Southernly Beauty

So here it is, my very first Disneyland photo. It almost doesn’t feel real to be posting my very own Disneyland shots. I have dreamt of going to Disneyland (literally sometimes) practically my entire life. The problem is that Disneyland is 2200 miles away. To most people this doesn’t seem like much of a problem with modern air travel being what it is. There’s a bit of a caveat for me however. I unfortunately have a lung condition that restricts my ability to fly. This of course meant my only option was making the 3-day drive (6-day round trip!)

Since I started photographing Walt Disney World back in 2010 I knew that one day I would have to find a way to make it to the original park Walt built, Disneyland. Work being what it is though I never had available or could take off the time that would be necessary to make the trip a reality. That is until April of this year when I quit my corporate job I had held for 11 years and started working as a contractor for an amazing company. Because of this change I now work from the comfort of my home every day or wherever my travels decide to take me. And so, the very first thing I did when I quit my old job was start planning to make my ultimate dream of visiting Disneyland a reality.

To be continued…

A bit about this shot though. Disneyland is quite cramped compared to Walt Disney World and not knowing my way around was a weird experience for me. It felt and looked like Disney, but I felt a bit lost. Fortunately, the wonderful Disneyland local photographer Gregg Cooper (no relation) met up with me on my 2^nd day of shooting and gave me the VIP guided photo tour. I ended up getting some of my best shots this day so I think it goes without saying Gregg played a big part in me not totally noobing up the place. For this particular shot, I was actually sitting underneath Gregg’s tripod as he took a similar shot. Unlike Disney World, security DOES NOT play around and taking turns isn’t always possible. I’ll stop there as this is a subject I will be talking about in more depth in a future post. Until then, I hope you enjoy my first photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle.