Top 10 2015

Posted on December 29, 2016December 29, 2016 by Dusty Roads

To help get into the spirit of my top 10 search, here are the top 10 from 2015. Several have been enlarged and framed. A couple of the bird photos hang in my work place. Hopefully when I’ve gone through 2016 those 10 will be better than these. Hopefully.

Bayou Bridge , City Park, New Orleans

Egret, Orlando Florida

Egret #2, Orlando Florida

Hungry Egret with Hot Dog, Orlando FL

Great Blue Heron, Herring Run , Middleboro, MA

Germany (Epcot). Walt Disney World, Orlando FL

Cinderella’s Castle in “Ice”, Walt Disney World, Orlando FL

King of Beasts, Animal Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando FL

Rain Forest, New Orleans Aquarium

New Orleans Cemetery

So that’s the “bar” Let’s see what I managed to capture in 2016 and how they will compare.

Top 10 2015

Posted on April 18, 2016April 18, 2016 by Dusty Roads

I was just sitting here at the computer trying to learn the ins and outs of editing raw photos. One expert suggested going through the previous year’s photos and picking your top 10. He stressed it had to be the top 10 photos that you, the photographer, like not your friend, spouse, neighbor and so on.

That was a challenge! I took over 4000 photos last year. Still once I got into it I found that a lot of them were of the snap shot variety. I love having my prints enlarged, called gallery prints so that was the criteria I used to narrow down my selections. It had to be good enough that I would spend the “Big Bucks” to make a super large print.

To my surprise no people or pets made the cut. Here are my Top Ten Pictures of 2015.

The top 3 are from Orlando Florida when I was there with Nancy, her children and my friend Joe. I did have 2 of the egrets enlarged and framed as a set. They hang proudly in my office at work.

Egret 2

The Hot Dog picture is on Nat Geo’s site in the “My Shot” section.

Hot Dog Anyone?

Sticking with the Bird theme I caught a shot of a Great Blue Heron doing something besides standing still. These birds can stand like statues for hours. This was taken in June at the Herring Run in Middleboro, MA. This one also made it to Gallery print and is framed and hanging in my home. Why buy prints when I can use my own photos?

Great Blue Heron

The next photos I chose were from New Orleans in October.

The bridge is in City Park. Bridge

The one I call Rain Forest was actually taken in the New Orleans Aquarium where I struggled with lens fog but turns out the effect was really pretty cool.

rain forest

The last New Orleans pic almost didn’t make the cut. It’s a shot taken of one of the cemeteries in New Orleans. Something about the dark atmosphere kept drawing me back to it. In the end I felt it captured the “spooky” atmosphere New Orleans is known for.

New orleans Cemetary

The last 3 photos came from my trip back to Orlando in December. The purpose of that trip was to take photos of the Holiday decorations at Disney World. Although I got great shots they wouldn’t make it to gallery size.

Lion

Mr. Lion is a resident of Animal Kingdom. He’d just given us a roar and was settling back down. I wish I’d caught the roar but the safari vehicle hadn’t pulled around the corner far enough.

DSC_1711a

This shot of Germany at Epcot was a spur of the moment shot. Joe and I were walking around the lake and it just caught my eye. I love the way it came out.

Ice Castle

And of course what is a trip to Disney in December without Cinderella’s Castle all covered in Ice? I thought this night shot was a fitting choice for the final picture on my top 10 list.

So what do you think? Maybe I’ll get some pets or people in 2016. The goal is, of course, to improve in 2016.

http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/

The Grand Finale

Posted on January 21, 2016January 21, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Well those Osborne Family Lights were really over the top. After taking our pictures we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the light show on Cinderella’s Castle.

This was it, the last thing on the list, the real final night for me at the parks. Tomorrow I was headed to Miami to finish out my vacation. So far it had been a great time. South beach wouldn’t be this exciting, that was for sure.

DSC_2101a_edited-1

But what a finale the castle made!

The Magic Kingdom in December

Posted on January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Finally it was the day I’d originally envisioned. It was time to visit the Magic Kingdom. I’d been here for Christmas once before and although the park was wall to wall people that trip, I remember the decorations were spectacular.

The mono rail was not running to the Magic Kingdom so everyone had to get there by boat.

DSC_1962 copy

We lined up and waited, and waited and waited. There’s no place to sit or lean. It didn’t take long for my newly improved back muscles to start a downhill slide.

As soon as we reached the park I rushed to get through security and ticketing.

DSC_1952 copy

I had my eye on the ECV (electric convenience vehicle or scooter) rentals. Too late, there was a waiting list. I was #2 on the list. They would call our cell phone as soon as one came back in. They don’t take reservations so you just take your chances that one will be available. This was the first time I’d struck out.

PhotoPass_Visiting_Magic_Kingdom_Park_7554017863

We headed into the park.

DSC_1953 copy

Even though this is consider a slow week the Magic Kingdom was full!

DSC_2015 copy

Because of my questionable ambulatory abilities we stayed close to the square but there was plenty to see there.

DSC_1954 copy

We started out by taking the train ride around the park.

DSC_1958 copy

You never know who you might run into.

PhotoPass_Visiting_Magic_Kingdom_Park_7560740234

The goal is to just have fun.

PhotoPass_Visiting_Magic_Kingdom_Park_7560742758

DSC_1963 copy

We got back in time to see the horse drawn trolley pull up and enjoy a rousing show of song and dance.

DSC_1968 copy

It was the last show of the day. They only do these shows in the mornings so we were lucky.

DSC_1972 copy

And even though the park was crowded, we still had front row places. Great for memorializing the event in pictures.

DSC_1975 copy

As they unhitched the beautiful Clydesdale from the trolley I could almost hear him say, “That’s all folks”.

DSC_1982 copy

There was only a 10 minute wait to see Tinkerbell so like little kids we hopped in line. I may be a grown up but I still love the character visits.

PhotoPass_Visiting_Magic_Kingdom_Park_7560746549

Joe seems to like these visits too even though his job keeps him in contact with them all the time. He had to get his “selfie”.

PhotoPass_Visiting_Magic_Kingdom_Park_7560741045

DSC_1987 copy

Evening Magic at the Magic Kingdom

Posted on February 8, 2012February 8, 2012 by Dusty Roads

By now you’d think that we’d have had enough of the Magic Kingdom but Joe wanted us to see the fireworks plus we still needed to get dinner.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Everything in the Magic Kingdom was booked. Unless you had reservations you were out of luck. We finally ended up with hot dogs on Main St. ( They were very good hot dogs too) We started out sitting on the brick wall but someone finally gave up a table.

Joe spotted it first and I saw him take off at a run. He got there almost before the ladies were out of their seats but it was a good thing because there were other people right on his heels.

The table turned out to be a great seat for the Fireworks over Cinderella’s Castle too. After dinner and before the show Joe, Saralyn and Tim wanted to go shopping for souvenirs but we didn’t want to lose the table so I elected to stay put and guard our seats.

Good thing I did.

Before the fireworks was another show where pictures taken by the Disney photographers of people around the park are projected up onto Cinderella’s Castle. They seem to melt and shimmer as they change. I couldn’t make out the faces too well where we were seated. It was a bit far for my eyesight but it was still pretty and fascinating to watch.