ICE! at the Gaylord Texan (D3)

[Joe_Lorenzini]

I've been to the ICE! sculptures for the last couple years and it was nice to see some new stuff there this year. If you haven't been, take an evening and go visit the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. The place is decked out, the ICE show is worth seeing and they have killer hot chocolate afterwords back at the cafe. It's a good time.



This year I didn't bring the flash as I'm trying out the D3, putting it through its paces. It was both a success and a failure.

The success is in the High ISO settings. I didn't flinch using ISO6400 and the images came out exceptional! Where I failed is that it's so dark in there faces are deep in shadow and I could have used a small amount of fill flash (talk about your arrogance).

No noise reduction at all, color settings on vivid (which I am trying out at higher iso shots).

Go check it out. It's pretty cool to see and the kids love the 3 different ice slides you can go down.

_/oe

[Wes]

Beautiful image. ISO6400 and no NR? Wow!

I've been considering making the trip but have been unsure as to whether or not they allow pro cameras in there. You just answered the question!

[Debbi]

Joe, that's a great image. We have been talking about going this year and it sounds like it would be fun - plus an excuse to use the D300 at higher ISO's.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Here's a few more shots of the place. I'm really just trying to get the hang of the new post processing I have to start learning due to the D3 raw files...

This the top of one of the ice slides:


Entrance to the ice slides:


Here's where the fun is. They have 3 different ice slides:


Here's a view from the top of the stairs looking down:


_/oe

[Debbi]

Joe, these are so cool (pun intended)! I'm gonna have to talk the family into going.

[AndrewCCM]

What lens did you use mostly? I need to go this year for sure..

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by AndrewCCM

What lens did you use mostly? I need to go this year for sure..

Go wide. You're fairly close to all the ice. A 17-55 type lens should cover you just fine. A 12-24 will work but be careful about getting too close to shoot. If you're without a f/2.8 lens, bring a flash.

The other thing, we went during the evening of a weeknight and it was almost empty. I've been where it's so crowded it's a pain but that's usually on weekends.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

Great shot _/oe! _/ulie and I are going tonight... hopefully the weather will be decent.

- Wil

[Wil_Bloodworth]

_/oe: Are you shooting in RAW and then applying Vivid to it in CaptureNX later or are you shooting JPEG from the start?

- Wil

[Joe_Lorenzini]

I'm working with some of the new color profiles in the D3 (neutral, standard, vivid, etc...). I'm shooting RAW+JPG and then evaluating the JPG images.

Hope to see some of your shots from tonight!

[MRCPix]

WOW those are great Joe. I might have to go this year since I moved up to this side of town and see if I can get anything like these since I am not use to shooting night/dark scenes.
what night of the week did you go?

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by MRCPix

WOW those are great Joe. I might have to go this year since I moved up to this side of town and see if I can get anything like these since I am not use to shooting night/dark scenes.
what night of the week did you go?

Thursday night around 5pm. There was nobody except some people attending a convention. Santa came out to play around 6pm so it worked out perfectly with the kiddo's.

_/oe

[MRCPix]

thanks Joe
anyone have a web link for more info?

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by MRCPix

thanks Joe
anyone have a web link for more info?

http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylordtexan/ICE.cfm

You can buy tickets online, at a kiosk in front of the exhibit or at the ticket counter.