Occidental Park – Seattle

11. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

Occidental Park is a small community park located in the Pioneer Square neighborhood in downtown Seattle.  This location is where Seattle’s founders settled back in 1852.  It’s also the location where the city’s great fire burnt nearly everything to the ground in 1889.

This park is located just off 1st Avenue and was created in 1971 and is considered to be in the heart of the city’s art gallery district with a number of gallery’s around the park facing in.

Unfortunately the day I visited (to take this picture) it was wet and miserable outside so there were no tourists checking out the area.  There were however some local homeless people and “loonies” sitting in the park by some of the parks sculptures.

One guy came up to me while I was taking the picture and asked me what I was doing.  I didn’t want to give him a hard time even though it was pretty obvious what I was up to as I had a camera and a huge tripod in front of me.  Anyway he asked me if I was interested in purchasing a new dress watch.  So he was obviously a jeweler!  As I don’t wear watches I politely declined.

My favorite “resident” however was some woman standing in the middle of the park screaming bible scripture (at least I think that’s what it was – there was a lot of God said this and God said that going on.)  Anyway I stopped and watched her for a bit (very entertaining) and then left when the rain started.

I liked the building in the picture as it was covered in ivy and on a drab wet day it was a little colorful.

And people say that soda isn’t bad for you!  Tell that to Master Chief!

Smith Tower – Seattle

10. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

When I woke up this morning I knew exactly what I was going to photograph today and what I would post tonight.   I knew, as last night I dreamt about the Smith Tower in Seattle.  How sad is that!  I no longer dream about – well the things I used to dream about, no, now I dream about 98 year old buildings (tragic!)

So despite the rain (and the fact that the 520 bridge is closed all weekend), I drove to downtown Seattle to shoot the tower.

Getting into the city wasn’t too bad, getting home was another thing altogether – took me over an hour as the I90 was the only way to cross Lake Washington and everyone wanted to go to the East Side with me.

Anyway I digress.  When I arrived in Seattle the rain had stopped so I parked up in the Yesler car park, jumped out of the car and started shooting.

I love this building it’s very cool.  It was built in 1914 and is 38 stories high (489 feet).  Until 1931 it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River (when the Kansas City Power & Lighting building went up) and the Smith Tower remained the tallest building on the West Coast until the Space Needle was built in 1962.

You can still go up the building today to the observation deck and I really recommend visiting if you get the chance.  For one thing the elevator ride is worth the visit alone.  The building has one of the last operator-controlled elevators on the west coast.  The building’s interior is very ornate with the gold ceilings, polished brass everywhere and woodcarvings on the walls – really nice.

I had an image in mind, but still walked all round the building trying lots of different views.  In the end the picture I liked the most was taken from 1st Ave looking up Yesler towards the tower.

I decided to post the image in black and white (well sepia really) as I think the Tower has that “old building” feel and looks great in this kind of image.

I have to say I’m really pleased with the end result; the image looks great and is exactly what I wanted.

Carter went for a swim tonight, he was a little scared as he watched Jaws this afternoon.  Of course there was nothing to be worried about, I mean what could possibly hurt you in a fish tank?

Kirkland Marina – Kirkland

09. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

Typical isn’t it.  Yesterday it was lovely outside, sun shining, warm, I even saw some buds coming through on some bushes – I mean it was like “wow, spring is on its way”.  So I get all excited and think I’m going to get some good pictures this weekend.

Then Friday comes around, and the rain starts to fall.   I really wanted to get some blue skies and nice pictures and it’s cold and wet outside – again.

As a result I thought I’d post a picture from a sunny day.  This shot was taken in Kirkland by the marina.   It was a nice day and the water was really calm so there wasn’t too much boat movement on the water.  Mind you there were a lot of boats there – pretty crowded.

Carter wanted to go to the movies tonight but didn’t have any money, so he decided to liberate some money from Abi’s piggy bank – very naughty!

Stephens Akro – Museum of Flight

08. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags:

It’s been a while since I posted a plane, so tonight my picture of the day is the Stephens Akro. This is a cool little plane that’s made of wood and was designed and built for aerobatics. Not sure I’d want to loop the loop in a wooden plane but in the late 1960’s this was what all the pilots were after.

I took this shot as the plane is hanging on its side by a balcony overlooking the main exhibit area in the Museum of Flight. From the balcony you get a great shot of the Akro from the top. Anyway I think it’s a cool image.

Looks like we have some nice weather here right now so this weekend I’m heading out with my camera to get some pictures.

I had hoped that my new Nikon D4 would be here by now but they haven’t even shipped it yet, so I have no idea when it will arrive. In the interim I’ll just have to struggle through with my current gear. But when that camera arrives I will tell you all about it.

Lisa went out this evening so I had to provide dinner.   So we had pizza.   I turned my back for five minutes and Carter and Master Chief got in there.

Union Jack Pillow – Home

07. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

I know I said I was getting bored of these images and was going to try something different tonight, but then I saw this pillow and thought WOW I love the quotation around the edge.  For us Brit’s this is SO true.

“Where there is tea there is hope” – I love that.  We use tea to solve all issues, if something good happens, a baby is born or we get a promotion – we have a cup of tea. If something bad happens, someone is hurt or World War III breaks out – we have a cup of tea.  It’s just like that, so when I saw this slogan I had to capture it.

So this was another light painting picture, just placed the pillow on the sofa, turned off the lights and away I went.  This was my first attempt and I think it caught the subject really well, you can even see the stitches in the material.

I think Carter and Master Chief were were a little thirsty and decided to have some wine.  I thought the way they tried to open the bottle was very interesting.

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