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.
Burnanating 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.
Muppets 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.
Looming 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.
Runaway 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!
Fireworks 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)