A Porch With a View at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

A second-story porch at the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World has a nice view of more of the Grand Floridian, as well as Seven Seas Lagoon.

I always like to find some cool out-of-the-way places when we are at Walt Disney World, and this porch at the second level of the main lobby building of the Grand Floridian was certainly a nice find. I believe the porch is actually a smokers’ area, judging by the ash trays on the tables, but there weren’t any people out there smoking when we were there, so we were able to enjoy it for a few minutes.

The view from the porch was really nice, as you can see past the columns and railings. But I liked the porch itself as well, so I wanted to make sure to get that in the photo, too. Fortunately, my fisheye lens was able to get all of it in.

Just as I recently mentioned the importance of stopping to enjoy the view, I also think it is important to take in the whole view sometimes, and I think this is a good example of that. While the first impulse might be to run out to the rail to get a photo of the other Grand Floridian buildings or the Polynesian Resort across the way (which I have certainly done), sometimes it is nice to see what is closer to you as well.

While what is distant might be appealing, sometimes we should realize that what is right in front of us is just as good, if not better. Don’t spend all of your time looking at the distant things and miss what is right around you. Because you just might be missing something good. Even if it is a smokers’ area without any smokers in it.

Here we are enjoying the view:

After all, a nice view is even better when you have good company to enjoy it with. And yes, Jaylin was there, too, off to the side somewhere. How he managed not to get in this wide angle photo, I have no idea. But I didn’t want you to think that we had left him somewhere while we were out having fun and enjoying nice views.

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. - Philippians 4:6

About the Photo

While this photo could have benefited from a multiple-exposure HDR, I produced this with just one Raw file, and I didn’t even make multiple exposures from that Raw file. Adobe Camera Raw was able to pull what I wanted just from the one exposure, so that multiple layers and masks weren’t necessary. I wanted to make sure that the porch was light enough without blowing out the much brighter scenery in the distance, and this turned out just fine.

And the bonus photo was also taken with my Olympus camera and fisheye lens. No tripod or selfie stick necessary. I just held the camera in my hand and pressed the shutter button. The fisheye lens is wide enough to get the two of us and lots more in the photo!

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 7, 2016
Location: Grand Floridian Resort, Walt Disney World, Florida