Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I used to glimpse the sunset nearly everyday from Sunset Hill Park when my mom lived a block away and I would walk her dog. This is looking northwest over Puget Sound and Bainbridge Island toward the Olympics, the boats of Shilshole Bay Marina just visible in the foreground, and the bouy often populated by barking sea lions bobbing to the left of the sunset reflection. It's 
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Ooooooo yeah! With the hottest temperature on record in Seattle yesterday afternoon (103F at SEATAC airport--104F in my kitchen, and no I wasn't cooking!), people are looking for ways to stay cool. Chuck and his wife had a cool idea for that here at One A Day, Mostly Seattle. And this sk8tr at Seattle Center was definitely cool, effortlessly creating a breeze of passing air for himself. The Muppets seem convinced of an immanent collision, though. Aahhhhhhh! :-) The Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit is at the EMP through August 16, and is a slam dunk smash hit (and it's COOL inside one of the coolest museums ever).
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Can you believe it is 95F in Seattle? Our warmest time of the day comes right at dinner time, so you can bet a lot of suppers are being enjoyed outdoors in the breeze or at casual restaurants open to the outdoors. Here is my 3rd iPhone Wednesday shot for you in which I not only take the photo with the iPhone camera but also edit it using iPhone apps. For this I used Dark Room and then combined two shots using Juxtaposer (and not very well, but it was fun and took some time, so I'm throwing it out there at ya :-). And click this link to More Seattle Stuff cuz I've ordered up a virtual veggie burger and cool one for you, too, if you'd care to join me at the outdoor table. Keep cool!
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I took about a bazillion photos of various sunrise scenes looking back on the skyline from West Seattle. Boats on the water, fishermen on the dock, a couple on a bench. Most of them I set up with bracketing to finally try to put together an HDR image. I figured out about halfway through that moving objects probably were not going to look very good. . .or maybe be an interesting effect. We'll see. Wish me luck as it will be my first time trying out Photoshop, which I hope to start using before the end of this year. In the meantime, I thought you might like to enjoy the early view the easy way: virtually. This shot, one of my last from the beach at Seacrest Park, was taken at 5:09:05 AM. Okay, you can go get that second cup of coffee now. I'm taking a snooze. :-)
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I noticed last month that some of my posts from previous years were all of a sudden receiving many visits each day. Folks were landing on them after a web search for the term "gum wall." Turns out that Trip Advisor published a list in June of the top five germy places on the planet to visit. Seattle's little sticky spot is now globally famous as second only to the Blarney Stone in the "ew!" factor of tourist attractions. I started photographing the Market Theater gum wall in Post Alley in 2006 and have shared several views of it here and on More Seattle Stuff and my Flickr page over the years. I've given updates like this one before, but since interest is so keen right now, I thought it was a good time to give you an update and popped down Post Alley Sunday. I wasn't prepared for the amazing increase in the number of people wandering down the alley looking for it and the pretty noticeable thickening of the layers since my last visit in May. In the 20 minutes I was in the area I counted over 60 people go by and a number of disgruntled drivers who had to wait for them to pass like so many sheep on a country road. It used to be mainly patrons of the Alibi Room and Market Theater, workers from Pike Place Public Market, people who lived nearby, interested photographers, and the occasional tourist telling their kids not to touch it. I'm thinking the increased notoriety is not the best thing that could have happened. We'll see. . . This guy was making a video. Perhaps San Luis Obispo's "Bubble Gum Alley" should have made the list instead, since it's much larger and has been notorious since the 1960's, long before the little trend started here. A few more current views of this ever changing de facto interactive public art work are in a clickable mosaic at More Seattle Stuff.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Here is the view the people on the bench yesterday were enjoying to the southwest. That is the end of Pier 70 and the outdoor dining area of the Waterfront Restaurant. You might be able to make out the figures of two photographers who were out there photowalking like me. And of course you can see the Washington State Ferry on its way back from Bainbridge Island. The ferries run so often it's like Elliott Bay is a set of lungs breathing them back and forth, back and forth. Very relaxing to sit and take it all in.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This family looked so colorful in their summer outfits as they were taking in the view of Elliott Bay from that white bench on the promenade that connects Seattle's waterfront along Alaskan Way with Myrtle Edwards Park and the Olympic Sculpture Park. Behind them you can see the Seattle Post Intelligencer's spinning globe (The P-I recently stopped publishing their newspaper), a terraced building that reflects wonderful light, and the sculptural installation, Love & Loss. Tomorrow I'll show you what these folks were looking at.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A train was rumbling by at the close of our Worldwide Photo Walk at the Olympic Sculpture Park & Waterfront. It was a very long train and we had to wait quite awhile before we could cross Alaskan Way. BNSF stands for Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
As prmissed, here is a photo taken with and edited in my iPhone. This taxi was headed toward the Convention Center, marked here by the giant arch that spans Pike Steet which runs through it's center.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Summer evenings invite people to linger outdoors. Here is a night photo I took of the walkway down the south side of Pier 70, the pier furthest north on Seattle's long, easy to stroll waterfront. It's the one that Uptown Espresso and the popular Waterfront Seafood Grill both call home and a great place to walk or just sit and enjoy the breeze while watching the ferries and ships come and go.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I had a non-stop photo fun weekend. On Sunday Bibi from a Yankee in Belgrade and I went to the Luna Park area of West Seattle to meet Chuck of One a Day, Mostly Seattle at Cafe Revo. Wonderful food, wonderful place, wonderful staff! We got to meet Robert from Chuck's scooter group when he happened to come by on an errand and that was fun as we'd seen photos of him before. We got to talking over lunch how we all had become friends before we'd ever met face to face, and how we'd become acquainted with others and their work through our blogs. It was then that Joni came up in conversation and how much we liked her art work and blog which we had discovered through Chuck. So Chuck whipped out his handy iPhone and gave Joni a call and she joined us a few minutes later. What fun! The world really IS a small place in the daily photo community, and we all treasure the relationships and experiences our involvement has brought us. From left to right is Cafe Revo's mural, Joni, Bibi, and Chuck.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Yesterday I had the treat of hosting one of the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walks here in Seattle. Fifty people signed up to explore the Olympic Sculpture Park and waterfront with their cameras and each other. Here you see most of us, eight or nine others came and found us after this shot was taken. The weather turned out to be perfect, the light was great, company was fantastic, and we closed the day with dinner together on an outdoor terrace overlooking Elliott Bay. There were 900 locations around the world where photo enthusiasts gathered for fun and maybe a world record of some sort for the number of people photowalking in one day. Participants are eligible to enter two photos in a contest, and hosts like me get to choose the one photo from our group to enter into the world wide contest for some amazing photography equipment prizes. I'm wishing my group much luck. They are an amazingly talented bunch with many pros and adventurous image makers among us, as well as hobbyists like me who just want to get out there and walk our cities and explore them through our lenses. I know a few other City Dialy Photo Bloggers participated in walks near them, and hope many more will check out this fun event next year. You can see some of our shots at this Flickr site, with more to come in the next few days.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
When you see white hair, do you see what's underneath it? I started asking myself if I really see older people, or perhaps look past them, not take in the details? It struck me that in his right hand this man carries a guitar, indicating one of his abilities, talents and interests in life, and in his left hand he grasps a cane, indicating a possible loss of ability. Is he able? Disabled? What did you first notice about him? This shot was taken in the heart of old Ballard. (Sorry for this very delayed post. . .modem problems for days and posting from the library when I can.)
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
They are on the march! Be on the lookout for them, because they are everywhere you turn these days. Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating its recent opening of a penguin exhibit and all sorts of local artists and businesses are in on the fun.
" In celebration of community art and inspired by Woodland Park Zoo’s all new Humboldt penguin exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo and The Greenwood Collective joined forces to spread art and conservation awareness throughout Seattle. Woodland Park Zoo provided artists, amateur and professionals alike, with 22-inch fabricated penguins. The Greenwood Collective managed artist submissions, providing workshops, materials and artist guidance for this project." All the penguins were exhibited at Seattle Center in June and now can be seen at many locations around town. I spotted this one with hand knit hat, jacket made from map pieces in the shape of feathers, and little green suitcase in front of Snoose Junction, a popular pizzeria on NW Market Street.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Whenever I see horses I think of fellow blogger MB just north of Seattle at Small City Scenes of Stanwood. MB has and loves horses and is very knowledgeable about them. She has shown us great photos of horses in action over the years. So, I was thinking of her when I posted yesterday's photo of the mounted patrol. Then today I came across this shop window display of a perfect mailbox for MB. Can you believe it? It's a horse trailer mailbox with a horse rearing up as the delivery flag. So, this is dedicated to MB.
Sorry for the late post. . .intermittent internet connection problem again, sigh.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A downtown mounted patrol officer riding her beat cut behind a passing taxi. I shot and edited this with my iPhone. I'm thinking I will post one iPhone shot a week on Wednesdays. What do you think? Anyone else game?
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Wishing all our friends in France and of French ancestry here and around the world a happy Fête Nationale. America owes so much of its beginnings to the aid and friendship of the French, an alliance that continues to today. Seattle Center held its own Bastille Day celebration complete with Bal des Pompiers, and many French restaurants and cultural enclaves around town are hosting festivities and special menus. This is the window of Ballard Avenue's newly opened Bastille Cafe & Bar, and judging from the happy faces of diners within, it is being well received. With a staff like the one Bastille has assembled, people who have been with Campagne, How to Cook A Wolf, The French Laundry (Yountville, CA), Union, Stars and more. . .and a rooftop garden where they grow their own greens, a gorgeous, comfortable, welcoming interior (yesterday's photo) and spacious patio dining, it is no wonder it is off to a great start.
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A beautiful floral and curly willow arrangement caught my eye in the entrance to Seattle's newest restaurant. More on that tomorrow. . .
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Many people enjoy dining in the revolving restaurant, Sky City, at the top of the Space Needle. I don't think it occurred to any of them that they might become a menu item themselves while enjoying the 365 degree view. This dragon, straight out of the mists of Norse myth, would just like to take a small taste. Just playing with ya. . .this dragon adorns the prow of a Viking ship replica that was on display near the Needle. Hope you had a great weekend.
