Iron Constellation

During the recent Fremont Fair in Seattle, pedestrians had the rare chance to take over the Fremont bridge, a wonderful piece of ironwork with great photographic interest. The Fremont Bridge was opened on Friday June 15, 1917 at a cost of $410,000. The first of four city bascules to cross the Lake Washington Ship Canal, the Fremont Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and is also a designated city landmark.

One of my favorite comments about this photo is: "Like an iron map of constellations, with two flying saucers."

Sometimes the world strikes a pose

I was walking along looking at the sunrise and other things this morning, when I saw these three crows. When one of them stuck out a wing, I knew I had an interesting photo! Seems like he's giving directions to the others. "Really, I saw a gigantic juicy roadkill right over there! With a spilled container of french fries right next to it!"

Is a photo of a piece of art a piece of art?

I've been retained to sell some artwork on eBay, and it's been interesting learning to photograph objects with wildly different characteristics to best capture their personality (and, yes, make the best impression to get the best price). I've been shooting in my macro studio, and finding that highly reflective glass objects are very difficult. Here's one that I have just listed on eBay -- I used several lights to minimize any one major reflection, and even stuck a tiny LED behind the vase to show the transparency of the art. I'll post photos of some of the other objects soon, including some very interesting masks.

Photo Fun in Fremont

The Fremont Parade and Fair in Seattle last weekend provided a prime photographic outing. Sure, the parade is known largely for the procession of naked bicyclists, but there's a lot more to it, including this marionette man, samba drummers, and even a group of chefs and women dressed as 10 foot tall pink layer cakes. See more of my Fremont photos here.

The Clouds of June

The cold, cloudy weather we've been having this spring may not be great for gardening, but there have been some great afternoons for photography. The above photo was taken last week in downtown Olympia on part of 5th Avenue that was closed for a street party, part of a celebration/fundraiser for KAOS radio (celebrating its 35th year on the air). It was also my first chance to photograph the Capitol Theater since the marquee was removed, exposing those little round stained glass windows that were hidden beneath.

Below is another cloudy shot, a bit more post processed. And I'm also spending more time experimenting with indoor studio shots in this weather, so despite what the wimpy tomatoes may say, it's not all bad. Still, I'm ready for a little more warmth and sunshine...

Monochrome Jazz

Jake's Bistro in Steilacoom is a pleasant little place and they have great food, but their stage lighting leaves something to be desired. I took a number of shots in the dim red light, and wasn't pleased with the result. But a little work in Photoshop to desaturate the image, and this shot of singer LaVon Hardison became something much more interesting. A little grainy, but full of the energy and style she exudes in her performances. I suppose the black & white also evokes a time past in some now-forgotten jazz dive...but I don't miss the thick layer of smoke that would have overlaid that scene.

Can't miss it...

Our iconic city landmark, caught in the afternoon sun.

Lost Surprises

I was experimenting with my new $2.09 macro studio last night (about which, more soon), and one of the subjects I used for test shots was this old German film camera. It's one my dad gave me, and I used for several years before getting a more "modern" film camera.

It brought back memories of photographic surprises. I wasn't a prolific photographer, and sometimes a roll of film would stay in the camera for months before I finally finished it and had it developed. So when the images came back, they often contained surprises I'd forgotten about.

With digital photography's instant feedback, such surprises are few these days. Not that I'm complaining...just a little nostalgic for that lost element of being truly surprised and delighted by something a second time.

...Make Lemonade

Before you say anything...yes, I know that lemonade is made from lemons. But this equally yellow flower brought to mind that saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." The lemons in my back lawn are dandelions. I don't really mind them and I don't work on making my lawn picture-perfect. Or rather, I guess I consider the oddities of my lawn the very things that do make the yard picture-perfect. The weeds, the moss, the white petals falling from the Gravenstein tree. Because really, who wants to look at photos of a uniform green lawn?

Borrowing Art

I've been having an ongoing conversation about the ethics of photographing other people's art. Clearly it's one thing to take a photo of a public piece of art and identify it as such, while it would be clearly less ethical to take unauthorized photos in a museum or private gallery or home, even if the photographer gives the artist credit.

I'll stay away from that dicey territory here. Although I don't know the name of the Tacoma artist who did the work above, I appreciate their vision in turning an ordinary fire standpipe into a piece of colorful folk art. For a wider view of this, click here.

From the vaults...

I've been scanning old photos, slides, and negatives to reduce clutter in my basement, and have run across a few real gems in the process. Like this photo, take at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo (I think) in the mid 1980s. Scan is from a color negative. I laughed when I saw this, and that seems to be others' reactions as well. Something funny about shortening one of the tallest critters on the planet. Or maybe they're playing hide and seek.

Then and Now

Shooting hummingbirds on the deck, 1974
Self-portrait in teapot, 2008

fingers of spring

The subtle unfolding of a fern caught my eye the other day. It's not the symmetrical wonder of a fiddlehead, but it has its own charms.

Arts Walk Exhibit

Images from my photography exhibit at Olympia's Spring 2008 Arts Walk. Thanks to everyone who dropped by to look and chat! I had a great time and got some very helpful comments on the pictures and presentation. Also sold a few pieces, so special thanks to those people!

Procession of the Photos

Thanks to everyone who came to my debut photo exhibit during Arts Walk! Downtown Olympia was teeming with people last weekend, and I had some great discussions with many of them (you) about photographs and other things. People seemed particularly interested in my Planet Olympia image and other miniplanets, so I'll keep working on more of those curious creations.

Above is something simple and pink: a small part of the great sea of flamingos known as Samba Olywa, the culminating group in the Procession of the Species.