France in HDR

Having some fun with HDR effects.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/8.0
• Shutter Speed:  1/200
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  31mm
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit lens
• Technique:  3 bracket HDR post-processed in Lightroom and HDR Efex Pro 2

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Storybook Circus - Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom

Storybook Circus is located in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.  It is a fun place to have a treat from the Big Top, and ride classics such as Dumbo.

The Shot:

• Taken with an iPhone 7 Plus using Lightroom Mobile RAW/HDR

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe

Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe located in Liberty Square in the magic Kingdom is a great place to shop for Christmas decorations year round.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/9.0
• Shutter Speed:  1/250
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  31mm
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit lens
• Technique:  3 bracket HDR post-processed in Lightroom and HDR Efex Pro 2

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Maurice's Cottage

Tucked away deep in the Enchanted Forest is Maurice's Cottage.  From here, you can get a glimpse of Beast's Castle looming in the mountains.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/8.0
• Shutter Speed:  1/1400
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  39mm
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit lens
• Technique:  3 bracket HDR post-processed in Lightroom

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

L'Artisan des Glaces, France Pavilion, World Showcase, Epcot

Who doesn't love Ice Cream!  If you are in the France Pavilion, be sure to stop by for an artisanal frozen treat from ice cream to sorbet.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/8.0
• Shutter Speed:  1/160
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  26mm
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit lens
• Technique:  3 bracket HDR post-processed in Lightroom

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

The Italy Pavilion, World Showcase, Epcot

The Italy Pavilion in the World Showcase at Epcot in Walt Disney World has a tremendous amount of architectural detail.  Take the time to admire the fine details that the Disney Imagineers put into this Pavilion.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  F/4.0
• Shutter Speed:  1/320
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  16mm
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens
• Technique:  3 bracket HDR, processed in Lightroom

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Spaceship Earth - Epcot

Spaceship Earth on a nice Spring day during the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/8.0
• Shutter Speed:  1/320
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  16mm
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens
• Type:  3 bracket HDR

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

A Figment of your Imagination

One spark of light can light your fancy.
Your mind sees more than what your eyes see.
Your sense of sight can make your fancy fly.
There’s more to sight than meets the eye!

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/8.0
• Shutter Speed: 1/320
• ISO: 100
• Focal Length: 16mm
• 3 Bracket HDR
• Camera: Sony A6000
• Lens: 16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival is a great way to spend a nice Spring day.

The Shot:

• Aperture:  f/8.0
• Shutter Speed: 1/500
• ISO:  100
• Focal Length:  30mm
• 3 Bracket HDR
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Be Our Guest - Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

Ma cherie Mademoiselle,

It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure

That we welcome you tonight

And now, we invite you to relax

Let us pull up a chair

As the dining room proudly presents

Your dinner!

The Shot:

• Aperture: f/8.0
• Shutter Speed: 1/250
• ISO: 100
• Focal Length: 16mm
• 3 Bracket HDR
• Camera: Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work we go!

More wonderful topiaries from the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

The Shot

• Aperture: f4.5
• Shutter Speed: 1/640
• ISO: 100
• Focal Length: 29mm
• 3 bracket HDR
• Camera:  Sony A6000
• Lens 16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Gupta's Gear - Animal Kingdom

Gupta's Gear in Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World is another location elaborately themed by Disney Imagineers.

Gupta's Gear is located on the main walkway in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom.  From a theming perspective, this is where those willing to challenge Everest stop for supplies.  Legend has it that the backpacks here are from those that have challenged Everest and dies or just gave up and are leaving their gear behind for others.

True to Disney Imagineering style, the detail is amazing.  Take the time to stop and admire the woodwork the next time you are passing by in the way to ride Expedition Everest.

The Shot

• Three bracket HDR
• Aperture:  f/5.0
• Shutter Speed: 1/13
• ISO: 100
• Focal Length: 20mm
• Camera: Sony A6000
• Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney

Partners - Walt and Mickey in the Magic Kingdom

The "Partners" statue was unveiled in the Magic Kingdom in 1995.  The statue of Walt Disney and Mickey is located in the hub in front of Cinderella Castle.  This is the second Partners statue, the first being in Disneyland in 1993.  The statue was sculpted by Blaine Gibson.  One of the early sketches of the status has Mickey holding an ice cream cone.  The expression on Walt's face is Blaine's interpretation of Walt making people happy.  The initials STR is on Walt's tie is is supposed to be the initials of  "Smoke Tree Ranch" where Walt once owned a vacation home.

The shot

• 3 Bracket HDR Image
• Aperture: f/5.0
• Shutter Speed: 1/400
• ISO: 100
• Focal Length: 18mm
• Post-Processing:  Lightroom

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney

Bambi at Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival

So many amazing topiaries at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

Another 3 bracket HDR shot with the normal exposure at the following settings:

Aperture:  F/8.0

Shutter Speed: 1/100 

ISO:  100

Focal Length:  16mm

Camera;  Sony A6000

Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Beast's Castle

A view of Beast's Castle from Maurice's cottage.

Settings:

• HDR 3 bracket image with normal exposure set to:
• Aperture f/8.0
• Shutter Speed 1/250
• ISO100
• 42mm
• Merged and tone-mapped in Lightroom

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

A Beautiful Spring Day at Epcot

Epcot is so beautiful in the Spring.  DIsney does a fantastic job with all the flowers.

HDR image with the normal exposure set to:

Aperture: f/8.0

Shutter Speed: 1/250

ISO: 100

Focal Length:  35mm

Camera:  Sony A6000

Lens:  16-50 Kit Lens

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Playing around with the HDR Soft Filter

I've got a couple different shots of the Monorail at the International Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot at Walt Disney World, so today I decided to try a different look by playing around with an HDR soft filter in HDR Efex Pro 2 (a free plug-in).

I little more of technical post today.  I deliberately was not trying to get a realistic looking picture, but rather just something different.  In order to get this, I first started by capturing three separate images bracketed at three different exposures in my camera.  One at the normal exposure which was set to aperture f/8.0 (to get a fair amount of depth-of-field throughout the frame since I  wanted the flowers in the foreground as well as the monorail in the background relatively sharp), 1/250 sec shutter speed (to freeze the monorail since it was moving, albeit rather slowly), ISO100 (to minimize noise) , and 16mm focal length (to capture the wide scene).

Whenever I process HDR images, I first merge the images in Lightroom, as opposed to allowing HDR Efex Pro 2 merge them.  I do this because I think Lightroom does a better job at minimizing that "outline" effect you get when merging very bright and dark areas of the frame.  I then do any other basic post-processing like applying the right lens profiles, removing any chromatic aberrations, cropping and cleanup (i.e removing sensor dust spots etc.) in the merged DNG image in Lightroom before I begin to process the image in HDR Efex Pro 2.

Then I export the single DNG image into HDR Efex Pro 2.  From there, it's just a matter of picking a filter that suites the effect you are going for.  In this case, I chose the soft filter.  Once the soft filter is applied, I may make other final adjustments in HDR Efex Pro 2 such as tone compression, tonality, color, curves, etc. to tweak the basic filter settings.

So that's how I got the image above.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Cinderella Castle

Disney Imagineers used "forced perspective" to make the 189' castle look taller.  The castle was completed in July 1971 and the moat around the castle holds approximately 3 million gallons of water.  Cinderella Castle is over 100 feet taller than Sleeping Beauty Castle.  There are 27 towers on the castle itself and in 2015 Disney added 4 more turrets expanding the view to be more panoramic.

This is a 3 bracket HDR image taken with a Sony A6000 and the 16-50 kit lens.  The normal exposure was set to F/5.0, 1/320 sec shutter speed, ISO100 at 16mm.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Cinderella Castle Mosaic Murals

My guess is that many people are aware that there are some mosaic murals inside Cinderella Castle.  But have you ever stopped to look at them.

In total, there are 5 mosaic murals and in true Disney fashion, they tell a story, in this case, the story of Cinderella.

In the first mosaic, you see Lady Tremaine reading the invitation to the ball as Drizella and Anastasia look on.  Cinderella can be seen in the back working away.

The second mosaic shows her Fairy Godmother transforming Cinderella into her beautiful gown, and the pumpkin coach can be seen in the background.

In the third scene, we see Cinderella hastily leaving the ball with Prince Charming in pursuit.

The fourth mosaic shows the moment where Cinderella tries on the glass slipper and Drizella and Anastasia look on in disgust as the slipper fits perfectly on Cinderella's feet.

In the fifth and final mosaic, Prince Charming and Cinderella ride away on his horse and they live happily ever after.

The last time I was there I stopped to look at and appreciate these mosaics and the attention to detail that Disney puts into everything they do.  I apparently impeded some lady rushing with a stroller who turned to her kids and rudely and loudly screamed "Who stops right in the middle of the castle?"  Well the answer to that is, someone who takes the time to appreciate all the details that Disney puts into their parks that help make it a rich and immersive experience.

This was taken with an iPhone 7 Plus using Lightroom Mobile in  HDR RAW mode.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Main Street Railroad Station

Here's a sight you don't see often - unless you wait till an hour or more after the Kiss Goodnight - no one in front of Main Street Railroad Station taking pictures.  

You'll notice that it's almost 8am.  Yes, there were a couple people off to the sides, but since they stopped the Opening Show, and allow guests to go all the way down Main Street to the Hub, people seem to be more spread out before the park opens.

This shot was taken with an iPhone 7 Plus using Lightroom Mobile using the HDR RAW feature.  I did some tone-mapping later in the desktop version of Lightroom.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Pinocchio and Jiminy

The details in the park never cease to amaze me.  As part of the expanded hub, Pinocchio and Jiminy have a spot near one of the fountains.  Here Pinocchio is looking down on Jiminy and vice versa as if they were having a conversation.

This is another shot with the iPhone 7 Plus in portrait mode.  The simulated "bokeh" is pretty good.  I later did a bit of tone-mapping in Lightroom.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

The Sun Sets on Fantasyland

Sunsets are an amazing sight at the Magic Kingdom (I am sure sunrises are too, but I'm never up that early).  They add to the magical experience that you can get immersed in while there.

This was my first trip to Walt Disney World with my iPhone 7 Plus so I took a few shots with it, this being one of them.  For this image, I used Lightroom mobile with their new RAW HDR capture, then later finished tone-mapping and other post processing in the desktop version of Lightroom.

One of the things I do notice, and it's not unexpected, is that even with RAW, the iPhone produces significantly more noise than my Sony A6000.  Of course that's understandable given the size of the sensors.  So when you see an article saying that an iPhone or other cell phone camera can replace a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, maybe if you just want a casual JPG.  But if you take RAW images with your DSLR and rely on post-processing, then you will notice the difference.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.

Dumbo The Flying Elephant

Dumbo the Flying Elephant is an iconic classic Disney attractions based on the 1941 film Dumbo.  The original attraction opened at Disneyland in October 1955, three months after the park opened.  

The Magic Kingdom version of the attraction is located in the Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland.  In the center of the attraction, you can see part of the story about Dumbo being delivered by the stork.  At the bottom (not shown here), you can see artwork panels that depict scenes from the classic animation.  The fountains at the bottom light up at night with an array of colors that makes the ride even more magical at night.

The bright Gold, Red, and Blue colors on this ride are striking especially at Golden Hour when they all take on a warm tone.

This was taken with an iPhone 7 Plus using the latest version of Lightroom mobile using the RAW HDR camera setting.  The image was later tone-mapped in Lightroom CC.

Have fun capturing the magic of Disney.