Cinderella Castle

Cinderella Castle, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

People ask me almost constantly why I love Disney so much, and how it is that I can keep going back. For me, it's not a hard question to answer. See, when I'm at Disney the world just seems right, and that's by design. Disney represents everything that's good in the world. It's that perfect ideal, where everything is 'neat and pretty, so on with the show'.

This shot represents that for me. It harkens back to those great promo pictures of the Magic Kingdom. Beautiful flowers, colorful umbrellas, a perfect Disney Blue sky, families moving to and fro and that castle. That one enduring icon that is the hallmark of Disney everywhere.

I'm not naive, I know that much like the castle, the Disney ideal is just a facade. But, wouldn't it be nice if more of our lives were like the Disney ideal. That below the surface people really were just good and honest, and our lives were what we expected them to be.

Wouldn't that be great!

Patrick's Hat

Patrick's Hat, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

I love Raglan Road at Downtown Disney. The food is good, the cider is cold and the atmosphere is just raucous enough to make it fun.

For those that haven't been, there is a bronze statue of Patrick Kavanagh (author of the poem the pub is named after) sitting on a bench outside of the restaurant. Kids are always climbing on it and families line up to have their pictures taken on the bench. That all adds up to a very difficult shot to get. The solution, i discovered, is to have a long lens and not try to shoot the entire statue. The result is a picture of the Patrick's hat.

Biplane

Airplane Model, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

So I've had a love for airplanes since I was a small child. My parents used to take me to a local airport in South Florida on the weekends, mostly because it was free, but I was hooked even then.

I have been in and out of airplane cockpits from the time I was young and, true to what Da Vinci said, "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." You can ask anybody that knows me, with even the slightest hint of airplane noise I will just about give myself whiplash trying to find it.

Hi, My name is Mitch and I'm addicted to airplane noise...

These days most of my flying is spent wedged into a "plush" and "roomy" airline seat as I hurtle across the country in a pressurized metal tube. Oh well, it's still flying!

Pier at Sunset

Pier at Sunset, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

I picked a sunset to blog about today because there here was a beautiful sunset this evening, which is a rare occurrence these days.

What made it even better is that the sun was setting on my way home from work and that means that the days are getting longer! I am ready for spring and the summer. It seems to me that this has been a long, cold and rainy winter here and I'm pretty well tired of it, as is evidenced by my incessant whining/blogging about things relating to our winter weather!

I'm ready for warmer temperatures, but the bad news about spring and summer is that shots like these will become tougher to get as the sun moves higher in the sky. No worry, though, I think the tradeoff is well worth it!

Bouquet of Flowers

Bouquet of Flowers, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

This is my second post about flowers and based on the reaction of some to my last post, I know I'm going to take so grief. Oh well, I can take it!

It was another cold, gray day here and to top it off it was misting and drizzly. It reminded me of Seattle, hence the choice of this shot for my blog post tonight.

At Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA, they sell these bouquets of flowers right off the farm. You can be there when the farmers bring in the flowers and watch them wrap them up into these beautiful arrangements. You can buy them for just a few dollars have beautiful fresh flowers for your house.

The flowers are different every day so chances are that any shot you get of one of these bouquets will truly be one of a kind.

Destin Beach

Destin Beach, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

Today was a gray, dreary, cold day here in North Florida. Right now it is about 40 and raining. Elsewhere in the country it is far worse with downright frigid temperatures and, probably at this point, mountains of snow.

So, I think it's a great time to post a shot of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Hopefully this will help some of us feel warm and maybe even a little bit of sand between our toes.

It always seems to help, no matter how bad things get.

Point Wilson Lighthouse

Point Wilson Lighthouse, originally uploaded by Brian E Mitchell.

This wonderful lighthouse is the Point Wilson Lighthouse on Fort Warden just outside of Port Townsend, WA. It was built in 1913 and acts as a beacon at the entrance to Admiralty inlet and helps to connect Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I was lucky enough to travel to see this lighthouse back in 2008 during a trip up to the Pacific Northwest and I just recently went back through some of my old pictures and came across this shot. It made me think that I need to create a photography project for myself and I have chosen lighthouses.

I grew up near the Jupiter Inlet lighthouse and have loved lighthouses since childhood. So I am embarking on an effort to photograph more lighthouses.

I am blessed that I get to travel quite a bit for work so my work is cut out for me to find the lighthouses that are out there in the places that I get to go.

Wish me luck!