Saturday, June 25, 2011

Old Ford Tractor

Old Ford Tractor by Brian E Mitchell
Old Ford Tractor, a photo by Brian E Mitchell on Flickr.
1/320 125mm f3.2 0EV
I love old tractors like I love old cars.

There was a display of old tractors at the hot air balloon festival Shanon and I went to last weekend. Most of the tractors were restored but some, like this one, were still in pretty rough shape. I think that gives it a ton of character.

The old guys that are restoring the tractors, who are characters themselves, were there to talk about the work they're doing to bring these antiques new life. They're a good group of guys and they really love their tractors.

I know that in a lot of places tractors, and the restoration of them, is not terribly popular, but the tractor in this picture helped to build this country. To me it isn't just an antique, it's part of our history.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Fort Morgan Arches

Fort Morgan Arches by Brian E Mitchell
Fort Morgan Arches, a photo by Brian E Mitchell on Flickr.
1/40 75mm f4.5 -1EV
History is a big deal to me and I love old forts.

This shot is from Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay.

The fort was completed in 1834 and saw service in the Civil War providing blockade coverage for the bay by the Confederacy and then by the Union after it was captured.

One of the most incredible things to me is that in 1900 the fort had four 12" breech loading guns that could launch a 1,046 pound shell 8 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.

It is amazing to me what you can do with a really big gun and a LOT of powder to push a shell!

These long arched hallways provided structural support for the building itself, gave the men that were stationed at the fort a means to move around and served as a way to resupply different parts of the fort with everything from provisions to ammunition and gunpowder.

All of this was done in the 19th and 20th century, long before we had the technology we do today, and the fort is still standing.

I wonder how many things we build today will be around as long as this one has...

Monday, June 20, 2011

White & Purple

White & Purple.jpg by Brian E Mitchell
White & Purple.jpg, a photo by Brian E Mitchell on Flickr.
1/640 200mm f2.8 0EV
I haven't blogged about a flower shot in awhile, so i think I'm due.

Flowers fascinate me as I've mentioned here before. What fascinates me almost as much is the incredible amount of time that Disney spends on them.

Of the roughly 50,000 people that Disney employs in Orlando only about 750 of them work in the horticulture department. In 2003 there were 175,000 trees, four million shrubs, 13,000 rose bushes, and 2,000 acres of turf, at least according to National Geographic.

I'm sure that today there are at least as many plants, trees, and bushes as there were in 2003. All of them maintained by less than a thousand people.

They replace hundreds if not thousands of plants every night throughout all four Disney parks and the Downtown Disney area. Most of this is done long after the guest have departed, well hidden from public view. They work through the night so that in the morning the park's landscaping looks fresh and new.

So the next time you're at Disney take a minute to look at the landscaping. People you will probably never see spend their lives making it look just exactly right. All the way down to one small White & Purple flower.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sassagoula

Sassagoula by Brian E Mitchell
Sassagoula, a photo by Brian E Mitchell on Flickr.
1/3200 200mm f2.8 0EV
The Sassagoula Steamboat Company is one of the stranger named "attractions" at Walt Disney World. There are no steamboats involved and, so far as I know, the waterway you float down is not the Sassagoula river.

What it is, though, is a wonderfully relaxing pontoon boat ride between Downtown Disney and the Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside resorts. There are no crowds and no fastpasses required. Just a simple, quiet boat ride.

I particularly enjoy the ride at dusk. If you leave from one of the resorts you float past the newly renovated Treehouse Villas, which as the sun sets are both eery and inviting all at the same time, if such a thing is possible. After a few more turns you end up next to the Saratoga Springs resort which really takes on a lot of character in the evening light.

At the end of the ride you end up at Downtown Disney for a nice dinner, a stroll past some pretty cool stores and maybe an after dinner drink at the House of Blues.

Not bad for a simple pontoon boat, eh?

Monday, June 13, 2011

I'm on Alltop!!!

Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Evangelist and creator of Truemors, created Alltop.com. It's a clearing house for blogs and it organizes them by category.

About a month ago I submitted this blog and I got an email this weekend that my blog had been accepted!

Go here alltop.com/photography and scroll all the way down to the bottom (that's where the new guys live) and you'll see a link to this blog.

By the way, the more visits and comments I get the higher up on the Alltop listing I will be. Hint Hint...

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Destin Beach

Destin Beach by Brian E Mitchell
Destin Beach, a photo by Brian E Mitchell on Flickr.
1/640 35mm f11 0EV
Summer is here! The temperatures are up and the days are getting longer.

Summer here in Northwest Florida means that the tourists are filling up the beaches and are convinced that the easiest way to get to their condo on the right side of the road is from the far left lane.

It's hard to get a table at a restaurant and that's only if you can find a parking space and the main highway looks a lot like a frogger game.

There are scores of locals who barely leave the house on the weekends these days and that is a shame because when you get through the traffic, dodge the people crossing the road and make it to the world's most beautiful beaches you are treated to this view.

This makes it all worth it.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Window Where?

Window Where? by Brian E Mitchell
Window Where?, a photo by Brian E Mitchell on Flickr.
1/200 85mm f5.0 -1/3EV

It's no secret that I am a huge Disney fan. One of the reasons is how meticulously they pay attention to detail.

This shot is from the UK Pavilion in Epcot and is a great representation of one of my favorite design elements in the parks, windows. When I posted this picture I asked a simple question, where is this window? The first person who answered was spot on, and they aren't even a big Disney fan.

From the picture they could tell that the window was definitely western european, which narrowed it down to either the Germany, France or UK pavilions. A quick flickr search and bingo, there was another picture of this window.

Disney has done such a good job of theming everything they touch that a non-Disney fan can look at one picture of a window and within just a few minutes tell you where the window is in a park that has hundreds if not thousands of them.

That's just the time they spent on the windows!

This is one of the biggest reasons I love Disney as much as I do and am not afraid to admit it. It's not all about the mouse, it's about the effort that has been taken just to make sure that something as simple as a window looks just the way it should.