Sailing Into the Clouds on a Disney Cruise

Clouds Ahoy!

The Disney Dream sails away from Castaway Cay and into the clouds during our Disney Cruise of 2017. Actually, the clouds were both behind us and ahead of us. So we were more sailing under the clouds than into the clouds. But in the photo it looks like we were headed right for them, doesn’t it?

This photo was from the evening. I would say early evening, but we had actually already had our dinner because of our early dinner time instead of the late seating that we had attended on our previous cruises. But that’s okay because we still had time after we ate to go out and enjoy the evening views before going on to other things.

As you can see, we were not the only ones out there, as there were a few others hanging over the rails with us on the Deck 4 Promenade. I’m sure we all would have enjoyed seeing a spectacular sunset for the evening. But while I can’t speak for all of those other people out there, I was content with seeing these cool clouds and the blue water. I can never get too much of that blue water.

You can see more from this cruise in the 2017 Disney Cruise Trip Report.

Still More Rain

I know that rain is necessary for the earth. I know that it keeps the oceans filled with that lovely blue water, and it keeps us supplied with drinking water, too. It keeps the plants and trees growing. It cleans things out of the air. Rain has so many uses.

So because of all that, I try to be thankful for the rain and not complain. We have had a lot of rain in our area lately, just as we had a lot of rain on that Disney Cruise trip last summer. The rain has even reached the point of running under the walls into the horse barn in some places. Not a big problem, but just a little more rain than what we usually get, and a little more rain than the natural drainage in our area can handle.

It is often easy to find the negative aspect of something and complain about it endlessly. Why is it that the negative side of things is often so much easier to find than the positive side?

Do your best to focus on the positive. That will be a positive influence on those that you are around. While negativity breeds more negativity, the opposite is also very much true. It will make life much more pleasant for everyone. Even on a rainy day.

Bible Verse

You, God, showered abundant rain; You revived Your inheritance when it languished. - Psalm 68:9

About the photo

I really liked the evening light here, and I did all that I could to bring that out more in an effort to capture the atmosphere that I enjoyed that evening. But that atmosphere could not be captured by just one exposure, so I went back to the original Raw file two more times to add to the base layer. The first additional exposure made the white caps of the water even more white so that they would stand out more. And the second addition brought out the texture and light in the clouds. Instead of complaining about the clouds, why not make them better?

After blending all of those exposures together, I ran the resulting image through some Nik filters, which have a new home from the previous link I have shared before. Not sure what the plans are for those filters in the future now that they have been acquired by a new company, so we shall wait and see. The current filters are still available if you sign up at the link above, so you might want to get them while you can.

I also used a bit of Orton effect and modified the color curves slightly to give the photo a slight bit of a dream-like look. Since this was the Disney Dream, after all. Pretty dreamy, isn’t it?

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, 2017 Location: At Sea on the Disney Dream