Why Not Try Something New? / A Boat on Bay Lake

I’m On A Boat!

We were riding in a boat on Bay Lake and approaching the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World in this scene from our 2019 Florida Summer Vacation. And although this looks similar to some other photos around here, we do like to try something new sometimes.

On this particular day, we actually rode the entire circuit, which includes the Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness Campground, Contemporary Resort, and then back to Wilderness Lodge. This was actually the end of our little excursion of the day.

If this scene looks familiar to you, this is not the first time that we have been on one of these boats before. There are more similar photos in this post from a previous visit in a previous year.

Yes, we were sitting in the same seats as before. No, I do not have some sort of Sheldon Cooper thing where I march in and tell someone that is my seat and they have to move. We have sat in other seats on the boats before. But for some reason most people choose to go to the back of the boat, leaving the seats along the side of the engine compartment empty. That row of seats is just the perfect size for our family of three, so that is where we often go.

And of course, I can’t resist taking a photo or several while we are sitting there. You have a unique perspective sitting up at the front close to the captain, and there are some pretty interesting views looking out over the bow of the boat. Even if those views look somewhat the same after a while to the average viewer. The captain might find it a little strange, but I take my photos anyway. So to make this photo look a little different from the previous ones, I decided to go the selective color route, as I have done for a few other photos in recent months. More about that down below.

As you can probably tell, we like riding on those boats. It is relaxing and fun and something different from what we have at home. And I would not be surprised if on our next Florida visit we find ourselves on one of those boats again. Maybe even in the same seat. Unless someone beats us to it, of course. I won’t make them walk the plank for that. Do these boats even have a plank? I don’t think so.

Try Something New

We seem to be the kind of people to go back to what is familiar to us. And by “we” I am meaning humans in general, not just my particular family. So many of us like to stick to the things that feel comfortable to us. Whether it is a spot on the couch, a vacation place, a group of people, a restaurant, a certain food, or whatever else we have done before that we enjoyed.

There is nothing wrong with that, of course. The other day I called in a food order to one of our favorite restaurants. Then we drove to the pick-up window to pick up our food. I was trying to remember our order number when we drove up to the window. But I did not need it. The guy at the window saw me, and without having to ask anything, he went and got our order. I guess we have been there enough and have ordered the same things enough that we are what they consider regulars. In many ways, that is a good feeling.

At the same time, there is nothing wrong with branching out and trying something new, too. That might be a big step for some of you. And by “you” I mean “me”. But it can be done, and it could have good results, too. For example, if we had never gone to Hawaiʻi, how would I have known how much I love it there? And I definitely want us to go back, but might try a different island the next time. Just to try something new.

Or if I just watched the same TV shows and movies all of the time, how would I ever discover new shows that I end up liking. If we had not given “The Big Bang Theory” a try, how would I have known to make the Sheldon joke up above?

Try new things! You never know what you might discover.

Bible Verse

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17

About the Photo

I thought it would be nice to change up from the photos from around our house that I have been posting lately. I went back to the photos from our Florida trip last summer, knowing that there are several that I still have not shared yet. This one initially caught my eye. But it looked very similar to those others, even though it was taken with a different camera and lens than those earlier photos.

But then I thought of the selective color technique, and I thought I would give it a try. I did momentarily try complete black and white, but this turned out to be better in my opinion. I do like the black and white tones here, but then I also like the color of the boat, too.

Just another reminder that when things start to seem the same, find a different way to look at things. It might change things up enough to make it seem interesting again.

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: June 14, 2019
Location: Fort Wilderness, Walt Disney World, Florida