Picture This!

Located in the shadows of a pathway that'll lead you to an outdoor cash register between Le Bat en Rouge and Pieces of Eight in New Orleans Square, Disneyland, Fortune Red awaits. Hand over your coins and he'll acknowledge your existence and entertain you with some piratical music before dispensing advice in the form a printed card.

I took only two photos of Fortune Red and I did so without a flash because it would just bounce off his reflective glass case. In dealing with whatever daylight trickled in I set my camera to Program which is like Auto but with the ability to change some settings. The first picture is ...

Canon PowerShot SX100 IS, Program, f2.8, 1/40, ISO 400

I had to take a deep breath and hold very still because the shutterspeed was a tad slow.

My image is darker than I wanted and slowing down the shutter even more to 1/30 or 1/20 would mean I'd have to be extra still. I can't open the aperature (f-stop) any more because 2.8 is the limit on my camera's built-in lens. My only alternative was to increase the ISO (film speed) to 800. This is the picture I got.

Now it's much easier to see Fortune Red and even make out his skeleton friend. If I wanted to, I could use a software program to play with the contrast and brightness but these photos have not been edited at all so you can see the true difference between them.

October 18th marks the annual CHOC/Disneyland Walk in the Park, a fundraiser for Children's Hospital of Orange County. I'll be taking part for the third time in this fantastic fundraiser. CHOC treats every patient regardless of the family's ability to pay. These are kids who may require regular treatment, testing, and medication. Please consider supporting me as I walk. Any amount you can contribute makes a difference. Thank you. Click here to donate. If you'd like to walk and join my friends and I, select Team Fairy Godmothers when you sign-up and then drop me a note.