Nikon D810 24-120
I took my Nikon D810 and the Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4 to Disneyland on Friday, 19 September 2014. It was literally a "sea of people" and very hard to take photos. It took me about 1 hr from my house to Disneyland and 1 hr from the entrance to park my car - they continue to build. Needless to say that I upgraded my membership to include parking. Members with parking included get better and much closer parking facilities. Disneyland is always great fir photos primarily due to the colors, Disney characters, bands, different theme areas, and above all the festive atmosphere.
I was contemplating selling the 24-120 in order to finance the purchase of the newly announced Nikon 20mm f/1.8, which I pre-oredered. The 24-120 performed admirably that led me to cancel the pre-order and keep the 24-120 for good. It would have been, imho, a huge mistake.
There are three things I would like to mention. Firstly, the inside photos, the one of the big cat (in the "Grand Canyon) and the ride in "It's a Small World" were taken with ISO 12800. Secondly, I did not use any noise reduction filters. There is noise, but using these filters would have unsharpened the photos. I preferred to have a little bit of noise, instead. Lastly, I am a story teller at heart. In other words, I can't get away from presenting a shoot in the sequential order it happened. It is the "telling the story" of the shoot. This gallery is no exception and the reason for so many photos. Most people select from 5 to 10 photos for its artistic and/or photographic value - not me. Therefore, I will do both, One gallery for the "story telling" and another for what I think are the best photos of the shoot (1 to 5 max.) I will group them in "The Best of Disneyland" gallery under the D810 category, for example.
I was fortunate to get a curb seat for the afternoon parade. I did not get up to take photos because I would have blocked the view of people behind me. It was not that easy because all the photos were very badly backlight. I was lucky to have found the space at the curb; I could not move around, because the area was condoned off. I had much more post-processing work with the parade photos. On the other hand, I did very light post-processing with the rest of the photos..
I came back with ~ 680 photos because I went to continuos shooting mode, during the parade. The selection of the "keepers" was not that easy. With the exception of a few, they all came out great regarding exposure, imho; the artistic value of the photos is another matter. The criteria I used was to prevent photo-repetition (more than just duplicates,) similar subjects, and areas. I could have kept twice as many parade pictures
Disneyland, for me, is not just for photos (the main reason I got the annual pass,) but also to enjoy it. Just sitting on any bench, it is like being in another world. I have never been to the Disney California Adventure Park - a separate park but part of the same complex. I intend to visit Disneyland at least 20+ times this coming year. My pass is valid through September 2015. I have been to the Magic Kingdom so many times, in my lifetime, that I know it like the "back of my hand." Did I mention that the 24-120 is a keeper? :)
Read MoreI was contemplating selling the 24-120 in order to finance the purchase of the newly announced Nikon 20mm f/1.8, which I pre-oredered. The 24-120 performed admirably that led me to cancel the pre-order and keep the 24-120 for good. It would have been, imho, a huge mistake.
There are three things I would like to mention. Firstly, the inside photos, the one of the big cat (in the "Grand Canyon) and the ride in "It's a Small World" were taken with ISO 12800. Secondly, I did not use any noise reduction filters. There is noise, but using these filters would have unsharpened the photos. I preferred to have a little bit of noise, instead. Lastly, I am a story teller at heart. In other words, I can't get away from presenting a shoot in the sequential order it happened. It is the "telling the story" of the shoot. This gallery is no exception and the reason for so many photos. Most people select from 5 to 10 photos for its artistic and/or photographic value - not me. Therefore, I will do both, One gallery for the "story telling" and another for what I think are the best photos of the shoot (1 to 5 max.) I will group them in "The Best of Disneyland" gallery under the D810 category, for example.
I was fortunate to get a curb seat for the afternoon parade. I did not get up to take photos because I would have blocked the view of people behind me. It was not that easy because all the photos were very badly backlight. I was lucky to have found the space at the curb; I could not move around, because the area was condoned off. I had much more post-processing work with the parade photos. On the other hand, I did very light post-processing with the rest of the photos..
I came back with ~ 680 photos because I went to continuos shooting mode, during the parade. The selection of the "keepers" was not that easy. With the exception of a few, they all came out great regarding exposure, imho; the artistic value of the photos is another matter. The criteria I used was to prevent photo-repetition (more than just duplicates,) similar subjects, and areas. I could have kept twice as many parade pictures
Disneyland, for me, is not just for photos (the main reason I got the annual pass,) but also to enjoy it. Just sitting on any bench, it is like being in another world. I have never been to the Disney California Adventure Park - a separate park but part of the same complex. I intend to visit Disneyland at least 20+ times this coming year. My pass is valid through September 2015. I have been to the Magic Kingdom so many times, in my lifetime, that I know it like the "back of my hand." Did I mention that the 24-120 is a keeper? :)
