Behind the Seeds tour - EPCOT

When I tell my friends I stopped counting visits to Disney years ago after I passed 150, they ask why I keep going. The answer is simple. It's physically impossible to see and do everything Disney has to offer but I am sure going to try.

Kelly Epworth - Behind the Seeds

Case in point - The Behind the Seeds tour. Unlike the Wild Africa Trek and Backstage Magic tours, this one is rather inexpensive. $20.00 to be exact. For that you get and hour long (longer if you have a great group) tour. The one ride I have been most intrigued with since it opened has been The Land. Every time I ride I want to rush home and plant something.



Our tour guide Kelly was amused I chose this tour last. She put on a lively, informative, and very energetic tour. Taking her photo was a challenge as she only paused speaking for questions. Luckily there were plenty. Choosing the week of the International Flower and Garden Festival was a completely accidental stroke of genius. I have never considered hydroponics before but after Kelly's demonstration, I want to give it a go. I wish I had known about Leaf Miner control when I had an orange grove. It was a big problem one year. There was plenty here I could relate to.



To see my complete set of photos from the tour [click here]. Taking the tour is well worth it but you must book it early. A small percentage of folks even know it's there but they have beat me to the sign up several times.



Not only was Kelly a great tour guide, she is an amazing photographer. I don't have a lot of photos of myself because I keep deleting the bad ones. I like this one enough to post online.



Another benefit of being first to the turnstile and jogging to the land, I had a private boat ride so if you have never been - enjoy The Land.

Huzzah!!! To Pompano Today Magazine

It's no secret I am a huge fan of the Florida Renaissance Festival. I have been shooting photos and posting them for years to my Flickr page. I don't get compensated. It is actually a lot of work but I do it because I love doing it. My greatest hope is that someone finds my photos appealing enough to post on Facebook. Imagine my surprise when a friend of mine found two of my photos in a print magazine. 

Shana Harlow - Autumn Goddess

Of the thousands of photos I have posted, it is by pure coincidence they picked one of Shana Harlow who puts the same amount of uncompensated time into her Cosplay art as I do in my photography. In fact I just met her last weekend. The Festival has been using my photos in promotions and she stopped to thank me for making it to their web site. I have nothing to do with that - they pick what they like. And she was blue with horns when she mentioned it so I was not sure exactly who she was. I have made hundreds of friends at this, Pirate, and Cosplay events. Occasionally I shoot people I don't actually know who become people I do know. That is the beauty of this environment. Meeting the most extraordinary people in passing then getting to know them. 

Jenna and Kayla

To hammer home that point they also picked a photo of  two people I've known a long time and have become very good friends with. For these and hundreds of people in between check out my photo sets so far.

Week 1 [click here]

Week 2 [click here]

Week 3 [click here]

Week 4 [click here]

There are 7 weeks total this year and sadly I will not make the final ones. Some of these folks I only see at this time, but some I see at other fairs and events or out in real life which is what I like the most. 

Shana Harlow

To be honest, it's not the first time my photos have shown up somewhere. I've seen them in a Groupon ad, Walgreens, various web sites and even a mural in St Augustine. That last one was a pretty big honor and I got my name on a plaque. That's just the ones I know about. I get asked a lot why I don't ask for compensation for the tremendous expense and time it takes me to post these photos. I just smile and wonder what it is in their lives that they have a passion for.