North of Normal

Hydrant, originally uploaded by briburt.

This one surprised me by reaching Flickr Explore at #118 for 29 November 2008. Some of the folks on Flickr really took a shine to the color range and vibrance, and I guess it does have a very striking quality to it that catches the eye, especially when viewed in smaller sizes.

Taken on a photowalk around Seattle’s Capitol Hill, organized remotely from Italy by Flickr user (and former Seattle resident) Photocoyote.

Look closely and you’ll see “Photocoyote is Alive in the Superunknown” written on it.

There were about 10 or 12 of us on the walk. Amazing that Flickr enabled this to happen so easily! To see other photos taken on the walk, look for the tag superunknownwalk.

3 Fishing Trawlers, originally uploaded by briburt.

Fisherman’s Terminal, Seattle

And, yes, that gray sky is probably here to stay, more or less permanently, until next July. The splashes of color from these fishing boats, though, can help make up for all of the gray and rain of the coming months.

Canal with Drawbridge, originally uploaded by briburt.

This is the canal leading into Seattle’s Hiram M. Chittendon Locks, connecting Puget Sound (salt water) with Lake Union and Lake Washington (both fresh water) via a ship canal. I can bike here in about 10 minutes from my house, so I spent a lot of time down at the locks today, shooting photos and marveling at both the engineering involved and the constant movement and change in the place. Amazing stuff.

(And I don’t mean to belabor a point, put I do really love that Sigma 10-20.)

Seattle Waterfront Streetcar Tracks

Originally uploaded by briburt

I used to love to ride the trolley along the Seattle waterfront, but this is all that remains of those times — some abandoned tracks that run the length of Alaskan Way. King County Metro (the transportation organization) claims that service is only temporarily suspended, but I doubt the streetcar will ever run on tracks along here again any time soon, as there is no longer any place to store the cars at night at the end of the line (they tore down the maintenance sheds when they built the Olympic Sculpture Park).

(And I am really loving my Sigma 10-20, which makes shots like this even possible.)

Blue Evening Walk

Originally uploaded by briburt

Big changes are in the air these days, so I went up to Bellingham to visit one of my oldest and best friends. We went for a stroll down in a waterfront park near the marinas on Bellingham Bay, and of course I brought my camera and tripod with me to try to catch some of the magnificent clouds moving over as dusk set in. This is one of those shots. Hoped to capture some of the sadness that will overwhelm me when (as seems more and more likely) we leave the beauty of the Pacific Northwest for the East Coast.

I processed this in PhotoShop with the “Orton” effect — which essentially deepens the color saturation and softens the edges of things while simultaneously keeping some of the sharpness right next to the softness — so it is much more interesting than mere soft-focus photography. (Notice how the top of the fron streetlamp is quite sharp, yet the light itself is very soft.) The effect can be quite striking sometimes. (This particular photo made the top 500 photos in Flickr “Explore” for 10 November 2008.)

East Waterway, Port of Seattle

Originally uploaded by briburt

A wider, panoramic shot of the East Waterway of the Port of Seattle. You can see a tugboat and two big container ships. The interesting about the container ships is that you can’t say whether or not they are loading or unloading because they load and unload simultaneously — a fact that I just learned last Spring when my son’s 1st-grade class did a boat tour of the Port.

Election Day, USA - November 4, 2008

Originally uploaded by briburt

OK, America. Don’t let me down!

In my eyes this year,
The choice really is quite clear.

Go Obama!

The Freighter "Manoa," Port of Seattle

Originally uploaded by briburt

Rode my bike down through downtown to West Seattle last weekend, and stopped at a little fishing pier by the port to take a few shots. This is one of them.

I also got to wondering about the people fishing there: a) do they ever catch anything? (A: not that I saw), and b) do they actually eat anything they catch from this spot right smack in the middle of a busy port? (A: I wouldn’t).

Anyway. This one is dedicated to my pal, Seacat, who told me I should stop at this spot and take some photos — which I did. Thanks for the tip!

Golden Gate Bridge

Originally uploaded by briburt

Viewed from the Marin viewpoint looking back south toward San Francisco when I was down in the Bay Area last week.

Just had a couple of moments to stop and take a view quick shots, and it was gray and foggy and just generally not a very good day for photos. Just goes to show that a photo can still yield good color, even in crappy light conditions, I guess.

Sunrise and Fog at the Space Needle, Seattle

Originally uploaded by briburt

More from my little morning jaunt out to Kerry Park a couple of weeks ago. The light coming through the fog was just amazing.

Almost looks like I was on another planet, but the light really did look like this.