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!