Shooting at Gaylord's ICE exhibit?

[lyncca]

Originally Posted by Jenm55

Lyncca - Gorgeous photos. Thank you for sharing! And thanks for letting me know your lens and ISO. I agree, I don't want to change lenses in there, so I think I'm going to take my 28-75, 2.8. I won't have time for a tripod (I'll have my toddler son with me). Do you mind posting your s/s and ap settings on these?

Thanks!

Well, if you aren't using a tripod, the shutter and ap wouldn't really apply to anything you were trying to shoot. I was generally in aperture priority and letting the camera meter the rest. I used matrix metering if I had a colorful scene, but for some I changed it to center metering if I wanted to "black out" the background.

If you are going hand-held, you will need 1600ISO and up. Of course, depending on your camera, you may not want to go that high. My D70s would be a noisey mess, but my D300 (which this was my first shoot to take it on) was fine.

Your other option is to use a flash, but you will probably lose some if not all of the vibrance of the lights and get a lot of reflection off of the ice.

For bigger "scenes" I used f5.6-8, and for smaller items or to produce bokeh I used as large an aperture (small number) as possible. You may want to go to wide open if you are going hand-held to allow as much shutter speed as possible.

I hope that helps some. Oh, and your brain tends to freeze after about an hour and a half. I started to get stupid and not pay as much attention to my settings as usual. LOL

[dsjsws]

Be sure to wrap your camera in a plastic bag before and after entering. Leave it in the bag for 10-15 minutes after entering. Condensation will form on the bag rather than inside the camera as the temperatures change. Don't forget to put it back in the plastic before leaving.
Take a couple of extra batteries and carry them close to your skin to keep them warm.
Have fun.

Donna

[lyncca]

People mentioned the plastic bag, but I forgot to take it. Neither I, nor the other 40 or so photographers had a problem (that I am aware of). I think it is pretty dry in there. My lens didn't even fog. As far as batteries, also a good idea. I was told that the cold eats through them pretty fast, but in an hour and a half, I still had half life from the original battery I was using.

Better safe than sorry, but none of us had problems...

By the time you are in there 15 min with the normal crowd flow, you would probably be half way finished. I don't think with the amount of people you can expect to just hang around the entrace for 15 minutes. We were lucky enough to have a private viewing, but I still don't think I would just hang out in that cold very long :)

[J Eddington]

Here is a pano from last year. and a few more.

[lyncca]

Hey Janice, your pics didn't show up :(

[CBass]

i like the new additions this year i might have to go back up there again. Thanks for the post the pics look great.

[prncfarquad]

I went yesterday and there was no way I could have brought a tripod in there. IT WAS A ZOO!! Lyncca, I took a lot of the shots you did but yours are MUCH better.

I am not much of a cold person and also had my family and my brothers family with me so it was too busy to really concentrate. If you can go by yourself you will not be as distracted as I was.

It is REALLY cool and would suggest going if you can.

[Jenm55]

Thanks again for all the great info everyone. I figure I might have to run around using my flash, since I'll be chasing my kiddo around too. But I'm excited to check this out. Maybe next year I can make one of these sneak pic photo opps!

[lyncca]

I was told but haven't verified that if you get there early on Sunday mornings that it isn't very crowded. So, that may be worth a shot too. I believe they open at 10am.

[Jenm55]

I think I've decided to take my 28-75, since I don't want to change lenses in there. I'll also do the plastic bag thing and keep extra batteries. I don't expect to be in there TOO long, though, since I'll have my son with me.

Not photo-related, but what did you wear? Layers? Did you wear your own coat under the one they provide? Just wondered. I've heard mixed things on all this :)

thanks again!

[Kevin C. Haggard]

Originally Posted by CBass

I'm not sure what happen to my edited shots but here are a few from last year. I just resized them, these were taken with a 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Tamron lens. I think the ISO was 400-800, the shots aren't great i had just got the camera and this was the only glass i had at the time.

I took my Canon 30D in last year, and got almost the exact same images as these! I had no problems at all!

[lyncca]

I just wore jeans and a long sleeve shirt and then the parka they gave me. I was fine except for my hands because the tripod got quite cold. Some thin gloves or hand warmers will help.

[Jenm55]

Totally random question, but are there no penguins this year? My son saw the pics with the penguins and is really stuck on seeing penguins. haha.

[dbphotos]

Originally Posted by howardlvc

Hey guys, I just got off the phone with the Gaylord...

They told me, if I were a progessional photog, or had that kind of gear going in... there was a $1500 fee to shoot ANYWHERE in the Gaylord.

Anyone else heard of that???

Howard

That's if you are doing an actual "shoot". I've been there a few times with camera and 70-200 lens and never had a problem. If you are shooting for $ then you need to pay them, if you are there as a visitor, you should be fine. Who's to say what "professional" equipment is? I could sell an image with my Canon G10 just as easily as my D3. People have sold images from a cell phone, does this mean they are "professional" in the eyes of The Gaylord?

It is private property so what they say goes, but again I've never had any issues.