Striving to take a better photo than I did last week.
May 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
Most people never have a chance to ride in a large balloon, but if you ever visit Downtown Disney, they have large balloon that can take you up to 400 feet for a great view of the area.
The Characters in Flight ride takes about ten minutes, but will offer thrills that will last far beyond that day. This iPhone image was taken just as it was returning to its berth on a dock adjacent to the complex.
May 7, 2013 Leave a Comment
It’s hard not to play tourist when you are in the midst of thousands of other tourists. If you go to a theme park like Disney, it’s hard not to take the same photos that thousands of other people have taken. I would have liked to had time to walk around and compose the creative and unusual images that no one else might have taken. But hey, it’s Disney. The rides are calling your name and there are so many things to see and do, in such little time. We were at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for only one afternoon, so time was extremely limited. And I didn’t want to be slowed down with a large camera and lens, so the camera of the day was the iPhone.
The Sorcerer’s Hat, the Studios’ main icon is a giant showpiece based on the hat worn by Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer’s apprentice in “Fantasia. This was taken with my iPhone as we were closing the park down, so most people were gone. The iPhone doesn’t do a great job in low light, but a little noise reduction processing and it doesn’t look too bad.
April 20, 2013 Leave a Comment
The Legos Store at Downtown Disney in Orlando, Florida has more Legos than probably any other place, except maybe for the Lego factory. In the back is a curved wall that has hundreds of round holes containing individual Lego blocks of all shades of colors. You can mix and match any combination you want, or just pick up a hand to replace a few missing from your collections.
This is a panoramic image from my iPhone. It took a few practice takes to keep things level, without anyone walking through the image. It’s a fun tool and gives a cool view. The curved wall was actually curved slightly inward, though the image looks as if it’s outward. The full size image is actually 10800 x 2385 px, since it stitches several images together.
April 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
I haven’t been to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida since I was just out of college. Needless to say, it’s been a few years, because Epcot hadn’t been open long. So it was a big surprise to see how much Disney had expanded when I recently attended a conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
One evening, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and a little site-seeing. I didn’t even know there was a Downtown Disney! In the middle of this complex, I was surprised to see a giant balloon that was giving rides in a large gondola. “Characters in Flight” rises to 400 feet in a helium balloon, carrying 30 guests at a time. The tethered ride takes about 10 minutes, with 5 at the very top. From the view at the top, you can see all four of Disney’s parks. This view was taken with my iPhone as we walked around after dinner.
April 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
Riding around on a tour bus can be fun and frustrating at the same time. You get to see a lot of things as you drive around, but you have to be quick with the camera if you hope to shoot anything. I found after a few days on our European tour, that the larger DSLR actually limited my field of vision of what we were passing and resorted to using the iPhone more often. This is a quick view looking back toward Notre Dame Cathedral from Place de l’Hôtel de Ville (City Hall Plaza) (thank you Google Maps!).
March 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
In the spring and fall, I hit a few weeks where I drive to work, just as the sun makes its first appearance. Most mornings are usually absent of any clouds or color, but there are those few days that you get to experience the colorful show in the early sky.
I’ve always liked the way that the bare trees outline against the sky. You might remember these two trees from Bare Bones last year.
March 5, 2013 1 Comment
As I leave for work in the morning, I can’t see much of the sky in my neighborhood, due to houses and trees. But when I exit over a small levee, the sky opens up and I have a clear view to the east. The other morning, this scene hit me with a wave of color as I set out for the day. Next comes a right turn, to the south. This leaves my driver’s window with a clear view, just the opportunity for a quick photo with the iPhone.
March 3, 2013 1 Comment
One day last winter, I drove home from the store the long way. My kids call this a “Daddy Adventure”. I’ll go somewhere just to take a look at something only because my curiosity gets the best of me. On this evening, I ventured down some streets that I have passed many times, yet never turned onto.
I was driving through Richmond, a small town southwest of Houston. I was looking for new things to come back and photograph later when I had my camera with me, when I ran across a viewpoint of the railroad bridge over the Brazos River and had to get out and take a look. I have seen this many times from the highway, but never right by the tracks. Having only my iPhone, I couldn’t resist taking a quick test shot to remind me to come back sometime.
Next time, I’ll have to bring a cold drink and a snack and wait for the train to come by.
January 12, 2013 Leave a Comment
Traveling on an airplane, train or bus can be a bit challenging, if for no other reason than lack of leg room. Such was the case on many of the coaches we took in Europe. Oh, they were nice enough, with reclining seats, large windows and more. But the “more” didn’t include a lot of leg room. This made it difficult to gain access to a camera bag between sites, especially if I was sitting next to my wife. My options were to hold the camera in my lap the entire time we traveled or pull out the iPhone. Much of the trip I did have my camera on the ready, but on a few days, I needed to relax a bit more and would pull the phone out if needed. Later in the trip our coach had fewer people, so everyone spread out some, giving an empty seat next to me for the camera bag.
The is the Dover Castle in England, taken with the iPhone just before we arrived. In good light, the iPhone can take some great images. It’s only in the lower light that it starts to have problems and increased noise levels.
December 11, 2012 Leave a Comment
It’s a tradition that many of us do every year, putting up the Christmas tree. For some people, it’s an exciting time filled with traditions and excitement. For others, it’s a chore that comes with the season. For some city employees, it’s just plain work. These men are setting up the large tree in front of Sugar Land Town Square, in preparation for their annual tree lighting ceremony. Though thousands of people attend and it’s a lot of fun, I don’t enjoy photographing it, since it’s extremely crowded, dark and no place for a tripod.
I like to visit the Square afterwards on a weeknight, when the crowds are small to take my Christmas shots. On this day, I was having lunch in the area and lucked up on the workers assembling the tree. Once again, having the iPhone in hand, the moment was captured.
