Palm Trees and the Disney Dream on Castaway Cay
Island View
A wonderful view with palm trees in the foreground and the Disney Dream in the background on Castaway Cay, the Disney Cruise Line’s Bahamas island, as seen during our 2018 Christmas Disney Cruise.
During most of our cruises, I have taken photos of the ship from this spot on Castaway Cay. To me, it is just about perfect. I always like the way that the palm trees frame the ship. And on this sunny day, the blue sky and blue water were just about perfect, too.
That is the kind of thing that good vacations, and good vacation memories, are made of. Yes, I know that some people do not like islands and beaches and palm trees and cruises. There is nothing wrong if you fall into that category. But that is what I like.
About the only non-perfect thing about a day like the one pictured here is when the ship’s horn blows to let you know that it is time to leave. All good things have to end sometime, but at least the photos let them live on.
Simpler is Better
Over the past month or so, I have been pushing my photo processing to give the photos a more distinct, interesting look. I tried that here, too, but it didn’t turn out all that well.
As it happens, sometimes some photos don’t need all that much help after all. With a view like the one above, how could you make it much better than it already is?
Of course, as I always do, I did work on this one to make it better. But this time around, I did not have to go over the top to make it stand out. Palm trees and cruise ships are already somewhat over the top, I suppose. As is most anything on Castaway Cay, I have found. Over the top in a good way, of course. That is what keeps drawing me back.
So this time, I went for simple and let the photo itself do most of the work. That way, I could just sit back and enjoy the view.
Sometimes we work too hard on something without realizing that it is already good just like it is.
Bible Verse
The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! - Psalm 97:1
About the Photo
As I said above, I did not do all that much to this photo, but I still did some. The main “improvements” to this one were making the whole thing a little brighter and increasing the color saturation. However, I did not increase the color saturation nearly as much as I have recently. I tried it at first, but that made it look just too much, for lack of a better term.
Simpler really is better sometimes.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Aurora HDR. 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 18, 2018
Location: Castaway Cay, Bahamas
