The Orlando Museum of Art generally picks a theme to go with other exhibits that they are hosting. This year’s theme was Hip Holiday! which was gave it a early 1960′s feel.

Even though there were hundreds of decorated trees to choose from, I focused more on the amazing tiny ornaments hung from the trees. I hope that you enjoy these collages and check out the Festival of Trees next year at the Orlando Museum of Art!

I chose to lead a walk at EPCOT because of all of the photo diversity. There’s no where else where you can see so much in just a mile long walk.

We started with a group photo in front of Spaceship Earth, and then headed slowly back through Future World. It was first weekend of the Food and Wine festival, and Ocean Spray had a cranberry bog which was a big hit with the photographers.

We then walked around the countries of World Showcase ending at Nine Dragons at the China pavilion for a great lunch. Lunch also gave everyone a chance to share the photos they took and to talk photography.

After getting home, I was very impressed with all of the participant’s photos. I created a flickr group for everyone to post their photos from the day. I encourage you to check it out here. I was a little disappointed with my own photos. But, it was to be expected as I spent more time talking to the participants and getting to know one another than I did on my personal photos.

One thing you’ll notice is that many the photos aren’t the typical theme park photos. One of the honors of leading a walk is that I had the responsibility of picking the best photo of the day. I gave the group an assignment of staying away from the “post card” photographs.

Curiously though, the winning picture was of Spaceship Earth, the quintessential post card subject. The image by William Beem is the most beautiful photo I have ever seen of Spaceship Earth. Mostly, because he took something that is so large (18 stories) and overwhelming and made it feel small and delicate to me. The photo looked more like a Christmas ornament than park icon.

You can see William’s photo and all of the other submissions for the contest at my official photo walk page at www.worldwidephotowalk.com.

Overall, it was a great day, and I was so proud to have led my own Photo Walk! There’s already talk about doing another one in the not so distant future. I can’t wait!

Below is the image we took to start the day of the great group of photographers that joined us!

Four years later, this photo walk has grown immensely. This year, there were over 1100 walks worldwide, with over 28,000 participants! It’s fun to think that while we’re walking, there are other groups doing the same thing in such far reaches of the globe as Iran, Mongolia, and Nigeria.

This year, I participated in two walks. In addition to leading my own walk (more details on that in a subsequent post), I had the pleasure to join Scott Kelby through the streets of downtown Tampa, where he led his own walk.

We met at Curtis Hixon park and strolled passed the Glazer Children’s Museum and the Tampa Museum of Art. We then headed through some of the side streets of downtown Tampa, ending at Five Guys Burgers and Fries for a fantastic lunch.

Here are some of my pictures of the day. The first picture is the group shot that Scott grabbed of our group before we headed out. The University of Tampa serves as a backdrop.

As Disney celebrated their anniversary, I can’t help but think back to all of the great memories that the parks have given me over the years. I’ll never forget the time that my parents surprised me with a trip to Orlando to come to Disney World. The car was already packed, and we were on our way.

Even though many of the “giveaways” were gone by the time I got there, the park was still packed. Clearly the gorgeous “hint of fall” weather and the significance of this day brought 4th of July / Christmas like crowds to come see the fireworks.

Disney’s slogan this year is “Let the Memories Begin!”. With 40 years of amazing moments, the slogan should be, “Let the Memories Continue!”.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scott Kelby Announces the Fourth Annual Worldwide Photo Walk
The Largest Global Social Event for Photographers

TAMPA, FL – August 24, 2011 – On Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2, the whole world will be walking again with Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and #1 bestselling computer and technology book author, in his Fourth Annual Worldwide Photo Walk™ — the world’s largest global social photography event in the history of photography.

This year, the Photo Walk will take place over two days in October giving more photographers from around the world a chance to participate. In 2010, more than 30,000 photographers walked in over 1,000 locations taking 6 million images in just one day. We anticipate that this year’s Photo Walk will be one of our biggest events.

DSWfoto is helping Orlando take part in this worldwide event by organizing a Photo Walk at Epcot at Walt Disney World on October 2, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.. For more information, visit http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/orlando-fl-united-states-2/, where you can also sign up to participate in the Photo Walk.

The Photo Walk is free and open to anyone who owns a camera. More Photo Walk details are available at: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/ or visit the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk Facebook page.

The 2011 Photo Walk is co-sponsored by Adobe. Additional sponsors include Wescott, KelbyTraining.com, NAPP, Peachpit, Mpix, Wacom, Manfrotto, onOne Software, Tamron, Tiffen and B&H.

About NAPP

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is a dynamic trade association and the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop® and Photoshop® Lightroom® training, news, and education. An award-winning team of Photoshop and photography experts, authors, consultants, and trainers lead the association – keeping its members on the cutting edge of Photoshop, Lightroom, and photography techniques and technology. With 72,000 members in 106 countries, NAPP is the largest digital imaging and graphics association worldwide. Visit http://www.photoshopuser.com for more information.

# # #
Media Contact:
Mary Laurinaitis
NAPP/Media Manager
813-433-5005, ext. 162
MaryL@KelbyMediaGroup.com

The GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) Mission sent two spacecrafts to orbit the moon and help answer how planets are formed.

Although I have photographed several space shuttles, this was my first time photographing a launch of an unmanned rocket. Having arriving at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral so early in the morning, I also had opportunity to photograph the beautiful sunrise.

After the launch, I turned to my trusty iPhone to get that last photo of the smoke plume.

Florida is an amazing state to live in. While the mid Atlantic prepares for their second blizzard in less than a week, we are experiencing a cold front here in Florida as well. A cold front is relative, of course — the highs are only in the low ’70s.

But, not only are we the benefactors of gorgeous year long weather (the summers aren’t THAAT bad), the choices in entertainment are neverending. Yesterday, South Florida played host to Super Bowl XLIV, the largest watched television event of all time. Next Saturday, the 52nd annual Daytona 500, the Super Bowl of motorsports, will be held in Daytona Beach.

But, also this week was the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. I had the opportunity this morning to step outside at 4:16 to photograph the only beacon of light, in what was otherwise a very dark sky. This launch was of particular significance, as there are only 5 space shuttle launches left, and with each launch ends an era. This morning was the very last nighttime launch. Night launches are gorgeous spectacles to be held as a burst of fire that rivals only the sun appears upon the horizon. And, sadly, this was the last one, at least for a long time.