As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I am starting to learn how to use my new (used) Cannon EOS Rebel. I've read Lizard Cop's photog links and other online tutorials. I took the camera up north for a long weekend and experimented. I would love to hear your comments, good or bad, on them. I had a little help from mother nature.
These are nicely exposed and composed. I'd have preferred to see more shots in landscape rather than portrait, or at least some cropping. While full frame portrait mode is completely valid for some shots - it balances nicely in the second shot from the left (above), and in the water lilies (#18 & 19). In others (the sunsets - #7 & 8) you're left with too much "material" either at the top or bottom of the frame. The top of #7 simply runs out of interesting cloud detail, at the expense of that really nice dark water in the foreground you see in #8. #8, however, has too much of that dark water. I'd have cropped both of those. Of your landscape-mode shots, I think #16 is a much stronger image than the one you selected above. 16 has a very good use of diagonals, and a strong subject that is well-placed (off-center) to accentuate the feeling of motion. It's a refreshing contrast to the other shots, which are all static and balanced on verticals and horizontals. I also like #11 for the very nice cloud reflections, plus good foreground, mid-ground, and background - something of interest in all three sections.
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You have some really great photos! The 2nd water lilies pic and the rowboat photo both look like something you'd see in a calendar. I also really like the photo of the stairs although I'd crop it just above the Waubee Lake sign to emphasize the drama of the stairs more. I took one similar to that a few years ago and it's still one of my favourite pics I've ever taken.
I'm not a great photographer so I'm not sure I am one to critique somebody else's photography, but I know what I like to use when I make my scrapbook pages, which I basically consider to be art and I do feel I'm qualified to critique based on that. So I can tell you what I would use if I were making a photobook of your visit to the lake. (In fact, I'd love your permission to use a couple of those photos in some of my scrapping pages!!)
I would totally use #13, 16, 19, 21, 25 and 28 pretty much as is. I think I would actually crop most of the sky out of #11, some of the water from #14, the forest out of #23 at about the base of the trees above the flower, and some of the water out of #24 (rule of thirds). Love the drama of the monochromatic colours in 24 - once cropped that would make an awesome photobook page. I like the idea behind #29, but wouldn't use it as is... that would take some photoshopping to get the boat to stand out a little better, maybe I'd make it a weathered red or something, and I'd play around with the trees a bit. I do like how the boat is framed a little off centre, but I wish that you had been a little lower and standing a little more to the right so that the dock or whatever that is could be seen a little better too. Like Dave, I'd do some cropping on the portrait sunset photos. I love the cloud/smoke over the silhouette of the trees and the golden water is very eye-catching. I like the interesting perspective and texture of #32, but wouldn't likely put that in a photobook (can't tell you why though but there's just something about it that I think it's not really a photobook page).
Thank you so much Cam, Dave and Donna for your comments. I didn't really think about cropping too much. I have to remember that. I had more landscape shots but had a bit of trouble with my exposures being way over or under, so they didn't make it. Photoshop is my friend but it can only do so much.
The photo of the rowboat was a fluke. I was taking lake shots as he was rowing in and a speed boat just went by. I didn't have much time before he would have been at the shore. Maybe I shouldn't think too much next time
And Donna, you don't have to be a photographer to have a good eye. Just as, my being a designer/artist, isn't going to make me a professional photographer. It's just a different media to use and learn. Also, you are welcome to use them if you want.
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Michele
I'm living the dream 20 minutes from Disney! Next trip...tomorrow. Follow me on instagram at ShirtsByShell
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:love the sky and lake shots! 
but there's just something about it that I think it's not really a photobook page).
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