decolady

<p>So Ed, how was your trip? Care to share any photos with us?</p>

<p>Oh, and I forgot to say, I hope you have a wonderful photography trip!</p>

<p>Ed, you're more than welcome. If you decide you want to do Hidden Mickeys, there is a little book about them that tells the locations of many, but not nearly all. Even with the book sometimes they are hard to find. My daughters are now 17 & 23. They have D50s and I have a D90. All of us love making photos and then comparing them. It's interesting to see how sometimes we see things so much the same and other times so differently.</p>

<p>Also, if you are wanting to make photos on the Splash Mountain drop or the Kali River Rapids, we borrow my sister's small waterproof camera we use on those rides. Forgotten what it is right now, maybe a Sony of some sort. It's kinda fun getting pictures from under the water, so to speak. I'm always leery of the Nikon getting wet, even with a waterproof sleeve.</p>

<p>Don't forget to think about night shots. Many of the buildings have interesting lighting and they look completely different than during the day. Plus there are the Wishes, Illuminations and Fantasmic fireworks shows.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>We literally have thousands of photographs from many trips to WDW. Does your family include children, and if so, what are their ages? One of my fav photos from WDW is my daughters under the Singing in the Rain umbrella at the Studios. Cool buildings can be found at the Studios. Actually, I think a lot of my best shots are from there. Interesting buildings are also in the various countries in Epcot. Many good detail shots with those.</p>

<p>The landscaping at Disney is just superb. Flowers everywhere and then there are the greenhouses where they grow lots of the food that is served in the restaurants. Check out the topiaries. </p>

<p>If you are at the Magic Kingdom, there used to be macaws in Adventureland. The last time I was there was 2 years ago, so they could have been moved. You can get some good photos of the animals on the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom, but not always. I've had better luck when we go on the earliest ones they run. And if you stay in Animal Kingdom Lodge, you can get rooms that open onto the animal park so you can see a lot of them up close.</p>

<p>One year we concentrated on finding Hidden Mickeys and photographing those.</p>

<p>I like looking for little things. You can get some interesting shots of things like the White Rabbit's door into the tree in Fantasyland or the little Cinderella fountain behind the castle, both in Magic Kingdom. The parades can also garner some interesting opportunities.</p>

<p>There are several Disney message boards. At least one of them has a section dedicated to photography at the parks. In the past I have gotten some very useful information there.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Michael, you have some great suggestions so far. Chicago is wonderful and Niagara Falls will make you speechless when you first see it. I would add these suggestions for the Chicago area:</p>

<p>If you are interested in Frank Lloyd Wright, go to his house/studio in Oak Park. Besides a number of houses he designed in that neighborhood, there's the Robie House, Unity Temple and other buildings of his in Chicago. About an hour and a half north of downtown Chicago is Racine, WI. The Johnson Wax Bldg and Wingspread are there, along with some other FLLW houses. Also a Dale Chihuly sculpture in a bank downtown. The Baha'i Temple in Willmette would be on the way up there or on the way back. Or you could just drive tp Willmette to photograph the temple. Graceland Cemetery has LOTS of interesting tombstones and some famous residents. The only tomb on the National Register is there - a Louis Sullivan design. Wrigley Field. Navy Pier. If you're a fan of L. Frank Baum and the Wizard of Oz, check out Oz Park and the sculptures of the characters. Museum of Natural History (for Sue, if nothing else) and Adler Planetarium. The Planetarium is an interesting Art Deco design building.</p>

<p>If I were driving to Niagara, I'd plan to stop in Cleveland, OH to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art. Viktor Schreckengost was associated with them for years and years until his death in 2008.</p>

<p>Have a great time!<br>

Becky</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Thank you all so much for the great ideas and advice! This is all a big help and i really appreciate it.</p>

<p>At the end of this month I will be moving to Nashville for four months in order to have a bone marrow transplant. At first I won't be able to do much, but as I improve, I'd like to go out and make photos. The two main caveats are that I can't be more than thirty minutes to an hour away from Vanderbilt and that I can't be in enclosed spaces for a long period with lots of people (such as seeing a movie.) I know about the Parthenon in Centennial Park. Any suggestions and ideas for photo ops would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Cham, we spent last June in Italy and were in all the cities you mentioned, plus other areas. My daughter and I both had D50s. She used two different lenses, Nikon 17-35 and 70-200. I mostly used my Nikon 18-200. For storage, we also chose not to take a laptop and instead had plenty of 2Gb SD cards. <br>

Becky</p>

Hi Adrian,

 

In addition to what has previously been mentioned, South Beach has hoards of restored art deco hotels & other buildings. There is a large Cuban population in the Miami area so you should be able to make traditional community photos in their neighborhoods. (not even mentioning the wonderful foods found there. :-) ).

 

I would definitely spend some time in the Keys. My brother lived there for many years and I loved visiting him. The DRC (Dolphin Research Centre) is in Marathon, and you can make plenty of dolphin photos there.

 

If you are a Humphrey Bogart or Katherine Hepburn fan, The African Queen (the boat from the movie) is in Key Largo.

 

Key West is a world of its own. There are periodic referendums for it to secede from the US. At sunset there are all kinds of strange things going on at Mallory Square. From Key West you can take a day trip to the Dry Tortugas - Ft. Jefferson is the central feature of this National Park, but there are a lot of birds and marine life. You can see Ernest Hemmingway's home in Key West.

 

Are you interested at all in scuba diving or snorkling? There are many excursions from the Keys for those. Lots of the wildlife in that part of the country is underwater. With the reefs just offshore, it's a wonderful opportunity.

 

And speaking of wildlife, if you are driving through the Keys, watch out for the Key deer in the Big Pine and No Name Key areas. Because of illeagal feeding you will often see them in the roadways there. Many Key deer are killed by autos every year. The National Key Deer Refuge is headquartered on Big Pine Key. The population is estimated to be between 700-800. Approximately 600 of those live on the two Keys mentioned. The rest are further south and on backcountry islands.

 

Also on Big Pine Key is the Blue Hole. It is an old quarry now filled with water and an array of wildlife. There are also a couple of nature trails. One of those is wheelchair accessible.

 

I should mention that the further into the Keys you get, the more people there are who operate on "island time". This does not correspond with your watch. A sign might say a store is open 9-5, but island time is VERY flexible. So be prepared to be laid back and go with the flow.

 

Have a great week visiting south Florida.

 

Becky

Hi Regina. There is a tutorial on Photoshop Cafe that will give a similar effect, depending on the photo. <a href='http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/sketch/sketch.htm'>Click here</a>. Good luck.

 

Becky

The Grand Canyon is not really the West Coast and the weather will likely include snow. March 2005, Easter weekend in the Grand Canyon. We'd been wearing shorts on Easter Sunday afternoon, then woke up to 4-5" of snow on Tuesday. Here's a shot I made that morning.<div></div>

Loren, I did know about the NP ;-) but this will be my first trip there. Thanks so much for the tips on the Museum and the Falls. They sound right up my alley. I've only had my D50 a couple of weeks and I'm anxious to play with it.

 

Becky

Any "don't miss" spots in this area? I'll be headed that way tomorrow and will

be there through the 28th.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I'd like to visit some of the older residential neighborhoods and the Clysdales for sure.

 

Becky

We've been going to GSMNP for many years. Sadly, we have seen the most bears in picnic areas and scrounging dumpsters at hotels near the park. You might see bears at the Noah Bud Ogle Place on the way to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. We've seen them there a few times. Also in Cades Cove and near the Chimneys and Cosby picnic areas.

 

Cataloochee and Cades Cove are favourite places for us. Cades Cove is very crowded in the summer, so go early. You're more likely to see wildlife in the early morning or evening anyway. Cataloochee is more off the beaten path and we really like it. Depending on weather, Clingman's Dome can give you some wonderful views. One of my best shots was there when it was very foggy.

Definitely plan Iguassu Falls in your trip. It would be a shame to miss them.

I'll be staying in downtown St. Louis for a conference next week. In addition

to the Arch, I plan on a trip to the botanical gardens (Chihuly exhibit is

there) and the FLLW Usonian house. I like to do architectural and nature shots.

Is Union Station worth visiting? Besides things listed in the <a

href='http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00G0Ns&tag='>April

St. Louis thread</a>, are there some other suggestions? I'll have a couple of

days at my disposal.<div></div>