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?

Seattle Skyline – Seattle

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

Late posting today but I just made it (by 12 minutes).  Lisa and Abi went out this eventing to see a friend complete in the Miss Seattle Pageant and James and I were left at home.  I figured if the girls can go out and have some fun, then the boys can too.  So James and I jumped in the car and went to Seattle.  I grabbed the picture below and we went for dinner at the Metropolitan – fantastic steak if you ever get the chance.

This shot is taken overlooking downtown Seattle in a rather “dodgy” area.  James and I forced marched from a car park to the spot where I took the shot, took the picture real quick and ran back to the car – how sad is that!  Anyway it came out ok (especially as it was a rush job).

On the way home we drove past Pike Place Market and it was all lit up, I’m definitely going back to catch a night shot of that.  Anyway here is todays picture.

Carter found some bubbles tonight and I caught him playing with them, here is the shot.

Sunset Over Elliott Bay – Seattle

20. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

I captured this image yesterday from the observation roof of the cruise terminal in Seattle.  The view is overlooking Elliott Bay as the sun sets.  You can see a ferry coming in in the center of the picture, I’m not sure where it’s coming from but it’s either Bainbridge Island or Bremerton.

I liked the idea of composing the image just above one of the binoculars and using that as a point of reference the viewer can follow.  I had to compose the image as I did as there was a load of machinery down on the dock and when in frame it was overly distracting.  That said I couldn’t remove it completely at capture time and had to take it out in post processing when I got home (that’s two hours I’ll never get back)!

I actually like this image more than yesterday’s and particularly like the sun’s reflection on the water.

Halo guys wanted a break from the kitchen tonight so they ordered take-out!

Pier 66 – Seattle

19. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

Today was dry (thank goodness) so I hit the road with my gear and headed for downtown Seattle.  Today I wanted to capture a picture of the city and scout some potential new places for future trips.  I thought I start at the waterfront so drove past the Space Needle and got to the bay.

Seattle is a great city to visit and walking down by the water and piers is a lot of fun – on a sunny day!  While not wet, today was very windy and cold and like an idiot I went out without a coat or gloves.

For today’s picture I found some high ground by the water that overlooked a small harbor and the city.  The site is actually the location of the cruise terminal where large cruise ships dock when visiting Seattle, and when no cruise ships at port you can get on top of the building and take in the views.  The building right below me on pier 66 is Anthony’s Restaurant.  This place sells probably the best fish in the city and has both a low cost and expensive restaurant where you can sample the catch of the day.  Really worth a visit.

Right next to Anthony’s is a small harbor, I have no idea how much it costs to dock your boat here but I’m betting it’s not cheap!  Finally in the distance you can see the city (well basically downtown).  You can’t see the Space Needle here as it’s actually behind me.

I love this picture and think it gives a nice view of the Seattle bay shore line.

I stuck around for a little longer and got a great shot of the sun starting to go down over Elliott Bay, so I’ll probably post that tomorrow.  After I took some shots I went for a drive and found some fantastic locations for the future.  But I’ll save those for another day.

Note to self, never leave any lenses around the house as “somebody” might find them and play with them!

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