Sunday, June 09, 2019

Mark Twain at Dusk, 1950's

Dark Disneyland. It has an ominous ring to it; Ray Bradbury would have liked that. Whoever took these photos (and the rest of the pictures in the same lot) wound up with a lot of dark images. Read the instruction manual! But today's pictures of the Mark Twain still have a certain quality to them.

The final warm rays of sunlight on hit the front and very highest parts of the steamboat as it passes the ominous-looking Plantation House. Some of the ghosts from the Haunted Mansion probably lived in the Plantation House for a few years. We can barely see a sail from a raft to Tom Sawyer Island, too.


Sometimes cameras lie, and you know that the scene looked much lighter and brighter to the human eye. I can't help feeling a little envious of those passengers who get to see a still-unsullied frontier as the sun fades and the air is warm and still. A little banjo music wouldn't be a bad thing.


9 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Unfortunately, backlighting is rarely a photographer's friend. On the other hand - it did make for a bit of drama in these images. And hey - anytime the Swift's Chicken Plantation Restaurant is caught in-frame - that's a good thing. These pictures are more-wonderful than just 'dark'.

Thanks, Major.

Melissa said...

It's... *heehee* it's the... *giggle* it's the DARK TWAIN! Get it? Get it,? 'Cause it's the Mark Twain and it's dark... and with the rhyming and the... I'm just gonna go ahead and walk the plank.

Andrew said...

This one is still pretty good for a Sunday!

Melissa, ha!

stu29573 said...

Nice pictures...for a Sunday!
Melissa, your pun reminds me of the address of the house in the underappreciated classic movie "Murder By Death;" 22 Twain....

K. Martinez said...

I think the first pic is pretty nice. The actual moment in time the photo was taken it probably was brighter and lighter to the human eye as you said, otherwise the Mark Twain would've been all lit up with its popcorn lights.

Thanks, Major.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, it’s funny, these days I am aware of the “backlighting problem”, and yet… I still wind up taking backlit photos. Arg. I never claimed to be a good photographer!

Melissa, I think I get it!

Penna. Andrew, ha ha, that just shows how bad some Sunday pix can be.

stu29573, man, that is a film most people have forgotten. But not me!

K. Martinez, yes, the lack of popcorn lights is a clue that it wasn’t really that dark yet. Not to mention the fact that almost every photo in this lot is just way too dark.

Melissa said...

Murder by Death is one of my favorite movies of all time.

stu29573 said...

Peter Fauk was great!
Sam Diamond: That can only mean one thing...and I don't know what it is!

Anonymous said...

"Dark Disneyland" sounds like an overlay from the Queen Mary.

Major, let's not give them any more ideas.

I'll take just about any photo of the Dark Twain, and the Plantation House. I'm sure the ghosts of Fried Chicken past moved on to the Haunted Mansion.

JG