Morocco Pavilion, World Showcase
Epcot, Walt Disney World

During my Summer trip to Walt Disney World it rained a lot. Not the normal, twenty minute, afternoon Florida rain, it rained! Not every day was a wash out, but my first day at Epcot saw torrential rains starting at 3:30pm lasting through the night. Although I enjoyed my visit with a friend that night, we were soaked! It also did not allow for any night exploring with the camera.

The next morning I changed my plans and went back to Epcot. I was determined to explore that park with my newly acquired wide-angle lens. After the fireworks, I got down to business. While most guests were heading toward the exits, I was making my way to all the pavilions on my list. Morocco was near the top. The details you can find in this pavilion are amazing.

My first image had to be of Koutoubia minaret. I have tried in recent years to get an acceptable image but this time I had a few extra degrees of view with the wide-angle lens. I wanted to stay on landscape mode and capture more of the pavilion rather than portrait mode with only the minaret. I believe it works better in this orientation to create a better sense of location.

The lighting and colors of this area are beautiful, but it is the details I wanted to capture. I processed this one as a B&W HDR image to allow those details to shine through. Explore this image. Look at the patterns cast by the lights, the details of the stone work and the intricacy of the tiles. I ate lunch at the table near the base of the minaret so I could soak in all the details on display.

Bazaar Night
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 9-18mm f/4-5.6, {2.5, 5 & 10s bracket}, 9mm, f/8, ISO 200