Daily Photo Tour - The Morning Bite

Monstro always catches my attention. I can't help but to be drawn to that gigantic bite! On a really awesome morning I caught this shot while walking around an empty Fantasyland. It's interesting to capture different areas of Disneyland in a lighting that you've never shot before. This was one of those moments. If you've ever been early on a winter's morning, you'll be able to experience the amazing golden glow that seems to encompass the entire park. Fantasyland is a gem during this time. This lucky whale gets to soak it up every morning.

Daily Photo Tour - A Morning Cup of Tea

I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who can jump into a teacup intended to spin them into oblivion first thing in the morning. I've never been one for sudden movements that early; I like to ease myself into the day. So naturally, I sat this one out and used the opportunity to take a photo of Matthew and Kevin spinning like no one's business. They wanted to contribute some additional movement to my image so I'm pretty sure they spun faster than anyone else out there, laughing hysterically the whole time.

Daily Photo Tour - 'Tis an Elegant Merry-Go-Round Horse

This beautiful carousel piece can be found in the Jolly Holiday Bakery as you make your way through the line deciding what sort of yummy thing to eat. Just about everything in there is a reference to the film. It's hard to imagine a better way to get around than on a merry-go-round horse with Mary Poppins. You might say that it's practically perfect in every way.

Daily Photo Tour - Stars and Stripes and Steam

One of my favorite parts of riding the Mark Twain is standing on the top deck and watching the steam. It floats off into the sky and lingers as though it weren't ready to leave. Those steady sounding puffs thrust the vessel along the river and before you know it, it's time for you to leave and make way to your next adventure.

Daily Photo Tour - Lighting Up the Emporium

If you haven't gathered already, I'm a fan of the light fixtures throughout the Disneyland Resort. This chandelier especially caught my eye with the beautiful glass mosaic and woodwork framing it. It's definitely cause to look up once in a while when you're in the shops. Just watch out for the racks in the process; I learned this the hard way.

Daily Photo Tour - You Don't Need a Magic Feather

That's right, you don't. That was the lesson from Dumbo. The secret to achieving the things you thought were impossible is really no secret at all, it's faith. Fear, doubt and unbelief are only hinderances and distractions. Can you believe that Disneyland has been around for over 58 years? What a testament to the fulfillment of Walt's hope for his original "Magic Kingdom" to be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. I can't help but wonder if he knew all along what it would become. I imagine that, in many ways, his foresight saw well beyond 58. It's pretty obvious he believed in what he was doing and that that was a source of confidence and boldness. He didn't need a magic feather and neither do you.

Daily Photo Tour - A Balloon Vendor on Main Street

One of the best parts of walking through the tunnel into a world unlike the one outside it is happening upon the street vendors selling their wares. The magic to be found for sale is easily lost on us as we grow older and have to figure out paying for it but as kids, we aren't concerned with that, our parents have got it covered. As far as we're concerned, those vendors might as well be selling gold. You can tell by the way kids carry balloons and the like, bouncing up and down, waving them in the air with such enthusiasm and freedom. The magic, of course, isn't in the object itself but in the imagination given it and the opportunity to bless a child with something that brings them joy.

Daily Photo Tour - Details in the Dock

Oh the stories these oft overlooked details could tell, whether it be their imagineered backstories or their real park ones. What river adventures did they take part in? Did they save a life? I'm sure things like this get replaced as needed and that's probably more frequently than we realize, but can you imagine how many guests this rope and this life preserver have seen and conversely, how few have taken notice of them? How many conversations they've given ear to? What special moments they played part to by some obscure degree of separation? How wonderful that must be for their craftsmen. Beauty is in the details. God is in the details. Taking a moment to enjoy the details is taking a moment to enjoy the present and making a decision to lead a rich life.

Daily Photo Tour - Walt & His Lilly Belle

This framed picture of Walt & Lillian Disney resides in the Lilly Belle presidential car. Even with all of the interesting things inside, I'm always drawn to this photo the most.

Daily Photo Tour - Inventing the Future

The interesting thing about this building is that many forget what it stands for. Even within seconds of stepping onto the never ending carousel the idea of the future is forgotten, and it seems that all guests want to do is be entertained. Well, they're in the right place, but there's more to Disneyland than just being entertained.

Innoventions is a place where imagination can directly be cultivated into invention. It's a place where the dreams of the future can be fashioned right before your eyes. I'm not talking about fancy gadgets or video games that seem to flourish in this place, but rather the seeds of ingenuity that inspire. The creation of one thing will always enact another to create something more resourceful, efficient, or just plain better. The concept of Innoventions has the capability to do this.

I've always felt that Disneyland has been a huge source of ideas, creation, and ingenuity. I've also felt that Tomorrowland should be the heart and soul of our future, and in a small way continually ask the difficult question, "What's next?"

An Inspiring TED Talk - Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

One place that I've found that answers the question of, "What's next" is TED. I've been watching a few TED talks the past couple days, and felt that this picture and this talk seemed to line up quite nicely. This girl has got a bright future ahead of her. It's refreshing to hear such a young person speak such inspiring words.

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

Daily Photo Tour - The Light at the End of a Rainy Evening

We haven't had many outings to Disneyland on rainy days but we always enjoy when we do. It sets a different tone in the park. The crowds are certainly a lot lighter and that, of course, is wonderful. Aside from the that, the attractions and theming take on a whole new disposition. Colors against a gray sky. Lights glistening on soaked pavement. Wiping a bench off to get a dry seat after a day of running around a park you have to mostly to yourself. Each of these things, and more, creates a unique experience and contribute to some great photo opportunities.

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Daily Photo Tour - An Evening at Snow White's Grotto

There's an ebb and flow to maintaining a blog that you don't really consider as you embark on your first post. There's immense excitement or inspiration that seems to launch you head first into whatever it is that you're passionate enough to blog about. This is enough to sustain you for some time, even years, but after a while it wanes and as the excitement lessens, you find yourself searching for some source of inspiration to drive you forward. I think there's this misleading idea that if you're doing what you love you're constantly inspired (what a life that would be). What you don't hear about very often is what happens when you're struggling to find inspiration. After a few years of little to no sleep and complete disregard for what I was ingesting (practically living off of coffee for the first two years), I learned my lesson. I was burned out, riding on the fumes of the inspiration I once had. I wish someone would've told me sooner that it isn't enough to depend solely on inspiration; you actually have to balance your priorities and take care of yourself in the process. When you depend too much on inspiration or emotion to drive you, you create a roller coaster for yourself. You never know if that brilliant idea or spark of excitement will show up to spur you and what if it doesn't? Rather than drudging through those times, trying to hand crank a well that feels like it's been dry for some time, I welcome it as a challenge to push myself through how I'm feeling emotionally, because that's really all it is, emotion. I sit and draw, edit a photo or brainstorm new ideas for film projects or the website re-design. When I do that, creativity meets me half way and stuff "magically" happens and gets accomplished and it feels amazing. It actually feels better to push through and accomplish something rather than allow how I'm feeling determine how much I get accomplished in a day or how well I do it. I still get inspired quite often, but I don't allow it to determine my level of creativity.

Daily Photo Tour - Mickey's Mailbox

You may have noticed that I have a thing for mailboxes. I didn't even know that Mickey had his own mailbox in Toontown. You'd be surprised how excited I was when I found this out. I think the most intriguing thing about the Disneyland mailboxes is that you can actually send a letter from inside the park to anyone in the world. The mail just gets routed to Anaheim Post Office. I've never done this before, but I think it would be a really fun way to communicate!

Daily Photo Tour - Arabian Days

Matthew and I have let ourselves slack on physical activity. This became apparent from the soreness that followed a recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park, though in our defense, we climbed rocks and stayed up all night watching the Milky Way. That and listening to coyotes. We decided this morning that today would be the end of postponing exercise and we went for a long walk, more of a trek really, up down hills around our home. It was a great way to slow down, really talk and reflect on things. As is typical, it's easy to get caught up with all the things on our "To Do" list, which brings us to tonight's post. The Canal Boats are such a great way to slow down and appreciate details. Everything surrounding your cruise is so ornate. It's not hard to imagine yourself in one of the picturesque settings, in this case, a hot day in an Arabian marketplace.

Daily Photo Tour - The Jungles of the World

Have you taken a trip on It's a Small World lately? I don't get to ride too often, mostly because it seems to be a less popular ride for some. It might be the consistency of that familiar tune, or the slow gentle pace as you drift through the flume. You cannot discredit though the art design behind this ride, or the detailed scenes of each room. There is always a few new characters to find, a beautiful landscape you've never seen, or a new perspective from a different culture. That's kinda like our world now isn't it?

Daily Photo Tour - Evening Blooms

Before choosing an image to post tonight, I did something I haven't done in some time. I decided to sift through all of my images from the last three years. I got about a quarter of the way through before I started to regret my decision. Who knew someone could take so many pictures. I found that most of them have already been used while the rest well, they're not even worth discussing. This is one I almost completely forgot about. It was taken almost two years ago now, but I still remember the evening I took it. Doing a balancing act with the railing because I had left my tripod behind yet again. This is not a mistake I make very often anymore. I've learned my lesson with the time I've spent in post making up for it. Nonetheless, it was fun trying to get this and I'm sure even more entertaining for Matthew to watch.

Daily Photo Tour - The Smile That Comes Out Mad

I always crack up at the Enchanted Tiki Room pre-show. The Tikis mostly all have humorous introductions but I think my favorite is Pele's. Her voice is so intense when she explains how she's so sad that her smile comes out mad. Texting translation - >:(

Notice how the bromeliad flowers around Pele are all red, the color synonymous with anger... and fire... and lava...? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the bright folks at Disney did that intentionally, which is awesome. Interesting anecdotal note - pineapples are a member of the bromeliad family and the only one to produce edible fruit. Dole whip sure sounds good on a warm night like tonight.

Daily Photo Tour - We Are Go For Launch

The Space Mountain queue is something that I've been wanting to photograph for a long time. I love it in there. It's a challenge but what's life without a few hurdles to jump, mountains to climb or obscure theme park pictures to take?

Daily Photo Tour - The Horseshoe Lighting Revue

As we were waiting for the next show to begin, we made our way around the Golden Horseshoe to explore different angles and details. One of the things I love in there is all ornate lighting. This chandelier in particular caught my eye as it served as the perfect foreground to the grand stage.

Daily Photo Tour - An Evening in Toontown

Toontown is its best at night. Not just because kids have petered out and left it quite open, though that in itself creates a different and unusual atmosphere there. Toontown's colors and textures pop most after the sun has set. The land takes on life that's as electric as the Gag Factory surprise door. The caveat attached to this reminder is that Toontown is typically closed at night for the fireworks so it can be hit or miss to see it. Make sure and enjoy it if you do!