Abi Rock Climbing – Stone Gardens Bellevue

29. April 2012 · Comments Off on Abi Rock Climbing – Stone Gardens Bellevue · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

Next week Abi is 9 year’s old which to me is unbelievable as the last 9 years have gone by so quickly!  Anyhow for her birthday she decided she wanted a party at this place called Stone Gardens.  Stone Gardens is an indoor rock climbing club.  You basically join and hire equipment and they teach you how to spider-man up walls.

Before we booked the place for a party, we thought Abi had better try it out first (to make sure she enjoyed it and it didn’t end up a waste of time and money).  So this morning we went over to give it a go.  Abi’s best friend Valerie and her brother Quin came too and the three of them got the necessary special shoes and harnesses on you need to wear.  James was with us as well but he didn’t want to do it which is a real pity as I think he would be really good.  He’s tall and skinny and pretty strong, I bet he would be great and enjoy it too!  But no luck.

So Abi, Val and Quin met the instructor for their hour session (a guy called Jay) and we headed off to the beginner walls for some guidance.  Jay was really good, very patient and helped the kids gain confidence quickly.  All three scaled the first wall with ease, so we moved up to the next, higher walls.

By the time we left, the place was pretty busy and the kids had scaled walls of over 40 feet tall.  They all had a great time so we booked a party for the end of May (which was the first booking we could make).  I was amazed at how big the facility was and the number of people climbing – I really had no idea how popular the sport was.

One of the down sides however was the lighting was not very good for pictures.  I had to ramp up my ISO to be able to take a shot at f/2.8 with an exposure of at least 40 seconds, and most of those images were blurry (as the kids were moving so much).  If I had gone any higher with the ISO the pictures would have been full of noise and unusable.  That’s the down side of the D300s – hopefully my D4 will be here in the next few weeks and I can use it for the party.

The image below was posed by Abi and I used a flash off camera.  As you can see she was very happy to be there.

Carter and Master Chief are supper happy with their new friend, I think it’s Robot Love.

Burgermaster – Bellevue

28. March 2012 · Comments Off on Burgermaster – Bellevue · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

Coming from England, the term “fast food” usually means places like McDonalds, Burger King or KFC, quick and easy restaurants where you walk in, sit at plastic tables or grab your food to go.  The experience is the same everywhere, pretty clinical and boring.

So how are things different in the US?  Well obviously America is the king of everything fast food and all the famous names come from this side of the pond.  But what’s different, is that you can still find places that mimic the old fast food joints of the 50’s.  Two types of restaurant spring to mind, there are the diners, that offer malts and shakes with your burger (some are even in old trailers – very cool) and then there are the old fashioned drive-ins – places like Sonic and Burgermaster, where you drive in, flash your lights and someone comes out to serve you in your car.

In Bellevue we have a Burgermaster where it works just like that.  You drive in, leave your lights on and a server comes to your car.  You place your order and they return with a little tray that hangs off your window that holds your burger and fries.  There is something really quaint and fun about these places and I’m sure American friends who read this are wondering what all the fuss is about, but you would never find a place like this in Europe, and quite frankly, that’s sad.

The food is, well fast!  It’s ok I guess but the real reason we go is for the experience which is just fun.  Sonics are great to go to as well, as the servers come out on roller skates.  At our Burgermaster they walk to your car, but it’s still worth a visit if you’ve never been.

I drove past the restaurant the other day and wondered what it would look like in a night picture.  So tonight I came home from work and waited until it got dark.  At 8pm I headed over to Bellevue to take the shot below.

Kat wanted a banana colored coat, so Carter helped out with a cool idea.

Clyde Beach Bay – Bellevue

19. March 2012 · Comments Off on Clyde Beach Bay – Bellevue · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

So I have two questions tonight.  Firstly, why is it that I sit in my office all day looking out the window at a beautiful day, sun shining, warm outside etc., but when I leave the office to come home (and take my evening picture) it starts to rain?  What’s that about?  And secondly, why am I so obsessed with the weather all the time!  I think it’s because it’s so crappy here at the moment.  When Summer gets here it will be great (can’t wait).

Anyway as it was raining when I left work (and it was really cold tonight) I decided to pick a picture from my backlog.  Tonight’s image was taken last month at Clyde Beach Bay in Bellevue.  I was there taking a sunset picture over Lake Washington but behind where I was standing was a small bay surrounded by some beautiful homes.

I have no idea who lives in these houses but I’m really jealous I’d LOVE to live here it’s absolutely amazing.  They all seem to have boats too and I love the idea of walking through my garden to the lake and jumping in my boat for a quick trip to Seattle.  Well, when I win the lottery this is where I’m moving.

Tonights circus lesson is on the trapeze.

Sunset at Clyde Beach Park – Bellevue

08. February 2012 · Comments Off on Sunset at Clyde Beach Park – Bellevue · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

I was out looking for a new location to shoot, somewhere local but a place I haven’t tried.  Earlier in the day I’d looked at mapquest to see if there were any parks near work and I found Clyde Beach Park in Bellevue that overlooked Lake Washington.

The sun was starting to go down when I arrived and the water was really calm.  I liked the fact that the sun was going to fall over the peninsular and there was a guy sat at the end of the peer just staring out over the water.

The sky also had a nice orange tint and after shooting lots of cold blue and grey skies it made a great change.

The only downside is when you shoot directly into the sun you are going to get some lens flare, and I wasn’t let down.  Fortunately it doesn’t hurt the image too much.

The halo guys found an old etch-a-sketch and I have to say I was very impressed with their image!

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