It's A Fantasmic Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!


Today's Fantasmic Friday is a short and sweet post because I've had an extremely busy week!


First up is a picture of our friend Mickey Mouse in the beginning of the show with his fireworks!






Next up we have a close-up photo of one of the spinning fireworks during the finale of the show!






Last for this Fantasmic Friday we have a picture of Snow White and Prince Charming dancing on their raft during the show!  I was able to take this shot so close because I used my telephoto lens.  I was quite proud of this picture because of all the elements captured in it!  Snow White, her Prince, the fountains, and the lights on the raft!  Hope you enjoy!

The World is A Carrousel of Color

"The world is a carrousel of color!  Wonderful, marvelous color!  A rainbow of imagination.  A blue rolling sea, a red summer rose, a sunset in the sky.  Beauty untold is ours to behold, to dazzle your mind and your eye!"

"The wonderful world of color!  Wonderful, colorful, beautiful!  The wonderful world of color!  So wonderful, so beautiful to see!"


"Adventure is waiting, let it open your eyes!  Imagine and see what wonders can be, each journey can hold a surprise!"








World of Color is SUCH a beautiful show!  I've had the privilege to see it twice now and each time I watch it becomes even more beautiful to me!  Even as I sit here and write this post I'm listing to the music from the show as inspiration! :)  Both times I have seen this show it amazes me so much it brings tears to my eyes.








The first time I watched it (see pictures 2 and 3) I was in the very front and center!  There was no one in-between me and the water at all!  For those of you who have been to Disney California Adventure and seen the show, I was sitting in the "white" section.  To spare my camera from an almost certain watery death, I decided to use the ponchos I had brought for myself to shield my camera and my tripod.  It was quite a ridiculous looking setup but in the end my camera was perfectly dry and safe.  Me, on the other hand, was drenched, shaking, and cold.  If you know me or have seen a picture of me, you know I have really long blonde hair.  To give you an idea of just HOW drenched I was, I had to wring water out of my hair after the show!!  The second time I watched the show (picture 1) I was a little further back in the "yellow" section and had multiple ponchos this time!  Some for me and the camera!


And if you were wondering, the little white spot in the top center of the photos is the moon!  I was quite lucky this World of Color night and the moon was in JUST the right spot to be in all of my pictures!








I took tons of pictures of World of Color and will be posting many more in the future so be sure to stay tuned!  I thought today I'd give a little taste of my pictures from this magnificent show!  If you haven't had a chance to or haven't made time to see World of Color while you're at Disney California Adventure, please stop and take the time to see it!  It is a fantastic show that is definitely worth the wait.  I'm sure you'll be just as amazed by it as I am each and every time I see it!

Fireworks Friday - Magical

Happy Friday!


Another thing I LOVE to photograph is fireworks!  I've been trying some different styles lately to get some neat fireworks shots that I'm pretty happy with.  As always I'm working to improve the quality of my fireworks shots, but for a first try at this technique I'm happy with the results.  Another note about these photos: I did not take these with a tripod, they were completely handheld.


For those who enjoy technical camera stuff, this section is for you!  If not, please skip down to the photo :)  I took these shots using an extremely low ISO around 200 to keep them from getting fuzzy.  I also used a high F-stop around 22 so it would capture the light from the fireworks and keep the sky a dark black.  Finally, I usually set the shutter speed to "bulb" so that as long as I hold the shutter button down it keeps taking the picture.  This lets me time the shot to whichever fireworks I want so I can capture a full firework or multiple ones if I want as well.







This picture was taken this summer during the Magical fireworks show.  This one is my favorite because of all the colors in the one firework that I caught!  I even surprised myself that I got the shot completely still even though it was handheld!  Next up is a picture from the finale of Magical.  It's a little busy and has a lot of fireworks in the shot, but I do enjoy the sparkle it has!







The last photo for today I like because they have the big bright burst of light in the center of the firework!  I think that's the initial pop of light that happens right when the shell bursts before you see the rest of the firework. The white/gold sparkle above it is one of those little fireworks that crackle that just happened to go off in front of the one I was photographing.







Hope you enjoyed this fireworks Friday and I wish everyone a fantastic weekend!!! :)

Fantasmic Friday - Hidden Mickey?

Today's picture is one of those lucky captures that you don't see all the time!


Originally I was trying to take a picture of Mickey Mouse at the end of Fantasmic but it obviously didn't work out due to the trees that were between me and him.  What I actually got was something quite fantastic!  When the fireworks shoot off behind Mickey Mouse in the end of Fantasmic there is always a puff of smoke that goes off behind him.  In this rare instance, however, I snapped my photo at just the right second because POOF! (literally!!) I caught the shape of a Mickey Mouse head in the smoke!  Now that's what you call a Hidden Mickey!!  Enjoy! :)

Fantasmic Friday - Murphy's Rage

Happy Friday!


I remember seeing this show for the first time back when it first debuted in 1992.  It was so cool to me then as a kid and it's just gotten better over the years!  I am a big fan of the show and try to see it at least once each trip to Disneyland!


A newer member of the show is the Maleficent dragon fondly known as Murphy (Murphy's Law: What can go wrong WILL go wrong).  Replacing the older "Bucky" dragon, the new dragon stands around 45 feet tall, breathes fire, and moves!  She's an impressive sight to see in person, especially when she breathes fire!  The heat and brightness of the fire seems to push you back a step and is incredible!  I've made it a goal of mine to try and get the "perfect" picture of her breathing fire and I do think I've gotten close!  Here's the photo I think is one of the three best I've taken so far:









If you watch close, Murphy's eyes change color and expression throughout her part in the show!  It's a neat little detail that I really love and I urge you to look a little closer the next time you watch the show so you can see it.  The lighting and effects of the show add to how cool Murphy looks, especially with the fiery colors on her.








Hope you enjoyed today's Fantasmic Friday post and enjoy your weekend!!

Visions Fantasmic

Today's post has a nice picture from Fantasmic that I took back in November.  Right before the show started (after getting off Splash Mountain) I set up in Fowler's Harbor with my tripod to get some pictures from the show.  It's a cool place to watch the show from if you've seen it lots of times!  It offers a different view of the show and lets you see how some effects work!  So, if you're used to the main view of Fantasmic and want a different look at this awesome show, watch it from Fowler's Harbor sometime!

The first photo was at the end part of when the Mark Twain comes out.  It was a neat view because the characters, minus Mickey, had their spotlights turned off but you got to see their shadows against the fireworks!  I was also quite happy I got Mickey in focus and with nice lighting on him!  Enjoy!

The second picture was taken before the first and is of Mickey as Steamboat Willie on the Mark Twain!  Hope you like this one too!  Both these pictures were taken with my telephoto lens which is why I was able to get such close shots. :)