Picture This!

If you are the photographer of your family, chances are you are not in very many photos for holidays, vacatons, birthdays or other occassions. I would guess I'm in less than 100 photos of the thousands of photos I have in boxes, albums and on my hard drives. You may be in more if other members of your family have picked up the photography bug. I know my daughters both own Point & Shoot (P&S) cameras now so I've shown up in their online galleries the last couple of trips.

I found with a little thinking there's some fun ways you can do self-portraits with dSLRs. I know it's popular to hold small Point & Shoot cameras at arms length but I can't do that with a heavy dSLR too easily.

The first way is to use mirrors. Recently, I found a Got Milk? promotional area when visiting the Dairy building at the New York State Fair with some rather unique mirrors.

Got Milk? Mirror portrait at the New York State Fair.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/30s, f/3.8, 800 ISO, EV +0.3, 20mm Focal length

This second self-portrait uses an IR Remote Control for my Nikon digital SLR camera. If you look real close, it's in my left hand. It's very small. I put my camera on a tripod and pressed the remote to take this photo of me in Letchworth State Park in New York last Fall.

Remote Control portrait in Letchworth State Park.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/40s, f/14, 200 ISO, EV +0.6, 18mm Focal length

Lastly, if you see a fellow photographer walking nearby, it never hurts to ask if they could take a picture of you. I am often asked to do this service and am honored to do so. In the photo of me relaxing in a hammock on the Polynesian Resort's beach, I had my daughter take this with her Nikon Coolpix P&S camera.

Picture This! blogger, Scott, relaxing in a hammock on the Polynesian Resort beach.
Nikon Coolpix 4600, 1/500s, f/4.9, 50 ISO

Next time you are on vacation, find ways to get yourself in the picture! For even more ideas and fun, check out Lisa's Get in the Picture blog from last year.

Tower of Terror Lobby.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/15s, f/3.5, 800 ISO, -0.6 EV, 18mm Focal length

For years I tried to take indoor photographs at Walt Disney World with very little success until I got the combination of the Nikon D70 digital SLR and the Nikon 18-200VR lens. Between the camera's ability to take acceptable images up to an ISO of 1600 and the lens' vibration reduction technology allowing shutter speeds as low as 1/15th of a second, handheld, I am now able to get some excellent low light photos in places I never would have tried with a film SLR or Point & Shoot digital cameras.

This was the setup I used to take a picture of the Tower of Terror lobby from an angle looking out from behind the hotel's front desk as my Disney Pic of the Week for the theme of Indoor.

Hiya kids! Is everyone ready to head back to school? Do you have your High School Musical backpack and Hanna Montana lunchbox? Oh, I see you don't but your children do. That makes sense.

The idea behind today's blog is to get you, the parent, ready for your child's first day of school photo extravaganza! I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter how old your offspring are, you'll still take those special moment photos.

Now the first thing you need to do is make sure you've got the battery(ies) charged and in the camera. Next, be sure the memory card is loaded. Those are the easiest steps.

Please welcome back to the modeling stage, Ciara! She will now demonstrate for you the kinds of photos you can aim for. Teenage facial expressions and body language are 100% natural.

You may also want try try a few of your cameras functions such as the Portrait mode. The way this feature works is the camera understands you're going to take a headshot (head and shoulders) of someone. It will set the f-stop so that the background is softer than the subject.

Your point and shoot may also be equipped with Face Priority or Face Recognition. This is especially handy if you're photographing more than one person. The software will guide the camera to look for the shape of a face or multiple faces and then focus on whichever is closest. This eliminates having the school bus in focus and the kids out of focus.

I used Face Priority for the 3/4 shot.

Another function found in the Nikon Coolpix 7600 is Portrait Figure. Meaning that it will look for the shape of a face even if you are shooting the entire person.

Good luck getting these future nostalgic pictures.

A few other reminders. Make sure your kids remember to take lunch with them.

Homework should be done at home, not at the bus stop.

Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and the Red Power Ranger images artistically reworked for comedic affect. Barrie gave me an idea and I ran with it.

This week’s theme for Pic of the Week is indoor photography. Although it might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of taking pictures in Walt Disney World, there are loads of great indoor photo opportunities. Lisa, Scott and I have chosen three very different examples to share with you this week.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/13s shutter, f5.6, ISO 1600

In the World Showcase at Epcot, Mexico is a wonderful place to practice your indoor photography. This dragon is one of the Oaxacan wood carvings that you’ll see when you first enter the pavilion.

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/320s shutter, f9

Here’s a quick tip: If you change time zones when you travel to Walt Disney World, remember to reset your camera’s clock so that your photos are stamped with the correct time. It didn’t occur to me to do this when I travelled to Europe. I organize my photos by date and I had a heck of a time sorting them out when I got home. Now, I’m careful to make sure the camera has the right time set before I start taking photos in a new locale.

This was Challenge #49:

And here's the answer:

Copyright © 2007 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D50, 18-200VR, 1/60s shutter, f5, ISO 400

Hi everyone – I’m back! Thanks for putting up with my extended vacation. The last Where in the World photograph that I left you with was a can of Blort. I don't know what Blort is exactly, but I'm sure it's quite the tasty treat. You’ll find it in this vending machine in the queue of Monster’s, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club. Mike Wazowski is the one-eyed monster host of this show, located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.

Kevin Cowdell was the first to send in the correct answer this week! Congratulations to Kevin and all the readers who got the answer right: Cheryl Costello, Sherry White, Neil Taylor, Sharon Dale, John Dupre, Carrie Butcher, Debbie Hudson, Deb Ragno, Brian Yesutis, Laura Dawson, Jen Cox, Jennifer Bourg, Holley Blyler, Regina Reed, Jessica Reed, Patty Lue Roosa, Kevin Toomey, Theresa Rucando, Austin O'blenis, Chloe', Nick Straka, David And Melissa Lizewski, Kelly Jean Clarkson, Bob Kowalski, Maria Madsen, Maria Madsen, Jeff Christiansen, Vivian Abraham, Kristen Gainey, Angela Brown, Linda Mac, Melina Hillis, Craig Webb, Trish Babler, Dave Cole, Clarissa M, Kameo Crea, Sharon Lee, Kevin Scharf, Cam Lange, Irene Kleintop, Becky Terjung, Chris And Alison, Paul Ignudo, Jr., Rob Stewart, Melissa Mathias, Pat Moritz, Jean Scanlon, Emma Poprock, Bryan Henshaw, Shane Stack, Emily Pickle, Jamie Poynton, Pollyanna , Sara Lewis, Anna Keene, Willie Tople, Emily Nussbaum, Jeremy Hardy, Aruna Mohan, Bryan Timko, Glenn Meyer, Jerelyn Flores, Michael Pyle, Heather Fresa, Heather Coursen, Marita Sarad, Suzanne Queen, Victor Gonzalez, Rachel Law, Katie Whitehurst, Marcie Soderlund, Jennifer Smith, Noreen Rachuba, Christine Bishop, Krista Penno, Tim Rachuba, Melissa Rebelo, Scott Estabrook, Nicole S., Beth Dye, Michelle Castro, Nicole Lopresti, Stephanie Visco, Heather Timko, Jeff Dunn, Sharon Andersen, Chris Bertelmann, Catherine Chiarello, Angela Horan, Allison Caputa, Baines Family, Angie Young, Jeremy Coto, William Reed, Cindy Dore', Bic Bakkum, Julie Fahrner, Lee Anastasi, Deborah Shauan, Tom Koval and Alecia Brown. Each of you will be entered in the August winners’ drawing.

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Challenge #50: Where in the world is this?

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, August 28, by clicking HERE!
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Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for some special AllEars® goodies and a copy of PassPorter's Walt Disney World by Jennifer Marx, Dave Marx, Allison Cerel Marx!

People checking in for their dining reservation at The Plaza Restaurant on Main Street USA.
Nikon D70/18-70G, 1/160s, f/6.3, 200 ISO, +0.3 EV, 18mm Focal Length

Do you think Main Street USA ends at Casey's Corner and the Plaza Ice Cream Palor? It actually extends around both corners to include the Crystal Palace and Plaza Restaurants. The photo above of the Plaza Restaurant is my selection for this week's Disney Pic of the Week theme on Main Street USA. My two daughters rate this restaurant a 10 out of 10 and has the best grilled sandwiches at Walt Disney World. Honest, that's what they've told me.

My daughter and her beau walking on New York Street in Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/200s, f/7.1, 200 ISO, 0 EV, 18mm Focal length

While I enjoy taking pictures of all the buildings, scenery, characters, parades and shows at Walt Disney World. I am there to enjoy it with my family, too. My daughters have grown up in the Disney parks over the last 23 years. I always have fun trying to find new ways to capture their time there. Last year, a new wrinkle was added, as my youngest brought her boyfriend with us. He had not been to Walt Disney World since he was very young. My daughter had fun sharing with him all the new rides and parks that have been added while he was away.

I was taking extra care to be aware of them and took lots of photos. Some they knew about and some they weren't aware of like the one above as they walked hand in hand through Disney's Hollywood Studio's Streets of America. So, as lovely as Walt Disney World is, it's those closest to us that make it truly magical. Don't forget about them.

In an ever changing world of technology, even memory cards are affected. Some of them stop being birthed all together like the SmartMedia card, while others improve in capacity such as the SDHC. I will now rundown the list of current memory cards and which camera brands they work with.

Olympus and Fufifilm cameras record images to the xD card. While Olympus only accepts these cards, Fujifilm now works with SD cards, too. The cards shown here are Type M and Type M+, the difference is that M+ can download images 1 and 1/2 times faster than it's predecessor. Both memory cards come in 1GB and 2GB*.

Sony cameras use Memory Sticks. The difference between these two Memory Stick Pro Duo cards is that the one on the right, reads High Speed. That means it transfers images faster, in this case, up to 80MB**/second. Please be aware that Sony changes their media cards frequently so be sure to check and see if your camera is compatible with their current Memory Sticks.

These are Compact Flash cards and nowadays you only see them being used in digital SLRs . Several years ago they were used by Canon in their point and shoot cameras. The card on the left has 256MB which held a lot of photos on a 4 megapixel camera. Compact Flash cards are now sold in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities.

SD (Secure Digital) cards are the most commonly used memory cards, right now. With the exceptions stated above, these little guys go into every digital point and shoot and a good number of DSLRs. SDHC cards are upgraded versions of SD cards. What's the HC stand for? High Capacity. What does it mean for you? Less time downloading your images to the computer. Be aware that SDHC cards will only work in SDHC compatible cameras.

If you are unsure of what memory card your camera accepts, check your manual or the box.

*GB=Gigabyte, **MB=Megabyte

Hiya kids! This week Barrie, Scott, and I will share some of our favorite photos of Main Street with you. Just the thought of walking down Main Street is sure to put a smile on your face. Right now I can smell the English toffee coming from the Candy Kitchen in Disneyland. I see the lamp posts glowing and I can hear the sound of metal horseshoes clanking on the pavement.

And while all of these images are certainly wonderful photographs, I'm going to take a slightly different approach this week.

I remember quite clearly when in the early 2000's Disneyland wasn't as pristine as it should have been. Then a new sheriff came to town in late 2003 by the name of Matt Ouimet. He turned things around rather quickly, making the park shine again by having the Enchanted Tiki Room refurbished to a beautiful paradise and had all of the burnt out bulbs replaced, and Snow White's Grotto cleaned up. He did a fine job of leading the way and getting the park ready for it's 50th anniversary.

With this one photo I'd like to applaud all of the men and women who made Disneyland a sparkling, gorgeous, and glorious part of America once again. You should all be proud. Thank You!