A Chinese Garden in Epcot at Walt Disney World
Storm clouds hover above a Chinese garden at the China Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase at Walt Disney World.
Don’t worry, we didn’t die from the “storm of the century” as those clouds might suggest. We didn’t even get that much rain, just some showers here and there that day. But the clouds were pretty awesome at times, as you can see.
More and more, I am getting to be a little reluctant to post photos like this. Because, after all, this isn’t really “real.” Yes, the plants are real, the water is real, the buildings and the gate partially hidden by the plants are real. And yes, even though it may not look like it, even the clouds are real. But this isn’t really China. This is really Central Florida. Everything is done really well to make this look like the real China, but of course it isn’t.
It used to not bother me at all, as you can tell if you look way back at how I would post photos like this all of the time. But now I think about it a little more. Why? Good question. I think it goes along with my quest to break out from some of our past routines and see more of the real stuff. Maybe that is part of getting older and growing up. You start to find out more and more about the great big world out there, and you want to go exploring it. And you find out that no matter how well done the not-real things are, they still can’t compare with the real things.
Maybe that started with some of our past trips over the last few years, but it really hit home when I was in Bangkok. Seeing a really for real place that is halfway around the world is really cool. A simulated place in a theme park is nice and convenient, and it can be an interesting way to learn about the real place, but you learn even more and experience even more by being there. Nothing beats the real thing, after all.
So I will probably keep posting Disney photos from time to time, as I have always done. Because don’t get me wrong - I love Epcot. And as I get older, I love World Showcase more and more. Plus, there’s something about Disney that certainly brings in the web traffic, and who am I to turn that away?
But I will try even harder to make sure that it is obvious where the photos were taken, so that hopefully everyone will realize that this isn’t really China, and that sometimes it is nice to break away from the fantasy world and go find all the adventure that exists in the real world. Because the real world is a really cool place.
That reminds me of some people, too. What can you do? Be a real person. Not a fake person. If you have ever been around fake people, then you know what I mean. And if you think you haven’t ever been around fake people, then maybe you should look again. Be real. Be genuine. And make it where people don’t have to question if you are the real deal or not.
You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 1:6-7
About the photo:
As I mentioned above, although these clouds may not look real, I didn’t go back and add them into the photo later on. They really were there. The processing brought out the texture of the clouds just a bit, but I didn’t add anything that wasn’t already present there. Just another reminder of how you should shoot Raw photos so that you can do much more with them when you process them later on.
And as has become somewhat customary lately, here is another before-and-after photo showing how things looked originally. You can see that the clouds were there, but you can also see how the processing made them even more prominent.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: June 9, 2016
Location: Epcot, Walt Disney World, Florida
