Harry Potter and some of my favorite images

A few years ago, I went to The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL.

The park had been hyped-up so long before it ever opened that there was no possible way it could live up to the expectations that I had built up in my head.  It probably also doesn't help that I have not read the books and only seen a few of the movies.

My biggest complaint is that the park was much smaller than I expected.  I was anticipating something the size of the Magic Kingdom at Disney.  It seemed much smaller.  There were a few shops (the lines of which were about 30 min to well over an hour to get in, BTW.  Who wants to wait in line that long just to get in and maybe find something to buy???), a couple restaurants (we ate lunch at one and the pot pie was so bad I didn't finish it) and a couple rides.  Over all, I was not impressed.

However, my disappointment aside, I made the best of it.  Looking for different angles and waiting on clouds to move, I got some great images.  Such as these from the main attraction, Hogwarts.

Hogwarts the ride at Universal's Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

Hogwarts the ride at Universal's Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

A good lesson to take from this is to try and make the best of a bad situation.  You're already there.  You can either complain about it and have a miserable time, or look for a better angle and come away with some great images.

Larger versions of the photos, as well as other images from the trip can be seen and purchased at John Shippee Photography: Wizarding World Of Harry Potter.

Traveling and planning

This last trip was really a two part trip.  The first was to spend the Christmas holiday in Italy with some good friends.  This part of the trip went without issue and was nice and relaxing.  

Generally when I travel, I do some research beforehand to get an idea of a few things that I want to do in the city I will be visiting.  I do not, however, plan every moment of every day.  To me, that is not a vacation and does not leave any time to relax and enjoy myself.  For Catania, my only plan was to visit with friends and go with the flow.  It was great!  Here is an image from Syracusa, a town that is a short drive from Catania, that we visited one of the days in Italy.

The second part of the trip was to bounce over to Paris to spend New Year's Eve.  That part did not go quite as planned.  While I had a great time, I should have done some better planning and research before leaving.  Some issues were that the Louvre is closed New Year's Eve, New Years Day, and every Tuesday.  Those happen to be the only 3 days I was there.  The other issue, which wasn't necessarily a problem, just more of a disappointment.  Paris does not do anything for New Year's Eve.  No fireworks, no concerts, no announcers.  Nothing!  I don't know about you, but I like fireworks.  New Year's Eve without fireworks is like pizza without cheese; it just not the same.  A great time was still had and I managed to come away with some of my favorite types of souvenirs: great photos!  They are cheap, don't require dusting like little nick-nacks do, and are fun to share.  Below is one of the shots of the Eiffel Tower. 

More of the images from my trip to Paris can be on my website John Shippee Photography.

What are some of your favorite travel tips?

Travel Tip and St Severin Church

One of my favorite things about visiting Europe is walking around the cities and stumbling upon random finds, such as the Church of Saint Severin in Paris, France.  This is where the photo above was taken.  As is the one below.



I recommend either walking around at sunrise or just before sunset.  Not only is the lighting amazing during these times of day, but the crowds of tourists are generally not on the streets either.

It's a great tip for traveling.  Leave time for yourself to wander the streets and get off the beaten path.  You never know what you'll find!

Travel tip and Catania Italy

This image was taken during my recent trip to Italy.  It was taken near Catania, Sicily.  This photo, however, is not the reason for this post.

Having just returned from a 3 week vacation traveling around Italy and France, I learned a very important lesson at all the airports; a lot of suitcases look exactly alike.  You know that great Victorinox suitcase that you got at Target a few weeks ago?  Yeah, so did a lot of other people.  There's a good chance one of those people is on the same plane as you.

There are various ways I saw that people had modified their luggage to make it more unique and easily identifiable.  Some had little ribbons tied to the zippers.  Some had wrapped fabric around the luggage handle.  And some people used duct tape to make different designs on their bags.  While these all worked, I don't like the idea of putting duct tape on my luggage and I feel like the ribbon could easily get torn off in transit.  Who knows what happens to your bag once it is out of sight down that conveyor belt???

Today, while I was browsing through my site, John Shippee Photography, I noticed that one of the products that is offered through my store is a photo luggage tag.  How awesome is that?!?!  It's a great way to make your bag recognizable, you can pick any image from my site to do it with, and it looks a lot better than duct tape.  I'll definitely be ordering a few, just as soon as I decide which are my favorite images today.

Burlesque in Jacksonville, FL

November brought another great show to Club TSI in Jacksonville, FL.  The rest of the images can be viewed on my site, John Shippee Photography.

Burlesque photos from October 2012

Some images by John Shippee Photography from this past Friday's burlesque performance by the Bada Bing Babes at Club TSI in Jacksonville, FL.  More, and larger versions, can be seen at www.JohnShippeePhotography.com

Jax Beach Storm

The storm tonight was amazing!  I'm so glad I decided to go check it out instead of heading straight home.  I did my usual "just one more photo, then I'll leave..."  Of course, one led to another, and another, and another... Before I knew it, 20 minutes or so had passed.

My timing of getting back to the car could not have been more perfect.  As soon as I got the camera and tripod broken down, put in the car, and then shut the door behind me, it started pouring.

Check out the rest of the images from the storm here:

Take me to the storm photos!