Might I Recommend...

... reading the Main Street Gazette's post, Do As Dreamers Do. It is a roundtable discussion answering the question, "What is your favorite nighttime spectacular, past or present, in Walt Disney World?" It is a good read.

Disney World After Dark: Innoventions Plaza

If you have followed this blog for any this blog for any length of time you know how I enjoy taking photographs in the World after dark. It becomes a different world in different light and I feel it takes on a different character as well. It is more, mysterious.


Though it will be hard to tell, this is a High Dynamic Range processed photograph. It is rendered from a single photograph taken with a Nikon D40, then processed through Adobe Photoshop produce copies with varying exposures that were then rendered in Photomatix Pro.


As for the timing, there are two great times to take photographs in the Plaza. One is during IllumiNations. If you can draw yourself away from the nighttime spectacular, you'll find that the Plaza is virtually empty as most everyone is at, you guessed it, IllumiNations. Another time is to linger during your exit from the park. This works best when you watch IllumiNations on the far side of World Showcase. You're a whole park away from the front entrance. Again, take your time.


Oh, and have a tripod with you. The above photograph was taken in Aperture mode with a lens opening of f/10 and an ISO of 200. This was a 10 second exposure. 


So, if you're patient, you can come away with some really nice shots.

Something On A Sunday

Gulf Shores, Alabama  12.29.11

I am committed to continuing to post things here from time to time. True my focus has been shifted to other aspects of life and to other projects, but the space will still be a place where I wish to share.

My wife and I recently returned from a few days at the beach in Gulf Shores. It has been the vacation destination of my family for many years; between 25 and 30 I suppose. It is long been a place where I could go and drop a bag in the corner and reside on the balcony watching the surf. I would simply ask someone to, "Please tap me on the shoulder when we're going home." Otherwise, I was content to do nothing but look out at the water and enjoy the steady rolling and the calming sounds of the waves.

It had been three years since I was last in Gulf Shores and I missed it. It didn't matter that it was not the summer, or that you had to wear a jacket at times. I was back in a familiar haunt and came home refreshed and relaxed having had time to reflect on the days ahead.

With this being my first post of the new year, let me close by wishing you a fulfilling new year. I hope there is something new you wish to do, something exciting you wish to accomplish. All the best!

More to follow...

On Occasion...

On occasion you'll read a book, see a film or perhaps hear a selection of music that will have a dramatic effect on how you view life. It may be a single paragraph in the book, a single line in the film, or a single phrase in the lyric. Yet still, it has the ability to transform.

As we close out this year and look towards the next, I want to share one such instance in my life.

It was a Wednesday evening, October 26 to be precise, and my wife and I had gone to the cinema to see The Way. This is a film written and directed by Emilio Estevez and starring his father, Martin Sheen. The story of The Way is of a father who must travel overseas to recover the body of his son who died while walking the pilgrim route, the El Camino de Santiago. Once there he decides to take the pilgrimage himself and through it, rekindles the relationship with his son, and more importantly, himself.

During a flashback sequence, we see Sheen's character driving his son Daniel (Estevez) to the airport so that he can leave for his pilgrimage. During the drive, Sheen (not looking at his son) says, "this is the life I have chosen." Daniel turns to his father and says, "You don't choose a life dad, you live one." This exchange, coupled with the premise of self-rediscovery, were cause for a transformative occasion in my life!

You see, all too often I would be focused on a destination; a goal. This is not to say that having a destination or a goal is a bad. To the contrary, they are not. Nor are having dreams for what may lie ahead in a near or distant future. However, when the drive towards a destination or the pursuit of a goal obscures or takes away the adventure of the journey, then something is out of balance. This has been my life.

I have spent most of my life looking ahead to what I hoped the next thing to be; to what my plan was for the next month, the next year, or the next five years. Then I began consider what I know to be the truth, which is, that we are not assured our next month, our next year or that we may be able to enjoy what was to come in five years. The truth is that we are only assured of the moment that we have right now.

Does this mean that I will not look ahead? No. I will still look to the future and I will plan for things that I wish to do. My wife and I hope to return to Europe, to travel, and perhaps, to live there again someday. We have cross country train trips we have in mind that we'd like to take. There are places I wish to see that I have yet to see; Venice, Vienna, the Greek Isles, the Isle of Iona, the Grand Canyon, and the list goes on. So yes, I will still look and work towards these things. But, in doing so, I will not forego the privilege and the pleasure of this moment. I hope not to miss an occasion to experience the adventure of life now because I am focused on a later occasion that is not guaranteed.

As we look forward to the coming year and make our resolutions, I suppose you may tally this as my resolution. As it concerns my life, I resolve to live one! That may mean I enjoy stopping to take a photograph or draw a picture. It may be an evening reading a book or laying on the floor playing with the dog. It could be taking a walk with my wife or enjoying a picnic in the park. It is trying a new recipe for dinner or dining at a new restaurant. It is visiting a gallery or strolling through the botanical gardens. It is laying on my back in the yard looking at the clouds or playing with the grandchildren. It could be any number of things that have absolutely nothing to do with some future time and has everything to do with the living life in whatever moment presents itself.

I suppose you can say that in my own way, I too am on a pilgrimage. I am on my own El Camino de Santiago. Along my way I seek to find and reclaim the joy, the adventure, and the complete excitement of what it means to live!

"Buen Camino!"

A Sign Its Saturday

Once more life has kept me tasked in other directions. What with work, an online art course, Christmas play rehearsals and presentations, planning for the holidays, not to mention family, things keep standing between me and here.

But today, I wanted to return for a moment to share A Sign Its Saturday. This sign is somewhat special, in that it is found on an island that has been a favorite spot of one of my best friends. And today is that friends birthday.

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan! I hope you find the paint brush!

Hey there...

It has been a while hasn't it? So, how are you doing? Wonderful I hope. As you can see, the Fall has been pretty busy for me; that is if the lack of posts is any indication. But, it has been. Work is still rather busy, I am finishing up a commitment on one non-profit Board of Directors and in the beginning months of another Board commitment. This new one is on the board of a theater company I help to start some years ago. Oh, and look, there are 99 people regularly following this blog. Wow.

I am taking an art course. Well, it is an art course in that I do draw. But it is really so much more than just drawing.

Yes, I have been busy and I'll stay that way.

Something that also keeps me busy, is dreaming. I am a dreamer and I have no difficulty in admitting as much. Chalk it up to a constant state of wanderlust. I always look ahead to what may be the next thing. It isn't that I lack contentment with where I am at, but more, that I know that there is always something new to experience around the next corner. Taking a course is part of that. Looking at travel sites is another. I am always curious to know, or to dream about, what is next. Having had many adventures, I wish for more.

This photograph, taken from the Impressions de France film, somewhat speaks to this. When I see this couple walking beside the Channel, I like to think that perhaps this is my wife and I in some distant year. We will have grown old together, but still find the joy in seeking out new adventures and... holding hands.

Five Hundred +1

For the 501st post, I am going to take a bit of a break. You see, I do have this obsessive side that requires that I go into the Parks from time to time. And since it has been just six months since I was last there, I thought it was time. So, this morning, I am flying down to Walt Disney World for a few days.

Actually, I'll be there until mid-afternoon on the 18th. There our several of us from our local gathering of Disney fans who are converging for a few days of fun. Oh, and we'll be enjoying a few trips around the World Showcase to experience the aromas and tastes of the International Food & Wine Festival.

If you are a friend on Facebook, or if you follow me on Twitter, look for a photograph now and then. Better still, if you're going to be in The World anytime between today and next Tuesday, look me up. Maybe we can say hello.

So, until next time, keep breathing!

More to follow...