Disneyland Walkabout

 Yesterday morning while off from work, I was relaxing at home having my first (and only) cup of coffee thinking about what I should do for the day.  I did have some Christmas shopping I wanted to do, but once I'm done with that I would have the whole after none open.  So while I drank my coffee watching morning cartoons the wife suggested I go to Disneyland and take pictures.  So after putting some thought into it I got my gear together and then headed out to take care of my small list of things to do.  Once done I headed to Disneyland.

Now initially I thought I'd bring my 300 with me to get some great isolated Bokeh shots, but as I drove I saw the sky had something else in mind.  The clouds were nice big fluffy clouds and just screamed for me to shoot some wide and possibly HDR shots.  So I brought in my 24-70, along with my tripod to do some shooting.

Now I did play with all of these shots, either doing an HDR or messing around in Topaz.

Enjoy.

Halloween is on the way "Disneyland"

My daughter wanted to visit Disneyland yesterday (Sunday) to see the Halloween decorations as well as ride Space Mountain to see what was done inside the ride for Halloween.

So the wife, my daughter, and I went to spend the afternoon / early evening at Disneyland, and of course I brought my camera.  I mean how could I not.

The first stop was the Haunted Mansion, which is always a classic, especially during Halloween.  Next stop was Space Mountain, which much to my surprise, the wife was going to ride, so I told her and our daughter to enjoy the ride while I walked around taking pictures and it was just about time for the parade.  Once we separated I found myself a nice spot for the parade and took some shots followed by some character closeups.

Took one final shot before we left the park.  The wife had to work, so my daughter and I went home while the wife stayed to make someones visit at Disneyland magical.

Disneyland - The Magic of Color

My daughter, who works at Disneyland (that's right - be jealous), wanted to go and show me a new show at the Mad-T party, which took the place of the slinky show.  So this past Saturday (yeah I'm a bit behind) my sweetheart and I, along with my sister and nephew, went to Disneyland to spend the day.

 

Its been a very long time since my sister and nephew have been to Disneyland, so long in fact that neither of them have ever been to California Adventure, so this was going to be not only fun, but an experience for the both of them.

 

Well out day at Disneyland started like most people who come to Disneyland, by walking down Main Street as we headed to Tomorrowland.

 

 

The first place we stopped was the Matterhorn, which I have to say was a blast.  I haven't been on the Matterhorn in years.

I liked how this hanging light looked as it was back lit from the sun.



 

 

Our next stop was going to be Its a Small World.  Yep, another one I haven't been on in years, but as we headed over there we noticed they were getting ready for a parade, so we decided to find a spot and watch.  Of course I had to find my own spot to get some shots.

This is my nephew and sweetheart, who looks as though she needs to find the ladies room :), love you sweetheart.

 



 

For me it was all about the color and excitement in the faces of the cast members.  I did something different with the processing, so I'm curious what your thoughts are on the look.  That is if you leave a comment.

 



 

After the parade and our excitement of Its a Small World, we decided to head over to California Adventures to show them around.

As we headed towards and down Main Street, I kept turning around looking for unique castle shots.  Well I'm sure millions of people have taken these shots before, but they were unique to me.  I would walk a bit, turn around, look through the view finder, and depending on what I saw I would either take a shot or not.  I did this for quite a bit until I started getting a look from my daughter, so with one final shot we left Disneyland and headed over to California Adventure.

 



 

 

As we entered California Adventure I took a quick shot of my sweetheart against a streetcar.

 



 

Our first stop in California Adventure was the Tower of Terror.  Love this ride and so did my sister and nephew.

 



 

We then watched the new show at the Mad-T party, which was alright, but I did like the slinky show much more.

 



 

Spent a little bit of time in Car's Land

 



 

As the sun went down and after getting some Ice Cream I had to take what is becoming an Icon in California Adventure.  The Ferris Wheel at night.

 



 

Which of course was followed by the Tower of Terror at night, right before we went on for another go at the ride.  Have I said how much I love this ride.