Bob Owen

Uniformed Inspector

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

This brightly colored bird stands sentry at the entrance to his home in the Maharajah Jungle Trek, part of Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park.

They have over 50 exotic birds at this location. Unfortunately, like this guy, not all of them appear on the identification guide given out to guests.

The Explosion

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

The flower, bursting like an eploding firecracker. Taken in the high-altitudes house of the Fuqua center in the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Drop

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

The crystal blue Chihuly scupture atop the rose garden fountain will always be a lovely reminder of our wedding day.

Garden Shrine

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

The Japanese garden at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens actually pre-dates the botanical gardens. Seen here is a typical stone shrine framed in Japanese maple leaves.

The Sight Lab

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

The Sight Lab from Journey into Your Imagination with Figment; the third incarnation of this attraction at Epcot. On the table is the hands-free video camera from Honey I Shrunk the Audience. A reference to the related 3D mobie attraction you might see after the ride.

Biodome

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

I remember riding this when I was 10. It was the first time that plants seemed remotely interesting to me.

In this part of the Living with the Land attraction at Epcot we see a range of crops planted closely together. They are actually being grown in a sterilized sand bed and being feed hydroponically.

As a young boy, I imagined myself in a giant space station where we used these techniques to produce our food and clean our air and water.

All Roads Lead to Rome

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

Dark ride attraction photopgraphy is notoriously difficult. In addition to the low lighting conditions, flash is prohibited, and the ride vehicle is moving. Even when it does work out, most of the images are soft, noisy, or both.

This scene, with it’s elaborate, authentic costumes and props, is meant to depict the Roman Empire. The image was taken inside the Spaceship Earth attraction and is one of the scenes that had survived through the different updates to the attraction.

Last year, though, the narration for the scene didn’t fare so well. Before the rennovation, the attraction was sponsored by AT&T and the theme was communication. Here Jeremy Irons said “North, East, West, South, all roads lead to rome.” Now, with Siemens as a sponsor, the narrator has changed to Judi Dench and the roads in this scene are said to depict the first “world wide web.” The second most groan inducing change to the ride.

Still this will always be a classic and nostalgic attraction for me.

Earthrise

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

A view of the geosphere containing the Spaceship Earth attraction rising from behind the tree line just outside of Epcot.

Night Over the Savanna

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

Another photo taken from the balcony of our room at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. The sky above the savanna was amazing on this night. In this 30 second exposure you can see that the clouds were moving quickly and in different directions. You can salso see the top of the Mt Everest attraction and the glow from all the theme parks and hotels beyond. I also love that the star trails are evident even with such a short exposure.

Safari Encounter

Originally uploaded by Bob Owen

As the safari vehicle bumpily rolls by, a giraffe looks up from his meal to make sure we’re not a threat. Taken on the Kilimanjaro Safaris Tour at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park.