My first day of solo flight. I saw this restaurant down below with a drive through. So I drove through.
View On Black or I will do a fly by of your house
HSS
Sunday, July 31, 2011
First Day Of Flight
Saturday, July 30, 2011
When You Wish Upon A Star
Our Daily Challenge: Wooden
What more wooden can you get then Pinnochio?
I knew what the challenge was before going to Disneyland today and knew what I had to shoot. This is a wood carving at the entrance to the Village Haus Resteraunt. Did I eat there? No. I'm hungry now as we speak. Can some one send me a burger please?
PS. For all you who went Ohhhhhhhh, Pinnochio, he's soooooo cute. Pinnochio is a liar. Thats why he is wood ... and termites ate his rear.
View on black. LIAR! You did not! I can tell cause your all made of wood! :)
I M Loco
I think the train is trying to tell me something.
View on black or I will tie you to the tracks.
HCS!
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I have never tried a motion shot.before and thought it would be fun. I've always loved that focused shot with the background zipping by
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Oh Oh Oh! I'm Photo Art.
YEAH! I'm art!!! No, not my name. Thats Mike. I mean I'm "Art"! No no no. I mean I'm ... oh never mind.
View on black. How can you pass up a face like that? (Don't answer that)
Our Daily Challenge: Artwork/PhotoArt
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1. 7 shot HDR with exposure 1 apart. I usually do 7 shots to get a more realistic look. I screw up the realistic look in post processing later. :)
2. I used Nik's HDR Effex Pro. I used the Granny's Attic pre set. ( I will slap you) Granny's Attic gives it that awsome 1940's feel. It's my favorite. In this case though, I moved the saturation to 50% up to really over saturate the blue sky.
3. I used the control points on the lens of the glasses to bring up the structure 100%.
4. I used the control points again on my cheeks and brought the method down because sometimes HDR makes shadows too harsh. in this case, the shadows were not smooth, they were blocky. By bringing down the method on my cheeks it smoothed the shadows back out.
5. Saved and brought up in Lightroom.
6. Took vibrance to 50% but this made me look orangy/yellow. So I desaturated only the orange and yellow till I no longer looked like I had a spray on tan.
Too get the painting feel. I took clarity up to 100%, Noise reduction (luminance) up to 100% but then knocked details down to 2%.
If you are interested in trying out HDR, Niks has a great program called HDR Effex PRo. It's a lot of fun. You can get a 15 day free trial of it here.
www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexpro/usa/entry.php
But It's The Theata Dahling
As I stood in line to see the musical spectacular Aladdin, I reached down to scratch my rear and heard a large belch come from behind. I turned and saw a young a kid with a proud smile on his face. His sister glaring at him proclaimed, That wasn't real! Of course not Dahling, came the reply, it's the theata!
I love culture. :)
View on black. Do you have NO culture??
100 Words: 20 Culture
Our Daily Topic: Artwork/Photo Art
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Okey dokey then. How I did the shot.
1. Take the picture silly. This is an HDR shot. It is 5 exposures at 1 exposure apart.
2. Upload it to you computer. (You'd think that was a gimme)
3. I used Niks HDR Effex Pro. I started with the Vintage pre set and knocked down the method slider to 8. The original pre set is too grungy so I slid it down to make it smoother.
4. Save it (duh)
5. Open it up in Lightroom. I brought the clarity down to -50. Vibrance up to +17. Noise Reduction (luminance) up to 100 (this gives it the painting look, except the sky was already a painted backdrop, by smoothing out everything)
6. Save again (really, duh!)
You can get a 15 day free trial of Niks HDR Effex Pro. It's the full thing, not a partial. I have it as a plug in for Photoshop.
www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexpro/usa/entry.php
The Lost Temple
I struggled through the jungle for days, alone. Just me and about seventy thousand people lost with no hope of ever getting out with our wallets as full as they were when we went in.
Exhausted and weak I came across this lost temple that broke through the thick canopy of the trees. I quickly shelled out some more money for a pineapple spear to make my pants a little lighter for the climb ahead me.
With hope in my heart, I approached the old relic and placed my hand on the side of it, ready for the climb to freedom.
I grasped the first rung of the ladder and steadied myself.
"PLEASE DON'T CLIMB THE TEMPLE" boomed a voice from the sky!
Is that you God, I asked.
Yes, came the reply!
Smart alec Disney people. They always one up you.
View on Black or Walt will strike you with a lightning bolt
100 Pictures: 13 Dark
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
How A Pirate Relaxes
After a hard days work pilfering and fighting of mutinies, I like to unwind by gardening or napping. Sometimes at the same time.
View on black or I'll drool on you in my sleep
Our Daily Challenge: Relaxation
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sister Mary Moo Has Too Much Mexican Food
What? Nuns fart too you know.
View on black. I ate with Sister Mary last night
Our Daily Challenge: Too Much or Too Many
Monday, July 25, 2011
But She Told Me To!
Yeah! I got to vandalize! I took this shovel and SMASHED this guys window in!
What?
What do you mean the challenge was PHOTOGRAPH vandalism? "and a Truck" said the topic was VANDALISM and she said "Have Fun". It's in the discussion thread right there. I wasn't supposed to ACTUALLY vandalize?
DANG IT!
View on Black. You can't watch your car window forever you know.
Our Daily Challenge: Vandalism (although "and a truck" should of been more specific before I started vandalizing everything in town)
I'm Not Really That Big
At 22' 10" I'm not really that big. You all are just tiny tiny tiny.
Fine, I'm 5'6" and 130 lbs. You all happy now!
BTW, this is an HDR image but other than that, there is no editing. I am indeed hovering over the umbrella.
View on black or I will squish you
Me Again Monday: I'm not...
(and if anyone from work mentions the tiny display umbrella I'll, I'll ... dang it, I just took the Violence in Workpace class so I'll just glare at you a lot)
The Staring Contest
I was at downtown Disney and these three punks kept staring at me. So I stared back. I lost.
View on black. I'll stare at you till you do
Our Daily Challenge: Over My Head
Sunday, July 24, 2011
There's A Mouse In The House
We went to Disney's California Adventure and it was over run by a giant mouse. People were screaming and running around yelling EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! So, today we are going back and I've built me a mouse trap. I'm gonna catch me some meeses.
View on black or I will let the mouse go in your house
HSS
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Train Tracks To Nowhere
Walking down the path below Grizzly Peak in Disney's California Adventure I spotted this train track. I knew I had my cliche shot. I shot from a bunch of different angles and they were ok. Finally I realized, I needed a low angle shot.
This path is not that busy. It's actually quite nice and a serene. Glancing around, I saw no one about. I layed on the ground and started snapping away.
"What are you taking pictures of?", came an unfamiliar voice.
Turns out, her name is Sara and she was pretty cool. I love how the camera helps you meet people you never would have otherwise.
View on Black or I'll hook you to the train car and drag you down the track! (don't fret too much, it's only a couple of feet)
Cliche Saturday: Railroad Tracks
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sky Flyer
You can't tell by this shot just how high they really are but I'm pretty sure a cloud drifted by underneath them at one point.
View on black or I'll strap you in
Our Daily Challenge: Over Your Head
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Carmelot
Finally made it to the Orange County Fair Wednesday. I've been really looking forward to this year. Food after all is my favorite part of it and this years theme is of course, Let's Eat.
Sitting in the passenger seat, bouncing up and down with glee as we drove around the parking lot looking for a space to park, I could hear my stomach grumble in anticipation. Park there, I said. Thats the bus zone came the reply. Park there, I said. Thats a fire lane came the reply. Park there, I said. Thats the ticket line, came the reply. Park there I said. You wait right here and I'll be back for you, came the reply as I was bodily tossed out of the vehicle.
With the vehicle parked, we headed towards the Main Entrance and purchased our tickets.
We were bombarded! There is food EVERYWHERE you look. I spyed Carmelots down the way a bit, lets stop there first. I ran to the window to make my order. What? the window is closed? No one here? All that food seperated from me by a thin plane of glass. The sweet cotton candy, the buttery popcorn, the juicy carmel apples, all out of my reach! I fainted.
I came to from a slight kick to the side. A face peered down to me. I could hear it was saying something. I strained to hear. "Get up dork! Your on the back side of it"
I got up, brushed myself off and replied, I knew that.
Crisis averted.
View on black or no carmel apples for you
100 Words: Crisis
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
I Gots Me A New Toof Brush
I anticipates me next visit to that thar dentist ought to be a good one since I got me this here new toof brush.
View on black and I'll let you use me toofbrush. Fine! you don't have to use the toofbrush and stop laughing, those are not my toofs...er teeth.
Our Daily Challenge: Anticipation
On The Side Of The Road (outtake)
I have all these extra shots from challenges past, I thought I would revisit some of them. This one was wrecked by somebody who kept jumping into the shot!
View on black or your brains will rust.
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The texture added to this is from a rusty boat I shot.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Little Green Men
This Just In!
A meteor has hit the earth creating a huge crater! The army is on the scene and the first pictures are just coming to us live! They come from the Planet called ODC2 and they look hostile!
View on black or risk being attacked
Our Daily Challenge: Holes
Monday, July 18, 2011
They Be Watchin Me Every Move
That thar swarmy group of pirates known as ODC are after me treasure! I know they be round here somewhere spyin on me every move waitin for the chances to pilfer me fake gold! Wish I had taken the FULL picture to see who was on the other side of this spyglass!
View on black or I will snap you with my eyepatch band!
Our Daily Challenge: Part of the Full Picture
Double Crossed!
Arrrgggggghhhhh! Its a mutiny! Me ODC pirate mates are trying to steal me treasure! I captured pirate Joe dead handed! I hope he has his water wings with him! It's off to the shark infested sea with him!
View on black or I'll hang ye in the gallos!
Our Daily Double Crossing Challenge: Crossed or Crossing
Gold! Me Gold!
Shiver Me Timbers this is bad! I put Sherilyn in charge of watching me gold and she fell asleep! Aye, she's a bad pirate. It's the plank for her! (hope she has good shoes, I hear its a long walk off a short plank)
View on black or you'll be swimmin with the fishes soon.
Our Daily Challenge: Begins with G
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sister Mary Moo and Nine of Her Friends Go Planking
What? Nuns can be hip too.
View on black or not.
Our Daily Challenge: Nine
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Me Pirate Ship, Columbia
I just washed me boat and was taking it out for a spin when some strange looking swarmy with a castmember badge came out and yelled, Get your boot off of the rail! (since I was wearing sneakers, I think he meant my butt) Then another strange looking swarmy came out into the sun and yelled at the first strange looking swarmy, Hey mate, is this bloke giving you trouble! (since this obviously wasn't the person I was married too, I think he meant friend) Everything was about to get out of hand when a third strange looking bloke came out from inside the ship. He looked right at me and exclaimed! ASO! (I was pretty sure he meant ... what do you mean there is not a word ASO in Japanese? That means he really called me an ... why that little .... )
I love Disneyland. I get to see and meet people from all over the world. It's a total blast to hear about other parts of the world first hand. I may not understand everything they say but I love the accents and I get most of it. I just don't know what they are all doing on my Pirate Ship
View on black or I will have you mop the poop deck ( I think it means the bathroom, not sure)
Splash Mountain
Can you believe they told me I couldn't roll down the flume without a boat??
Cliche Saturday: The Splash (it's a little cheating)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
There You Are Me Matey
Come out, come out wherever ye are Matey. Thar be no hiding forever!
View on black or I will smack you with my cheap plastic sword
100 Words: Confrontational
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Wierd processing on this. I started with 5 exposures at 1 apart. Then bleached it out and over exposed it. This was one of the many outtakes from the Our Daily Challenge group
Nuclear
Two months ago I put these candy Dots in my mouth for a photo shoot and I forgot about them. It wasn't until I was sunbathing at the nude beach next to the Nuclear plant listening to all the screaming of other beach goers as they passed me by, "put it BACK on" "I'm blind, I'M BLIND" "snicker snicker snicker" and "excuse me sir, your laying in the middle of the path for our Church Tour" that I realized something was wrong.
I grabbed my pocket 4x6 wall mirror and gasped at what I saw! There was a 120 year old church lady checkin out my rear! Oh yeah, and the candy Dots were still in my mouth and they were now glowing.
View on black or I won't be able to find my clothes
100 Pictures: Light
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Me Pirate Ship Toyified
While at Disneyland, I decided to try the tilt shift on my camera app Vignette.
View on black or I will tilt shift you to the size of a barbie doll
The Paparazzi And The Pirate
Aye, a pirates life is hard. The paparazzi follow me all day and night taking thousands of photos a day. I pose and primp and give them great shots. I finally have a seat at the end of hard day pilfaring and what do they shoot and publish? My with me dang hook half way up me nose! Shiver me timbers if me sword weren't made of cheap plastic they'd be in for it.
View on black. >>fling fling fling<< (I'll let you think about that one for a minute)
Our Daily Challenge: Have A Seat
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
How To Eat A Peach, Pirate Style
With only four peaches left on me Red Baron Peach tree, these juicy treasures are almost gone. So, I thought we would eat them in summer fun.
1. Grab your Pirate gear Mateys
2. Make sure cheap plastic sword is clean.
3. Install hook and be carefull not to poke your one good eye out.
4. Carefully place peach on chopping block
5. Raise sword, close eye (they don't make one eyed goggles) and swing down with all your force
6. Pick up tiny smashed peices that flew all over the place
7. Eat
8. Write note to self to next time use a real blade instead of cheap plastic sword that you've been using to chase the cats around the house with all week
View on Black or I will chuck peach chunks at you
Our Daily Challenge: Almost Gone
(you thought I meant the peaches were almost gone and really I meant my mind)
Surf Shack
What fair would be complete without a funhouse? Aptly named Surf Shack since Orange County has the longest stretch of uninterupted beach front on the West Coast at 8.5 miles.
View on Black or I will convince you the funhouse mirrors are how you really look.
100 Words: Complete
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Texture provide by an old ugly doors peeling paint by the side of the house. Thank you Old Ugly Door, Thank you. :)
Monday, July 11, 2011
I Will Find That Theiving Dodo
Aye, that thar theiving Dodo seems to float rather than flap. I WILL find it and I WILL get me eye back! If any of you swarmies see it, let me know, aye!
View on Black or I will steal your booty ...err bounty!
Our Daily Challenge: Floating
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This was supposed to be easy. I shot me in HDR, then I shot the bird in HDR. Then I had to cut out Ramona the Dodo. Then merge the two. Lastly, ran it through HDR again to get the grainy look
Escape From The Temple Of The Forbidden Eye
As I ran through the jungles of Adventureland dodging bird bombs, I came across this old truck I could use as an escape vehicle. It even has a spare tire! Too bad it doesn't have an engine.
View On Black. The birds are well fed and your car is freshly washed and Doolittle is my friend.
Our Daily Topic: Tires
Grim Grinning Ghosts
I awoke on a cold slab of stone in the dark. My eyes blinking twice, adjusting to the night fell upon my pink fuzzy slippers off to the side of some schmucks headstone. Slipping them on, I headed off for a walk.
Off in the distance I could see some rays of light shining down from the sky. I was compelled towards it. Why must I head towards the light? I was frightened and I began to shake in my pink fuzzy slippers. I tried to stop myself but couldn't, my feet cozy, moving against my will. The light grew closer, brighter, shining down from the heavens above. Step. Step. Step!
The light shone down on a dark, dusty mansion. I looked away but my feet kept moving towards it. A scream from the night wrapped it's cold hands around me. What did it say? I listened intently to understand the words. It came again. It was singing. I heard the words sung, The grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize. My eyes opened wide, one fell out. I clapped my hands in glee and jumped up and down, my pink fuzzy slippers hanging on for dear life. It was a PARTY!! I ran to the Haunted Mansion, banged on the door and was let in.
That my dear friends, is how I became the 1000th Happy Haunt at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.
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100 Words: Compelling
Besides being compelled to the light, I am always compelled to go on this ride when I visit Disneyland. Also, the song is catchy and I am always compelled to sing it. What? You don't remember the words?
And don't try to hide.
Or a silly spook may sit by your side.
Shrouded in a daft disguise,
They pretend to terrorize.
Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize.
As the moon climbs high o'er the dead oak tree,
Spooks arrive for the midnight spree.
Creepy creeps with eerie eyes,
Start to shriek and harmonize.
Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize.
When you hear the knell of a requiem bell,
Weird glows gleam where spirits dwell.
Restless bones etherialize,
Rise as spooks of every size.
If you would like to join our jamboree,
There's a simple rule that's compulsory.
Mortals pay a token fee.
Rest in peace, the haunting's free.
So hurry back, we would like your company.
Just do what I do, hum the tune and sing the line The Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize. Hope you don't end up compelled to hum this all day. :)
View on black or my 999 brothers and sisters will come visit you in the dead of night
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The Busiest Place On Earth
I was at Disnelyand when I got this brilliant idea to do a long exposure HDR shot of Autopia. I set my camera on the top of a trash can, adjusted my settings and pushed the shutter.
Two bumps from people, three strollers in the ankle and a punch in the groin from some five year old strolling by and the camera finished.
The next day, I uploaded the shot to my computer and began processing it. I had 7 exposures at 1 apart. There were so many people moving about that the bottom of the screen was basically a blur of movement. I went back to the the original shots and tried the processing again but this time I only took the -2, +2, and 0 exposure shots. I like it much better.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
How The West Was Won
I stood at the top of the hill in the old cemetery looking down upon the town I just came from. The summer night was warm but I could feel a chill rising from the freshly turned soil from the latest offering. My eyes gazed up and I could see Mars floating in the night sky. Why was I so cold? I began to walk, heading back to town. My foot sank into the fresh earth and I fell, my head inches from the latest tombstone. My eyes gazing across the carved stone came across my name. The hairs on my kneck stood up. I jumped to my feet looking down at the new grave. It was mine. My hand flew to cover the scream from my mouth and my eyes strained to leave their sockets. Disbelief and shock filled me as I looked down and realized, not one of you put FRESH flowers on my grave!!!
No, no. don't apologize now, it's too late. :)
View on Black. Theres an empty grave next to me, you know.
Cliche Saturday: The Dark Side
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Taken at the Shooting Gallery in Frontierland at Disneyland.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
You Want Me To Get Up At What Time?
If your gonna make me get up this early, you need to feed me breakfast. As long as bacons involved, I don't care what it is.
View on Black. When I wake up, your in for it
Our Daily Challenge: The Golden Hour (Way too early for someone who works during the sunset and goes to bed at 2am ... no, not cause the bar closes!)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Let The Monster Memories Begin
This cute little girl in Mickey Ears asked me to take her photograph to commemorate her stay at the Disneyland resort. Just as I was about to take the shot, this thing jumped into frame and flung the cute little girl in Mickey Ears two counties over.
PS. This is not cropped and no people were edited out.
View on Black or get flung
100 Words: Commemorate
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If you think this was an easy shot, you have never been to the Disneyland resort.
1 I am dead center of the plaza between Disneyland, Disney's California Adbenture and Downtown Disney, so you have an idea how many people are there.
2 I am laying down on the ground. Yes I was stared at.
3 After about 40 minutes of not being able to get a clear shot, I turned to my spouse and asked in a very loud voice, Did you just poop your pants? The plaza cleared, I took the shot and yes I am still married.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Castle Monster
I was admiring the architecture of Sleeping Beauty's Castle and the Matterhorn when this ugly little bugger popped out of the bushes
View on black or I will send him on vacation with you
100 Pictures: Architecture
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