Lego Dragon at Disney Springs
Sunset and Dragon
The sun sets behind a dragon made of Lego blocks at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World, as seen during our June 2018 visit.
The dragon has been a feature in Lake Buena Vista since the Lego Imagination Center (known by most people as just the Lego Store) first opened at the Disney Village Marketplace (as Disney Springs was known at the time) way back in 1997. He has been a popular subject for photos for quite some time. That was due either to his whimsical appearance or to everyone thinking, “If I had enough Legos, I could have built that!”
The sky on this particular evening was really nice, so I thought it would be a good backdrop for the dragon. I don’t take photos of him as much as I used to because they all started to look the same. But I thought this was a different look, so I went for it. I am glad I did. Always nice to have something different sometimes.
And maybe this guy would be better called a Lego Sea Serpent instead of a Lego Dragon?
Same Vs. Different
So often on the world wide web of the internet, things seem to look the same. Many times, people try to take the same photo that they have seen someone else take. In some ways, there is nothing wrong with that, except that everything starts looking the same after a while. This is particularly true at popular tourist places such as Walt Disney World.
To me, the challenge more and more over the last few years has been to take photos different from everyone else. Sometimes that comes from the photo itself by finding a different angle on a familiar subject, or sometimes from finding a completely different subject. At other times, that comes from giving things a unique look thanks to different photo processing. That keeps things fresh and new.
After all, each one of us is different in our own ways. So why try to be just like everyone else, when we are not like everyone else?
I recently read an article about how this is getting to be a symptom of a larger problem. Much of what we see these days on social media is actually driven by envy. We see what others are doing, and we want to prove that we can do it, too. Or we want to prove that we are even better than they are. This even goes deeper when we see what we perceive to be someone’s “perfect life” and feel jealousy over that. Pretty deep for a photography blog, but there you go.
Don’t get caught in the trap of trying to be like everyone else. Be your own person. It will make your life much better.
Bible Verse
Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. - Philippians 2:3
About the Photo
Despite how it may look here, the dragon is most definitely green, as you would expect a dragon to be. The processing gave the dragon a bit of a blue tint here, but I did not worry too much about that. It helps him to stand out from the background better, in my opinion.
I particularly liked the effect that the processing had on the sky for this photo. Even though the sky is in the background, it adds a good bit of drama (the good kind of drama, not the bad kind) to the photo, making it even more interesting to look at. That was partly a blessing of a good sky from God, and partly some processing to make it look even better.
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 10, 2018
Location: Disney Springs, Walt Disney World, Florida
