Tag: seattle
Window Head
Emerald City Comicon 2014
Seattle
Sometimes it’s fun to take the scenic route.
Nighttime Dancing in Seattle
Just for grins, I brought my manual focus 50mm f/1.7 lens out for a walk in Seattle to get some practice manual focusing on my K-7. Manual focusing on a DSLR is a lot harder than on a film camera with a giant viewfinder and focusing aids (on an unrelated note, spending too much time around photographers puts you at high risk of contracting focusing aids. Beware). You can use live view and zoom in on the focal point, but that’s incredibly klunky. With practice, I got fairly good at focusing using the viewfinder. The K-7 is already on the small side (however its viewfinder is one of the largest for APS-C cameras) for a DSLR and with the tiny 50mm it was just the right size. Doing without the grinding noise from the autofocus motor was nice too. With no pressure to get results, this was a fun combo.
I wandered around while the light was growing dim and I found some fun stuff going down at Westlake Center. Some kind of dancing club was occupying the space and they even had live music. I can’t imagine wanting to dance for fun, but taking pictures of it was fun.
The event attracted participants of all ages. Most of them seemed to switch partners after every song. As someone with antisocial leanings, I felt like an alien observing and documenting the social behavior of another species.
The event also attracted a homeless man who seemed a bit inebriated. He had a large bandage on his belly and dog tags around his neck. He fed off of the energy of the event and seemed to be enjoying himself.
A few more photos of the dancing:
After the dancing died down and the sun went down further, I explored a little while longer. Below is a picture of one of the Borders stores right before it closed for good.
Walking around with a camera is one of the best ways to connect with a place and best of all, it’s free. To finish off the set, I processed all the photos with a similar “look” and I’m pretty proud of the results. I’ve been shooting a lot lately, but it’s the uploading and blogging that I need to catch up on. I’m not too upset, though. It’s better than being the other way around.
Emerald City Comicon 2011
I went to Emerald City Comicon last weekend with my wife and her sister. I don’t have much comic book knowledge, but I do enjoy me some sci-fi. As a photographic outing, the Comicon was outstanding, but there was almost too much good stuff to take pictures of. There were tons of costumes, and the people in costume were very friendly and had no problem with being photographed. A lot of the costumes were incredibly detailed and the characters being played were pretty convincing. That’s why I tried to catch the moments when they broke character.
Before even entering the convention center, we saw this guy dressed up in a fantastic costume that would even give Peter Jackson a run for his money (or maybe it was Peter Jackson under the mask?). The punchee in the photo above seems to be really really enjoying this moment.
The convention center was packed with people and it was pretty hard to find your way around. Even Batman had trouble getting where he needed to go, so he had to enlist the help of Superman to give him directions. This was my favorite shot of the day.
There was a steady stream of costumed folks coming in throughout the day. It was fun watching superheroes performing mundane activities like waiting in line and riding escalators.
I caught up with Rorschach and he posed for me. In Watchmen, the pattern on Rorschach’s mask continuously changes and the mask used here did that as well. He used a special kind of paint that changed from white to black when he breathed on it. A pretty cool effect when you can’t rely on CGI.
The mustache this guy is wearing is detachable and attached to a chain that goes to his jacket pocket. Hilarious.
The sign above his head reads “Because I’m a pretty freaking PRINCESS!” My eyes still haven’t recovered from this.
The waiting process for getting into the celebrity panels was very disorganized, but at least there was plenty of time for me to manually focus my Pentax SMC-M 135mm lens. Aside from the slowish f/3.5 max aperture, the little 135 has grown on me due to its build quality, sharpness, bokeh, and small size.
Rebel pilots are always willing to lend a helping hand, even if your costume is from the new trilogy.
The convention halls were packed full for every speaker. This was the crowd during William Shatner’s talk.
And here’s Shatner himself. He did a Q&A and told a bunch of stories. He’s very comfortable in front of the crowd and a truly funny man. I like that he acknowledges the importance of Star Trek to his fame without bashing it, but at the same time he is still working on new projects that he seems genuinely excited about.
Overall, the Emerald City Comicon was a fun time and I’ll probably return next year.
Expired Provia 1600
Expired film is a great deal and can offer excellent value as well as an interesting look in some cases. It’s not without risks, though. What happens when you use expired fast slide film with no exposure compensation? This does:
The photo above was taken in broad daylight on a bright, sunny day. I had purchased some expired Provia 1600 color slide film that I planned on using for some gritty, low-light work, but I got a little more grit than I bargained for. I found out with later research that fast films “slow down” over time and I should have compensated by overexposing by a stop or two. This can be done by using exposure compensation or by setting the film speed to ISO800 or ISO400. Slide film has less exposure latitude than color negative film, so you’re probably asking for trouble by shooting film this fast that has expired.
I didn’t know any of this when I loaded up and shot the film, but luckily I had the film developed at a local lab that scans to 16-bit TIFF’s. This gave me a little extra post-processing room than I would have had with a JPEG, but I still had my work cut out for me. As scanned almost every shot looked almost black. The shots in this blog post (minus the one above) were the only ones I was able to salvage into something acceptable. Provia 1600 gives grainy results already when it’s well-exposed and not expired. Severe underexposure seems to produce extreme grain that goes well beyond the boundaries of good taste.
My original plan was to use the film for pictures taken on the Seattle Underground tour. The tour offers a fascinating look at some of Seattle’s lesser-known history and explains the existence of underground tunnels that have been used for all kinds of shady things over the years.
The look of the film worked perfectly for this shot, but it’s the only one I liked without reservation. I could have replicated this look with post-processing on a digital photo, but that would hardly be a substitute for the real thing. Part of the reason I like this photo so much is its resemblance to the game BioShock.
There is nothing correct about this photo technically, but it has a strong pull on me nonetheless. All it is is an address marker, but it looks so sinister when it’s underground and written in paint. Either that or “Yesler” is an underground serial killer who has claimed 111 victims…
Don’t be afraid to try expired film, but it might be worth studying what you bought a little bit before shooting with it. I lost almost a whole roll because of this mistake. Maybe I should start experimenting with expired Compact Flash cards instead.
5 Photos I Like IV: Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library is probably my favorite building in Seattle. The designers went all out on the inside and the outside. If you are ever in Seattle, I highly recommend a visit (best of all, it’s free!). The library is a sort-of tourist attraction, so you won’t look too out of place if you whip out your camera. For today’s edition of “5 Photos I Like”, I’m only including photos of the Seattle Public Library.
Before beginning, I’m curious what you think about the following comment which was posted under one of these photos:
IT SEEMS AS THOUGH MANY OF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS BUILDING. THE COMPOSITIONS AND COLORS YOU ALL ARE THRILLED ABOUT ARE NOT DONE BY SOME FRUITLESS FILTER IN PHOTOSHOP. THESE ARE ALL CREATED, INTENTIONALLY BY THE ARCHITECT. THERE ARE NO LIGHTING TRICKS, AND THE SKY ON THAT DAY DIDNT HAPPEN TO BE GREEN, BLUE OR RED.
IN FACT ANYONE WITH TWO SENSE ABOUT PHOTOGRAOPHY CAN TAKE THESE PHOTOS, GIVEN THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT. LET US GIVE CREDIT TO THE ARCHITECT WHO HAS BESTOWED UPON US SUCH GREAT ARCHITECTURE AND YOU WITH SPECTACULAR IMAGERY. I IMPLORE YOU TO VISIT THE WEBSITE AND ENLIGHTEN YOURSELVES.
AND YES I AM AN ARCHITECT. – London Brigs (Flickr Name)
Ignoring the all-caps typing and the ignorance of photography, what do you think about his argument? Architectural photography is a thing and I hope my previous post gave some examples of the many ways a single scene can be interpreted by just one photographer. I’ve also written about photographing art, but I think photographing architecture is a long way from even being a gray area in terms of ethics. I hope the photos I’m sharing here will convince people that not just anyone with “two sense about photograophy” can take great photos, even in a location as interesting as the Seattle Public Library. Of course the architect deserves credit for designing a beautiful building that we photographers can enjoy as our playground. Credit goes to the photographer, however, for producing a worthwhile image.
This is the shot that inspired me to make this post. Victor took this photo in a library, but it wouldn’t look out of place in a science fiction film. The architect did a good job of exposing for the highlights and boosting the contrast so that the people’s faces would be lost in shadow. Oops, maybe the photographer had something to do with that.
There are a few shots on Flickr taken from this vantage point, but I thought this one was particularly well-executed. The little girl playing on the reading-bench-thing is a fantastic detail.
Here’s another shot from Victor, who likes the blues. The directions of the ventilation vents make them look like creatures who are curious about the strange blue world they’ve found themselves in.
This portion of the library is eerie to walk around in. I think this shot captures that feeling pretty well, and the exit sign is a nice touch, too. Cassidy nailed the exposure here as well.
The first four pictures I chose use color as a significant part of the composition. However, the bright colors of the library can be distracting for certain photos, so Thomas chose to go with black and white. A potentially cluttered image like this benefits from the focal point of the walking man and the strong geometrical order.
Snowpocalypse 2010
I’m about a month late sharing pictures of this, but the pictures are snowy and it’s winter now and it’s done nothing but rain in Seattle for the past month. What wasn’t so pretty was the commute the night before. Watching the conditions outside of work worsen, I chose to leave for home early at about 3:30. Four and a half hours later, I arrived at home freezing cold with a full bladder and an offer for a free knife-sharpening.
Let’s back up a few hours to my first 10 minutes on I-5 South. I was excited because the roads were clear of ice and traffic and I was able to make better time than usual. Then I met up with the traffic jam that I would later find out was caused by a truck that jack-knifed right in front of my exit. I was at a virtual standstill for the next 2.5 hours until I finally reached my exit. Unfortunately, the exit goes up a small hill before descending and I could tell I’d need to keep my speed up or else. I sped up and got almost to the top of the hill when I saw that two semi trucks were stuck and completely blocking the road. I had to stop and quickly realized I was stuck. I got out of my car to see that nobody was helping anybody. Lots of cars were stuck on the not-so-steep incline and it wouldn’t have taken much pushing to unstick them, but nobody was willing to help. I helped push a Japanese ma
n’s BMW and he drove a little ways before getting stuck again and deciding to abandon his car. He helped me get my car up to the apex of the hill and had me convinced that I too should abandon my car and try to walk home. He didn’t speak English very well, so it took a long time for us to realize that we only lived a couple blocks from each other. After walking about a quarter-mile and noticing that it was literally all down hill from there, I decided to make a go of it in my car. I offered the Japanese man a ride home so he wouldn’t have to walk home alone and he seemed torn about whether to get his car or not. He decided to ride with me and I found out that he owns a knife-shop in Seattle and in return for giving him a ride home I was welcome to come in any time and get a free knife-sharpening. Unfortunately in the excitement, I failed to get the name or location of his shop. We both made it home safely after an eerie drive through empty streets and abandoned cars. Apparently we both were lucky to have made it home at all that day. The news was full of stories with less happy endings.
The next morning was beautiful. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the ground was completely covered in a blanket of fresh snow. My wife and I went for a short walk around the neighborhood to capture a few pictures. I was excited to try the cold-proofing on my new K-7 and sure enough the camera didn’t break when it got out in the cold. Ok, I don’t think it was cold enough for any camera to have trouble, but it was fun shooting with a “cold-proof” camera in the snow.
The lesson from all of this: when everyone around you is struggling, be sure to help at least one of them. After I got stuck, I was refused help by two other motorists who were both literally spinning their wheels. My Japanese friend and I both made it home safely because we helped each other. Perhaps the news following the storm wouldn’t have been so grim if only a few more commuters had done the same.
Skeleton Alley
On my daily walks from work to the bus stop, I would frequently get a glimpse of the alley between 3rd and 2nd avenues and it looked like a treasure chest of fun photographic opportunities. For months I was too scared to walk back there and I especially didn’t want to bring my big DSLR. Then one day I sucked it up and brought my Canon S95 along on a journey to what turned out to be a very interesting place. There were no people around, but I could see that there was a metal shop of some kind where I could hear people working. A sweet metal skeleton was perched over the door to the metal shop and the light reflecting from the windows across from it was aimed just right. Skeletons seemed to be a theme because there was a mural painted over one of the doors depicting skeletons on bicycles. I hung out and took pictures for a few minutes, but I left when I got the stink-eye from someone poking their head out a door. I’ve included my favorites from the day in the gallery below.
The barrel distortion on the S90 at the wide-end is pretty bad if you don’t use Canon’s raw converter. I don’t use it because it’s a terrible piece of software just like all camera manufacturer’s raw converters, so I have to correct the distortion myself on the pictures where it shows up. Since these were mostly architectural shots, the distortion was distracting so I felt the need to correct it. Thankfully, Lightroom 3 includes distortion correction tools, so fixing the images was a snap compared to what I had to go through using Lightroom 2 and GIMP.
Use the Force!
- Find Another Toilet, by Bryan Davidson
Darth Vader wishes you luck in your restroom quest. As seen on the window of a drug rehab center. If you’re trying to sneak into rehab just to use the bathroom, then I’m guessing not even Darth Vader is going to stop you at that point.
I don’t know what this has to do with photography other than the fact that I took this picture. With a camera.
Make this today counting!
Friday Street Shot
I once again broke some street photography “rules”, but I ended up with this shot that I rather like. Yes it’s in color (Fujifilm Reala), and yes I shot it with an SLR, but I used a 35mm focal length with manual focus. That should count for something. I took this shot at Seattle Center with my Olympus OM-10. Good camera, good film, who needs digital?
Fotography is Phun!
As Photokina approaches and we all start drooling over new cameras, don’t forget that you can enjoy your hobby just as much with the gear you already own. If not, then why is this still your hobby? I have two cameras that can consistently remind me of this: the Minolta Talkman and the Lomo Fisheye.
The Talkman is a 35mm point-n-shoot with a fixed 35mm f/2.8 lens and “autofocus”. Even though I’m a big fan of Minolta, I feel like they’re lying when they put a big “AF” on the front of the Talkman. I’m 99% sure it’s fixed focus. Not having the ability to manual focus is not the same as autofocus. There is, however, a voice that tells you to “check distance” sometimes, but it seems pretty random and the only out of focus shots I’ve ever gotten are with subjects too close to the camera. But none of this matters because the camera TALKS! It says useful things like “too dark, use flash”, or “load film”. Ok, the talking is a gimmick and a product of misguided marketing, but it’s why the camera is fun. A sample:
I’ve already written about the Lomo Fisheye camera before, so I’ll just share a recent shot I took of the monorail in Seattle. The fisheye is fun to use and the fact that you have to wait for the film to be developed to see the results only makes it more fun. Every time I take a picture with it, I get the feeling the shot won’t turn out, so every successful image is a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the fisheye doesn’t talk.
Get out there and take some pictures with the camera you already have! That doesn’t mean you have to stop drooling, though…
Distractions
How often do you use the cloning tool in your image editing software? If you work for The Economist, I’m guessing you probably won’t be using it much in the future…
While cloning is considered unethical in the world of journalism, it is incredibly common in other areas of photography. Digital editing has made it simple to remove anything you might find distasteful in a photograph. Telephone poles, trees, people, pimples, moles, cars, hands, and many more have been mercilessly replaced by a patch of grass or wall or skin. Good photography often has a clear subject, but the pursuit of simplicity and the removal of distractions seems to be getting a little out of hand lately. Tons of tutorials exist for cloning things out of photographs and a lot of tutorials even advocate replacing the entire sky! Of course replacing the sky is usually done to add something interesting rather than remove a distraction, but the bitter aftertaste is the same. Unfortunately, the internet probably will have to take the brunt of the blame for this one. When images are shown mostly at postage stamp sizes, they must have a large, clear subject or they won’t even get noticed. But what about images that you might want to hang on a wall?
To me, especially in a larger image, “distractions” can add interest. If you are going to be looking at a photo on a wall every day for months or years, wouldn’t you prefer that the photo have something new to offer as time goes on? Seemingly extraneous details can help fill in the story of a photograph and can reward repeated viewing. Of course not every photograph benefits from too many extraneous details and there are some things that are truly a distraction. Real life has distractions. Seattle is teeming with cables used to power the electric buses. These get in the way regularly when I’m trying to take photos here. But sometimes, as in the picture above, they can add to the composition and make for a more powerful image.
Next time you’re out taking pictures and you get annoyed at some distraction that will ruin your photograph, try working with it. Instead of telling yourself “I’ll fix it in post,” make the distraction a key element of your photo. Little challenges like that can help you grow and produce more interesting images. Not to mention you’ll save time on the computer so you can get out and photograph more.
Creativity and the Space Needle
I work a couple blocks from the Space Needle and everyone who visits Seattle (including myself, before I moved here) wants to see it so as you can imagine I have a lot of photos of the Space Needle. In fact, everyone has a lot of photos of the Space Needle. The challenge is taking a photo that hasn’t been done before. The Space Needle is actually a good subject for exercising creativity because it’s visible from just about everywhere. You can even see the it from the pointy building on the far right side of the picture above (Smith Tower). This means that there are an infinite combination of foregrounds, backgrounds, and angles to include in your Space Needle picture. If you search Flickr for pictures of the Space Needle, you can identify a few clichés fairly quickly. However, the vast majority of the pictures are just a straightforward “point the camera at the Space Needle and shoot” kind of picture. I created a Flickr gallery here that includes 18 pictures of the Space Needle that are unique in some way. I had to go through over 25 pages of search results to find them. I was looking for pictures that were creative, but also well executed technically. I hope you enjoy looking through them. I would also like to share some of my own pictures of the Space Needle that I feel meet those requirements.
Street Shooting in Seattle
One of the photography genres that I’ve been exploring is street photography. Everyone seems to have their own view of what makes a photo an example of street photography, but there are a few agreed upon constants. To me, the important elements of street photography are the urban location and candid photos of people depicting a slice of life. The best street photos tell a story, and the very best capture a “decisive moment” as coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Where a landscape photographer might focus on refining his composition skills and making sure every part of the photograph is just right, a street photographer must practice timing. Read this for an example of the importance of timing in photography. I’d like to share some of my recent favorites from a couple of walks around Seattle armed with my camera.
I took this photo at Pike Place Market, where there are multiple locations selling flower arrangements for around $10. FTD and other flower companies should be ashamed of how much they charge for their products. Items on the periphery of photos can be a problem, but they can also add interest. In this case, I think the woman on the left adds interest because we can see just enough of her to judge her facial reaction and pose. Yet there is enough missing to suggest a larger story.
This guy was also found at Pike Place Market. He was giving away free slices of delicious pears. He was fairly loud and sarcastic, and I think I captured that in this picture, along with the pear, in mid-slice. He acted a little upset that I took his picture, but I couldn’t tell if he was joking. He did have a knife, though…
The stars of the show at the PPM are the fishmongers who toss fish back and forth in response to people’s orders. There are often large crowds of people around them, watching. They get a little annoyed when more people are watching than ordering, though. I realize there are some who would cry blasphemy that I categorize a color photo as a street shot, but I think the colors here are important. The red of the “catcher’s” hat, the pink of the fish, and the red light above the thrower’s left hand all add to the photo in my opinion. I tried it in black and white and didn’t like the result. The timing in this shot was important, and I love the out of focus dude’s expression as he awaits yet another giant, cold, slimy fish being thrown his way. The angle the shot was taken at helps add to the movement of the scene and creates a sense of motion and tension. Diagonal lines are often used for this purpose in action shots.
This is the last picture from the market, I swear. The “Now in Season” sign at the top of the picture makes me laugh because it makes me think of the humans being in season, or tourist season. Ok, maybe I’m the only one who thinks that. Anyway, I like the “slice of life” aspect of this photo, along with some visual things. The bright white of the ice and apron on the left balances nicely with the darker right side of the photo and the man in silhouette on the extreme right edge. I also like the reflections on the floor and even the drain on the floor. I like pictures like this that reward close inspection with a lot of details and I wish I could take more of them. It’s hard to get right, though, because it’s equally important to lead the eyes to the subject of the photo and keep distracting details out.
I like the aesthetics of this photo with the men nicely following the rule of three, not to be confused with the rule of thirds. The fact that it took three men to stand and the front of the boat and guide us in was funny to me. Yes, I realize they each has his work to do when the boat docks, but at this moment three seems like overkill. Kudos to the pilot, though, because they aim those ferries well.
I mostly like this picture because of the matching hats. In this case, the diagonal lines lead the eye towards the main subject, but they also create a subtle feeling of motion. Can you find the word “camera” in this picture?
This one was serendipity at its finest. I took the picture because I wanted a picture of the convertible with some panning to show movement. I didn’t realize how fitting the advertisement on the side of the bus was until I opened the image on my computer. If the ad had been perfectly clear instead of motion-blurred, I don’t think this photo would have had the same impact.
Bryan Takes Pictures 