iPic – Redmond

02. September 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

Tonight I decided to photograph one of my favorite places to go, iPic Theater.  This movie theater used to be a Gold Class theater and was owned by Mark Cuban.  However for some reason Gold Class sold out to iPic, but it’s still really good.

So what’s the big deal?  Well firstly this is a movie theater for adults only – so no kids talking.  As they have a bar and serve alcoholic drinks to your seat while you’re watching your film, you have to be 21 or over to go there.  Also, they have these enormous electric chairs that recline and they give you pillows and blankets so you get all comfortable while you enjoy the movie.  And the thing that makes it perfect is they have a full menu and serve you food again in the theater to your seat, what’s more the food is pretty good.  So going out for dinner and a movie is a totally different experience.

Originally Lisa and I said we would never go there as a ticket cost $22.  We thought it was nuts spending that much for the movies, but there was a film we wanted to see (I can’t remember what it was) and the only place that was showing it at the time we wanted was Gold Class.  So we reluctantly went and begrudgingly handed over our $44 for two tickets.

But it was just FANTASTIC.  Back then they used to have a little red button that you could press and someone would come to your seat and take orders etc., but these days (since iPic took it over) the buttons have gone.  Also when iPic took over they raised the prices to $28 a person.  But the problem is once you have been there you just can’t go anywhere else – it really is that good.

I’ve taken friends there and they all get hooked too.  So I thought it might make a nice image.

So I parked up, grabbed the gear and ran across the road.  I had to be quick as security won’t let you take pictures in the town center (check out one of my first postings on when I got busted).  So I thought I’d just be quick.  I took three pictures from different locations and got out of dodge.

Fortunately in the one I chose to post, there were no cars driving past, but I think I could have got a better image.  I think it’s just OK, but definitely good enough to post.

Today I got a new Retina MacBook Pro and Master Chief and Carter helped me unbox it.

Marina Park – Kirkland

31. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

I got home this evening and again didn’t know what to post so I had dinner and headed out with the camera.  I didn’t have any idea where I was going but the sun was going down so I followed that.  I didn’t want to head to Seattle again as it was getting late so I drove down to Kirkland.  I parked up in Marina Park and got the camera and tripod.

It was pretty warm out still and there were a load of people walking outside enjoying the evening and the sunset.  There were loads of really nice opportunities to shoot images and I got a few nice shots.  I love shooting water at night but if there are boats on the water they tend to be a little out of focus.  They are bobbing up and down on the water and at night I have to have a long exposure so there is a load of motion blur. That said, I think moonlight and street lamps on water look really nice.

The image I chose to post tonight was a shot of the water front along the small beach.  By shooting towards the large gazebo I got a lot of light on the water and the sky facing west (so you just got the end of the sunset above).  Interesting as I was shooting with long exposures the people walking past didn’t appear in any of the shots as they kept moving and didn’t stay still long enough for the camera to pick them up.  So very little work to do in Photoshop.

Master Chief saw some dog treats and asked to try one, Carter said he had to play dog first.

Small Lock – Ballard

30. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

The other day we visited Ballard Locks in Seattle and got some great shots of the boats moving from Lake Union through to Elliott Bay.  They have two locks in Ballard, one really really big (it’s like two football pictures) and one that’s pretty small.  The big one takes a LONG time to fill up with boats, then it takes a long time for the water to rise.  So if you go into the big lock you have better have a lot of time.

The smaller lock (in tonight’s picture) is a lot smaller.  For example here you can see it containing pretty much one big boat and a few small sail boats and it’s full.  So with this one you get in and out quicker.  I’m not sure what the rules are, if it costs more or something but most boats you see there go through the larger lock.

In the image below I’m standing on the gates that open and let the boats out so I’m literally at one end and the can see the gates at the other.

This is a cool place to take a camera, the only down side is that there are either too many people there in the way or you end up with all these fences in the way of the pictures.  They fence off every thing here.  So it’s hard to try to take pictures that focus on the subject you want.

Beside the docks they have a fish ladder where you can go and watch the salmon jump up the ladder to get up river to spawn.  I’ll go back there in a few weeks and try to get some shots of the fish as it’s quite amazing to see.

Carter decided to make some paper plane’s tonight, they didn’t fly very far though.

Seattle Boat Club – Seattle

28. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , , ,

I got in from work tonight, had some dinner and hit the road with the camera.  I wanted something new to post and thought a nice sunsety picture would look good.  A place I’ve been meaning to go now for a while is Seattle’s Boat Club.  As you drive over the 520 bridge into Seattle you cross Lake Washington, and the a smaller lake called Portage Bay before you get to Lake Union and Seattle.  Located in Portage Bay is Seattle Boat Club.

It looks pretty cool as you drive past on the free way, so tonight I thought I’d try and grab a picture there.  I found the boat club pretty quickly off Lake Washington Boulevard and found somewhere to park up.  The houses around this bay are really impressive, they overlook the water and are huge (we are talking multi-millions I would think).

Anyway I parked up, grabbed the tripod and camera and went for a walk.  There were 4 pier’s surrounded by boats and some of the boats were massive.  In the end I set up the camera between piers 2 and 3 and captured today’s picture.  The sun had just set over Seattle and the sky looked really cool.

The water reflected the sky and clouds and made I think a really nice picture.  I’d quite like to go back there when it get’s dark as the whole place is lit up and I’m sure will look amazing.  But that’s a shot for another day.

Tonight the guys decided to have some muffin.  Chocolate banana, yummy.

Lock Railway Bridge – Ballard

27. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , , ,

In yesterday’s posting I told you about visiting Ballard Locks in Seattle – I was lucky enough to get a few good shots and today’s posting is another one from the visit.   Yesterday’s tug boat entered the lock from Lake Union and to get out of the Lake and into the lock it had to get past the Ballard railway bridge.  I was there at exactly the right time to shoot the boat as the bridge raised and the tug boat sailed underneath.

The boat was moving pretty fast so I couldn’t HDR the image, I had to shoot just one shot and process that when I got home.  We had quite a bit of cloud cover (it rained a little on the way home) but it came out as very grey in the finished picture.  So I single file tone mapped the image to bring a bit of texture and color back.

The end result looked pretty good, with the yellow tug boat under a blue grey sky.

Ten minutes before I took this shot a train went across the bridge, it actually wasn’t that impressive so I didn’t take a picture, but it did show that the bridge was still fully functional.  I actually liked this image best but I let Lisa pick the image for yesterday’s posting.  This really was one of those moments when you knew you had a great shot the moment the shutter closed.

Carter wanted to play basketball this evening but the ball was flat, so he helped pump it up.

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