Midday at the beach
Tag: Seattle
Summer Solstice Begins
Hitting the pavement | June 14, 2017
I’ve been working on taking weekly trips into the city to walk around and do some street photography. These were taken with my Fuji X-70, a wide angle fixed lens camera that I can easily stash in my backpack. For people with larger pockets, I’ve read it can be stuffed into your pocket. The lower profile is ideal for street photography, as it tends to not draw too much attention to myself. It’s also extremely quiet, and has little noise at high ISOs, so the need for flash isn’t necessary 90% of the time. I can shoot in manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, and can control white balance, noise, and more things that I have yet to explore!
Though the images below were shot with some intention, I do hope to take more street photography that would be more spontaneous and interactive. I will need to work on how to engage if I want to make images that are more intimate. With almost everyone carrying around some sort of camera, I wonder if people are a little more aware of a lens’ gaze, and feel the need to duck, dodge, or photo bomb! Oh well, if they do. But I want to further my reach, both as a photographer, and as a community member. Wish me luck!
Kubota Garden
As the weather warms and the sun slips through the cloud cover, just about everyone in Seattle has been prioritizing sunshine fun time. A friend suggested we check out Kubota Garden, which is about 20 minutes south of downtown. I took the black-and-white route with my photos. I might post some color ones next, but for now this is what came out of me.
Here are some photos in color that show more of the vastness of the park and its vibrant colors. Not to mention say more about how sunny and warm it was! Enjoy!
January 21, 2017 – A March
Top | Left: Indigenous Sisters Resistance leading the march
Right: A participant of the march with the message of the importance of nonviolence
Middle | Left: The sign on the left says “No Human Being is Illegal. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal? – Elie Wiesel.” And if the photo isn’t clear, that sign says: “Black Lives Matter.”
Right: Volunteers distributing water to marchers
Bottom | Left: PRIDE flag used as a cape
Right: A pretty simple statement by an awesome 4-year old is “I Love All Humans”
Editing for the Cold
It was a dark Thanksgiving week. It was rain, rain, rain, sun break for a couple hours, and then more rain. I don’t remember ever being out in such wet and bone-chilling cold conditions. But when you have family in town, you do your best to show them a good time. We did have fun, but admittedly, the cold kept me from wanting to take any pictures. I mustered up this handful I shot with my Fuji X70 (I’m still getting to know it and what it’s best at shooting).
Fisherman’s Terminal Abstracts and Shooting Mindfully
The other day, I took a trip to the local Fisherman’s Terminal to pick up some salmon for dinner, and thought it might be fun to do a short photowalk through the shipyard. September has been cool and sunny, and the light gentle, yet intense. It turned out to be a meditative escape in a playground of shapes, texture, color, and light.
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Sometimes I think I can take photographing for granted. With easy access to any kind of camera, we can capture what we want when we want. It’s easy. It’s fast. It can sometimes be more of a reactionary response, or a “this might look good” moment. I don’t discourage myself from just shooting because sometimes those moments turn out really well. Some of my favorite images are things I caught by luck or random happenstance. But the amount of snap-shot/just because photos I have can totally burn me out. I tend to get bored and frustrated. Where is the work I’m dying to make? The work that really stands out for me that isn’t just another random image? That’s when I realized: My mind is not always in it’s prime state when taking photos. Simply put, there are times I am present with my camera and the moment, and there are times when I am not. I want to strive to be more present. Not only is this healthier for my mind, it yields my more thoughtful and impactful images.
As I continued my walk through the shipyard, I felt every step on the wooden pier, took a breath and stabilized my feet before every shutter release, thought about how a subject might look at different angles, remembered to consciously practice things I learned in school like hyper-focal distance focusing, and visualized how I might want to process a moment differently than how I saw it at that moment. I was patient with myself. I let myself try. It was one of my more immersive photo walk experiences. I was eager to edit what I had shot, because I knew I had good things to share.
2 More Weeks!
I’ve had a collection of work up at Fresh Flours Bakery on Phinney Ridge focusing on abstract and travel photography. They’re up through the end of this month, so if you haven’t already, grab a cuppa something and a tasty pastry (Trust me. They’re great pastries), and have a look. Contact me if you’re interested in any pieces or have any questions!
Recent abstracts up and hanging:
Forms and Lines
Urban landscape
The Federal Courthouse in Seattle seems to draw me in every time I pass it. It’s obviously planned environmental and architectural landscaping, but I find it to be lovely. My favorite time of the year to be here is actually during the summer. There is plenty of room for people to sit and enjoy lunch. The steps in front and to the side almost look like an Aztec pyramid. Then there is the circle of steps around the abstract statue that sits on a patch of green. Then, with light tree coverage, you get shade and sun; whatever you’re preference. During the winter it does not get the attention of the office worker hour-lunch crowd. The only ones around are a security guard who patrols the premises and a couple of homeless people who camp on their benches. One day I’ll want to do a proper documentation of this corner, but for now I’ll do my quick studies.
