Hi all, Cody from Utah here. ; I've been lurking and meaning to start posting here for a while. ; I know quite a few of you already from the DIS or flickr, but certainly not everyone. ; So it's either nice to meet you, or feel free to skip this post ; : For me, WDW and photography go hand in hand. ; I've been very interested since high school photo classes, but could never afford more than a basic P&S until my wife and I's first adult trip to WDW prompted me to finally buy a DSLR (Gdad/Jeff F's photos he was sharing at the time definitely influenced me too). ; It lit a fire in me and started a frenzy of learning that has been going ever since, both at WDW and in real life. My wife and I were at WDW in Sept '07 and thought it was going to be "just one trip" before we started our family. ; Well that turned into "just one more trip" (Jan '08) and then "last one, we swear" (Sept '08). ; We were serious about that last one, though, because (as planned) my wife came home pregnant. ; Four months later at her first ultrasound, we got the shock of a lifetime... triplets! ; Our boys were born in April, and it has been a crazy/amazing/busy ride since. ; When they were a few months old, we found out by DNA testing that they are all identical (we only knew 2 were before). ; Disney magic is strong! ; 8) We plan on taking them to Disneyland in the fall, and WDW next year, but I've been having a serious itch to get back to WDW now. ; Going with the whole family isn't an option right now for quite a few reasons, so I started toying with the idea of a solo trip. ; My wife gave her blessing a few months back, but I waffled back and forth on if I should do it for months due to the cost. ; Well, a week ago I was tempted by the $300 gift card offer and I decided to just go for it.. I'll be there in just 9 days - Jan 30 - Feb 4 - and I'm really looking forward to fun and lots of photo time ; (anyone else overlap these dates?) My first DSLR was an Olympus E-510 w/ kit lenses + Sigma 30/1.4, and (later on) an Olympus 11-22/2.8-3.5 (LOVED this lens). ; It was a great camera, but about a year into it, I found myself frustrated by the limitations of entry-level gear. ; I decided for various reasons that the E-3 wasn't for me, so I ended up selling it all and switching systems to a Sony A700. ; I stayed in the body-stabilization camp because I think it offers fantastic value with third party lenses for those willing to make a few sacrifices vs OEM glass to save lots of money -- and I am! I went "all in" when I switched systems, and bought almost everything (within reason) that I wanted. ; Here's my current lineup: Sony A700, Sigma 10-20, Tamron 17-50/2.8, Tamron 70-200/2.8, Sigma 30/1.4, Sony 50/1.4, Sigma 105/2.8 macro, Sigma EF-500 Super flash I have far more gear than skill, but I'm making progress ; I'm a very technical person (programmer by trade) and have gotten very involved in the technical side of photography and post-processing, but my photographic "eye" is still catching up. ; Right now I'm using what hobby time I get to prepare to start a portraiture business on the side - my garage is currently a makeshift studio. ; Maybe someday I will get some studio lights, but for now I'm doing all my lighting strobist-style with flashes (old Vivitars). Anyway, thanks for reading. ; My flickr is linked in my sig.. I thought I'd share some of my favorite WDW shots in the next post. Cheers!
WOW! ; Triplets. ; We have friends who's triplets are now 12 years old and remember the early years quite well. ; What a dance it was. ; It's a really wonderful thing. Love your fireworks shots and the sun bursting through the clouds is absolutely stunning. ; Welcome from a fellow lurker who finally jumped in too.
Yeah, I keep meaning to post about it on flickr, I'll do that soon. In a nutshell, I knew the Tamron would be optically superior but the gap is bigger than I expected. ; I obviously liked the HSM AF tracking of the Sigma, and it seemed to have better build quality, but I'm most interested in the performance in the f/2.8-4 range (otherwise why am I getting a bigger bag just to lug this thing around?) and I'd compare the Tamron at f/2.8 to the Sigma at f/3.5 (Sigma wide open is pretty bad). ; The Tamron dominates in flare resistance and CA too. ; So needless to say, the Sigma has been sold. ; I'm a little worried about the Tamron holding up after seeing that it has made the LensRentals Hall of Shame.. oh well hopefully it will! So Jeff.. you won't happen to be in the parks any day between Jan 30 (Saturday, arriving late afternoon) - Feb 4 (Thursday, leaving at 4pm)? ; It'd be great to meet you if so, my schedule is flexible going solo. ; I'll send you a PM later.
