Seattle Daily Photo: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Rainy Day Shopping

Despite rain and and the economic downturn, weekend shoppers were out in abundance at University Village, a large upscale shopping plaza just east of the University of Washington campus.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Always crowded with students and folks from the neighborhood, Zoka coffee on Blakeley was also a haven for the Saturday morning shopping crowd. I liked seeing the playful Louis Vuitton logo written backwards on this woman's bag. I was there to be interviewed by a student who was gathering information on people's experiences with certain internet social media in photography. Very fun to meet her.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Skywatch Friday: Moonlit Alexander Hall

This was the first building erected on the campus of Seattle Pacific University in 1891. On this moonlit night Alexander Hall looks a little like something out of a Dracula movie. My sociology professor's office was up there on the third floor when I was a student there many moons ago, and the only horrors the building ever held for me was mid term I had to make up there after being really ill and missing class on exam day. Hope this is the start of a great weekend for you!

To see other Skywatch Friday shots from around the globe, please visit here.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Looking Up Pike Street

Although driving over this brick paved section of 1st Ave can make your teeth rattle somewhat, walking along it has its charms. This was almost a street level view looking eastward up Pike Street. I'm working on my "Tenin Perspective," trying to get ready to celebrate Paris Daily Photo's 5th Anniversary in March and our special March 11, 2010 CDPB blog day tribute to Eric Tenin's photography styles. It was too wet to actually get to ground level, but I'll get there, eventually :-). That arch in the distance belongs to the Washington State Convention Center.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #28: Student Life in 2010

Studying late night by screen light, cup of espresso at the ready, this is common student life in the first decade of the 21st century. Besides the proliferation of free WiFi hot spots, the decade will also be noted for the proliferation of the purveyors of cupcakes :-). This is my iPhone Wednesday shot for you from Cupcake Royale in beautiful downtown Ballard, taken and edited entirely in the iPhone using three apps this week: Photogene, Photoshop, and Blurred Photo.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I've Got Your Back

Here is a behind the scenes look at the big clock and sign first erected at Pike Place Market in 1930 to attract shoppers during the Great Depression era, and it still shines brightly above the cobbled roadway of Pike Place every night from dusk to dawn. I love the stylized letters and dishy face of the clock. Here you can see the catwalks used to maintenance the neon and clockworks. Hard economic times have come 'round again, and fresh, healthy, affordable food sold directly by producers is still beckoning below the red glow.

Monday, January 25, 2010

'Round Midnight Post Alley

I took a late night photo walk after catching the last set of the Bill Frisell Trio at the Triple Door last night. Post Alley was almost deserted :-).

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Coast Guard at Work

This wasn't quite my mental image of the Coast Guard until I saw these two craft coming through the Locks on the ship canal. With huge guns mounted fore and aft, and every crew member strapped with pistols, you can tell these patrols are earnest about security. Seattle is a huge port and I imagine the Coast Guard's job here is rather huge as well. More shots at More Seattle Stuff.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Homecoming Glow

It was Homecoming weekend at Seattle Pacific University and the campus buildings around Tiffany Loop glowed like welcoming lamps in the twilight darkness. This is McKinley Hall, the campus theater arts building.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Help Haiti Bake Sale on Queen Anne

I was on my way into Hilltop Yarns' shop to pick up a pattern when this sign caught my eye. On Saturday January 23 on the corner of Boston Street and Queen Anne Ave N students and families from Coe Elementary School will hold a bake sale from 10 AM- 3PM to raise funds for Partners in Health relief efforts in Haiti. You'll find it in front of Starbucks, and if you'd like to donate baked goods, bring 'em between 9 & 2. You'll notice that Peet's Coffee and Tea across the street has recently closed its doors and the shop is for lease. That leaves Cafe Ladro and The Tea Cup to help Starbucks keep that corner of the neighborhood warm and caffeinated. :-)
There will be another chance to help the children raise funds. On Sunday February 7 from 10 AM- 3PM COE and John Hay Elementary Schools and McClure Middle School are sponsoring a Rummage Sale in COE's gym on 7th Ave to benefit Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. You can drop off donations of clothing, books, and household goods (no electronics accepted) on Saturday February 6 from 10 AM- 3 PM.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Horid, Rank?, Aged

A BNSF freight train was rumbling over the pedestrian tunnel at Golden Gardens in the beautiful winter sun (we had some Monday and again today!). Some graffiti on the train and on the tunnel caught my eye.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #27: Warm Shop, Cold Night

It was just one of those evenings after being out in the cold that I wished for a warming cup of hot chocolate. It was so warm inside Chocolati in the Greenwood neighborhood that the windows were steamed up. I ordered the house special and, no, I wasn't tempted to sample any of the housemade truffels and other confections from the display case. When I posted earlier, I forgot it was Wednesday, so sorry for the late edition of iPhone Wednesday where the image is shot and edited in phone using one or more fun apps :-). Other CDPBloggers may be sharing iPhone shots with you today, too, like Ming at Bangor Daily Photo .

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Green 2010

Some friends from the Portland area were in town and we were walking in the Uptown neighborhood after dinner. I had wanted to show them the light show at Counterbalence Park, but I didn't know that we would see this. A photographer was making an image for a New Year's card (there, don't you feel better now to know someone was later than you getting out holiday cards :-) ). His models were getting soaked in the rain while he shot from under an umbrella. To see him with them and another color scheme, click my More Seattle Stuff Page. Green is my fave color, so let this send my best wishes from the Emerald City out to everyone for 2010.

Monday, January 18, 2010

I'm Not Fearing Any Man

Today Americans celebrate the life and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He would have been 81 years old today. This mural of Dr. King by Seattle artist James Crespinel is at the corner of Cherry Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Here is the last passage from his historic "Mountaintop" speech given the night before his assasination in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Speaking of his reaction to and thoughts about the bomb threat to the commercial airplane on which he had flown into Memphis:

"And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.
And I don't mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
And so I'm happy, tonight.
I'm not worried about anything.
I'm not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Twilight T-Bird

It's a holiday weekend, so let's take a short excursion out of town to the north. The traffic circle at the heart of charming downtown Edmonds sparkles above the rain slick main street while inviting shopfront windows cast reflections across the wet pavement. I have it on good authority that Teri's Toybox, visible just beyond that parked Thunderbird, is a wonderful toy shop (thanks Juan Grande). I've patronized a number of the local businesses and have always been impressed with the great customer service of the merchants, many of whom have resided in Edmonds most of their lives. Just 15 to 20 minutes north of of the Seattle city limit, Edmonds is a great small town destination for bookshop browsing, cafe lounging, noshing and dining, catching a flick, window shopping, planning a trip, finding a gift for someone, admiring art underfoot or on gallery walls, or just watching the Kingston Ferry come and go on beautiful Puget Sound.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Hanging With Some Cool Cats

On Thursday I got to take part in a bloggers' gathering that ended up being non-stop fun. Wayne Worden of Meandering in Lotus Land was returning from a cross country railroad trip and had a one day layover before heading home to Vancouver, BC. He arranged to meet with Chuck Pefley of One a Day - Mostly Seattle and me for lunch. Chuck was hosting a tour guide friend, Alfio, (also a photographer) who had just flown in from Sicily for a week-long gathering of all his fellow European tour guides. We met up at Elliott Bay Cafe (under Elliott Bay Book Company and supposedly the model for the Cafe Nervosa set on the long-running Frasier TV show). Great fun and great conversation. Chuck had to get Alfio up to charming downtown Edmonds to his hotel, so we all decided to go up. En-route we picked up Alfio's luggage at Chuck's and he gave us a tour of his studio which was so interesting to see. Then we drove north and hung out in the hotel lobby while Alfio stowed his bags in his room. There we met two other tour guides Chuck and Alfio are friends with and had very pleasant conversations. They invited us to a party being held for all the tour guides at the Tacky Tiki bar. We walked around the cute downtown taking photos, I made a purchase at a lovely cheese shop, and we visited the travel center that employs all the tour guides. Then we went to the party and it was lively, fun, and packed with internationals. What better environment for City Daily Photo Bloggers! :-) We said farewell to Alfio there and wandered through the rain toward the car but got distracted by a classic Mercedes in the rain, then some signs in a pet supply store where 7 cats were roaming free. Turns out we're all cat lovers and we clicked away and enjoyed petting the kitties. I thought all my company for the day were pretty cool cats!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Blog Day: Best Photo of the Year 2009

Today many City Daily Photo Bloggers are posting what they consider to have been their Best Photo of 2009. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. I hope you enjoy seeing the cream of the crop from a dedicated group of photobloggers, most of whom posted 365 images from their city in 2009. I think all of them had very hard choices to make. Wouldn't you know it, what many of you considered my best shot from 2009 is atypical in that if it weren't in the context of the Seattle Daily Photo blog, you probably wouldn't associate it with Seattle at all. I call it Field of Dreams. We took a spontaneous drive north of Seattle in late April, meandered over toward the Cascades then cut back west and ended up in the middle of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival where we spent from 4 to 7 PM in the flower fields. It was an amazingly beautiful afternoon, warm with a soft breeze. A family including this lovely woman with her sari trailing behind her wandered into my shot as I was focusing on the colorful rows of tulips. I quickly re-framed the shot, focused on her as she was walking, and clicked. It is sure NOT the Space Needle, eh? :-) I've put a few Best of 2009 runners up on More Seattle Stuff.

Let me know if you had another favorite SDP photo from 2009. I'm about to compile a Best of Set 2009 set on my Flickr page and could use your input. Thanks!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Back To Classes

The winter term at the University of Washington got underway last week, and the commercial district along University Avenue is back to business as usual, catering to students, their budgets and their habits (free WiFi, organic coffee, and Husky Card discounts). This is an iPhone shot I made while out on an errand in the U District.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #26: USE

Looking up at letters on the south elevation of the Seattle Art Museum, this seemed like some sort of injunction from on high. It's my iPhone Wednesday shot for this week, and I used Tilt Shift and The Best Camera to edit this image. I hope you are encouraged to get out there and USE your own smart phone camera creatively. Today one of my fave CDPBloggers, Petrea of Pasadena Daily Photo, is joining Ming of Bangor Daily Photo (who is just returning home from Jakarta, Indonesia) and me with an iPhone Wednesday panorama edited with a great photo stitch ap many of us have been enjoying. I invite you to visit my friends' blogs and leave us your comments and responses to our images.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Canal Between

It's not Venizia, for sure, but there are small canals among Seattle's floating home communities. This is looking from shore westward out onto Lake Union between the Eastlake neighborhood houseboat moorages of Tenas Chuck (meaning little water, the name the original inhabitants of Seattle gave Lake Union). On these gray January days finding Seattle's color seems essential.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Gray Sky Blues

Looking up at a plane and the rain cloud filled sky through the wires above. Typical winter skyscape on Seattle's Capitol Hill. This is a color photo, and a true example of our winter grayness. The blue neon of Victrola Coffee's sign spells out the antidote of choice to seasonal affective disorder. It's only a matter of time before they start fortifying the local java with vitamin D like they do milk :-). This is another in my Seattle Skies series which feature planes in flight.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Seattle Nightcap

Zooming on a few disparate images and reflections in neon at night along Pine Street at the Market. A steaming hot cuppa joe is around every corner in this city, but this one might just be the most photographed one :-).

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Band Practice @ Bop Street

I love serendipity, just coming across the unexpected. Walking past the storefront of Bop Street Records on Ballard Ave. late one night I heard a band rehearsing in the back. I could see them hard at work through the door window. Bop Street buys and sells used records and cds and has two floors of eclectic inventory, including a lot of collectible and rare material.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Skywatch Friday: Coming Home

I shot this from the shuttle window coming home from the airport. It is always a great sight to see the city skyline coming in from the ~~north~~ south (oops). This was taken in SODO (South of Downtown) near Qwest Field (on the left) and shows the clock tower of King Street Station and Smith Tower, once the tallest building west of the Mississippi, now dwarfed by Columbia Tower and other high rises. It is Skywatch Friday and you can see some other skies around the world today by clicking here.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Rainier Tower & Taxi

A night view looking up University Avenue reveals the lighted base of Rainier Tower (full view at More Seattle Stuff) and beyond it the revolving 5th Avenue Theater sign. The lights in the bare street trees are still keeping things bright on this dry winter night, and I loved seeing their sparkle on the taxi's window.
Big thanks go out to Ree, a photoblogger from Little Rock, Arkansas, who became the 300th person to sign on as a Follower of SDP through Google Friend Connect, and thanks to all of you who have been following, subscribing to the RSS feed (over 2400 of you!) and visiting and commenting regularly. What a wonderful community!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #25: Chrysler in the Rain

A classic car I've seen driving around town before was gleaming in the rain. I love seeing all those curves and chrome! I wonder what Chuck and Ming captured with their iPhones this week?

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Dreaming With Iz

I recently visited the Fremont neighborhood shop where luthier Matthew Tolley builds custom mandolins and guitars. I shot this closeup of an inlay hula dancer he had created on a ukulele. I have been seeing a lot of ukes being played around Seattle in the past year, and even saw the head of one poking out of the top of a guy's backpack on the bus the other day. With whole ukulele orchestras playing to sold out crowds in London, I think this extremely portable instrument has finally broken away from the geeky Tiny Tim image of yesteryear and become pretty hip. With the misty moisty rains and gray skies outdoors today, the little dancer got me thinking of tropical climbs and island music

Monday, January 04, 2010

Snoqualmie Falls

We took a short drive over Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge and out to Snoqualmie where these majestic falls plunge 268 feet and fill the air with mist. Popular Salish Lodge sits at the top of the falls and offers first rate accommodations and fine dining. The falls are one of the most visited sites in all of Washington, made even more famous during the early 1990's television drama "Twin Peaks." Under the watchful gaze of Mount Si and only 30 minutes or so drive east of Seattle, these are a must see when you visit the Pacific Northwest. You can see other shots of the falls and resort at More Seattle Stuff.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Retro Chic

Glamor with inspiration from several by-gone eras was on view in the Luly Yang Couture window, shining jeweled slippers and all. Anyone would make quite an entrance in these form fitting gowns in sumptuous fabrics and embellishments.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Cinerama in Seattle's Belltown

Here is a typical Belltown street view for you with one particular point of interest. Belltown is a triangular shaped neighborhood of high rise condo developments, great restaurants, bars and nightspots sandwiched between Denny Way and Seattle Center to the north, Elliott Bay to the west, and Virginia Street on the south. It has attracted many young professionals and "Microserfs" as well as midlife career folks and a growing number of retirees looking for urban upscale living and fantastic views. To the right in this shot you can see the Seattle Cinerama theater sign. This specialized wide screen film house was built in 1963 (click here to view specifics) and was saved from demolition and completely refurbished in 1999 by nostalgic Seattle native Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft (Allen is also the patron behind the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum at Seattle Center). Cinerama is a popular venue and a must see for those who would like to experience the mix of contemporary and vintage 1963 Seattle. So what film have you seen and enjoyed lately?

Friday, January 01, 2010

Theme Day: Changes

I was walking by and saw all the artifice stripped away from this Seattle shop window. It awaits transformation as marketers try to decide what will captivate shoppers next. What caption might you give this image?
It is the City Daily Photo Blog community's first of the month theme day, the first of a new year and a new decade (or is it the last of an old decade. . . I never seem to get that straight!) Click here to view thumbnails for all participants around the globe. Wishing you a very happy 2010!

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