Art-itecture 101

Some housekeeping before we begin, first, ugh it has been too long. I know I vowed to post more regularly, but a lot has happened.  In addition to the "usual" baby stuff we also purchased our first home.  Anyone familiar with the Seattle housing market understands how much of a nightmare that process has become.  Anyway, we officially moved in a week ago and are still getting unpacked.  Lots of stuff on my plate.

As posted elsewhere, I've been a fan of Cityscapes for a while. However, there are only so many angles from which I can shoot the Seattle skyline.  Not that I have done them all, or even found my favorite, but I wanted to expand a bit, so I have been trying my hand at some Urban photography and I have been enjoying it.

"Christmas Eve" ISO 100, 84mm, f/22, 127 seconds

Given that I work downtown and live in the Center of the Universe (Fremont) it is really convenient too.  I can show up to work early, stay late, or just duck down the street to get nice views of the Aurora Bridge. Unlike nature/landscape and especially astrophotography, urban photography doesn't require any real planning nor does it require a lot of time.  If I have 30-60 minutes of free time I can go out and take pictures.

"White Christmas?" ISO 100, 45mm, f/9, 0.3 seconds

"Do(o)med" ISO 100, 105mm, f/5, 0.3 sec

 For example, these two shots were taken from my in-law's balcony on Christmas Day.

I got inspired after watching this video of a lecture by Jeff Cable (warning it's 90 minutes long). The video is titled Pixels After Dark: Shooting the Night which initially made me think it was about astrophotography, but it is actually about shooting cities, cityscapes, arcitecture, etc. after the sun goes down.  Great video, I highly recommend you watch it if you have the time (and don't forget to check out Jeff's blog).  The video has several good pointers, but the biggest take home for me is that cities are boring during the day, but at night, when they are all lit up, they transform into something magical.  Living in Seattle means pretty long winter nights. . .around Nov-Dec-Jan (when most of these were taken) it starts getting dark around 3:30-4:00 and is often "night" by 5 or 5:30.  That also adds to the convenience. . .I don't need to stay out all night to get night shots.

"Claustrophobia" ISO 1250, 14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 second

This is one of my favorite shots of all time. I call it "Claustrophobia".  It was taken in mid-January during rush hour.  I wanted to get a shot facing down the street, but couldn't stop in the intersection long enough to do anything.  So I just held the camera up, freestyle, out to the side and started took a few shots as I crossed the street. What I really like is that this shot truly captures the chaos and busy nature of downtown during rush hour, all of the colors, the details, and the closed off feeling one gets when surrounded by skyscrapers. It is a rather odd shot, but it really speaks to me.

"The Two Towers" ISO 3200, 14mm, f2/8, 1/20 second

This was taken just a few blocks from my office in the lobby between One Union (the shorter tower on the right) and Two Union (the taller tower) Squares.  When I first moved to Seattle, I worked in the 27th floor of One Union Square so I know the area well and when I was thinking of places to get the "tower" feeling this was a natural first step.

Even with the 14mm wide angle lens I had to lie on my back, way in the corner to capture the "Two Towers".  I really like the color of the sky, how it contrasts with the tree lights and how it contradicts with the busy feeling found in "Claustrophobia".








The final shot I will talk about in this blog wasn't taken downtown.  This was actually taken in the park just behind our new condo while we were in escrow.  I should note that the condo we purchased is only 3.5 blocks from the apartment we have been living in for 6 years.  This is called Fremont Peak Park and has a whole bunch of solar/lunar art.  One of the "sculptures" is designed with several lines, each of which points to the sun during a different key phase such as equinox and solstice. I feel that I'm going to spend a fair amount of time here.

On a final note, I am going to Nevada next week for a conference.  I scheduled an extra day and a half so I can travel to Death Valley National Park to take star pictures. I also have time scheduled to do urban photography in Las Vegas which will be interesting because I can't actually find many"street" or blue hour photographs of the city.

Finally, those who follow Jack Nichol's blog already know that he and I traveled out to Vantage Rocks in Eastern Washington a few weeks ago (he is faster/better than me at processing photos).  I have a handful of pictures from that trip which I hope to get posted before I leave for Nevada.