Heat of the Moment - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Asia in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom at night is something of a rare sight. The park used to close around sunset, with the exception of some extra hours for hotel guests on Disney property. However, there seems to be some fresh thinking happening at Animal Kingdom.  Someone realized there are other things to do there besides visit the animals. It turns out the park is actually quite beautiful at night.

That’s why I was having a wonderful time taking photos.  It was new.  It was beautiful. I had a new Nikon 14-24mm lens that I’d just bought.  Life was grand!  Then some girl named Angie came up to me and said I had to stop taking pictures because I had a “big” camera.  She said it would be alright if I had a “little” camera. It totally ruined my night.  There I was in the heat of the moment, finding one beautiful scene after another, only to get shot down by the man – or, in this case, a short woman.

They have a saying at Walt Disney World – Have a magical day!  Maybe she lost her pixie dust.

Les Chefs de France - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Les Chefs de France

Fine linens, luxurious table settings, and tourists in cargo shorts.  One of these things is not like the other. As much as I would like to try the experience of dining there, I’ve never ventured inside.  Can’t understand the damn menu.  It’s like those French have a different word for everything! That, and I’m allergic to mushrooms.  One thing I remember from working at Le Cordon Bleu – classically trained chefs love their mushrooms.  It’s as if they’re trying to kill me.

So, I stand outside and watch. There’s a bakery nearby and the smell of bread fills my senses. That, along with the warm glow of the lights, just makes this a comforting place for me after the sun falls.  Even if I can’t understand a word on the menu and they’re trying to kill me with mushrooms. The French can be charming in an irascible way, so you can’t help but forgive them.

The Sound of Paris

If you’re in the mood for some period music, I kind of like the soundtrack for Midnight in Paris. Great music from an era long gone.

Cheap Trick - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

I think this qualifies as my first concert photo opportunity. Back in 2006 at Orlando Harley-Davidson, Cheap Trick was playing for Bike Week crowds.  Yes, I am a biker and I love free concerts.  My boss at the time was not a biker, but he loves concerts.  I didn’t realize it, but he ended up in one of my shots over the crowd – talking on his Blackberry.  That just isn’t right. You can’t go to a concert and talk on a cell phone.  If there’s a law against writing on the sidewalk in chalk, there should be a law against using cell phones at concerts.

There was no photo pit or special access.  I was just a guy in the crowd with a Nikon D70 and a cheap Nikon 70-300mm lens that I bought for $150 years ago, trying to shoot over the crowd.  No glamourous stage lights or explosions, but a bit of nice light coming from the sunset. Most of my shots didn’t come out because I honestly didn’t know a thing about concert photography.

Music Photography

If you ever wanted to get photos of your favorite musicians, it may have seemed impossible. The good news is that it’s not impossible.  People are doing it all the time.  You just need to know what they know.  That’s where you’re in luck.  Alan Hess just published his book  on concert photography – All Access: Your Backstage Pass to Concert Photography (Amazon URL). If you’re curious what you get, check out my review of his book. I wish I’d known then what I know now – particularly at an open even like that one!  The good news is that I can try again.  Only a little over a month until Bike Week comes back.

San Francisco Days - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

I admit, I’m kind of jealous of spending a lazy day on the grass reading a book.  It’s been a while since I’ve had a lazy day outside and I think I’m due for one.  However, I don’t think I’ll do it in front of the Orlando City Hall.  They just put a man in jail for writing a protest in chalk on the sidewalk.  Jail?  Seriously, couldn’t they just cite him for some misdemeanor and let him contest it in court if he doesn’t want to pay a fine?  Should we really be putting people in jail for chalk offenses?  I digress.

Anyone know a safe place to spend a lazy day?  I promise, I have no chalk.

Girl on the Beach - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Girl on a Beach

I took this photo of Flavia walking on the beach, daydreaming in a world of her own. It was the last beach photoshoot of the summer at Ponce Inlet.  Summer was over, no more bikinis.  Wait, who am I kidding?  It’s always time for a bikini in Florida.

Kelby Training Review

I just posted my review of Kelby Training. It surprised me to discover I’ve been a subscriber there going on four years now and I’m still finding new material all the time.  The best investment you can make to improve your photos is to improve your skills, both behind the camera and in post processing. You can’t get better from buying a new piece of gear – you need to know how to use your tools. Check out the review and see why I think Kelby Training delivers on education.

Spaceship Earth - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Spaceship Earth is the centerpiece of Walt Disney World’s Epcot.  All of the parks have something like this one, which means it’s often a perfect backdrop for people who want to take their snapshot to say “I was here.” In fact, just as soon as I setup for this shot and was about to press the shutter, a woman jumped in front of me with her child and ordered her husband to take a shot.

I get used to that happening and have developed a sense of patience, though perhaps I mutter things while I’m waiting. Of course, it would’ve taken less patience if her husband didn’t say “OK, now let’s get one more.” If you’re going to interrupt someone else’s photo, you need to get in and get out. That’s why it pays to know how to use your camera.

No harm done, though. Their child wasn’t paying attention and frustration caused them to leave.  That’s the lesson that helps me stay patient.  Everyone leaves, so just wait a few minutes.

Palm Sunset - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Who can resist a path to a nice sunset under the palm trees? You can just imagine the ocean breeze and convenient cocktail service. There’s only one way to survive the Winter months, and that’s to avoid it. You can’t stop the snow, but you can leave town. Go someplace warm and learn a new definition of “chill.” Relax.  Watch the coconuts grow. Watch the sunset.  Forget about putting chains on your tires.

Forget skiing. Hurtling down a mountain on a pair of sticks is an unnatural act that’s fraught with danger. Did you ever notice there are no songs about skiing, but there are plenty of songs about the beach?  Go ahead, sit there with a drink in your hand and your toes in the sand.  It’s only natural.

There’s a reason I was born here.

Welcome to Las Vegas - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada

Slot machines used to play in the key of C, since it was thought to be a pleasing sound to the human mind. Busy carpet patterns were intended to keep your eyes up so you could see the games. I’ve been thinking about the subtle ways that people are manipulated by others lately, and it’s fascinating. I’m just not sure if I’m paying more attention to prevent being manipulated or to learn how to do it better to others.

Decisions, decisions.

Mission: Space - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

If there’s no other life out there, it seems like an awful waste of space. Maybe that’s why we’re so fascinated with stories of adventure in space.  It seems we dream about going to new places, encountering new species, pissing them off and having glorious battles that put our Mother Earth in danger until some famous Hollywood actor comes along and almost single-handedly saves our skins.

What I don’t understand is why we just don’t shoot the Hollywood bad-ass into space first so we can avoid the whole “Earth in danger” phase of the script.  Of course, the problem now is that all of our bad-asses are too old for that kind of thing anymore.  The actors we send into space now will try to teach the aliens how to get in touch with their feelings.

We’re doomed.

Koi Eels of Japan - © Copyright 2012 by William Beem

Last night, I decided to try using my Nikon Coolpix P7000 to get some auto-exposure bracket shots for HDR images.  Think of this as a Proof of Concept experiment.  The P7000 is capable of shooting brackets of five exposures, which is generally sufficient for HDR. Since my Nikon D700 seems to attract unwanted attention at times, I was curious to see if anyone paid attention to me using this setup.  Also, I wanted to test the quality of the results.

The good news is that it’s significantly lighter! If you’ve ever lugged around a full-frame camera with an f/2.8 zoom lens, you know it comes with some heft.  In comparison, the P7000 was lightweight and packed a zoom range equivalent from 28-200mm on a full frame camera. The trade-off for that is that it has shutter lag and the zoom control is a bit twitchy,  I never got it exactly where I wanted.  The other issue is that it’s a pain to focus. In fact, I preferred the bracket I shot just before the one I made above because it didn’t have that family posing for a picture.  Then again, it was also slightly out of focus. That’s why I had to grab another set.

A recent firmware update fixed a complaint many had about this camera. You couldn’t use the auto-exposure bracket with the self-timer.  Good news, folks.  Get the new update from Nikon that shipped in December for the P7000.  I set the self-timer for a 2-second delay and then it faithfully ran through it’s brackets.

I think my experiment worked.  Nobody approached me or commented about my camera.  Tourists didn’t ask me to take their photo. Nobody kicked me out of the park. Other than needing to work a bit more on the mechanisms of the camera, I’d rate this experiment as a mild success.  While I don’t want to replace my D700 with a point & shoot, it seems like a viable alternative when I want to fly a little under the radar.