Everest by Moonlight

There is a little photo op set up in the Asia section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom that allows visitors to capture the Expedition Everest ride from a distance with the outdoor theatre and a themed shrine in the foreground. There are usually people crowding this area and a clean shot requires a bit of patience. The funny thing about Animal Kingdom (especially right now, without a real after dark show to draw folks in) is it clears out about this time of night. So, I was able to get a lot of great pictures, but this was one of my favorites.You can almost imagine hearing a bustling night market in the distance under the warm lights, with the fragrant aromas of food carried across the water on the breeze. Great…and now I’m hungry.

The lighting from this shot isn’t what I would usually desire. It is a bit on the dark side, so you loose some of the detail — but to get the mood, it did the trick. I actually lightened this up a bit from the original so you could see some detail, but the oranges from the lights and the moon are meant to steal the show. A punch of vibrancy to accentuate the pinks and purples of the sky and the projected lighting on the mountain, and that is really about it.