Waterworld!

Yes, during an 8-hour stopover in Los Angeles, I had time to visit Universal Studios, and boy was it a lot of fun -- I didn't have time to see everything but I got to watch the Terminator 2: 3D, Shrek 4D and Backdraft shows as well as the Jurassic Park and the Mummy rides as well as this one, the Waterworld show, which only happens twice a day. As you'll see from the next few photos, this show is one of the most interesting live-action shows I've ever seen. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Waterworld denizen

This guy at the Waterworld show in Universal Studio LA is quite funny -- his job, before the show begins, is to douse the audience with buckets of water. No joke! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Making a turn

You know, I was really sitting pretty far away from the action but thanks to the 18-200mm VR I had, I managed to really fill the frame with all the action. This panned shot is not super-sharp, but it's actually not too bad considering that it's darned far away and the action was so fast. Sometimes, I spend so much time concentrating on the shot I actually don't get to watch the show much! hahaha. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Flying high

This is not a well-framed shot in my book but I just had to post this because it's absolutely the highlight of the Waterworld show in Universal Studios LA. What you're looking at is a full-sized model of a plane that's being LAUNCHED off a ramp and free-flying towards the audience! Amazingly the plane will land in the water just about 15feet short of the audience. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Jumping the gun

Some of the stunts at the Waterworld show in Universal Studios LA are pretty amazing -- just check out the water scooter jump and how it's narrowly missing the stuntman on the right! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6VR

The end of Waterworld

The whole Wateworld show at Universal Studios LA ends with a bang, and lots of pyrotechnics. Just a note here about shooting these kinds of photos -- I know some people believe you can only shoot action by using a super-high burst mode but let me tell you, I've never used the continuous shooting mode on my camera. Instead I rely on being able to anticipate when the "moment" is going to be. Contrary to popular belief, I find this method actually produces more keepers than if I used the 5frames-per-second my camera is capable of. BTW click on the photo to see the larger version to fully appreciate the beauty of the fireworks! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR