In the Sun at Castaway Cay
Sun Shining Down
The sun shines down from above at the Family Beach at Castaway Cay, the Disney Cruise Line’s Bahamas island. From our 2018 Christmas Disney Cruise.
As I have mentioned before in the cruise trip report, we were happy to see the sun when we were at Castaway Cay last December. Our past few visits there had all been rainy days. But on this day there was no rain, just lots of sun. And because it was December instead of June or July, we did not mind the sun at all.
The beach does not look to be all that crowded here, but that is because this was relatively early in the morning, about 10:30. We had finished the Castaway Cay 5K, but apparently many people were still on the ship at this particular time. Maybe everyone was waiting for the water to heat up in the afternoon or something. The beach actually did not feel overly crowded all day long, but it was especially quiet at this time.
Freedom to Choose
I like having the freedom to choose. I don’t always like being told exactly what to do. In this particular situation, I liked that not everyone had to leave the ship to come to the beach. Some could if they wanted to, others could stay on the ship without ever leaving it if they wanted to. Some of us chose to run (or walk) the Castaway Cay 5K, and some of us might not choose to do that again.
I think that is one misconception held by some who have never been on a cruise. They feel like there isn’t anything to choose from. Everyone will be right there doing the same thing. But these cool modern cruise ships are big enough that they offer you lots of choices. Even just on the ship you can swim in the pool, watch a movie, play basketball, eat, or just sit and watch the water. When the ship is in a port, you can choose to disembark, or you can choose to stay on board. Sometimes people are surprised at just how much there is to do.
Life is full of choices. Some make good choices, some make bad choices. Some learn from their bad choices and make better choices the next time.
Enjoy your freedom to choose. But choose wisely.
Bible Verse
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1
About the Photo
When I shot this photo, I actually did not realize that the sun was just out of the frame. When I processed it, I was pleasantly surprised to see the sun rays at the top of the frame. Unplanned, but a nice bonus.
I had actually processed this photo a few months ago, but I never had used it here. Recently, I was looking for photos to process, and I found this one. Once I had finished it and went to save it, I saw that I had already processed a photo with the same name. Oops! So if you are curious, this is the newer version instead of the originally processed version.
The original photo was actually rather bland because of the bright sun. Using the Raw file, I was able to get a lot of color back into the photo. Some might even say that the photo has too much color saturation, but I like it as it is.
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
