1-Day Listing: Chasin' the Clouds Away [September 22nd only]

With yesterday’s being September 21st, it only seemed fitting that today’s picture be here—where Cast Members and guests celebrated the entire day with Earth, Wind & Fire’s September playing nonstop on Cosmic Rewind. (In case you aren’t familiar, the lyrics of the song are “Do you remember, the 21st night of September…” and it’s many people’s favorite song out of the 6 that, on any other day, you can randomly get on the attraction. Us very much included.)

My kids were patient enough to wait on a nearby bench while I waited, perched on my tiptoes on the curb across the way, for the monorail to go by. And then they were patient again when one whipped around the bend during the one moment that I looked away. But maybe that was meant to be, because the second to go by was Monorail Yellow, a perfect match for the Starblaster, the Nova Corps ship out front.

Ran home and edited it, leaning into a retro vibe. I love the way the sun is hitting the ship. I was shooting in burst mode and could make a flip book out of my results but this was my favorite. Settings aimed to capture the whole scene in focus, from the ship in the foreground to Spaceship Earth in the background and the moving monorail in between—50mm, 1/400 second, f/11, ISO 100.

I’d actually meant to bring my zoom lens but took my 50mm by mistake and I’m so glad I did. They say a prime makes you zoom with your feet instead of your camera and here it made me stand at the edge of the area on tiptoe, aiming over the heads of the long lines, to get this whole scene. It was a tougher spot than being closer with a wider field of view would have been, but I think the resulting image is better for it.