A Disney Perspective

The article that follows was posted on the Picture This! Disney Photoblog this morning.  I wanted to show it all to you and point you to Shrew’s Daily Shutters Challenge post on the subject of Perspective.   Perspective is an important concept for us photographers as we search for our views of the world around us.

Perspective is defined as ” to look through”. For photographers, it means to look at something differently. To find new perspectives. At Walt Disney World, where people take millions of photographs each year, finding new perspectives can seem a daunting task. I look at it as finding “my” perspective and sometimes a little help can open up whole new ways of looking at things.

The photo below of Minnie Mouse’s statuette was pointed out to me by another photographer. I have seen similar photos on flickr, too. But, I had never seen it at dusk with an orange castle softly focused in the background which turned out to be “my” perspective on this subject.

Minnie Mouse admiring Cinderella Castle.

View 96: New York Waterfalls in HDR

New York Waterfalls in HDR Photo Essay.

I did warn you about seeing more HDR images here.  My recent Waterfall Safari gave me an opportunity to create some HDR images I decided to share with you as a Photo Essay.  Click here or the title image above to see it.  I hope you like it.

View 94: Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed at the LaFayette Apple Festival in LaFayette, New York.

When it comes to fall festivals in my area, the biggest is the LaFayette Apple Festival. In two days, 50,000 people attend the festival to enjoy all kinds of apple goodies, carnival rides, craft tents and entertainment. All of this happens under the watchful eye of Johnny Appleseed. Whose legend of planting apple trees makes him a very suitable mascot for the popular festival.

Of Boats and Castles

The village of Alexandria Bay is the gateway to the 1000 Islands from the state of New York. During the busy summer months, A-Bay is filled with thousands of tourists who shop in all the souvenir shops, stay in the many hotels, eat in the restaurants, dance in the nightclubs and most take a tour boat out to see the beautiful 1000 Islands on the St. Lawrence river. For those of you who don’t like a crowded tourist area, before Memorial Day and after Labor Day is much quieter and hotels have reduced rates and weekend specials which often include meals and a boat tour.

Uncle Sam Boat Tours cruiser the Alexandria Belle taking out a group of tourists to the 1000 Islands near Alexandria Bay, New York.

The Uncle Sam Boat Tours has been in operation since 1926 and is the largest of the tour boat companies. I recommend their 2 Nation Tour which takes you down the St. Lawrence Seaway and over the border to cruise under the Canadian span of the 1000 Islands Bridge complex. The best part of each Uncle Sam Boat Tour is an unlimited stop over at Heart Island, the location of the famous Boldt Castle.

Boldt Castle looms above the trees on Heart Island across from Alexandria Bay, New York, as a tour boat heads back to port.

Boldt Castle and it’s outer buildings were left to rot after 1904 when George Boldt stopped all construction after the unexpected death of his wife, Louise. In 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority (TIBA) purchased the property and has slowly been restoring the estate. Using revenues from tour boat operators and funding from the US and Canada, TIBA has brought back to life the glory of the turn of the century grandiose rhineland style castle.

The restored Reception Room inside Boldt Castle on Heart Island near Alexandria Bay, New York.

The above photo was taken back in 2007 on a previous trip before I started blogging. The others where taken last weekend from Casino Island Park in Alexandria Bay, New York.

View 93: St. Lawrence River Panorama

View from 150 feet above the St. Lawrence River from the US span of the 1000 Islands Bridge in New York state. Click photo to see larger version.

I mentioned I recently attended a workshop on Landscape photography. Besides learning how to do HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, I learned how to create panoramas from multiple photographs by stitching them together via software. Now, that sounds easy but there’s lots to keep in mind when photographing panoramas which I wrote about on my Disney blog (click here).

I did everything you were supposed to do for this panoramic of the St. Lawrence River from the 1000 Islands Bridge except use a tripod. Oh, I had one with me but there is not a lot of room on the bridge’s walkway and the bridge moves so a tripod would not have been of much use. I did pretty good hand holding as the software didn’t have much trouble stitching the photos together with very little cropping needed. You’ll probably be seeing more panoramic images in the future around here. They are fun to do and give a new prospective to my photography.

View 91: Castle at Dusk Redo

For the first time in a long time I was not able to get out and take some photos last week. So, instead, I looked back in the archives and came upon one of my favorites from Walt Disney World. Surprised? I took this back in 2007 when I was still learning how to use the Nikon D70. I was riding the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority, or WEDway Peoplemover to any old timer Disney park goers out there, when I took this.

To see a before and after of this photo, visit the Picture This! article I did recently called Back to the Future where I explain how I created this image from the original.  Oh, this version is different from the after version in the article.  Can you tell me how?

Castle at Dusk. Cinderella Castle taken from the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority in the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.

Views from the Fair

Here’s some more photographs from the New York State Fair. Anyone else posting or have posted fair photos this year?

The poster for this year's Great New York State Fair is whimsical. As an aside, this year's big fried food craze is Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly. Yum-yum!

What do you do with a 900 pound block of butter? You create this year's butter sculpture for the Dairy Building. This is a tradition going back 41 years.

My daughter's annual photo of her holding a newly hatched chicken in the 4-H Youth building.

Sea Ray Arc. After a couple of attempts, I finally got the shutter speed right to capture one swing or arc of the Sea Ray (ie., pirate ship) midway ride using the Tokina 11-16 wide angle lens at 11mm focal length.

I have not forgotten about the Pizze Frittes. Stay tuned!

Sara Evans in Concert

The New York State Fair kicked off yesterday with perfect weather and an evening concert by Sara Evans at Chevrolet Court.  The concerts at Chevrolet Court are included with Fair admission.  She sang all her hits, a couple of cover songs and a few new ones for an upcoming album coming out early in 2010.  I borrowed a friend’s Nikon D700 digital SLR camera and used my Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens and got some good photos of Sara Evans performing for the thousands who packed the mostly lawn-like venue.

Sara Evans performing in concert at Chevrolet Court on Thursday, August 27, 2009, during the New York State Fair.

With a captivating smile and beautiful singing voice, Sara Evans wowed the audience with her songs and personality.

Sara Evans waving to the audience after finishing a song during her concert at the New York State Fair on August 27, 2009.

Sara was very personable with the crowd.  Waving to people, urging them to sing along and joking to  parents with teenage daughters before singing her big hit, “Suds in a Bucket“.

Sara Evans performing "Suds in a Bucket" during her concert at the New York State Fair on August 27, 2009.

The New York State Fair runs until Labor Day, September 7th.  Look for more photos over the next couple of weeks as I will be photographing at the Fair a few more times.  Oh, and did I mention Pizza Frittes?  More on those soon.

View 87: Street Performer

A young street performer playing her violin during the Kerrytown Farmer's Market in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Ships, Life & Thank You

First of all, thank you all for your kind comments, emails, phone calls and even a blog or two this week. I want to end this week with a quote I have always found inspiring when I feel stuck. I hope you will, too.

Sailing on Lake Ontario. Photo by Scott Thomas Photography.