Topic: Ben's Photography Thread

Happy to see that photography can be included in here. I honestly cannot remember if I made one of these threads before, but in the past 6 to 7 months, I've moved from Connecticut down to Orlando as my girlfriend got an awesome job working for Disney. I've been able to step up my photography game recently. Most of it is Disney based, but occasionally I branch out as well. I'll post one image for now, and then I'll add more if there is good reaction. I am selling prints, but my SmugMug page needs a major overhaul, and I can't code worth a penny, so I'm looking to hire a friend.

This is a picture I took during the December 30th test-shoot of Walt Disney World's Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show over the Magic Kingdom. This show happens twice a year, once as a test, and once for New Year's Eve. This was taken from the beach of the Polynesian Resort, which is why iconic Cinderella Castle is very, very small.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7304/11688290015_992a52b492_h.jpg

Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D610
Software : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Macintosh)
Exposure : 7.400 seconds
Aperture : f/10
ISO Speed : 100
Focal Length : 28 mm

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

hey - great shot, Ben. Nice camera too. I have a Nikon 7100 but would love to go full-frame one day.

not long to go now...

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Yeah, like it. Also good posting the settings, we should make that an official suggestion in photo threads.

(UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Loving it. Bring us more. smile

Sébastien Fraud
Instagram |Facebook

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

I highly recommend going full frame eventually, however, before you do, you'll want to make sure you have all full frame glass. I knew that, going in, I'd be losing two of my lenses, my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and my Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 (both fantastic, but DX only).

Here's another shot:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3671/11353411285_52852d95e6_h.jpg
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D610
Software : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Macintosh)
Exposure : 0.017 seconds
Aperture : f/2.8
ISO Speed : 2000
Focal Length : 125 mm

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Thaaaaaat's awesome.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Oh yeah, baby, give us some sweet bokeh love. big_smile

Sébastien Fraud
Instagram |Facebook

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Always happy to bust out the crazy bokeh shots! There's a few more from that series; I'm uploading them to my SmugMug right now: http://wdwben.smugmug.com Love it? Own it!

I planned on only posting one picture today, but I noticed I'm trending dark in here, so I'll break out something daylight too, and as an added bonus, a golden hour shot. Let's do a three-for-one post!

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3724/11419621636_bba3c40d43_o.jpg
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D610
Software : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Macintosh)
Exposure : 0.010 seconds
Aperture : f/2.8
ISO Speed : 2500
Focal Length : 80 mm

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7443/9159509480_0e8fe47ac1_o.jpg
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D7000
Software : Apple Aperture 3
Aperture : f/8.0
Focal Length : 28 mm

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8108/8655651524_877a2ac67d_o.jpg
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D7000
Software : Apple Aperture 3
Aperture : f/5.6
ISO Speed : 100
Focal Length : 30 mm

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

I am a sucker for sunsets so your monorail shot has captivated the entirety of my interests. Show me more.

Boter, formerly of TF.N as Boter and DarthArjuna. I like making movies and playing games, in one order or another.

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Could we see the monorail sunset shot without any post effects?

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Teague wrote:

Could we see the monorail sunset shot without any post effects?

Certainly. Would you like the three brackets, the HDR made them them and fast shot I got to freeze the monorail that I later composited on the rail? Or just the three long exposure brackets and the frozen monorail?

The process for that shot was to capture a three shot bracket just as the monorail came into view after passing Test Track. That was a neutral, then a -3 and a +3 exposure (on tripod) shot in burst mode. Then I quickly changed to no-flash and fired off a burst at high ISO to freeze the monorail. Rinse and repeat.

Post processing wise, I threw the bracket into HDR Efex 2.0 by Nik Software. Exported the final image out, took it into Photoshop Elements 9 and compositing in the monorail with help from Morgan, my Imagineer girlfriend and all around Photoshop ninja. From there, I imported that TIFF into Aperture, then used Nik Color Efex Pro 4 to get the shot where I wanted it, tweaked it slightly from there with Aperture sliders, and finished it off with Nik Dfine to kill the noise from the high ISO shot and introduced by the general HDR process.

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

One thing I forgot to say: real Disney nerds will notice the picture I posted of Cinderella Castle is incredibly unique because you are looking straight down Main Street USA at the castle. Normally, there is a flag pole on the way. It turns out that America's Funniest Home Videos was filming at Disney the days before in the Town Square, and the flagpole was moved from center position over in front of Town Hall, providing this unique opportunity. I also have pictures of the Wishes fireworks show from this location at the Train Station, with Cinderella Castle and no flagpole.

Fun fact: These next two pictures were taken with the same lens. Amazing how that can look completely different based on the subject material and distance to the subject of the shot (and frankly, the shape of the subject).

This shot is from Photomagic 2013, a gathering of Disney photographers put on by the Disney Photography Blog (for whom I run the Instagram account, @disphotoblog). It's right after a real fizzle of a sunset, but we really had a fantastic post-sun pink hour. This was an HDR shot, so 3 brackets combined to get the dynamic range I wanted. I've moved away from HDR since going full frame; the amount of data I can capture now is incredible on the D610.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5513/10555677096_a9ccdd7f20_o.jpg
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D7000
Software : Apple Aperture 3.5.1
Aperture : f/5.6
ISO Speed: 100
Focal Length : 8 mm

This second was taken during a fantastic sunset on October 1, 2012, which was EPCOT's 30th anniversary. There was a bunch of rain, and then all of a sudden, this sunset bloomed and the group of people I was hanging out with scattered in every direction. This is one of my shots, and one of my favorite shots that I've taken. It is a hand-held HDR. I think my favorite thing about this picture is just how split the colors on either side of Spaceship Earth are. You have incredibly cool blues to the left and these incredibly warm oranges and golds on the other, and that looming geodesic sphere in silver between the two. I really lucked out.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8516190598_e6839dd44d_o.jpg
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D7000
Software : Apple Aperture 3.5.1
Aperture : f/4.5
ISO Speed: 100
Focal Length : 8 mm

Last edited by Ben (2014-02-01 15:35:26)

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

More bokeh?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7344/12329759494_c0bf725a2c_o.jpg

File Size : 12.6 mb
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D610
Software : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Macintosh)
Exposure : 0.017 seconds
Aperture : f/2.8
ISO Speed : 280
Focal Length : 185 mm

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

mmmmmmmyummy

Boter, formerly of TF.N as Boter and DarthArjuna. I like making movies and playing games, in one order or another.

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Ben, is that supposed to be an identity disc? Cuz that's kind of adorable, haha.

"Defending bad movies is VaporTrail's religion."
-DorkmanScott

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Vapes wrote:

Ben, is that supposed to be an identity disc? Cuz that's kind of adorable, haha.

Nah, it's just a light-wrapped tire swing.

It appears I have yet to post an in-park fireworks picture. Well, let's fix that. IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth (fan-bloody-tastic show, by the way). This was part of the Peace On Earth tag that they add during the holiday season. Fireworks are something I do on full Manual mode. I set my aperture to what feels right, usually anywhere between f/8 and f/12, and set the shutter to bulb mode. This means as long as the shutter-trigger is held down, the shutter remains open. ISO is set really low at 100 so I can keep the shutter open longer. Obviously, this necessitates a tripod. Finally, my secret weapon is a variable ND filter. It's actually two pieces of neutrally polarized lenses, and when you spin the outer lens, it fights with the inner lens and cuts the light entering the camera. This allows even LONGER shutter times. Mine is a 1 to 10 stop variable ND filter, stops counted in aperture, of course.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7419/11731005094_828edabe16_o.jpg

File Size : 9.6 mb
Camera Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model : NIKON D610
Software : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Macintosh)
Exposure : 18.000 seconds
Aperture : f/11
ISO Speed : 100
Focal Length : 28 mm

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/1891384_701358540199_248684484_o.jpg

Here's a before-and-after of a shot I'll put out for Monorail Monday. In case people wanted to see what some shots look like. This is an extreme example... usually I'll expose properly in camera. However, when it comes to monorails, sometimes you gotta go under and pull out the shot in post. This is why I always recommend shooting in 14-bit RAW files. There is so much data in a file that you cannot see!

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Time to update! It's Flower and Garden time over at EPCOT, which means we have flower-beds and topiaries galore!

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3765/13467420764_25571f38f8_o.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/13380791583_89a9151046_o.jpg

They've also introduced a new parade over at Magic Kingdom with a fire-breathing dragon!
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/13403230564_c0355a4d46_o.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7428/13059449555_a9d1b41135_o.jpg

Also in the parade are everybody's favorite Disney sisters now:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3495/13082479404_048e9fa49c_o.jpg

Also in Magic Kingdom, the new rollercoaster, Seven Dwarf's Mine Train, is starting to take shape and should be open for during, and I love Disney's timeframes, Spring 2014:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7339/12464649304_ec2dfc5864_o.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7342/12614642135_1773ef6fda_o.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2881/12834065843_1108788c15_o.jpg

Never gonna argue with a happy accident of a shot:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/12588285213_2548745751_o.jpg

And I'll also never argue with perfecting a technique until you nail a shot that's been alluding you for years:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5499/12731930393_8241502365_o.jpg

And to end, something completely different. I've been to Israel twice in two years (once with my family as a bonding trip after we lost our house to a fire and once on Birthright, yes, I'm a practicing Jew), and I've recently started going back through my shots and reediting a bunch of them. This is one that includes icons from the three major religions in the area. The Kotel and Dome of the Rock are on the left side of the screen, and the Mount of Olives sprawls on the right side. In the middle is the kind of security that Israelis of all religious beliefs have to go through due to extremists on all sides of the isle:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2451/12971954784_a8d2ea7b83_o.jpg

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Stunning photographs as always, Ben! They always make me ache to be back at the happiest, most magical place on Earth.
And the last photo is stunning for a different reason. I'm glad you shared it.

alicia ♆
twitter | instagram | website

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Stunning photography as always Ben!

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Busy time down here at the Mouse. Obviously, we have a new parade (as I posted earlier) that I think is best watched from the Train Station in Town Square.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/13403230564_c0355a4d46_o.jpgBurnanating by wdwben, on Flickr

I've also been working on a technique known as a rear curtain synced flash. It means that the flash fires as the shutter is closing, rather than in the middle of the exposure. I allows for some cool artistic effects, such as having a long exposure picture where a spinning subject is actually semi-frozen, like Miss Piggy here. Also, this is one for you Muppet fans out there.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2919/13994891045_498159acaf_o.jpgMuppets by wdwben, on Flickr

I've been on an MGM/Hollywood Studios kick recently, so here's a shot I took over by Star Tours the other night with EPIC skies. Wish I had an ultra-wide angle lens (soooooooooon) so the clouds looked even cooler, but I'm making do with the kit I have.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/14029424023_4abd9f53f5_o.jpgLooming Walker by wdwben, on Flickr

Back to the Magic Kingdom for a new attraction we just found out is opening May 28th! It's the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, a family-friendly coaster-and-dark-ride hybrid. Coaster elements out in the forest, and dark ride slowness inside where you see the Dwarves working their hardest collecting gems. This is the big final drop during golden hour; taken the second day of real cars-on-track testing.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5001/14019127745_1051cdbd1c_o.jpgRunaway Train Never Comin' Back by wdwben, on Flickr

And finally, Thursday was a big day on WDW property. Hollywood Studios, formerly known as Disney's MGM Studios, celebrated its 25th anniversary of its opening date. They celebrated with special merch, of course, and retro maps, but also a magnificent fireworks show set to Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Twilight Zone music and more! Here's a capture of the finale! This one needed about 3 to 5 stops of ND filter and was still blown to high heaven! Thank goodness for the power of a 14-bit RAW image!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7384/14085584091_8604e20c30_o.jpgFireworks Friday: Hollywood Studios' Fantastic Finale by wdwben, on Flickr

Here's a video for those interesting in watching the show. It was MUCH wider than they recorded, though, as evidenced by my picture (and why shooting that close to the stage is always a terrible idea)

http://youtu.be/9FuQyoK_hDc

EDIT: Rewatching that video makes me so happy I'm a photographer and not a videographer. It's a lot easy to control that smoke in a single long-exposure shot! Couldn't imagine having to deal with that in a video after the fact!

Last edited by Ben (2014-05-03 14:21:43)

Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Went to the mountains yesterday felt like I was hiking in Middle Earth

http://scontent-a-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t1.0-9/10615969_10152740425956042_4505507075733089740_n.jpg

---------------------------------------------
I would never lie. I willfully participate in a campaign of misinformation.

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Well then, lots of time since my last post. Been doing a lot of photography, but not posting shots as often as I used to. I've been concerned about the quality of my shots much more than the quantity.

That being said, here are some of my recent favorites. I've been getting into star trails photography recently. Long, frustrating in post, but so worth it. Questions? Ask 'em! Comments are welcome. EXIF data is located on the Flickr page, links are below the shot. So are higher resolutions.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/13981907957_4aa96b8fd1_b.jpgHaunted Mansion Star Trails by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/14811450248_be7690651c_b.jpgFireworks Friday: Nature's IllumiNations by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3864/14821704928_837cd5834a_b.jpgSunset Saturdays: Coronado Color by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3931/15492145795_146199ce4b_b.jpgFireworks Friday: HalloWishes by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7512/15112007703_d9a236b823_b.jpgFireworks Friday: Wishes by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5611/15553919677_6834b2d9a3_b.jpgSavannah Star Trails by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5605/15764640955_2b4d78ee27_b.jpgLights on I-95 by wdwben, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5606/15771187006_91e243ab13_b.jpgJapanese Star Trails by wdwben, on Flickr

I'll also have these up on SmugMug, hopefully later this evening. I also have some shots from Universal Studio's Diagon Alley, if we have any Harry Potter fans following this!

Last edited by Ben (2014-11-17 18:16:29)

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Re: Ben's Photography Thread

Boy, how my photography has changed since this post was last updated. Lots of new gear, and way more interesting shots, I think.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzlFsaIAUT2/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsDwb5gHD3C/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoJzR5hnoJE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_gi8JnBkj/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkAl9KZnIwI/

The last one has been the lock screen on my phone for quite some time.

Last edited by Ben (2019-07-20 12:57:02)