Taking Pictures is Making Memories

"Now we shoot whatever we see
Night or day in color photography
Candid shots are barrels of fun
Taking pictures by the light of the sun
Smile, hon, look at the camera
Hold your breath and say cheese
And with every single shot we take, we are making memories
Making memories, making memories
Taking pictures is making memories"

I was joking with Kathy last week that I needed a new camera. I had been looking through pictures at flickr.com and marveling at some of the incredible pictures of Disneyland, which I found by doing a search for "tags" that people used to label and identify their pictures. The most impressive were ones in a set posted by disneymike. While I'm sure that his photography skills would shine through even when using a pinhole camera, I was convinced that an upgrade to a digital SLR from my current Nikon Coolpix 5700 would help me produce better shots.

But being the cheapskate that I am, I wasn't ready to invest a couple of thousand dollars in new photography equipment when I had just bought my camera three years ago and it still pretty much serves my needs. However, a trip to Disneyland just days after telling Kathy of my wanting a new camera, there was suddenly a need for a new one. My trusty Nikon decided to give out.

I turned it on to shoot a picture of the Main Street Railroad Station from an angle that I haven't had the opportunity to shoot from when I noticed some strange coloring and blurring through the viewfinder. I thought that perhaps my lens needed cleaning so I wiped it with a soft cloth. Much better! That did the trick. Or so I thought. After pressing and releasing the shutter, my quick view of the picture that I just took revealed lines through the image.

I didn't know what was wrong. I turned it off and on. I changed the battery. I changed the media card. Nothing did the trick. Pictures had a strong color tint, were blurred, had lines through them and even came out totally black. The look of concern on Kathy's face nearly broke my heart as she knew how much I liked taking pictures at Disneyland.

As much as I tried not to let it affect our visit, I was really bummed about not being able to take pictures. We had an enjoyable day but I knew there'd be no new Wallpapers of the Week or Photos of the Day coming out of this trip. A ride through Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and a cold Dole Whip would be the comforts of the day.

Luckily, this happened on "just another day" to the park. The last time I used my camera was for the dedication ceremony of the Ward Kimball engine and Lilly Belle coach. Not being able to shoot that event would have been much worse. Likewise, I could have been on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Tokyo Disneyland or Disneyland Paris when this happened. (I joked to Kathy that if it happened in Japan though, I may have wound up with a really good camera bought locally.) Or I could have needed the camera for a family function. And, ultimately, I knew I could buy another camera. In the grand scheme of things, this was little more than a bump in the road.

I've been taking pictures at Disneyland for years now. When I was a teenager, I had a Kodak disc camera that was my very own. For my 18th birthday, I received from my mom a 35mm point-and-shoot Kodak camera, which has truly been my old reliable. We still own it and it still produces amazing quality pictures. With the introduction of digital cameras, I bought a 3 megapixel, point-and-shoot Toshiba digital camera before replacing it my Nikon. The great thing about digital cameras is that I can take as many pictures as I want and I don't have to worry about the cost of printing them. I am free to take whatever pictures I want, whenever I'm inspired. And for me, what often inspires me most are shots of Disneyland.

While I often take pictures of things that look good to me, the reality is that I am making memories of Disneyland at one moment in time. My photo albums truly become history books as the park continues to change and evolve. I love sitting down at home with Kathy and looking through our scrapbooks and remembering the good times that we've shared together. Seeing pictures from our trip to Walt Disney World makes me want to hop on a plane and get back there again.

Perhaps this is why I was so bummed about not having a working camera with me last Saturday. My memory is no longer as sharp as it once was and recollections fade over time. Whether it was my first or my 300th time to Disneyland, I wanted to be able to remember it long after I visited. Photography is one of the few art forms that I practice anymore and I wanted to be inspired to take pictures. I love how the plants and flowers change from time to time. I love the way the sun shines on castles and rocket ships, how clouds can alter shadows of flying elephants or enhance plumes of steam coming from the engines of the railroad. Taking pictures is indeed making memories!

After getting home, I searched for problems with my particular camera and found a service advisory for it online. Apparently, Nikon will fix my camera free of charge. The downside is that I have to find time to send it in and have to wait for its return. Hopefully, I get it back fast enough that I don't scratch my itch and buy a new one!

I'm Too Excited to Sleep!

I have to say that I'm still in love with the TV commercial where the kids are talking about what their upcoming visit to Walt Disney World will be like and mom comes in to tell them that it is time to go to bed. The little boy's reaction is perfect: "We're too excited to sleep!"

I understand this feeling perfectly. This was me as a youngster. How can anyone sleep soundly through the night when visions of 999 happy haunts, flying elephants and abominable snowmen filled your head? Knowing that a trip to Disneyland was eminent made my stomach do flip-flops and I'd always throw up in excitement the night before.

Although the prospect of vomiting is generally not a pleasant one, I loved the feeling of anticipation of going to Disneyland. I was never much of a morning person but I made sure that I was up at the crack of dawn, dressed and loaded into the car for our two- to three-hour drive. We'd look for all the landmarks established off the freeway that would clue us in on how much farther it was -- the old Citadel building, the Coppertone billboard, the Nabisco factory. "Who sees the Matterhorn first?" was always a game to be played and hopefully won. But even losing was a winning proposition, as it meant that we were exiting the I-5 and pulling into Disneyland's parking lot.

We'd be there at opening and stayed there until closing. In the years when money was tight, we'd take a break from our commando assault on Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom to eat sandwiches from a cooler on the tailgate of our car. Then it was right back to the action.

I remember proudly displaying my Magic Kingdom Club ticket that was pinned to my shirt, allowing unlimited entry into all of the park's attractions, while others had to pull precious coupons from their ticket books. I remember calling out ahead that no one should jump out and surprise me from the secret corners of Injun Joe's Cave on Tom Sawyer's Island. I remember feeling for the bottom of my feet to see if I really was getting smaller after going through the microscope at Adventure Thru Inner Space. Too excited, indeed!

As I've gotten older, I don't nearly address a day at Disneyland with the same zeal as I did in my youth. The stomach is pretty much kept settled. I usually sleep just fine the night before. I question how we were ever able to attack Disneyland from opening to closing. (Or how my mom was ever able to do the same and additionally drive the extra hours to and from the park?) Is it a by-product of growing up that the "too excited" nerves have dissipated? Is it familiarity breeding contempt as the remembrances of visits past have built upon one another? Is it the fact that with an annual pass I can go whenever the mood hits me rather than it being a yearly adventure that was saved and planned for?

Disneyland will always be my happy place. I may not show my excitement for it in rainbow-colored spewings anymore but it is still a place of fixation for me. I miss it when I'm not able to visit. I think about families that are there right now having fun without me. I read trip reports to get second-hand highs from those who've recently been. I'll look at pictures I've taken through the years and revisit the happy times I've spent there.

How lucky Walt Disney must have been to spend the night in his apartment on Main Street and to have taken the fire engine for a ride down Main Street USA in the early morning hours before the park opened!

And, yet, I too feel lucky for having the opportunity to visit the park that Walt built. Lucky for stomach-dancing excitement all those years that kept me from sleeping. I can't wait for my next visit!

Submit To Me

For those of you who follow our Photo of the Day feature, you may have noticed today's entry from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was credited to one of our readers, Lisa Dozier. Likewise, we ran a Photo of the Day on March 3 of Spaceship Earth from 12-year-old reader Victoria. And this closely followed a submission of a Spaceship Earth wallpaper last month from Kimberly Bailey. I'm extremely flattered that readers want to contribute in some way to the success of StartedByAMouse.com.

I've been very fortunate to have had people contributing to this site since it first opened. From almost Day 1, my good friend Steve Burns of Burnsland.com has been a partner of StartedByAMouse.com contributing a ton of stories, pictures and support through the years. Other Triviateer buddies, including Kevin Burk and Barb Ogorek, have sent items for publication. I made a friend of Bill Griffiths after he first asked if I would be interested in running a Disney essay he had written about Disney television. And I've been approached by -- and have approached -- a few others who've made contributions. They've all been appreciated for making this a better place to visit.

At the same time, I've been a contributor to other sites as well. I used to write the trivia contests for LaughingPlace.com and have had some of my writing posted there as well. I've sent along photos, mainly of the Disneyland Railroad, for use on Burnsland.com as well as a few Words articles awhile back. And I've been interviewed for articles that have appeared on MousePlanet.com, in Cool 'n Smart magazine and even in a book called How to Be Like Walt. So I understand both the thrill of seeing your contribution published as well as the satisfaction of feeling like you've helped with that contribution.

So I'm personally inviting you right now to be a part of StartedByAMouse.com. Let's make this site more of a place that is built by a community of Disney fans rather than a place that seems more like my personal website. Recently been on a trip to a Disney theme park? Send in a trip report. Watched the latest Disney movie at the theater? Send in a review. Have inside information about the Walt Disney Company? Become our mole. Thought up 10 trivia questions about Disney princesses? We'll include them as one of our Disneyexpert's Instant Gratification contests. Were you "started by a mouse" too? Let's hear your story. Articles? We want to read them. Pictures? We want to see them. If you are interested in being a part of StartedByAMouse.com, send an email to sitesubmit@startedbyamouse.com. I'd be more than happy to consider running your submissions.

And if you'd like to contribute but don't feel quite ready to submit any of the above, consider joining our Disney Discussion Forums and talk about any number of subjects that other readers are into or start your own topics. We'd love to hear from you that way as well. Thanks!