Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I met a couple at the Columbia Winery tasting bar who had donned their leather riding gear and taken a sunny day Harley ride out to visit the wineries near Woodinville, northeast of Seattle. She sported orange nail polish and he an orange shirt. They both had Halloween themed silver rings on each of their fingers. I just HAD to ask for a photo of their hands on the bar.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I came across an enormous red oak tree that stretched across a road and had giant limbs high enough that buses could easily make it underneath. It's a beautiful old tree, and very healthy. I could not fit the whole tree into a shot with the lens I had on me, so I thought I would show you what our autumn here has revealed in a few leaves against the sky. The city is in its final glory of fall color and there are leaves gracing trees and the ground everywhere. I saw so many people out raking up huge piles over the weekend. Hope you are enjoying autumns pleasures!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A vendor at Pike Place Market took advantage of a momentary lull in customers to apply something to what looks like a tatt in progress. I gasped at those horse's eyes when she rolled up her sleeve.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Seattle boasts two fine sports stadiums situated just south of downtown (SODO). The closest one in this photo is Quest Stadium, home of the Seahawks (American) Football team. The darker one visible just above the parking sign is Safeco Field, home of the Mariners Baseball team. This stadium has an amazing closing roof and is on the AIA's 150 Favorite structures in America list. That's Mount Rainier faintly visible behind, and the Seattle waterfront buildings along the Alaskan Way Viaduct, an elevated double deck highway. For a better view of Safeco Field, see my More Seattle Stuff page.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
HIs statue, that is. I missed the dedication at the new installation of the old Lief Erikson statue earlier this month but got to see it yesterday and its new setting is very nice. Part of an $85,000,000 redevelopment project of the land at the Port of Seattle's Shilshole Marina. The statue was a gift from the now defunct Leif Erikson League to Seattle at the time of the World's Fair in 1962. Leif has stood looking westward from a very high base at the Marina ever since (ten foot replicas of this statue were given to Trondheim, Norway for it's 1000th anniversary and to Greenland on the 1000th anniversary of Erikson's voyage). He now faces northwest and is mounted on a lower granite base amidst tall runic rocks adorned with carved symbols and plaques containing the names of the hundreds of supporters of this project. Leif looks a lot less green and I assume he had a good cleaning after they finally got him off his old base (not an easy project, I heard. . .he was a bit stubborn to leave!) See my More Seattle Stuff page for more photos of this new installation. Leif's looking GOOD!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
At the top of Post Alley where the gum wall ends and the brick pavers curve around and out toward Pike Place there is a motorcycle / scooter parking area near the base of a stairway. There is a restroom nearby. Sometimes people who live in apartments along the alley are coming and going, sometimes workers from the Market are taking a smoke break, sometimes there are maintenance folks or street characters or tourists walking. This man in business attire was simply standing there attending to something on his blackberry. My Flickr friend Dirk in Germany commented on this shot, "Bet this guy is waiting for a cab, right?" Well, I don't know. It didn't look like he'd ridden in on one of the scooters. He was there the ten minutes or so that I was taking shots in Post Alley.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
If you visited the gum wall at the Market Theater in Post Alley in the last year, you would notice that it has grown both thicker and expanded to include the wall past the theater entrance. This public work needs a curator, and I predict someone will publish a book of photos about the wall as it morphs over time, complete with lecture and book signing at Elliott Bay Books. ;^) The idea of the gum wall is even moving to other places. . .I've seen photos of something similar at Pier 39 in San Francisco. There are probably other locations. Lets hear about them. Is the gum wall phenom global yet? Please post what you know here in the comments section. Does your city have one?
This gum wall began with theater patrons waiting outside, placing a blob of chewing gum on the wall and sticking a penny or other coin in it. The coins would be picked off by other people, and the wall was cleaned of gum two or three times before the powers that be gave up and the wall became an interactive work of art. Now people chew wads of gum and shape letters and figures from it, as well as adding the conventional blobs. People seek out bright colored gums to chew and add. The older gum slowly crusts and cracks. I wonder how much DNA is represented on that wall? The first wall people started doing this on (to the left in this photo) has become so thick and crowded that people now regularly place blobs in the entryway and around the box office window and down the brick wall past the theater entryway. For more photos and close detail of how the work looks this week, see my More Seattle Stuff page.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
It was a perfect, sunny, 70 F degree blue sky fall day in Seattle yesterday. This after days and days and days of gray and cold stormy weather. I went to the market for lunch (Beechers Handmade Cheese "Flagship" sandwhich, yum!) and to buy some flowers. I walked to the edge of the park to look at the Sound and the Olympics and then was watching the traffic on the Alaskan Way Viaduct below. I saw this classic late 50s Corvette convertible in perfect condition whizzing along at about 50 mph. The orchestral theme from "Route 66 started playing in my mind. This is the third Corvette of this era that I've seen driven around Seattle. Just now as I uploaded the shots I took of it, I noticed the owner had left the trunk keys in the lock. I hope he discovered them when he got home.
Photo Copyright 2007 Geologychick. Text Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Today I wanted to share with you a wonderful Seattle aerial image sent to me by Geologychick, a frequent SDP visitor and fun commenter. In preparation for a move to the Puget Sound region, she flew here to explore housing options. She snapped this shot as her plane flew east of Seattle Center on its approach to SeaTac. Little did she know that I was at that very moment on the ground looking up at her flight! Well, at least I'd like to THINK my shot above is of her flight. . .it was flying the same course as hers. Can you find the following in Geologychick's shot: the Space Needle, a cruise ship, Fisher Plaza/Building, the EMP/SciFi Museum, a Belltown condo or three ;^), fall trees reflected on Darth Vader Bldg., Hwy 99 coming out of the tunnel, the Monorail tracks, the Edgewater Hotel, the IMAX & Arches, the International Fountain? Thank you for sending this wonderful shot Geologychick, and best to you in your move!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This QFC market in the Wallingford neighborhood makes quite a landmark. Every time I passed the market, I wondered about the huge letters on the roof. What I speculated might have been the leftover signage from a car dealership actually has a much more interesting history. The market used to be a FOOD GIANT. From History Link's Wallingford neighborhood information I learned: "One test of [Wallignford's] neighborhood identity came in the late 1990s when the beloved landmark Food Giant and its big block-letter rooftop sign were converted into another QFC supermarket. A considerable number of Walllingfordians still miss the pop art of the Grandma’s Cookies sign that once reflected on Lake Union from a long factory rooftop on 34th Street. Protesting locals failed to convince the store’s new owners to keep the sign despite the change in corporate identity. QFC, however, did promise to write out “Wallingford” in place of “Food Giant” on the same supermarket roof and while doing it to recycle the “F,” “O,” “I,” “A,” and “D” of the old sign into the new one. The neon coloring was cooled from the Food Giant red to the QFC blue but inside the store, the service warmed up and the food selection grew."
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
. . .an independent or art house theater that dates back to the day and hasn't become a multiplex. This is the Guild 45th Street Theater in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood and retains most of its Art Deco lines and details. So, what good movies have you seen lately?
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
We were traveling northbound at dusk on I-5 when we came upon emergency vehicles helping at an accident scene in the southbound lanes. I thought you might like an impressionistic taste of Seattle freeway driving in the rain. We've been having quite a storm here in Seattle. First rain, then wind with trees downed and some power outages, then thunder, lightning and a hail storm. (To see the pile of hail at my back door yesterday, click on my More Seattle Stuff page.) There was even snow at Snoqualmie Pass last night. Today there's a bit of light rain on and off and a bit of a breeze. Hope your Saturday is being spent pleasantly!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Seattle's ultra contemporary City Hall roof features green grass and a distinctive curved metal structure which is reflected here, Also reflected is the cap of the historic 1914 Smith Tower. For some other views, including a photo of city hall I took from the top of Smith Tower see my More Seattle Stuff page.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A woman is wheeling her choice pumpkin in from a pick it urself field south of Seattle. We drove down in the pouring rain after school yesterday, and the sun peeked out when we got there. I was taking shots of the kids picking their annual pumpkin when this woman with the green wheelbarrow caught my eye. She had gone clear to the end of the big field to find her prized selection. This farm had scales built into the ground so that one could just roll the wheelbarrow onto it and pay for the pumpkins by weight. There were also hay rides and a corn maze. There are many such lovely farms north, south, and east of Seattle, as well as haunted houses and other such seasonal fun.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This orange beauty is a real neighborhood treasure in the Central District (except to whomever must rake the leaves, I suppose ;^) ). And now something fun!
I am tagging these 8 City Daily Photo Bloggers. [skip this if you've been tagged already]
1. Steffe of Photos From Haninge
2. Ham of London Daily Photo
3. Tanty of Stavenger Daily Photo
4. Kris of Little Town in Hungary
5. Jazzy of Tuzla Daily Photo
6. Norma of Sequim Washington Daily Photo
7. Susan of Maple Ridge Daily Photo
8. Chris of Newcastle Upon Tyne Daily Photo
These are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Immediately south of the Pioneer Square neighborhood and east of the stadiums begins a most colorful area now known as the International District. Once upon a time it was called Chinatown. The newer name reflects that people with recent family roots in many different countries now call this neighborhood home.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
It was the pennies vs. the shirts on the Green Lake Park playing field. Seattlites tend to be active folks, and some of the most popular sports and outdoor activities that I've noticed women here participating in seem to be soccer, crew / rowing, ultimate Frisbee, swimming, lacrosse, track and field, cross country / marathon / triathlon, volleyball, gymnastics, rock climbing, hiking, and cycling.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A plane heading south on its approach to the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) Airport is seen against some pretty stunning clouds. Flying through skies like this must be amazing for pilots. Seattle skies seem always busy with aircraft and spectacular sights. Hope your Sunday is relaxing and fun!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
In yesterday's photo you could see this, the northern most of St. James Cathedral's two bell towers, illuminated in the sun and seen through the sliver between two high rises. Today's vantage point is from behind and looking slightly north and west towards the bay and the high rises below First Hill. Another Seattle photographer, Ervin Vice, commented when he saw this in my Flickr photos that, "Somewhere in this composition is a history in miniature of Seattle, and the different evolutionary periods of downtown." St. James is 100 years old, the nondescript high rises are from the 1970s, and 80s, and the condo complexes to the right with the red and yellow highlights are quite new. I took this shot from the 12th floor of the building in the back far right of yesterday's photo.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Caught in a sun spot on a cloudy day, one of St. James Cathedral's bell towers glows between buildings in the waterfront skyline. St. James is situated on the western slope of First Hill and celebrated its centenary in July. This Renaissance-style cathedral, once the most visible landmark on the hill, it is all but obliterated from view by the high rises along the downtown waterfront. Also visible in this shot is the two tiered Alaskan Way Viaduct that carries thousands of cars each day along the perimeter of the waterfront. This view looks east. Tomorrow I will show you the view looking west from behind those buildings!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Nah, it's too gorgeous. A trend in wedding photography is to "trash the gown" or have the bride and groom pose somewhere where the gown is getting wrecked, but the shot is brilliant, like the bride and groom wading into a lake or lying in the sand of a crashing surf, etc. Well, the trash can in front of the very popular Luly Yang was unavoidably in the frame, so I let it suggest a title.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
There was quite a lively scene at the end of the street the evening I took this tangerine sunset shot of "The Brothers" silhouette prominent in this view of the Olympic range. I liked the way the car's taillights echoed the sky color and all the blueberry tones to the mountains, the island, and the Sound. People were sitting out on the benches at the small lookout, and others were animatedly conversing near a lamppost. It won't be long before those peaks in the distance are snow covered once more. We have a big storm hitting us now.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Yellow, red, purple, orange, green. . .autumn amidst the concrete and brick buildings. The wind was up and there had been rain. The trees seemed all the more vibrant with the backdrop of the gray skies.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I thought we'd start the week with an urban abstract. Here, several planes of the exterior of Rem Koolhaas' design of Seattle's Central Library are seen against the reflective rectangular window pattern of the building to the south of it. Seeing through, seeing reflections, rectangles, crosshatch diamonds. Abstructures. Hope you are having a great start to the work week!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This was on display at Easy Street Records in Seattle, which often hosts in-store concerts featuring Eddie Vedder, a Seattle resident that music fans will recognize instantly as that haunting voice inside their heads from the band Pearl Jam. Vedder composed the soundtrack for the new Sean Penn directed film, Into the Wild. Seattle is a big music town with lots of great local talent and is very proud of their music artists.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Gaining in popularity here in Seattle are the small white pumpkins the children call "ghost" pumpkins, used for Halloween decorating. Our family's tradition for an October weekend is to visit a pumpkin patch to let the kids chose a pumpkin in the field or from a display such as this one at a market. The only rule is they have to be able to pick up and carry the pumpkin to the car themselves or lift it into any wheelbarrow or wagon the farm or market has there to help. This rule keeps big eyes from wishing too large and keeps the cost down. The day before Halloween, our kitchen table often looks like the site of a great pumpkin massacre and the aroma of roasting pumpkin seeds fills the house. Have a great weekend everyone!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Seen on Queen Anne Hill last night. A guy and his dog: it's a beautiful thing. I think they were taking a break in an evening walk to enjoy the sunset. It was COLD though, in the 40s F. What's with winter temps showing up two months early? There was even snow in the Cascades last night.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
It's a steep slope down Madison St. to the waterfront. Intersecting avenues create short plateaus in the descent. Pedestrians on the level trust that cars coming at them have good brakes. Bicyclists don't attempt these steep streets unless they know what they are doing. Visitors familiar with the Seattle Center, Pike Place Market, and the downtown shopping area are often surprised by how San Francisco-like things become as one explores further south in the downtown area that leads up to First Hill. Seattle has many, many hills to enjoy and many fine views from them!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
We discovered a downtown garage with a good weekend rate. Their version of stack parking is literally stack parking, using hydraulic lifts to stack them double. Some nice vehicles in view here. . .
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
". . .black socks, they never get dirty, the longer you wear them the stronger they get. Sometimes, I think I should wash them, but something inside me says, "Don't wash them yet, not yet, not yet, not yet.." Just a little ditty he was singing as he strolled across the bridge wearing his XBox backpack and brown tartan. The lack of Doc Martins and cargo pockets on the kilt sort of indicated to me that he wasn't a local guy. Hope your Monday was great!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
It's October 1st, and that means first of the month theme day for the City Daily Photo Bloggers. 103 of our over 200 members have chosen to show you what graveyards in our cities have to reveal. Here in Seattle there are several really lovely cemeteries. One of the most visited is Lake View Cemetery on Capital Hill where the incredible martial arts film star Bruce Lee's grave site is. I took this detail shot in the rain yesterday evening. This memorial stone is almost as tall as I am! For a full view of the side by side memorials for Bruce and his son, Brandon Bruce Lee, please visit my More Seattle Stuff page.
Hey, before you take a trip around the globe to grave sites and cemeteries in the other international cities below, please take a moment to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by. And as you visit the other cities, remember that there are time zone differences, so if you don't find a photo up now, check back there later in the day.
