Disney Cruise Line Terminal
Goodbye, or Hello
The Disney Cruise Line Terminal building in Port Canaveral, Florida, as seen at the beginning of our 2018 Christmas Disney Cruise.
The Disney Cruise Line Terminal is one of the first things passengers see, as well as one of the last, for Disney Cruises leaving from Port Canaveral, Florida. I took this particular photo from the Deck 4 Promenade as we were passing the time and waiting for the Disney Dream to sail away at the beginning of our Disney Cruise.
I like this bright, sunny, colorful view of the terminal building, because it looks fun and happy, just as you would want it to look at the beginning of a cruise. Interestingly, the same building often seems dull and dark at the end of our cruises. However, that is probably due to the ship arriving back in the port in the early morning hours before the sun is all the way up. Or perhaps that is just my slightly depressed feeling of the end of our cruise being projected on my surroundings.
At the beginning of each Disney Cruise, as we are waiting to board the ship, I like to get everyone in our group to go out on the observation deck of the Terminal building to get some photos with the ship in the background. The observation deck is that patio area at the second level of the Terminal. Down below it is the baggage area, where the forklifts and carts bring baggage out to the ship, or take baggage back into the Terminal at the end of the cruises. I enjoyed watching the workers go back and forth pulling out luggage to load onto the ship. They were quite efficient.
When we are not there, I always think that I should have taken a photo of the entrance side of the terminal building, but that never seems to cross my mind when we are there. I attribute that to the excitement of getting inside to get checked in at the beginning of our cruise, or to the somewhat different excitement of getting everything back to the car after the cruise has ended. Oh well, maybe one of these days I will remember. The front side does somewhat resemble this side, except that it does not have the gangway leading from the Terminal to the ship, in case you are wondering.
Attitude Makes a Difference
As you might get from reading the above, your attitude can affect how you see things. The same thing might look different when you are excited than it might look if you are sad. And “thing” in that last sentence can be a situation as well as a physical thing, such as a Disney Cruise Line Terminal.
We tend to see things based on our current mood. While that is hard to avoid, because it is human nature, it is an important fact to realize. It is a good lesson to learn to be able to stop and think, “This might look worse than it really is because of how I am feeling right now.” That thought process takes a lot of effort to achieve, however. I’m not there yet, myself. But it is something to work toward.
The sky might not actually be falling. We might just be seeing things based on our feelings.
Bible Verse
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28
About the Photo
The lighting on the Disney Cruise Line Terminal in this photo was really spectacular, thanks to the position of the sun. The sun itself was actually right above the Terminal, just outside of the frame. That would normally make it a little difficult to get a good photo.
However, one of the nice things about a big, white ship is that it reflects the sunlight. In this case, the sunlight was reflecting off of the ship onto the Terminal. And in some places, such as on the gangway, you can see brighter spots, which is where the sunlight was reflecting off the even more reflective windows on the ship. I liked the way the reflected light illuminated the Terminal.
I did still have to do some work to bring up to turn down the highlights, because the sky was originally rather washed out. Fortunately, the Raw file preserved enough data that I could recover the sky and the colors on the building in Photoshop. With that, I was able to make the photo look even brighter and happier, just as it looked in person.
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: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens
Date: December 17, 2018
Location: Disney Cruise Line Terminal, Port Canaveral, Florida
