Well I was at Busch Gardens this past weekend on July 7th 2012. The weather was hot to say the least with temperatures in the triple digits and heat indexes approaching 110 degrees. The crowd was as light as I can remember it was closer to a crowd i would expect to see at Christmastown than one i would see on a Saturday in July.
Anyways the purpose of my trip was simply to take photos. I have taken photography as a hobby and I wanted to explore Busch Gardens and take many more photos. I think i left with 900 photos and a hope that some of them might be good. So I am going to write a little of what we did and experienced and some of the accompanying photos.
Well first I planned on seeing the different animals and visited the stable area followed by the areas where I could seebald eagles, wolves, lorikeets and other birds. Here is one of my photos of the parrot that was sitting behind the lorikeet aviary along with a photo of a peregrine falcon that could be seen near where the entrance to 13 would be.
Great Pose by LVnative, on Flickr
Duke by LVnative, on Flickr
We continued around the park taking pictures of some of the other decorations that had been placed for illuminights. Also we saw the early show for Pet Shenanigans. With the high heat the trainers were even dripping with sweat. Two other shows that we saw early on included Celtic Fyre and also the Wolf show. However the wolf show was more of training than the normal show you would see at the end of the year. I thought Celtic Fyre was ok as it gave us time to cool off. I believe previous shows have been more entertaining but that is just my opinion. This did give me the opportunity to use one of my lenses that is meant for dark photography. Here are two pictures one from each show. Notice in the wolf photo you can see slobber going from tongue to trainers face in the picture displaying emotion.
Slobber by LVnative, on Flickr
Altogether by LVnative, on Flickr
It took a while to make it to germany but we finally got there so that we could see the new ride verbolten. Here are a few pictures of the ride that i took. It looked very interesting. One of the pictures was taken from the Rhine River cruise as i thought it gave an interesting angle.
Final Drop by LVnative, on Flickr
Verbolten Panorama by LVnative, on Flickr
Verbolten Car by LVnative, on Flickr
After walking around the park working up quite the sweat it was just about time for dinner. We decided to see some of the illuminights shows before we went for dinner. We ate at the festhaus and got to watch the show Entwined. I will say not like the old show but I will say i have seen worse. I did not get my camera out for this show. After dinner we were ready to go see some of the Illuminights shows. In fact we only saw 2. We saw the 5 and 8 showings of Giardino Magico and the 6 oclock showing of Voila. I will say i think the music and tempo was more exciting for Voila but the Giardino Magico show was more impressive which is why we saw it twice. Here are a few pictures from those shows.
Smile for the camera by LVnative, on Flickr
They both are flexible by LVnative, on Flickr
Focus by LVnative, on Flickr
Can Can by LVnative, on Flickr
I felt that the can can dancers were ok but the real star was the juggler. The dancers were an ok interlude. I am not trying to take away from those performers but there abilities may not have been showcased as well as they could have been.
Finally we made our way to Italy near the Roman Rapids to watch the fireworks. Now getting their was no problem but i tried asking different employees where was the best place to watch the fireworks. I was given multiple answers by the different employees i asked. I was told that right there near the roman rapids was best by two employees, on the bridge by another, and anywhere as the fireworks were set off all around the park by a highly uniformed employee. Anyways if you go on the bridge you can see platforms that have been rolled onto the railroad trestle. I am pretty sure this was the launch station. Anyways I went just on the backside of the merchandise stand near the roman rapids set up my tripod and watched. The fireworks were just about right above me, in fact after the show some of the burned paper ash was coming down onto me. Keep that in mind if you are a photographer worrying about your lens. Also i will say the music seemed pretty light in that area. So here are a few of the photos i took.
Illuminights Fireworks by LVnative, on Flickr
Illuminights Fireworks by LVnative, on Flickr
Illuminights Fireworks by LVnative, on Flickr
After the show i packed up my gear and headed back to the england lot to get into my hot car and leave. The firework show was at 9:30 and i was on 64 heading home by 10. So that time included me watching the show, stopping at the bathroom, walking out of the park and to the car, exiting the lot and getting on the highway.
If you are interested in seeing any other photos i took from this trip the set can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvnative/sets/72157630505055914/
I have many more of the shows and other places around the park.
If you have any questions or comments about the trip or photos feel free to post as i am always welcome to any comments or critiques.
Anyways the purpose of my trip was simply to take photos. I have taken photography as a hobby and I wanted to explore Busch Gardens and take many more photos. I think i left with 900 photos and a hope that some of them might be good. So I am going to write a little of what we did and experienced and some of the accompanying photos.
Well first I planned on seeing the different animals and visited the stable area followed by the areas where I could seebald eagles, wolves, lorikeets and other birds. Here is one of my photos of the parrot that was sitting behind the lorikeet aviary along with a photo of a peregrine falcon that could be seen near where the entrance to 13 would be.
Great Pose by LVnative, on Flickr
Duke by LVnative, on Flickr
We continued around the park taking pictures of some of the other decorations that had been placed for illuminights. Also we saw the early show for Pet Shenanigans. With the high heat the trainers were even dripping with sweat. Two other shows that we saw early on included Celtic Fyre and also the Wolf show. However the wolf show was more of training than the normal show you would see at the end of the year. I thought Celtic Fyre was ok as it gave us time to cool off. I believe previous shows have been more entertaining but that is just my opinion. This did give me the opportunity to use one of my lenses that is meant for dark photography. Here are two pictures one from each show. Notice in the wolf photo you can see slobber going from tongue to trainers face in the picture displaying emotion.
Slobber by LVnative, on Flickr
Altogether by LVnative, on Flickr
It took a while to make it to germany but we finally got there so that we could see the new ride verbolten. Here are a few pictures of the ride that i took. It looked very interesting. One of the pictures was taken from the Rhine River cruise as i thought it gave an interesting angle.
Final Drop by LVnative, on Flickr
Verbolten Panorama by LVnative, on Flickr
Verbolten Car by LVnative, on Flickr
After walking around the park working up quite the sweat it was just about time for dinner. We decided to see some of the illuminights shows before we went for dinner. We ate at the festhaus and got to watch the show Entwined. I will say not like the old show but I will say i have seen worse. I did not get my camera out for this show. After dinner we were ready to go see some of the Illuminights shows. In fact we only saw 2. We saw the 5 and 8 showings of Giardino Magico and the 6 oclock showing of Voila. I will say i think the music and tempo was more exciting for Voila but the Giardino Magico show was more impressive which is why we saw it twice. Here are a few pictures from those shows.
Smile for the camera by LVnative, on Flickr
They both are flexible by LVnative, on Flickr
Focus by LVnative, on Flickr
Can Can by LVnative, on Flickr
I felt that the can can dancers were ok but the real star was the juggler. The dancers were an ok interlude. I am not trying to take away from those performers but there abilities may not have been showcased as well as they could have been.
Finally we made our way to Italy near the Roman Rapids to watch the fireworks. Now getting their was no problem but i tried asking different employees where was the best place to watch the fireworks. I was given multiple answers by the different employees i asked. I was told that right there near the roman rapids was best by two employees, on the bridge by another, and anywhere as the fireworks were set off all around the park by a highly uniformed employee. Anyways if you go on the bridge you can see platforms that have been rolled onto the railroad trestle. I am pretty sure this was the launch station. Anyways I went just on the backside of the merchandise stand near the roman rapids set up my tripod and watched. The fireworks were just about right above me, in fact after the show some of the burned paper ash was coming down onto me. Keep that in mind if you are a photographer worrying about your lens. Also i will say the music seemed pretty light in that area. So here are a few of the photos i took.
Illuminights Fireworks by LVnative, on Flickr
Illuminights Fireworks by LVnative, on Flickr
Illuminights Fireworks by LVnative, on Flickr
After the show i packed up my gear and headed back to the england lot to get into my hot car and leave. The firework show was at 9:30 and i was on 64 heading home by 10. So that time included me watching the show, stopping at the bathroom, walking out of the park and to the car, exiting the lot and getting on the highway.
If you are interested in seeing any other photos i took from this trip the set can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvnative/sets/72157630505055914/
I have many more of the shows and other places around the park.
If you have any questions or comments about the trip or photos feel free to post as i am always welcome to any comments or critiques.
