photos

Flora, Fauna, and Merry-weather…

kanniduba1 Comment

We were fortunate enough to visit Disney during the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot.  (Zan would say we were UN-fortunate, because I went all-out-camera-crazy that day.)  The gardens and displays are magnificent, and the scent of the roses are all-encompassing.  Lovely.

I also took a “whole lotta” flower and animal photos over at Animal Kingdom.  It was a treat to visit there on a 67 degree day, as I had the energy to look around.  Anytime I’ve been there previously it’s been in the 90’s and swelteringly jungle-like.

So enjoy a few of my favorites, and check out flickr if you want to see more.  😉

 

Fireworks Night…

kanniduba10 Comments

Okay, so I took the girls to the fireworks, leaving Zan and Baby Boy home.  We thought getting there two hours before the parade, (three hours before the fireworks,) would give us plenty of time to shop a bit, grab some ice cream, and find a perfect location from which to view the show.  Well, as we walked into the park, we noticed that many of the curbside spots were already taken.  There was NO WAY I was going to sit on a curb for two hours waiting, especially with my six year old in tow.  So we did do a bit of shopping, and grabbed our ice cream, then headed out to locate a spot about an hour and ten minutes before parade time.  As you will already guess, there were no curbside spots…so we settled for an area against a fence, with a close-up view of the castle a bit to our left.

It turned out to be a very good spot, despite the fact that hoardes of people were walking by us, running over our toes from time to time with their strollers and wheelchairs because they were too busy looking at the castle, yelling at their children, or rushing to get out before the street was blockaded.

The girls handled the wait extremely good naturedly, until twenty minutes before the parade……….

“Mom, what would someone do if they had to go to the bathroom right now?”

“Someone would have to hold it.”

Two minutes later….

“Mom, how would someone find the bathroom in this crowd and get back here without losing their spot?”

“Someone wouldn’t.  They would leave this spot and lose it after sitting here for an hour, and someone wouldn’t be able to find a good spot again in this crowd.”

Three minutes later….

“Mom….”

“Is someone about to pee their pants?”

Tears….”Yes…I’m sorry!!!!!”

So, after asking a kind lady sitting next to us to fend off the masses, leaving our sweatshirts as insurance of our return, the three of us huddled close together and shoved as fast as we could to the bathroom.  After nearly being trampled, and being stopped dead in a throng of frustrated people, after having words with a few extremely inconsiderate people bullying my girls, we made our way back to our sanctuary, and the nice people who held our spot, just in time for the start of the parade. 

I took about 350 photos of fireworks, most of which were blurry duds as I couldn’t use the little tripod I had bought for the occasion.  But here is a small sampling of the few that came out mediocre. 

For the record, you MUST see the Wishes Fireworks show in Magic Kingdom if you go.  But be prepared…no fireworks show thereafter will ever compare.

(And you may want to come dressed in armor—and don’t forget the port-a-potty.)

What Makes Disney Disney

kanniduba9 Comments

It was very interesting to go to Disneyworld with a fairly newborn photographer’s eye. 

I realized how much I have learned…if nothing else, I’ve learned to see.

I remember years ago, taking five rolls of film…most of it was scenes…cluttered scenes.  Later, I remember saying, “I took way too many pictures of ‘stuff’…won’t do that again.”  We went again years later and I only took photos of loved ones in various locations.  Although I hold some of those photos dear, many didn’t capture their essences. 

This time, I took lots of photos of loved ones, as well as many, many, many photos of “stuff.”  But they were deliberate, and the subjects are more clearly defined. 

I found myself in awe of the details…these are what separate Disney properties from other amusement parks.  The architectural detail is quite amazing.  And for some reason, I was drawn to photographing the lights around the various parks.  Why?  I’m not sure—but I noticed them…saw them.  I don’t think I had ever noticed them before. 

So here I will give you a sampling of the details that caught my eye over the nine days we spent there.  If you’d like to see more, check out my flickr———–> 

(There was a birds’ nest in the next one.)

And finally, here’s me in Mickey’s mirror.  🙂

Yep, that\'s me...in Mickey\'s mirror.

 

Strangers…Taking inspiration from Shrew.

kanniduba3 Comments

So here’s a small sample of my “Stranger Collection.”  You knew that with over 1200 photos, some of them HAD to be sneaky pictures of unsuspecting strangers!  Shrew inspired me to look at my surroundings with a new eye, and boy…people watching took on a whole new meaning! 

I had lots of “walking-the-baby-around-while-he-slept-in-his-stroller” time, while Zan took the girls to the fun stuff.  I decided to use those times as photography moments.

And so, I present to you…

Pointing people.

And lost people.

And tired people.

Of course, costumed people.

And, my favorite–sleeping people.

(Funny enough, I was actually going to take a photo of that sign, but when I pointed my camera at it, I realized that I had a perfect, unsuspecting, sleeping stranger sitting beneath it!  YES!!)