Blue Needle
Friday 9 January, 2004 18.02
In September of 2003 friends from the U.K. visited me here in Seattle. And no trip to Seattle is complete without a jaunt down to the famous Space Needle. 580' feet or so to the top, and you have a magnificent view of Seattle, the Olympics, and the Cascade Mountains, as well as Puget Sound. The day this photo was taken it was actually partly cloudy (Imagine that! Clouds in Seattle). Pure chance had it framed against a clear-blue patch of sky when I snapped this shot. The structure you see near the bottom of the picture is the tower's banquet hall, added in the early 1980s, if I remember correctly, and 100 feet in the air. It was part of the original plans, but didn't get built at the time of original construction due to a lack of funds, I believe. The structure looks much better balanced with it than without.
Seattle @ Sunset
Friday 26 December, 2003 19.20
Kicking off the revamp to the site is sort of a pseudo-re release. The Graphics Factory used to offer a sunset desktop photo very similar to this one, which had the distinction of being the only artwork on the site not made by myself. It's the same view to the WSW of Seattle from its Capitol Hill neighborhood as the old one, but I had the good fortune to catch the sunset with better colors than the old picture. Sheer luck in timing, along with the luxury afforded by a digital camera of taking multiple photos and selecting the best of the bunch, has allowed me to go back and tweak a photo -- in a manner of speaking.
Purple Flowers
Sunday 20 April, 2003 10.14
One of the frustrating things about moving from the deep South to the Northwest, is a maddening unfamiliarity with the common flowers and plants of the area. I'd never realized how much basic botanical knowledge of the plants around me I'd taken for granted. Case in point: this photo, taken at Seattle's Discovery Park in the spring of 2003. I'd originally thought these were wildflowers, but subsequently saw them growing in someone's yard. Like Florida, Washington has a serious problem with non-native plants expanding into its ecosystem. (Having said that, I have no idea if these flowers are native, or even if they pose a problem if not).
Ironworks
Sunday 30 March, 2003 00.03
Atop Capitol Hill, Seattle's funkiest (and highest) neighborhood, there is Volunteer Park. It's a nice enough city park, but its best feature is its water tower, which is open to the public and offers an astounding 360° view of the city. This shot is of the grill placed over the tower's windows—I assume to prevent people from jumping, as the fall would certainly be fatal. Regardless of its utilitarian function, it offered a nice chance for what turned out to be a rather interesting detail photograph.
Norfolk Pine
Sunday 20 April, 2003 11.28
Manhole Cover
Friday 28 March, 2003 19.51
Another photo from Volunteer Park, this manhole cover is at the base of the park's water tower. It is, along with the shot of cherry blossoms, my favorite, and makes for a surprisingly satisfying photo print.
Rhododendrons
Sunday 30 March, 2003 00.08
One of the plants I miss most from the South are the various Azaleas, especially the full-sized varieties. In February of each year, you can't turn around without running into their blossoms, and they are a perennial favorite of Southern gardeners, with good reason. Rhododendrons are a close relative, and do make beautiful displays of flowers each spring, but have a heavier build and appearance than their Southern cousins.
Space Needle
Saturday 29 March, 2003 23.53
Interesting architecture, especially that of mid-twentieth century, is something that always grabs my attention. Seattle's Space Needle is actually one of the reasons I decided to move here. I can think of no other city in the U.S. so strongly identified with a single building's silhouette. The view from the top—580 feet or so up—is amazing. Unfortunately, it so strongly defines Seattle's skyline, that photos taken from it always come out somewhat flat as they're missing the Needle itself. Oh well, can't have everything.
Cherry Blossoms
Sunday 6 April 2003 18.08
I may have had to give up Azaleas when moving to the Northwest, but I gained something even more astounding: cherry blosssoms. It's hard to describe how beautiful these trees are early each spring when they all simultaneously burst into bloom. The trees themselves are rather unassuming, and pass without notice for the rest of the year. Entire blocks of neighborhoods are lined with them, and the effect as the blossoms drop after only a week or so is like a snowfall of pink and white petals. Very pretty, and their blatantly ephemeral nature is somewhat bittersweet. I can see why the Japanese are so hung up on them. :-)
Ferns and Moss
Sunday 20 April, 2003 10.02
Another shot from Seattle's Discovery Park, this is a rather simple photo of ferns and moss growing on a rotting log. I took the shot on a whim, and was surprised at how nicely it came out. I've noticed digital photos often have an orangeish cast to them which can be somewhat unappealing. In this case though, it worked extremely well, giving the photo a late-afternoon light quality, despite the time being actually somewhat before noon.
Previous Next