Adding Life to an Image.

There are times when the scene before you looks much better than the picture you just took.  Sometimes it is an issue of field of  view.  Other times your camera isn't able to capture the dynamic range of the scene as well as your eyes and brain can.  This scene looked flat and uninteresting straight from camera.

This is the merged HDR file.  You'll note the numerous dust spots in the sky.  I realized after this trip that my camera was in desperate need of a good cleaning.  Processing of the merged file consisted of cleaning up all the dust spots, minor straightening, and running through PixelBender's Oil Paint filter.

The oil paint filter is my go to when I'm looking for a more abstract look.  It has several sliders that are very useful in determining how you want the final image to look. 

I knew from the start that this would end up being more of a digital painting than a photograph.  The term digital painting is used very loosely when it comes to this because there are people with the talent to actually paint a scene like this instead of applying a filter.

With an abundance of dead space in the sky it felt like the perfect opportunity to add a poem or verse. Choosing Psalm 119:105 was obvious as the lighthouse provides guidance for ships.

By choosing to stray from reality a little I felt that punching up the colors wouldn't take away from the overall image. 

Technical data for this image. Nikon D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 180mm, iso 200, median exposure 0.8 seconds @ f/14.0

The American Adventure

The American Adventure is a long-standing iconic attraction at EPCOT.  Add in the Voices of Liberty performance pre-show and you have a recipe for an incredible way to travel from founding to today.  The show itself is a combination of video and audio animatronics.  The music throughout fits perfectly with the different times and scenes.

Adding to my love of this attraction is the memories associated with it.  I grew up making trips to Disney World and we always made time to get there early and listen to the Voices of Liberty.  My Dad was especially fond of this attraction because of his great love for history and this country.  The final track, Golden Dream, was one of my Dad's favorite songs.  It has also become a favorite of mine.

I love how Disney has combined pivotal times in America's history with original dialogue to tell the story of the formation of our nation.

Washington and some of his men at Valley Forge.

The story of a family where the two brothers fight on opposite sides during the civil war. Another great song during this section (Two Brothers).

President Roosevelt at what would become Yosemite National Park.

Men discussing the hardships of the Great Depression.

The great Chief Joseph when he famously said he would fight no more.

Representation of Rosie the Riveter as women increasingly took over jobs previously held by men during WWII.

Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain help bring the show to a close standing on the torch atop the Statue of Liberty.

Fireworks Technique Update

One of my great fascinations is fireworks. For most of my life I have enjoyed them as most people do.  Now my focus on the shows is capturing the explosions with a camera.  In a previous post I talked about equipment and technique.  Since that last post my family and I have returned to Walt Disney World with new equipment and methods to try out.

My wonderful wife purchased a new camera for me and my mother gave me two Neutral Density (ND) filters.  ND filters have been used for a long time by landscape photographers to get that silky, dreamy water everyone likes.  Until I read the Disney Photography Blog's ebook on fireworks technique the thought of using a ND filter for fireworks hadn't crossed my mind.

Using a ND filter for fireworks has its good and bad side.  First the good side.  Decreasing the amount of light that reaches the sensor allows you to keep the shutter open for longer periods.  This results in more bursts per frame.  My last post on fireworks (which is linked at the top of this post) has examples without the ND filter.  Most have just a few bursts in them. 

This first shot was during the villain scene in the Wishes show.  With a .9 (8x) ND filter I was able to keep the shutter open for the entire scene.  Exif for this shot: D800, 24-70mm 2,8 @ 31mm, iso 100, f/9.0, exposure 60 seconds.  In comparison my best shots from last trip were averaging just a few seconds at a much smaller aperture.

Now the downside to using a ND filter.  Since the exposures are now much longer the number of shots you can get per show are greatly reduced.  Less shots means a smaller chance for getting a great shot and less opportunity to experiment with different settings.  The great part about experimenting on your fireworks photos at Disney is they have fireworks pretty much every night and sometimes twice in the same evening.

My wife's favorite part of the Wishes show.  30 seconds @ f/9.0

Finale from Wishes. 21 seconds @ f/9.0

Illuminations finale. 32 seconds @ f/8.0