PhotoDave...Beautiful Pictures!!!

[Julie517]

Dave,

Your pictures are beautiful...I LOVE the aerial ones and the pictures of the fireworks! I just looked at your entire album and I am amazed by the gorgeous pictures of Disney. If you don't mind me asking, what camera do you use to take these pictures?

Thanks!
Julie

 

[General Grizz]

I'll second that compliment! :sohappy:

 

[Pixie Duster]

Ya my boy is gettin' some over due props!!!! Heck ya man!
Way before I met you I thought your photos were incredible. You have some real talent babydoll.

 

[mkt]

daves away from the computer at the moment, so as his roommate.. I'll answer the question on his equipment..

He uses primarily a Nikon D1X Digital SLR and one of his MANY lenses...

or his lil' Nikon point and shoot

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I've bugged photodave about his picture taking ability before (his pics are incredible), and I have one more question for him!

I still have my SLR, haven't crossed into digital yet. How do you recommend printing your digital pics? Do you print them on a printer at home or do you take them somewhere? I want really high quality prints.

Once more, excellent photography skills!:sohappy:

 

[PhotoDave219]

Originally posted by Pixie Duster
Ya my boy is gettin' some over due props!!!! Heck ya man!
Way before I met you I thought your photos were incredible. You have some real talent babydoll.

Heh...... Right on. Babydoll, we gotta work on that project With my real camera; im amazed that the Pointy and shoot did so well with those ones.

Thanks all. Anyhow, as my astute roommmate said I primarily use a Nikon D1X these days, everything in that gallery BEFORE Sept 03 was with a plain ol Nikon D1. Everything is still shot only from guests areas... no special access has been asked for and none has been granted.

Okay... lets start from the bottom here -

Digital Printing - I use a Canon i850. Stick with Canon or HP. Its mainly in the paper, for high end art uses, go for anythign Illford makes , Kodak is decent. Print out of something like Photoshop Elements at a resolution or @200 DPI - anythign beyond is a waste of ink. Let photoshop use the color management when you print and turn off all printer color management. Usually the computer is better....

Fireworks :

Film - Tripod, ISO200 film, f/8 and a shutter release. Beware of the finales of Wishes & Illuminations.

Digital - Tripod, Shutter Release, Set to ISO 125 - 200 and f/7.1-9 ... Thats what ive been able to come up with so far. Try NOT to overexpose. Its still a work in progress.

Overall - Composition, composition, composition. Fill the frame, look for unique angles and watch the background. Follow the basics. If youve got good light, you'll get good shots. An hour or two after sunrise as well as before sunset are just good times.

If youve got 15-20 bucks, check out the National Geographic Field Guide to Photography. Great basic/beginners book. Explains basic techniques like using a fill flash if its backlit, using a polarizer, the rule of 3rds, etc.

The camera doesnt necessarily matter, neither does megapixels in the digital. Thats more for how big the picture is gonna be. For 8x10, you need at least 3 MP to print at 150-200 DPI. Its all in what you see and the composition.

'If your pictures arent good enough, youre not close enough' said Robert Capa. So think about it compositionally ... youre in front of teh castle. Do you need to go wide angle and get the whole castle, or do you crouch down and zoom in tight on the faces of your friends so that you see them and have the castle blurred in the background? All in composition.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Woohoo! PhotoDave is a picture taking guru!!:sohappy:

 

[wdwcrazy]

Just took a look at his pictures....WOW! Is there anyway you can post full sized or larger pictures? I could really use some new wallpaper.

 

[bgraham34]

Yeah you gets some props.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by mkt
daves away from the computer at the moment, so as his roommate.. I'll answer the question on his equipment..

TOO MUCH INFO!!!!!!!!

Who...WHO asked about Dave's equipment...whoever did is going on my ignore list :lol: (jk btw)

 

[PhilharMagician]

Great pics Dave!!!! Keep the great pics coming.

Thanks for the info!!!

 

[nikechic]

in the best Randy Jackson

Dude, yeaha, Yeaha Dawg. I give ya your props, yeaha yeaha yeaha. Dude, Dawg.

:lol: :lol:

PhotoDave you rock my world.

 

[Laura]

I'm into photography too, so I really love looking at your pics!

My problem is I don't have all those great lenses that you have, or the money to buy them! :lol

I'm stuck using my canon digital with the lens it came with.

Even if I had some of the zoom lenses you use, I am TERRIBLE at using them. I took a whole roll of film with a zoom lens on my film SLR and they all looked like crap. The depth of field was so small if I didn't get the focus perfect it screwed up the whole picture.

You always nail the focus. And the lighting. You're awesome!

 

[wdwmom2+1]

I agree i love looking at all your pictures! and after getting home and taking about 300 pics i wish some of mine looked half as good as yours LOL

 

[Julie517]

Thank you so much Dave and mkt for the information! I have a Nikon point and shoot, but they never turn out quite like Dave's. Next time, I will try your tips for better picture taking! Again, your pictures are beautiful!!

Take care,
Julie

 

[brich]

Nice stuff PhotoDave. It looks like you go to the parks to "take" pictures instead of taking pictures while at the parks. As a professional photographer myself (past 5 years as a wedding photog, 15 years freelance, 15+ years in the photo processing industry, spent 7 months last year doing consulting at Kodak's digital imaging software division) I appreciate Disney photos from a slightly different perspective.

I brought my slr in the past but lately, I enjoy my point and shoot digital in the parks. I too use the D1X as well as the D1H for some of my wedding shoots. I really enjoy them although a tad heavy and bulky for me to want to lug them around the parks.

So not only should we respect PhotoDave's pics, we should also note that he is lugging some fairly cumbersome equipment. Great efforts lead to great results. Thanks for sharing Dave.:sohappy:

 

[mkt]

and thanks to his lackeys (namely Dan, Nick, and myself) who help him carry this equipment when needed, and the cool Guest Relations CM's that will allow us to store tripods and other cumbersome bits of gear when not needed... :lol:

 

[PhotoDave219]

Originally posted by brich
Nice stuff PhotoDave. It looks like you go to the parks to "take" pictures instead of taking pictures while at the parks. As a professional photographer myself (past 5 years as a wedding photog, 15 years freelance, 15+ years in the photo processing industry, spent 7 months last year doing consulting at Kodak's digital imaging software division) I appreciate Disney photos from a slightly different perspective.

I brought my slr in the past but lately, I enjoy my point and shoot digital in the parks. I too use the D1X as well as the D1H for some of my wedding shoots. I really enjoy them although a tad heavy and bulky for me to want to lug them around the parks.

So not only should we respect PhotoDave's pics, we should also note that he is lugging some fairly cumbersome equipment. Great efforts lead to great results. Thanks for sharing Dave.:sohappy:

I do both... i take pictures at the parks as well as making specific trips to just take photos. I do that mainly as a courtsey to my traveling companions.

As for equipment... RARELY will i lug a lot of stuff. Generally its one bag, 3 lenses & a flash.

 

[BwanaBob]

Ya know.......

Between the two of you, you guys could make a killing at the parks if you wanted to!

Imagine if you will....

Dave's 'Photo 101' clinic at WDW: a 3 hour walk through/interactive class on taking the amature photo-taker to the perfect picture taker! Just $29.95.

And Rob?
You could give your own version of the 'Keys' tour...with all the dirt you don't get to hear! Over 18 years old of course!


Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!

The possibilities!





(I want a cut if you decide to do it!)

 

[ArchiDanDisney]

Originally posted by PhotoDave219


.

Fireworks :

Film - Tripod, ISO200 film, f/8 and a shutter release. Beware of the finales of Wishes & Illuminations.

I use my Nikon EM, old i know....but I love it, the quality i get is pretty good. I use the tripod as well, but don't be affraid to mess around with the film, I got pretty good results with 400 . Excelent quality.