Learning

I include this photo here, not because its a favorite (or a particularly good for that matter), but because of what I wanted it to be. Let me explain…

If you’ve been to a Disney park on any continent, you probably know that somewhere in Fantasyland lies the Sword in the Stone. The attraction, themed after the movie of the same name and based on the stories of King Arthur, beckons guests to try their hand at removing the sword from its stone and anvil sheath. If their lucky, they may even be successful. While that is all fine and good, it is the sword from Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom that called to me.

The Sword in the Stone in Magic Kingdom is in the perfect setting for a photo. From one angle, you could capture the sword against the backdrop of Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel, while another angle provides the more elegant Cinderella’s Castle as support to the shot. Having followed many Disney photographers for quite some time, I’ve seen folks really nail these photos and I have dreamed of getting that perfect sword/castle shot for awhile.

As luck would have it, during a trip in November of 2021, I attended the Very Merriest After Hours event at Magic Kingdom (aka the perfect opportunity). The event put me in the park at night with fewer crowds and fewer possible photo bombers. To make it even more exciting, the weather was horrible by After Hours event standards, but kind of amazing by some photographing standards. It had rained all night and a bit of a fog had settled over the park. Everything was shimmering from the rain, and the fog was refracting the light from the castle all around it. So, I got into place, waited for a moment, and snapped a few shots on my iPhone 11 Pro.

I think I should have tried a few more — but I was wet, it was cold and it was nearly 2am. I took a few, thought they looked ok and moved on without making sure. (There were actually a few real misses that night…but I digress.)

The end result isn’t horrible, but it wasn’t what I saw in my head. So, why include it here? Well, first of all, I still love the shot. Second, in spite of its imperfections, it was one of the first pictures I opened in editing and knew immediately what I needed to do to make it more like what I wanted.

So, here it will live as a lesson — but also as a perfect memory.