A new angle on the Seattle Public Library

I went into downtown Seattle yesterday, armed with a new ultra-wide angle lens. The weather was rather dismal (big surprise), but I managed to get off a few shots at the public library, a rather bizarre structure, both inside and out.  The perspective distortion caused by the upward-pointing lens may make the building's exterior appear either more or less odd, depending upon your taste in architecture. Click on the image for a larger view.

Seattle Public Library, Sony a55 with Sigma 8-16mm lens @ 8mm

Going to the Next Level, Seattle Public Library, Sony a55 with Sigma 8-16mm lens @ 8mm

Faux sunset created by city lights

Lights from the city of Seattle reflect off clouds during a time exposure, creating a false sunset for the camera to record. The photo was taken well after sunset, when it was fully dark.

False Sunset Over Juanita Bay on Lake Washington
Canon 450D with Tamron 17-50mm lens @ 17mm

Twilight on the Seattle waterfront

After wandering around the city streets all afternoon with my camera and tripod the other day, I found myself at Bell Harbor, just adjacent to Seattle's downtown.  This turned out to be the last and best shot of the day.

Bell Harbor, Seattle waterfront, Canon 450D with Tamron 17-50mm lens @ 24mm

It was only Alki Point, but it felt like the Arctic...

A cold and bitter wind blew over Alki Point late this afternoon, and my friend Mahesh and I shuddered as we clicked our shutters.  Nice light though, and it was worth braving the wind chill factor.

Alki Point Lighthouse, Seattle, Canon 450D, Tamron 17-50mm lens @ 38mm

Seattle architecture

 Whenever I have occasion to be in downtown Seattle, I always take a camera along, even if it's just my point-and-shoot.  Late afternoon or early morning light really brings out the texture of the buildings, and if chance takes me past an interesting structure, I will stop to photograph it (sometimes even if the light isn't so great).  Usually the widest-angle setting on the camera works best.

Yesler Building and Smith Tower, Samsung TL500

Occidental Ave. & Yesler Way, Canon 450D                                Monorail and Westin Hotel, Samsung TL500

What can you do with a bell pepper?

I mean, besides eat it.  The photographer Edward Weston took a very famous photo of a bell pepper, after which the unfortunate vegetable ended up in his salad.  Here you see another pre-salad bell pepper rather close up. I illuminated it from behind with a single light bulb, using blue-purple construction paper as a background. A white card reflected some light onto the front side of the pepper. Producing a compelling image of an everyday object such as a pepper requires no special lighting equipment or fancy backgrounds, just some imagination and experimentation.

Bell Pepper, Canon 450D, Tamron 90mm macro lens 

Swirling abstracts from everyday objects

 If you have a camera that allows you to take a photo while manually zooming the lens, some interesting abstract or semi-abstract images may be produced from ordinary objects that are close at hand.  Below you see two examples, both of which show the original scene near the lower right of the image. These were taken by setting the camera to shutter priority mode, and selecting a 1/2 second shutter speed. Then, while holding the lens zoom ring (starting at the wide angle position) and rotating the camera body (so that the lens zooms out to the telephoto position) during the exposure, the swirl effect was produced.  So, the basic idea here is to smear the image falling on the camera's sensor in two different ways simultaneously, by zooming out from wide angle to telephoto during the exposure while rotating the camera body rather than the lens zoom ring. It works on all sorts of subjects both indoors and out.  And with a digital camera, one can experiment freely to obtain just the right effect.

Swirling snowman container, Tamron 17-50mm lens

Swirling wall art, Tamron 17-50mm lens

More Photo-Impressionism

Here's another attempt at achieving an impressionistic effect without digital manipulation.  This is, as described in my previous post on the subject, the reflection off the water, turned upside-down.

Bridge at Kubota Garden, Seattle

I Was Photographing Him While He Was Photographing Me...

Well, it seemed that way to me anyhow; he was pointing his camera at me while I was pointing mine at him.  I really don't know if he liked me in his composition or not, but at any rate, in my photo, he provides a nice focal point.  By the time I snapped the shutter, he had already taken his picture, and is now looking at it on his camera's LCD screen. Click on the image for a larger view.

Japanese Garden, Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle

Impressionism, with a camera

The current Monet retrospective at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais in Paris inspired me to think about how I might create an impressionistic photograph without resorting to any sort of digital manipulation.  The two photographs below are, as they say, "straight out of the camera."  The first is a perfectly straightforward shot of  water lilies, with the rippled reflections of the trees and shrubs in the background providing the desired impressionistic effect. The second is actually the reflection, turned upside down, of the people standing over the pond (with distracting parts of the image cropped away).   Very simple to do, and lots of fun.

Water Lilies, Japanese Garden, Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle

Overlooking the Pond, Japanese Garden, Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle

Once in a while you do get lucky...

On the first day of autumn, my friend Mahesh and I hied ourselves over to Discovery Park in Seattle to catch the sunset at the West Point lighthouse there.  Very fortuitously, a fellow on a board, steadying and propelling himself along with a long pole, came floating into my viewfinder just as I was framing my composition.  His silhouette reminds me of figures I've seen painted on the tomb walls of the Egyptian pharaohs.  Although the size of his image in the photo is very small, the contribution it makes to the overall interest of the scene is large.

West Point Lighthouse, Discovery Park, Seattle, Canon 450D w/Tokina 11-16mm lens @12mm