Post Alley – Seattle

07. June 2012 · Comments Off on Post Alley – Seattle · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

If you go to Pike Place Market you typically go into the main food, flower and craft area and walk around that, this is called the Main Arcade.  If you are feeling a little adventurous, you may find the stairs or ramps to go down stairs and find the stores below in the area known as “Down Under”, but that’s not all there is.

Pike Place is the road the Main Arcade is on (I know what a surprise), and the market is on both sides of the road.  Across the road from the Main Arcade is Post Alley.  Here you can find a number of retail stores, restaurants and cafes.  In fact it’s the best place to get a bite to eat in the market.

When I visited to take this shot the market was deserted (very rare) so I captured one side of Post Alley without any people in shot.  Most of this area is lit with neon signs and it’s amazingly colorful.   At first I thought I’d post a color shot as there is blue neon round the sign and red neon on the buildings and everything is lit up.  But the problem is the picture was overly bright and a little sickly.  Then I tried a black and white and added a copper tone.  I really liked this so chose this one instead.  Lisa liked this one with some color peaking though but I’m off those sort of shots these days – so this is what you’re getting.

Anyway, great part of the market, if you get the chance check it out, and also a nice place for a picture.

Apparently Master Chief is worried about his weight, so Carter told him to get some Saran Wrap on and sweat the weight off!

White Tulips – Mount Vernon

06. June 2012 · Comments Off on White Tulips – Mount Vernon · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

It’s been a while since I posted any tulip pictures and quite frankly I still have hundreds left so tonight’s image is of some white tulips and was shot at Mount Vernon during the tulip festival.  This was one of those shots where I got out my black bin bag, laid it in the mud and got down on the floor.  Passers by looked at me like I was nuts but I’m used to that now.

I wanted a shot of a tulip row disappearing off into the distance with a nice sky above.  This is what I got.  The dark pink tulips behind added to the image by making the white ones stand out a little.

Fortunately this was one of the few times when nobody was in my way stomping around the field, so absolutely no Photoshop here.

I haven’t posted any black and white for a while so tomorrow I’ll look for something to shoot that will make a good black and white image.  I also need to shoot more people so I’ll look for some subjects there too.

Carter found a can of crazy string and went a little mad today – poor Master Chief!

Western Red Cedar Log – Snoqualmie

05. June 2012 · Comments Off on Western Red Cedar Log – Snoqualmie · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

When you visit Snoqualmie and pass the large waterfalls you immediately come to the railway museum.  You drive along the road with old railway exhibits to your right and then hit the town main street.

Just as you arrive at the town you pass this large (well large isn’t really the right word, maybe massive or enormous would be better) log.  The log (or tree trunk) is actually behind a barred fence, when I first saw this I wondered what the fence was for I mean who is gonna steal this massive piece of wood?  But the fence isn’t there to stop thieves, no; it’s there to stop vandals!  Apparently before the fence was put around the tree truck, the city of Snoqualmie were getting frustrated with people carving their name in the wood.

So what’s a huge tree trunk doing near the main street?  Well fortunately there was a very large plaque next to the tree so I can answer that.  It appears that back in the day a major source of income for the community was lumber.  Once the railway was built the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company did a roaring trade in huge Douglas-Firs, Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedars.

The Lumber Company had a mill about a mile north of town and used to move 15 foot diameter logs around town on massive carriages.  Of course all this happened in the late 1800s and the mills did really well until the mid 1900s when cheaper alternatives to these massive trees were found.

This huge log is a reminder of Snoqualmie’s past.  It’s pretty impressive even though the fence around it kind of spoils the view.  I had to push my camera through the bars to get a picture.  I tried shooting from further back but the bars ruined the shot.  And while the fence is doing a great job stopping those pesky vandals, they really need to find a way to keep the pigeons out!

The say an apple a day keeps the doctor away.  Does that work if you share it?

Chrome Engine – Duvall

04. June 2012 · Comments Off on Chrome Engine – Duvall · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

While in Duvall at the Big Rock Classic Car Show I captured this shot of a chrome engine.  I have no idea what the car is (I didn’t check) but I loved the three carburetors on the top and the fact that it was all bright and shiny.  After a while you tend to just walk around taking lots of pictures, some you know will look good and some you just hope.  This was a shot I kind of saw as I captured it and while it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I like the mechanical busy look of the engine.  I just wish I owned an engine this clean – never going to happen.

I really don’t know how much time these guys spend adding bright-work to their cars, but you have to admire this kind of dedication.  I mean how long does it take to polish the engine?  And what happens if you get an oil leak?  Clearly these are questions I will never know the answer to.  Anyway I hope you like the image.

Tonight Carter and Master Chief were once again playing with fruit, who knew you could have so much fun.

Red Barn – Duvall

03. June 2012 · Comments Off on Red Barn – Duvall · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

Lisa, Abi and I drove over to Duvall yesterday to go to the Big Rock Classic Car Show and on the Duvall/Carnation road passed this red barn. On the way to Duvall the sky was totally overcast and I didn’t think a picture would look that great, so I decided to remember the location for another day.

After visiting Duvall and the car show the clouds parted and blue sky appeared (in fact it got really warm) so on the way home we stopped by the barn to get a shot.  I’ve driven this road many times and I must have passed this barn, but I’ve never noticed it before.  So Lisa and I think that the owners probably recently painted the barn as it was very red.

Lisa pulled over and I jumped out, I didn’t want to keep her waiting so I didn’t bother with a tripod, I just hand held multiple shots so I could HDR a nice image when I got home.  When I processed the image I didn’t want to over do it, I really wanted a natural look as the barn looked great just as it was.  I know the color here looks saturated but it really was this red.

I think the image came out nicely, the fact that the whole image is composed of the primary Red, Blue and Green colors really makes it stand out.

Carter found out that you make wine from grapes so he started a little wine processing plant with Master Chief.

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