When we talk about the resort trees, there are three that are always mentioned—Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the Grand Floridian. These are the three resorts with lobbies vast enough to hold the biggest indoor trees on property and until today I'd taken you along to all but one of them. Today, as we wind down the season together, I'm filling in that gap. So here she is: The Grand Floridian's Christmas Tree.
This one is definitely unique. And while most people give her the bronze, she doesn't care. Wilderness Lodge's tree is grand and dark, surrounded by its soaring log cabin-style lobby, and Animal Kingdom Lodge's is similarly set in a dark lobby filled with deep woods and grasses and everything else "Animal Kingdom Lodge"—but the Grand's is bright and airy and and not interested in the competition. As vast as this tree is, it's also full of light and surrounded by the lobby's Victorian accents and white walls and chandeliers. And while it's setting is a little different this year, with the newly refurbished lobby and bar, called "The Perch", both of which forced the usual massive walk-in gingerbread house to take at least a hiatus, it still looks very much at home in the newly remodeled space.
I took this from just one floor above the main lobby to take in the full space. I tried going higher but we gained nothing really from the added height and lost much of the intimacy of the scene. While I normally try to minimize the people in these scenes, I just embraced their inevitability yesterday. The lobby is always crowded midday this time of year and the new bar space makes it all the more a gathering spot. So I just leaned into it. After all, this time of year, this is reality. There are people everywhere, and there are most definitely people enjoying this beautiful space.
I worked some with my 50mm and my wide-angle 14mm, but settled here, with my 35mm. I wanted every ounce of available light to emphasize how open and airy this space feels, so my settings were otherwise 1/40 second, f/1.4, and ISO 100.