And, Uh…Fly

Action shot! Winged Encounters - The Kingdom Takes Flight is one of those experiences that, at least to me, didn’t seem very intriguing. Then, you find yourself randomly walking by the right place at the right time — when a dozen macaws come (very noisily) from nowhere and nearly hit you in the head. Yup, live birds fly in on their own accord for treats for about 10 minutes. Then, as quickly (and loudly) as they came, they fly off. That is the cool part of this encounter.

I’d never had the wherewith-all to get out my camera to take pictures until I actually made a plan to attend the show (which happens a lot during the day). The Cast Members actually tell you when to get your camera out! So, I finally got some good shots, and this was one of my favorites.

With the 50th anniversary banner in the background, this photo is timely — that “family album” prospect of capturing a specific time and place, rather than trying to capture something more timeless. There are a lot of bird moments, too. I love how the carved bird of the lamp post is beak to beak with the live macaw. You can even see the blurry outline of a bird’s wing on the tree in the distance. That is a glimpse into the level of detail the Imagineers go to with their theming.

I had to lighten the exposure a bit to make sure the background didn’t muddle the shot. I also darkened the edges a bit to vignette the subject and minimize the background. Other than a few human heads in there, I was pretty happy with the outcome — but it also kind of makes me want to go back for more.