Mac Daddy's 2010 Summer/Fall Nightastically Heavy Photo Thread

[Blackmouse]

Dude AWESOME Pictures. what type of camera are you using I am Using a Nikon and i do get good pics but not as good. though my lens is the standard one..

[Wendygirl]

Just when I think you've done your best work, you top yourself. I don't think there are enough superlative adjectives to describe your photos! Looking forward to the others.

[add1cted2mu51c]

i think i love you.

[Mac Daddy]

Part II: World Of Color - Intro to Buzz And Woody

In going through my shots of World Of Color, I went back and tried to combine the different angles to present these shots in order of the show. I saw the show four times over the Summer, and each time, I tried to shoot from a different angle. The shots that follow were taken from the far left Red area on the boardwalk, the Blue Area in preferred viewing (wide angle - towards the back), under the Symphony Swings, in front of Midway Mania, and from a few spots along the pier. It was a tough show to shoot for me as I was constantly trying to keep water off of my lenses while trying to keep projections in focus, etc.

It's also tough to get those darn projections to look clear when you shoot them. Several of them are still blurry in the next couple of batches, but I tired to minimize that whenever possible.

Enough with the disclaimers. Off we go...

WOC Intro...






















Little Mermaid...






























Dory, Marlin, and the Whale...






WALL-E and Eve...










Woody and Buzz...














Buzz takes on Zurg...








And all the little green people say "Oooooooooooh!"




For Part III, click HERE

[Armadillo4]

Mac Daddy, once again you've captured some jaw-dropping images from the parks. I'm so impressed by every single shot! And the thought and planning that you put into each shot have truly paid off.

I'm partial to your Fantasmic! photos, especially the one of the dragon from the side--which enables you to see some of the audience across the way along the ROA. And the close-up zoom shots are so clear. I know those are difficult to take and have come out so well. Bravo!!!

[niklj]

I am really liking your panoramas!

[StrikeYerColors]

I especially love part 1... I want to print some of these out and put them up as art in my room! Would you be willing to put the large,printable files up in a zip available for download, or be willing to send them to people?

I hate to say this, in case we've got some WoC aficionados, but I think WoC looks even more beautiful in your photos than in real life.

[tonyrr1]

Dude... Your pics are ah-MAY-zing..!!! I hope you're making a living with your photography skills man... Don't let those go to waste... Keep up the awesome work...

[loveforfamily]

Whoa!!!! Again...absolutely stunning....I am even more excited now since tomorrow I will be able to see world of color for the first time
Your pictures really are absolutely amazing....just love them and I will definetely be following this thread to see more

[Jacky B]

Wow! I love your pictures, I know I seem to be following the rest of the comments, but they are amazing. I know I will never get those types of shots, but I can count on you and many others Micechatters to get them for the rest of us to to swoon over! Again great shots and thanks soooo much for sharing with the rest of us! By the way, I love the first shot of the castle!

[Hot Sauce 1]

Absolutely wonderful shots. They fill me with envy and inspiration at the same time.

[BoygunaSurf]

The timing here blows me away, very nice work!

[Mac Daddy]

Dude AWESOME Pictures. what type of camera are you using I am Using a Nikon and i do get good pics but not as good. though my lens is the standard one..

Thanks Blackmouse. I'm using a Nikon D90, and the main three lenses I was using for most of the shots were the Sigma 10-20, Nikkor 18-200 VR, and the 70-300 VR. The dark ride shots were with the Nikkor Micro 105 2.8, 35 1.8 and the 50 1.4. I also schlepped the Sigma 150-500 down and was pleasantly surprised that the security folks didn't say boo about the size of the lens. After the Lindsay Lohan thing a couple years ago, they have turned guests away with larger lenses, but they looked right at it this time and waved me through. So...the Bollywood dancer shot and a couple of others were taken with the 150-500. I don't use that lens much because without the tripod, that thing HURTS to hold after 1/2 an hour of shooting.

Just when I think you've done your best work, you top yourself. I don't think there are enough superlative adjectives to describe your photos! Looking forward to the others.

Thanks, Wendygirl. I'm hoping you make another trip soon as I've enjoyed your photos as well.

i think i love you.

Er....Thanks add1cted2mu51c.

Mac Daddy, once again you've captured some jaw-dropping images from the parks. I'm so impressed by every single shot! And the thought and planning that you put into each shot have truly paid off.

I'm partial to your Fantasmic! photos, especially the one of the dragon from the side--which enables you to see some of the audience across the way along the ROA. And the close-up zoom shots are so clear. I know those are difficult to take and have come out so well. Bravo!!!

Thanks Armadillo. I just wanted to thank you again for your shot of the Mark Twain fireworks which was an inspiration to try some of those shots for myself. I've enjoyed your shots on flickr and I hope to see some of your photos on Micechat again soon.

I am really liking your panoramas!

Thanks niklj. Most of those wider shots were taken with the Sigma 10-20 and a few of the upcoming shots were with the Pro Optic 8mm fisheye.

I especially love part 1... I want to print some of these out and put them up as art in my room! Would you be willing to put the large,printable files up in a zip available for download, or be willing to send them to people?

I hate to say this, in case we've got some WoC aficionados, but I think WoC looks even more beautiful in your photos than in real life.

Thanks twobluestripes. I think I remembered to save my edits on most of these shots in their original 4288x2848 size. I'm not quite sure how to do the whole zip thing as I have a mac. Maybe I can dig around and figure out how to set that up. But if you do see something, send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.

Dude... Your pics are ah-MAY-zing..!!! I hope you're making a living with your photography skills man... Don't let those go to waste... Keep up the awesome work...

Thanks, Tonyrr1. I've heard that the definition of a "professional" photographer is when at least 70 percent of your income comes from your photography. As of now, zero percent comes from that, so I'm still very much in the amateur/hobbyist category. I'm just a choral director at a local community college with a passion for photography that, coincidentally, was ignited by looking at photos on Micechat back in 2005 by the likes of Darkbeer, Crazylegs, Daddyb, Frogberto, and several others. When I joined flickr last year, it really opened my eyes to what other Disney Park photographers have been doing lately, some of which post here on Micechat, including Andy Castro from Dateline Disneyland. Much of what you see in this thread has been inspired by looking at their shots and jotting down their EXIF info. I wouldn't have dreamed of shooting Fantasmic with a 5.6 aperture with the ISO pushed all the way up into the ugly range of 2500 until I saw some amazing shots by Peterpan1953, and decided to try it with the D90. Not all cameras can handle shooting in that high ISO range, but as long as the show is bright enough, the noise doesn't become too much of an issue with the D90. Anyway...long answer to your comment, but I just wanted to give some props to folks out there who have inspired me to get a DSLR camera and start shooting.

Whoa!!!! Again...absolutely stunning....I am even more excited now since tomorrow I will be able to see world of color for the first time
Your pictures really are absolutely amazing....just love them and I will definetely be following this thread to see more

Thanks loveforfamily. WOC is an incredible show. I hope you had a great time, and I hope that most of the effects were working for you. I heard the flames weren't working the other day, so hopefully you got to see the whole show.

Wow! I love your pictures, I know I seem to be following the rest of the comments, but they are amazing. I know I will never get those types of shots, but I can count on you and many others Micechatters to get them for the rest of us to to swoon over! Again great shots and thanks soooo much for sharing with the rest of us! By the way, I love the first shot of the castle!

Thanks Jacky B. I was surprised at that blue castle shot, and I didn't really have to clean it up too much in photoshop. I love how the techs lit the castle inbetween shell bursts and lit the smoke as it cleared. I think that shot was taken right before Tink came down from the Matterhorn.

Absolutely wonderful shots. They fill me with envy and inspiration at the same time.

Well...the feeling is mutual. I've been enjoying your photo of the day thread and have enjoyed many, many of your shots over the past year or so. I want to thank you again for becoming the Micechat professor of photography and for taking your time to share photography tips with the rest of us using your shots of the DLR as examples. If your Disneyland Photo Of The Day thread had been around five years ago, you would have saved me a BUNDLE on photography books. Thank you for sharing your tips with the rest of us!

The timing here blows me away, very nice work!

Thanks BoygunaSurf. I do have to admit, however, that the odds of getting the shot you want go up quite a bit when you get multiple chances at it, and when you are more familiar with the show. I think it was Micechatter Photomatt who posted that he had watched the video of "Remember" before heading down to take some shots, and his timing was amazing. Keeping that in mind, I watched some video on Youtube of "Magical" and it really helped in certain situations. It also helps if you have seen "Fantasmic" a bazillion times because you know when Kaa's eyes will light up, when the eels come around the corner, when Murphy will light up the river, etc, etc. If you are anticipating the next shot, you'll wait for that extra second or two until the fire is actually coming out of the dragon. If you are shooting Fantasmic for the first time and you've never seen the show before, there's a good chance you would miss that moment because you had no idea that Murphy, God rest her soul, was about to spew fire all over the place.

And even when you are expecting things and waiting for them...a pole is suddenly in your face, your camera can't quite find the focal point, your card is full, a balloon will drift in front of you, Murphy falls over, a pipe breaks in Paradise park, or winds at higher elevations pull the plug on the fireworks and you just wasted 2 hours of your life waiting for a show that never happened. So...it can be very frustrating, but that's all part of the challenge of trying to get that perfect shot. I still have my list of shots to try, and I'll be back throughout the year giving it another go.


Part III is halfway done. Hopefully more shots up by tonight or tomorrow.

[Row2k]

I just realized that I've been poring over this thread throughout my entire psych lecture. Soooo not the way to succeed in college!

Awesome pictures!

[Mac Daddy]

Part III: World Of Color - Carl's Balloons to Pocahontas

As many others have mentioned, you really need to be in Paradise Park if you want to experience World Of Color. But once you've seen it from the front, it really does look amazing from the sides and from behind as well. Some of the shots, especially in Part IV, will be from under the Swings and from behind.

On with the show....


Balloons:










Carl...







Aladdin








"I can show you the world..."




















Pocahontas...















Meeko...


















For Part IV, click HERE