Monday, July 23, 2007

Wall of Blinding Lights


This past Saturday evening I…you guessed it…went to Downtown Disney again to photograph. This visit however, went a little different than planned...

As I was contemplating going there again, during the day, one of our daily thunderstorms arrived outside my apartment around 3:00pm. I thought I’d give it an hour or so and see if the sky looked promising later. Well, around 5:00pm, it was still cloudy with a bit of drizzle. I decided to still venture in there with hopes of getting some post rain shots of the location later in the evening. Images of neon lighted reflections on the sidewalk filled my head.

As I drove the 40 minute trek on I-4, I was met with spots of rain and an endless overcast sky. Once at “DTD” I realized that I may have to wait to shoot for a while until the conditions became more friendly for my expensive little sidekick. So, I decided to kill some time at the mammoth Virgin Record store. I walked along the massive wall of listening stations and found a CD to demo. As I jammed, I began to notice “shots” that I could capture if only I had my camera with me. Once in a while I would glance over to a window area only to realize that there was no end in site for the rain.

Before too long, I decided to brave the falling water and jogged back to my car to get my camera and salvage this otherwise photoless night. I ever so carefully shielded my investment with my umbrella on the way back to the media store. I then returned to the same listening station and jammed once more but with my camera now around my neck and my trusty umbrella drying at my feet.

As I stood there, I took in the almost endless wall of light that was before me. The way it curved in the distance and resembled something from a U2 concert captured my imagination. The only problem was that the shot I wanted to get was one without any people in it. Let me tell you that this store is crawling with tourists and Floridians alike. I would only have a small window of opportunity to get a shot of the wall without anyone blocking the view that I was envisioning.

The image above was about as good as I was going to get that night. There’s really a more impressive view that shows just how far this wall stretches, but I was never able to catch it completely alone…maybe next time.

25 comments:

lv2scpbk said...

Well Chad, You out did yourself again. Splendid shot! Isn't it funny how we're always trying to invision how to take a the photo and the perfect shot.

lv2scpbk said...

Hey Chad, yes I am getting to be the night owl. That maybe a good subject to go find.

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Barb,
You'd have a better chance at finding that owl than I would ;)

Anonymous said...

A nice looking photograph. I enjoyed it.

photowannabe said...

Chad, I'm glad you braved the rain and got your trusty investment. This is a super picture and i love the perspective. You have the artist's eye.

JAM said...

Awesome shot. I keep a couple of those big, one gallon zip lock freezer bags in my camera bag to wrap Baby up if the weather gets too wet.

I always end up at the Virgin Megastore there. I guess it's a must for any music lover. I was bummed to find out that the guitar store that was next door to it for years has closed down and become some other store. I loved looking at the twenty thousand dollar guitars as well as the one hundred dollar ones.

Annie said...

I like it. This is eye-catching. Your patience paid off.

Lori said...

Sometimes the best shots are ones we didn't plan on. This is really a neat shot...

Shionge said...

Hey it is wonderful to 'see' this through your lens & perspective :D

Anonymous said...

Great shot Chad. All that waiting and fiddling with the rain was worth it.

Lucy said...

Neon heart day glow eyes
A city lit by fireflies
They're advertising in the skies
For people like us...

Don't look before you laugh
Look ugly in a photograph
Flash bulbs purple irises
The camera can't see...

Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights


I LOVE the photo.

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Lucy,
I knew you'd "get" the play on words in the title ;)

Glad you like the image.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

superb shot, Chad!!!! and i am glad u took the desicion of getting the camera from the car ...it's been raining here every single afternoon/evening .

Unknown said...

I love it. I especially like the colors in the reflections.

Jose said...

Me gusta mucho, as usual I like it a lot. It reminded me of a tunnel light mirror I bought for my bedroom when I was a teen ager, something about an endless row of lights reflected on the mirror.

Roland Simmons said...

Nice image Chad.

Debra Trean said...

Very trippy image and eye catching what a fun image.

Kekiinani said...

This is s a great shot.. :) :) I love your angle you captured here. Next time you could just get one of those plastic bags from the fruit/vegetable section of the grocery store and wrap your camera in that so it doesn't get wet. Would save you the return trip to the car to retrieve the camera and the bags are free.. It really works well!!! :) :)

Coy Hill said...

Love it!

The lights seem to go on for ever and ever! Glad to see some people told you of the old bag trick, I keep one in my camera bag for those unexpected showers.

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Yeah, the "bag trick" did cross my mind before, but I forgot to get one. I had actually looked for one in my car that night, but didn't find anything sufficient.

Those lights do seem to stretch on. As I said, there's a more impressive shot to get, but I just didn't want any people in that image.

Bill said...

It took me a minute to realize I was looking at headphones! Cool shot.

Joel Reynolds said...

wow - very cool images man. They look like they're from a music video shoot or something. Well done.
Joel

Ele ^_^ said...

Great shot, like perspective and a lot of lights! Wow! ^^

carmilevy said...

I love this shot, Chad, more so because it resulted from a completely unexpected sequence of events. That's what I love in particular about the art of photography: so often, it takes us on a journey we could not have foreseen.

Masterful image, mon ami. I've got to wander around record stores soon - before they all close down for good.

Blue Wave 707 said...

Looks like the back of a stadium's scoreboard. Talk about changing light bulbs!