Crisco Fan

Crisco Fan

April 29, 2012. Crisco Fan. Celebration, Florida.

It's actually not that she's a Crisco fan. It's more that she's a fan of the luscious pies made possible by Crisco.

You see, this shot was taken during the Great American Pie Festival (yes, there is such a thing) in Celebration, Florida. For a few dollars, you can get all-you-can-eat pie during the festival. For irony's value, in an ideal world it would be followed by the Type-2 Diabetes Festival with all-you-can-prick blood glucose meter strips.

What is Celebration, Florida, you ask?

It's a "master planned community" south of Orlando that was originally developed by the Walt Disney Company. For some, it is an ideal modern American community. To me, it's a fake monstrosity of people who wanted to live in Main Street, USA and kind of reminiscent of the scary community where "The Truman Show" was set. Or maybe the community where Indiana Jones survived the nuclear explosion in a refrigerator.

It's not that Celebration isn't aesthetically pleasing, because it is. It's cute. It's just fake. I guess pretty fake is better than ugly fake, but it's still fake.

It's kind of like a Chia Pet. It's kind of natural. But it's also kind of ridiculously fake and disturbing at the same time.

Still, nothing says middle America stuck in a southeastern peninsula setting filled with retired New Yorkers than a Mayberryesque town at capacity with people gorging themselves on cheap cherry pie.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/250. f/11. ISO 400. LR 2.

Strings Attached

Strings Attached

April 29, 2012. Strings Attached. Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

In Orlando perhaps more than any other city, cartoons share with us the three dimensional space of reality.

In the real world, even cartoons are subject to the laws of physics.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

How Orlando, Florida got its name

How Orlando, Florida got its name

April 8, 2012. How Orlando, Florida got its name...

I have posted about the legends of how Orlando, Florida got its beautiful and unique name several months ago.

I've found that a lot of this blog's visitors, particularly locals, were curious about this story. I am reposting some of the details of both versions from my post mentioned above, along with a previously unpublished picture of the "Orlando Reeves" memorial on the shores of Lake Eola.
____________________________________________

Originally, Orlando was known as Jernigan after a prominent cattle family in the area. It became Orlando in 1857. There are two versions to the story. I'll relate the official version endorsed by the city first, followed by what I consider the more likely story.

According to the city, Orlando got its name from a soldier named Orlando Reeves in the Seminole War who was killed on the banks of what is now Lake Eola in 1835. The problem is that there are absolutely no records that a soldier named Orlando Reeves ever existed. Some have tried to explain around this fact by pointing out that it may have been a landowner in the area called Orlando Rees, an associate of John James Audubon, but the dates of death are all wrong to fit with the legend.

Another version of the story is that the name was chosen by Judge T. G. Speer, who arranged for Orlando to become the county seat through some creative vote manipulation. Judge Speer was a huge Shakespeare fan and named the city after his favorite character in "As You Like It." This version is very well documented by his descendants, and it also helps explain the naming of Rosalind Avenue.

____________________________________________
Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/8.0. ISO 200. LR 2.

Tinkertoys

Tinkertoys

April 29, 2012. Tinkertoys. Downtown Disney, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Happy weekend. Now go play!

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Bronze Statue

A Portrait of the Artist as a Bronze Statue

April 30, 2012. A Portrait of the Artist as a Bronze Statue.

A bronze statue of James Joyce sitting on a bench patiently meditates outside Raglan Road at Downtown Disney near Orlando, Florida.

I'd also like to add a brief word about stylistic influences. Included among those for me is Mr. James Joyce.

It isn't Finnegan's Wake, Ulysses, or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that resonates with me. For me, it's Dubliners. Published in 1914, it's a poignantly human collection of short stories depicting middle class nobodies encountering their personal turning points in life.

These are the written snapshots of decisive moments predating Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau. After all, what is street photography but the portrayal of the sometimes unvarnished, gritty, and natural moments of modern existence that precipitate epiphany?

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/1000. f/2.8. ISO 100. LR 2.

Deadmau5 Invasion

Deadmau5 Invasion

April 30, 2012. Deadmau5 Invasion.

Downtown Disney. Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/500. f/3.5. ISO 400. LR 2.

Carousel

Carousel

April 29, 2012. Carousel. Downtown Disney.

Children become knights and princesses for a few instants one evening at Downtown Disney.

Shooting Tip: the Leica X1 has an unusably slow auto focus, particularly in low light. The Fujifilm X-100 and X-Pro1 are known for the same difficulty. This shot was taken by manually focusing on the outside rim of the carousel at about the same distance as the midpoint of the shot would be.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.