a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk with my Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera. Due to the slow shutter speed, I used the balcony's railing to help steady the camera. I think I captured some of the magic you feel walking on the boardwalk as my selection for this week's Disney Pic of the Week theme on Disney's Boardwalk area.

Don't forget, Barrie, Lisa and myself are hosting the AllEars.net Pictures This! Photowalk at Mousefest in the Boardwalk area. Check out the link for more information and to sign up!