Coffee Cup – Seattle

25. August 2012 · Comments Off on Coffee Cup – Seattle · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

Sometimes to get ideas of what to shoot I’ll look on the internet.  Putting in the name of a city or region can display images and views you’ve never noticed.  I guess this could be construed as cheating, but I’m not looking to totally plagiarize an image, I’m just looking for locations and things to shoot.

Anyway, I had to go to work today and I was looking for something I could shoot tomorrow.  So I put “Seattle” into Bing and loads of really nice images popped up.  A few times the image of the coffee cup outside Post Alley appeared.  It would seem that this neon cup is kind of a Seattle iconic image.  Anyway I looked at the pictures and thought “I’m sure I captured that”.  So when I got home I looked in my back-log and sure enough I have the picture.

Obviously Seattle is famous for it’s coffee, it is after all that city the gave birth to Starbucks.  So this large neon coffee cup at the entrance of Post Alley in Pike Place Market represents Seattle quite well.

When I took this it was pretty dark and the market was deserted.  This was a long exposure and the dark sky came out blue.  I think the blue sky and neon sign look really cool together.  Anyway I hope you like the image.

The guys wanted to climb something today, so I pointed them to this – well it’s kind of a glass fake flower display thingy – and up they went!

Market Neon – Seattle

19. June 2012 · Comments Off on Market Neon – Seattle · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

I know what you’re thinking, how many nighttime neon shots can you take?  Well the answer is quite a lot.  Ironically tonight’s image is the subject that gave me the original idea that started this off.  I remember driving past Pike Place Market one night on my way home with James, and seeing the sign lit up.  It was one of those “oh I’ll come back and get that another time” moments.

Well several weeks later (and after one failed attempt when I drove to Seattle and the sign was not turned on) I finally got the shot.  The market was empty and the sun had set.  There were actually a few people standing below the sign taking the same picture but I’m sure mine is best (joke).

I was lucky as I managed to find a parking place actually in the market, so it was literally drive up, grab the shot and go home.

One of the challenges I have is that I don’t go to that many new places – I do work for a living you know.  When I do go somewhere I take loads of shots of the same thing, and then find myself with a dilemma.  Do I post all my night time shots of Pike Place or not?  If I was posting less frequently I would be much more selective but I really don’t have that luxury.  I posted a similar nighttime shot of Pike Place back on June 1st, but that was a different sign so I’m letting this one go up too.

On a positive note, my new camera (Nikon D4) will be here in two days time and I know I’ll be out and about with that and am bound to get some exciting new images.  Arguably not because the camera is better, but just because I’m excited to go out and play with a new toy.  There is a whole back story to the camera, which I will post when it arrives, so look out for that.

The guys were feeling musical tonight, so made themselves an instrument and gave us a song.  It was terrible!

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!

Night Market – Seattle

01. June 2012 · Comments Off on Night Market – Seattle · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

After my night shots in Bellevue, I thought I should do some more night neon pictures, so this evening I drove to Seattle to see what I could get.  I started off in Pike Place Market and took this picture overlooking Elliott Bay.

The market was pretty deserted so I was able to park up right in the market and walk around with the tripod and get some nice shots.  I chose this one as the first to post as I liked the contrast of the blue sky and the pinky-red neon.  Also the ferry in the distance came out really well, add to that the cool little fish in the corner and I had a nice image.

I tried to get a shot actually in the Market as well as it was empty and I figured how often can you take a picture in there with no people, but a security guard told me I wasn’t allowed!  I have no idea why, all I wanted to do was take a picture but he was quite big and a little scary looking so I just moved on.

Tomorrow I’m going to another car show (I like cars) so I may post something from that tomorrow.

Master Chief did some yard work today and needed some help cleaning up.  Carter helped.

Pike Place Market – Seattle

22. May 2012 · Comments Off on Pike Place Market – Seattle · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

You can’t really visit Seattle without going to Pike Place Market and when you do you’ll probable enter the market under the big clock.  This is the south end of the Market at the end of Pike Street and arguably the part that’s most famous.  At this end you find Rachel the bronze cast piggy bank which is usually covered in tourists trying to get a market picture, and behind Rachel is the Pike Place Fish Market.  This fish market is probably one of the major attractions as when you buy fish here the guy out front selects the one you want and throws it to the guys behind the counter who pack it for you.  Throwing fish is definitely their thing, but if you want that picture you need some patience – they don’t throw fish to order!

I chose to visit the market on a day off work.  It was pretty quiet in the morning and the sun was shining and gave me the opportunity to take the typical market shot.  I actually wasn’t going to post this one as everyone shoots the market from this location, but then I thought what the hell!  I live in Seattle, I need to get this one at least once – so here is my traditional Pike Place Market.

The signage above the market here is great and when it gets dark everything lights up.  I actually drove to Seattle late one Sunday night just to capture the neon lights.  It was raining when I went too which was fantastic as I was after red neon reflections in the road.  It takes around 40 minutes for me to drive there and I was going just for this one picture.  However when I got there the sign wasn’t on.  I was totally devastated and rather than look for other subjects drove home totally depressed.  I will get that shot this year though so look out for that one.

Today Carter felt the need to hit the road and ride his Harley.  As you can see his dream came true.

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