Real

Mavrick has- Airtime - check Positive Gs - check Inversions - check More airtime - check That all makes up for the restraints. But if you don't want whiplash, don't ride it like a rag doll then.

Quoted for truth...except one thing... If I'm in a situation he is, where I'm pretty far from being "normal", I would personally be checking everything myself just to make sure no one does screw up. You cant aimlessly go through life depending on everyone else to do everything. You are right, the crew is the last line of defense and SHOULD have stopped this there. But I think if you have certain things that should make you think "hmm, I wonder" then you owe it to yourself and the people working (wherever that is) to look or ask questions yourself. I know Americans pride themselves on being ignorant, but we gotta wake up a bit. I feel really bad for the family and the ride ops who will have to live with the fact they let someone on who then was killed while on their watch. That cant be fun.

Thats the million dollar question right? Same one I stated on my FB...why!?

Im looking for a day trip to one of these 3 parks. Im from Toledo, each of them is a total days drive there and back and Im ready for that. My wife thought about going to Holiday World since I didnt get to go for Holiwood Nights however, I want to go once Voyage gets Timberliners. So, next year. But I figure if Im going to spend 6-7hrs driving, another 2-3hrs is no difference - so Ive extended my search and come up with 3 parks I really want to hit , only with time for one. Carowinds Kings Dominion Busch Gardens Europe Attraction with the first 2...free admission with out CF Platinum Passes. Obvious rides at Carowinds are Afterburn, Intimidator, Vortex, etc. Kings Dominion, I305, Volcano, Dominator, Avalanche... Basically, Ive been there before but only got to ride Anaconda and Rebel Yell. Busch Gardens Europe has an icon and 3 fantastic B&M's that I know Id love. All are 10hrs or less from me. Busch Id have to pay for but I feel like that's a more relaxing experience. The coaster line-ups at the other 2 parks are more vast but I know I get quality with BGE. What are the best reasons for each park?

OOhhh. I have some great ones of Villain. Ill try to get them in the next few days.

Family friendly and extreme thrill park can absolutely go hand in hand. Ask them, theyve been doing it since the dawn of time. Being a family park just means you create a family atmosphere of fun, security, safety and enjoyment for the whole family and having rides that cater to all categories. CP has that. To be a thrill ride park or a family park doesnt have to be mutually exclusive from one another.

Ill be there. If you see someone with a huge camera and a large tripod, thats me. Ill be spotting up the front end of the park for premium pictures. Wont be hard to miss me with a huge tripod, trust me! LOL I gotta go back to Columbus zoo with my new lens...Nothing will be too far away! I keep revisiting this thread and I look at my schedule to try and get back to Columbus Zoo.

But both are considered Hypers. Which is valid for the argument because I can easily say, having been on both a B&M and a Vekoma flyer, they are nothing alike either. Same "types" from different manufacturers - thats what he was talking about.

That was me for awhile but I bought a sling pack (That whenever I get another piece of glass...Ill have to retire - the 100-400 barely fits!) that makes it easy and discreet. Hopefully Saturday night or Sunday well have another huge update. Im going to focus on as many as I can, but I am looking focus on Raptor, Wicked Twister (Might as well do Windseeker day photos while Im over that way) and if I get lucky, Mantis. Nice, colorful rides. Forecast calls for partly cloudy and 86. Im hoping less cloud and more sun. Also going to try and be there first thing so I can take advantage of the BEST time for coaster photos, morning! Sun's light always gives me the best colors and lighting conditions.

EXACTLY. That's how I am. I love time lapse and I'm getting better at anticipating the results but this made me do a double take on the lcd screen when I checked it out. You get me, lool.

You can do better even with a point and shoot! Try this: does your camera have a timer mode? You were getting massive shake from simply pressing the shutter button. I don't have a shutter relesae cable yet so this is how I get around it. Set the timer mode on, focus, press button, then step away. You have less control but it should stop vibrating by the 2 or 10 seconds and then it'll take the pic. Try it at home, see if you have that. Pics should come out clean and shake free!

Multi-year project. I heard 3 years I believe. I have a friend whos dad was contracted to help with Magnum and from him I heard around 3 years. I dont see them doing any painting once the years start and theres still a nice chunk of the ride to do. Especially the taller, more difficult sections.

Its the same images I believe. I uploaded them (plus more) to TPR to get the higher resolution up here.

Steve, thanks for the shout out! Humbled by that. Btw, I knew it would be irresistible after I got those shots. Heck, I'm trying to find another time to get up there for more night time shooting! Good stuff. You own a tripod? Its basically an absolute necessity. You had some there that were very cool. Ill be playing with shutter speeds to get different effects by exposing the shots only for certain amounts of time. Too long and it all blurs together. too shot, it doesn't look as cool as the solid "UFO" style photos. One of my shots is my background at work. Which happens to be a dual monitor setup LOL Good stuff again and I love your insight into the park. ----EDIT---- Yes, the Tetris shapes you get are from the nature of the LED's and how they are operated. They change color instantly, NOT gradually from one color to another. So with the right shutter speed you can time it to get those effects. So many other lights either blur from one color to the next or simply fade in and out. Because the LED's change so instantaneously and the way they move, these patterns pop up. At least thats my take. Ill know more next time I get to spend an hour taking shots around there. Im going to be hunting around the park with my big lens to find a really unique spot to get some more awesome pics from.

Well thats because you cant find a day when there isnt someone waiting in line. However, I did ride SkyHawk 4 consecutive times without getting off on Saturday. I was even instructed to stay if I wanted and then asked nicely to stay on by the desperate ride op Love re-rides at CP. Only re-rides Ive gotten there are SkyHawk, Raptor, Magnum, Raptor and Millie. The last 4 during the late, great "Ride Nights" where you had to pay like 30 bucks and the only rides open were the top 5 or so. These were the days/nights between halloweekends and the parks traditional "closing" during the weekdays. They did it one or two years. I rode Raptor 9 straight times near the back without getting off till my dad just couldnt handle the punishment anymore LOL

Morning hours provide the best angle and color of the sun. It tends to be more crisp and provide a sky free of haze. You also get the BLUE-est skies between like 9-1030 and right before dusk before the tint turns yellow. The blue tint is mostly from your white balance and tone being off. You do have to change it throughout the day to get the correct color or have a program like photoshop or lightroom do it for you afterwards. But trust me, mid-day are the WORST. The sky ends up being whited out in most photos around mid-day. Just some tips, I saw your comment about blue tint and not being a morning person. Trust me, youll find the best lighting conditions then long as you can adjust the tint out later. Great TR. keep it comin.

Bingo. When you're chewing up wheels faster than sticks of bubblegum that's cause for concern. Never mind people greying or blacking out. Seriously. Sure the park doesn't want anyone hurt but considering the maintenance was going to get out of hand it was smart to nip it right away and find a sensible cure while still maintaining the rides intensity which they look to have done.

Except its what, a measly 25-30 bucks? And I believe those who own NL1 will get NL2 for discount...so you can get used to the sim now, enjoy it for all it is and whenever NL2 comes out (You could be waiting another year at least - even his updates take awhile) you get NL2 for discount. Win win situation. This isnt like buying a 60 dollar Madden game a month before the new one comes out.

Good stuff. Makes me miss two of my favourite parks.

You can email Mad Data with a host of info (if you remember the original email, thats the best) but theyll work with ya to get your key back and a link to a download.

There will be plenty more shots like that. Cool thing is being able to zoom in on sections of track like that to single it out. My goal is to photograph each ride and get as many shots of the track itself. Like the above picture. Then lots with riders. Sort of like someplace you can look at every aspect of a ride. Take the whole thing in in incredible detail. Thats why these were just examples. But I threw in the shot above as well as the wheel assembly and front of Maverick. The wheel assembly is pretty sweet too.

I was only there for 3-4 hours. I plan to do this for every ride there by the end of the year. aka comprehensive gallery.

Aww, cute kid! The Columbus Zoo rocked my socks off. I am 10min from the Toledo Zoo which holds its own in this country (I think like a top 20 Zoo) but wow, the Columbus Zoo has amazing exhibits, its HUGE and has such a great collection of animals. I cant wait to get back with my new lens... Some good shots in there! Good TR.

haha, I've been so busy that I haven't kept up with all the threads. lol @ that first solid yellow bolded font... Holy crap...that thread is amazing! Good thing I have some actual photography background through my college as well as a few years now researching, taking criticism from photogs and having a few friends on FB who are professionals who I regularly browse their stuff and comment and ask questions. Good joke now! LOL sorry that one buzzed my head. I love Hanno's work, definitely someone with a great eye. I hope to add to his awesomeness here and ultimately, it would be awesome if once I get a solid number of photos that Cedar Fair would use my stuff for promotion. Considering its all their property anyways, might as well say my stuff is being used right?! I try to combine my knowledge of coasters, how they are built, designed and the nerd side with the fun side and come up with pictures that enthusiasts are like "WOW That looks awesome!" and then just a general person thinks "man, that makes me want to ride it!" My general goal each time I go out and shoot. I should send em my batch of windseeker shots. Pretty sure no ones taken any like those yet (well, that I've seen!) Thanks for the comments and I WILL take criticism in stride. In fact, only means my stuff looks better next time around. Pretty humbled that this thread made the front page, didn't expect that! So if you have suggestions to make certain photos better OR, suggestions in general for pictures around the park, tell me here. Ill see what I can do. I'm sure there are lots of you out there with these "I wish there was a picture of _____" but for whatever reason haven't seen or gotten it. Maybe I can. Its worth a shot.

Beemer - I don't consider these final products. It was a test bed of stuff. Ill analze what worked and what didn't and hopefully in a few weeks, start taking the real shots. Also playing with the ISO to get acceptable levels of noise. The 40D does a really good job with noise but still, to stop objects you need lots of light and fast speeds. Anyways, I have the metatags...its hard to pass one of my photos off as your own in front of me. I just know them that well. Not sure how watermarking would help curb the negative nancies and the single rider debate though LOL