Sometimes I’d rather be in Disney World

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Sometimes I'd rather be in Disney World


Image by Stuck in Customs
(I get many requests on how I do these...it comes from my HDR Tutorial ) - sorry in advance - I get many emails and no time to answer -- but most of what you ask is in that tutorial!

Actually, maybe I should change that title to: "I think I'd like to always be in Disney World!"

They shoot off fireworks every night in the Magic Kingdom, and I feel bad if I miss it. I'm sure that's a strange thing to feel bad about... To get everything in, I have to plan the days and nights like a neo-Clark Griswald to ensure the perfect storm of technology meets up with whatever spectacular events are happening that day. For this shot, I had got reservations three months in advance at the California Grill restaurant, which has a nice majestic view of the show as the restaurant empties out onto the roof of the Contemporary Resort.

There is not much of a viewing area up there, and there were a bunch of people around me while I tried to get my tripod in place. I could deal with the crowds and fleshy shouldering, but the one thing that always annoys me is people beside me with little cameras that use their flashes to take photos of something a mile away. Sometimes they see I have a big camera, and they turn to ask for advice. They ask, "Do you think my flash helps?" I am really a totally nice and approachable guy, but since this is one of the very few things that annoy me, I usually just give them a shameful negative nod of the head.

This doesn't have anything to do with the shot, but I had some great sushi in that restaurant. It was made by a Japanese female sushi chef, and she is one of only three "official" sushi chefs in the world (or so the matri'd told me). The Japanese do not let women be sushi chefs normally, as their hands are too "weak".

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Daily Disney - Bokeh Wednesday - Mickey Ornaments For Sale (Explored)


Image by Express Monorail
View On Black

See where this picture was taken. [?]

One thing that's become obvious to me over the last few years is that there are no shortage of Disney fans that love to share their Disney content. And the content comes in all different shapes and sizes. Everything from podcasts, to online radio stations, to books, to blogs and articles, to fan websites, message forums, video sharing, picture sharing, and the list goes on. I'm very grateful for all of these types of fellow Disney geeks and I take advantage of nearly all the different types of free content available to give me my daily Disney fix. It really makes being a Disney fan that much more enjoyable (and addicting, I must admit). For me, as one can easily tell, I enjoy sharing my Disney photography. The reason is two fold for me. First and foremost, I became fascinated with creating and sharing photography - specifically Disney photography. Then, soon after I started sharing my photography online, I started to realize that many people actually enjoy my work and seeing the world of Disney through the lens of my camera. The latter is what really sealed the deal for me and has really kind of formed my addiction / obsession / hobby. Knowing that people actually enjoy my work really makes doing this all the more worthwhile and it has kind of become my way of giving back to the Disney community of content providers out there.

When I first joined Flickr I intended it to simply be a place to host pictures for my daily Disney photo blog, which I was going to name "Express Monorail". The intent was to have some tag line along the lines of "Step on board the Express Monorail for a nonstop journey to the magic of Disney Photography" or something like that. Many of you may remember when my Flickr moniker was that. At the time I had really no idea what Flickr was all about and honestly just thought it was another image hosting service. Little did I know that Flickr housed it's own little (or large if you will) Disney photography community and it very quickly grew on me and I immediately felt at home. The blog went by the wayside very quickly when I realized that my Flickr photostream was getting much more attention than the blog. After awhile I got rid of the moniker "Express Monorail" and replaced it with Joe Penniston (°O°Joe) (Joe Penniston - my name and °O°Joe - the screen name for the various message forums I frequented). I made the switch because I was planning on sharing more personal photography and sharing with friends and family, so I didn't want them thinking "what the heck is Express Monorail supposed to mean??". Well, as you can tell I rarely share non Disney photography, and don't plan on it anytime soon on this photostream. If you want to see the rare occasion when I share personal photography (I really need to get better about that) friend me on Facebook.

I've always liked the idea of a "Daily Disney Photo" blog where I could share one Disney picture a day with anyone that cares to see. I've kind of gotten away from that here recently and have been very inconsistent with my entries. I want to bring that back and I'm going to start with changing my moniker back to Express Monorail. Also, I'm going to start a daily theme to coincide with my daily entries starting with Bokeh Wednesday (borrowing from the very popular Bokeh Wednesday Flickr group). Each day of the week I'll have a different theme and hopefully I'll be able to be more consistent and post one a day (except Sundays). So yeah - step onboard and grab a seat for your nonstop journey to the magical world of Disney Photography! "Please stand clear of the doors...Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas." :=0)

Bokeh
Bokeh describes the rendition of out-of-focus points of light. Differing amounts of spherical aberration alter how lenses render out-of-focus points of light, and thus their bokeh. The word "bokeh" comes from the Japanese word "boke" (pronounced bo-keh) which literally means fuzziness or dizziness.

Quick EXIF:
Camera: Olympus E-P1 "Pen"
Lens: Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7
Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure: 1/45 sec
Aperture: f/1.7
Focal Length: 20mm (40mm full frame equivalent)
ISO: 100
Bias: -0.5 EV

Thanks for stopping by!

__________________________________________________________________

This picture made it to Flickr Explore December 9, 2009 - #335 - thanks everyone!

Franklin and Eleanor (FDR Bio, part 1)


Image by Tony the Misfit
(FDR Biography, Part One)

Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York on January 30, 1882, the son of James Roosevelt and Sara Delano Roosevelt. His parents and private tutors provided him with almost all his formative education. He attended Groton (1896-1900), a prestigious preparatory school in Massachusetts, and received a BA degree in history from Harvard in only three years (1900-03). Roosevelt next studied law at New York's Columbia University. When he passed the bar examination in 1907, he left school without taking a degree. For the next three years he practiced law with a prominent New York City law firm. He entered politics in 1910 and was elected to the New York State Senate as a Democrat from his traditionally Republican home district.

In the meantime, in 1905, he had married a distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. The couple had six children, five of whom survived infancy: Anna (1906), James (1907), Elliott (1910), Franklin, Jr. (1914) and John (1916).

Roosevelt was reelected to the State Senate in 1912, and supported Woodrow Wilson's candidacy at the Democratic National Convention. As a reward for his support, Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913, a position he held until 1920. He was an energetic and efficient administrator, specializing in the business side of naval administration. This experience prepared him for his future role as Commander-in-Chief during World War II. Roosevelt's popularity and success in naval affairs resulted in his being nominated for vice-president by the Democratic Party in 1920 on a ticket headed by James M. Cox of Ohio. However, popular sentiment against Wilson's plan for US participation in the League of Nations propelled Republican Warren Harding into the presidency, and Roosevelt returned to private life.

While vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick in the summer of 1921, Roosevelt contracted poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis). Despite courageous efforts to overcome his crippling illness, he never regained the use of his legs. In time, he established a foundation at Warm Springs, Georgia to help other polio victims, and inspired, as well as directed, the March of Dimes program that eventually funded an effective vaccine.

With the encouragement and help of his wife, Eleanor, and political confidant, Louis Howe, Roosevelt resumed his political career. In 1924 he nominated Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York for president at the Democratic National Convention, but Smith lost the nomination to John W. Davis. In 1928 Smith became the Democratic candidate for president and arranged for Roosevelt's nomination to succeed him as governor of New York. Smith lost the election to Herbert Hoover; but Roosevelt was elected governor.

Following his reelection as governor in 1930, Roosevelt began to campaign for the presidency. While the economic depression damaged Hoover and the Republicans, Roosevelt's bold efforts to combat it in New York enhanced his reputation. In Chicago in 1932, Roosevelt won the nomination as the Democratic Party candidate for president. He broke with tradition and flew to Chicago to accept the nomination in person. He then campaigned energetically calling for government intervention in the economy to provide relief, recovery, and reform. His activist approach and personal charm helped to defeat Hoover in November 1932 by seven million votes.

The Depression worsened in the months preceding Roosevelt's inauguration, March 4, 1933. Factory closings, farm foreclosures, and bank failures increased, while unemployment soared. Roosevelt faced the greatest crisis in American history since the Civil War. He undertook immediate actions to initiate his New Deal. To halt depositor panics, he closed the banks temporarily. Then he worked with a special session of Congress during the first "100 days" to pass recovery legislation which set up alphabet agencies such as the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) to support farm prices and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) to employ young men. Other agencies assisted business and labor, insured bank deposits, regulated the stock market, subsidized home and farm mortgage payments, and aided the unemployed. These measures revived confidence in the economy. Banks reopened and direct relief saved millions from starvation. But the New Deal measures also involved government directly in areas of social and economic life as never before and resulted in greatly increased spending and unbalanced budgets which led to criticisms of Roosevelt's programs. However, the nation-at-large supported Roosevelt, elected additional Democrats to state legislatures and governorships in the mid-term elections.

Another flurry of New Deal legislation followed in 1935 including the establishment of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) which provided jobs not only for laborers but also artists, writers, musicians, and authors, and the Social Security act which provided unemployment compensation and a program of old-age and survivors' benefits.

Roosevelt easily defeated Alfred M. Landon in 1936 and went on to defeat by lesser margins, Wendell Willkie in 1940 and Thomas E. Dewey in 1944. He thus became the only American president to serve more than two terms.

(Part Two of this biography is posted under the photo of their grave)

source: FDR library
photo: FDR collection, Hyde Park

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