Taking Advantage of a Beautiful Situation

It's an iconic tourist destination. It is on most people's to-do list when they come to Seattle. During the summer months as relatives visit, they are taken to walk along the Seattle Waterfront with it's restaurants, shops, harbor cruises, views of the Olympics, parks, harbors and convenience to other downtown attractions. No wonder one can get a bit claustrophobic while walking the sidewalks.

But the Seattle waterfront isn't just for tourists. It's also a fabulous place to visit for photographers - any type of photographer. Beginners and professionals can find a myriad of subjects along the waterfront from views of Elliot Bay to the people who walk along the shops.

Stay after sunset when the skies darken and the lights of the city turn brighten, you will find another reason to pull out your camera. The vibrance of Seattle in the day, sparkles at night. The reflection of neon on the ripples in the water helps to create a glittering illusion and an understanding of why this is the Emerald City.

I recently joined a group of photographers for a night-time outing to photograph the Seattle Great Wheel as the wheel gave a special light show. The light show happens during special occasions and some home games of local sports teams. Give them a call to find out when they'll be doing the next one. Even if you aren't photographing the wheel, it's a pretty sight.

So if you're planning on a trip to the waterfront for a light show below re a few tips to help you prepare and get some great images.

1. To get the cool pinwheel effect as in the image above, you will nee to use a slow shutter speed. This image had a shutter speed of 3 seconds. As there was still light in the sky and I wanted the texture in the clouds, I had to adjust my settings. ISO went to 100, f/stop 22 - I then added a neutral density filter to finally get the shutter speed slow enough to blur the lights enough for the effect.

2. Since you will be photographing at a slow shutter speed, you'll need to take precautions to steady your camera. (Although hand held can add an interesting effect, we're focusing on sharp images today.) A sturdy tripod is needed. It doesn't have to be the heaviest or most expensive, but it does need to be tall enough to rise above the fencing in the area (which isn't very tall). One that stands about 4 1/2 to 5 feet should be adequate. Also, you don't want a lot of futzing with your hands on the camera because that will also cause camera shake. Invest in a remote shutter release or cable release.

3. Once you get your camera to the settings you want, all you need to do is hold the remote shutter release or cable release and click away to your heart's content. But even in summer, Seattle nights can get chilly. So while you're photographing away, be sure you have an extra layer, hat and gloves to keep yourself warm.

Next time you're along Seattle's waterfront for the day, plan on staying until the sun has set (sunsets over the Olympics can be quite picturesque) and photograph the Seattle Great Wheel.

Have fun!

The Foggy Days of Autumn

It's been foggy in the Puget Sound area lately. And I love fog combined with autumn color. The cool moist air makes hiking in the woods pleasurable. But are there images to be made in the fog? Of course there are, lots of images.

Fog is like a giant soft box and reduces contrast you would see on a bright sunny day. Which makes a foggy day perfect for photographing images that are better on overcast days; forests, flowers, faces and waterfalls or the 4 F's.

Why does this happen? Fog acts like a giant softbox. Fog disperses light (bounces and filters) reducing hard shadows. But these qualities can also fool your light meter into under-exposing your images - over-expose as you want that bright glowing light.

This diffraction of light helps to emphasize the distance between near and far objects. The image above is an example of this. The closer tree is well defined yet as your eyes move further into the background, the trees become less distinct until they become barely visible shadows of themselves.

On an ordinary day, this scene would be a jumble of trees and shrubs, making it difficult to isolate one tree from the rest. In the fog, the shape of the foreground tree stands out. You know that this is a field of trees because of the subtle shapes behind the front tree. But the limbs do not get lost in the limbs of the other trees - they are isolated and defined.

There are no harsh shadows falling across the field. Harsh shadows combined with bright sun on a bright day would be even more difficult to capture an image of these trees. Your light meter would either want to expose for the bright areas or the dark. You can overcome this harsh environment with multiple exposures and combining the images in Photoshop. Or you can wait for a foggy day.

Photographing in the fog both challenging and fun. So the next time you wake up to a foggy day, grab your camera and have some fun.

Hometown Tourism

Do you know all the "secret" spots of your favorite destination? Do you know the best place to get sunrise? Sunset? When you should head out for the colors of spring or autumn? Where you should go on bright sunny days or dreary wet days?

But then you see an image from someplace in your own backyard and you think, "where is that? I thought I knew everything there is about my home. But I've never seen that."

I do that a lot. There are a few place I know well. So well that I am the "go to" person for my friends, friends of friends, and acquaintances.

But my own back yard? Not so much. Is it because I don't think there are images to be found in the parks and locations closer to home? 

No, not really. 

When I have a day to explore I'm heading out, away, to the far reaches. I just feel as if I've gotten something accomplished if I drive a long distance to hike and photograph.

And so I miss some great places.

I grew up along Highway 2 in Washington. A wonderful road (if you don't mind sitting in a parking lot on a Sunday afternoon as you head back home from a great weekend adventure) of trail heads, waterfalls, rivers and in the fall, colors galore. I've driven over this road so many times in my years in Washington that I should know every turnout, every destination, every sight.

But alas, I do not. I was always heading for another destination - not making the road itself a destination. 

Recently I volunteered to take a group of photographers along Highway 2 for a photo tour, only to realize I was at a loss as to where to stop for the best photo opportunities. Could we have chosen a place I know like the back of my hand?

But then, I thought - why not? It will finally give me a chance to explore an area that I keep saying I'll have to stop there someday. 

Do you ever tell yourself that? "I should stop there someday?" as you drive past a pretty turn out or sweet little park. 

I say make today that someday. Take the time, explore that little corner of your backyard. Become a tourist in your own home. You might never know what you find.

The above image was made at Deception Falls along Highway 2. A turnout (parking lot that's usually closed) that I've been saying for years - I should stop there. I finally did.

Making Visual Sense

Have you ever been presented with a scene that stops you in your tracks? Something in the scene attracted your eyes, but what was it? For after you stopped, you couldn't see what had attracted you in the 1st place.

But you knew something is there. What do you do? Do you continue on your way? Or do you investigate further?

You've undoubtedly heard this before, but I'm going to say it again - sometimes photography is a matter of patience. And this confusing scene in front of you is a perfect example.

Slow down.

Look.

Investigate.

Go back look at the scene again and start to really look at the elements. Bring your camera to your eye to help weed our any distracting elements. Take several images from different viewpoints. Go low, go high, zoom in and out. Use your feet to get closer and look at different angles. Isolate sections of the scene until you find what you like and even what might have originally stopped you.

The above scene was an expansive marsh full of grasses and shrubs that never let the eye rest. I wanted to best capture the scrambled nature of the marsh but was having trouble getting it all in. Plus the day was rather foggy and with any open landscape images the sky was blown out and boring.

I started looking at the marsh through my lens and say this bare shrub - scrambled and messy like the marsh but defined in its craziness. In one small section of the marsh, I found image that would help define the marsh.

So the next time you walk past a scrambled scene and think you see something, stop and look more closely.

Trust your instinctive eye.

There is more to Life . . .

To be honest, I've felt a little burnt out by the time August rolled around. Every weekend since April has been filled with one hike or event after another. Not just one day of the weekend but the whole weekend. My apartment was cluttered from lack of cleaning. My nerves were raw. My psyche, in need of healing.

I've had a full summer and wonder, what was in it for me?

I led hikes for gracious hikers but hardly a hike went of without some issue to frazzle my nerves and question my own decisions.

It put me in a tailspin. Did I really want to lead? If all I got was grief, why would I want to?

But wait, was all I got on the hikes I led, grief? Was there no enjoyment? Was there nothing for me? I became disheartened and left for my vacation in California with a heavy heart.

My travels took me to Point Reyes National Seashore, a place that is perfect for a person looking for a little isolation for time to reflect. Upon arriving, I stopped in at the visitor center to get a few maps and information before heading out to get the lay of the land. Fog shrouded the bluffs overlooking the ocean. I love hiking in the fog when my brain is overwhelmed by life.

My first hike took me to the most northern point of the park. I hiked out with a couple from San Francisco but soon left them behind as they photographed the elk. I found myself hiking alone in the scrubby vegetation, fog blocking the views, but I was fine as I let my brain relax.

Two days later, I started off on a different trail that a fellow visitor told me looked just like a scene from The Hobbit. The bonus of this hike, she said, was coming to the end of the trail, a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I left early enough on the hike that I startled a bobcat while it was waiting for breakfast. I hiked through thick forest arching over the trail, like a scene out of The Hobbit (she wasn't lying) and came out of the trees to a cliff overlooking the Pacific Oceans. My bonus was that I was the only one there.

I sat down and listened to the waves wash against the sands below. In. Out. I closed my eyes and let my breathing relax. In. Out. Calm.

Why is it we are calm on vacation yet when we get back we lose that calmness and every promise we make to ourselves to bring back less stress?

I came back to another hike with a complaining hiker. And although the hiker iritated me, I tried to keep that promise I made on vacation to not worry about the things I couldn't change.

What Happens during a Shutdown.

On the East Coast in Washington DC, congress is bickering over a budget which has caused a shutdown of the federal government. No appropriations? No budget. No payroll. Employees furloughed.

In the other Washington, the one on the west coast, I wonder if I will be able to go to work next week. I don't work for the federal government, but the non-profit I do work for manages the bookstores in the National Parks, Forests and other public lands in the northwest.

The parks are closed. And if the parks are closed then there are no visitors to buy books. And very little work for me to do.

I love our National Parks and public lands. It's the main reason I accepted this position and stick with it through all the troubles our organization and industry go through.

I sit reading the websites, hoping for some reconciliation between the childish antics of congress. Nothing.

I worry for my friends and co-workers who are, for a lack of a better term, unemployed. In some families both adults work for the forest or park and both have no income.

I worry for myself, a single person who barely has enough to make it through a month of bills on her savings.

And I am concerned for the gems of our land - our National Parks.

For as long as I can remember, my vacations have revolved around one National Park or another. There have been the crazy road trips where I hit up to 6 parks in one week.

My parents took me camping in the parks and the time spent exploring the forests, mountains, beaches instilled in me a wonder of the natural world I have today.

Just a few weeks ago, I led hikes to the North Cascades National Park for the Mountaineers. Today the trails we hiked are blocked. No access.

And I feel a loss.

Looking through the images from this past year, 12 times. At least once a month. And was planning a trip back to the North Cascades next weekend.

If there is no resolution, I am not the only person needing to change plans. Nor will I be the only person wondering if I will have work the following week.

How has the shutdown affected you?

It's time to pull out that camera and use it!

You're at home and it's a beautiful day out. You stare out at the bright sunny sky without a cloud to be seen. Sighing, you turn to your computer and log on to Facebook. Why bother going out to photograph on a day like this?

Well, I ask, why don't you? If you'd rather be photographing, why don't you go?

But Heidi, you say, it's just too sunny out! The light is too harsh, washing out colors. The shadows too dense. Highlights will glare into your lens. It's a lousy day for photography.

Why not use that to your advantage? Any opportunity to play with your camera gives you the opportunity to practice, practice, practice.

The light is too harsh and washes out the colors, you say. Why not look for images to convert to black and white later? Or find shady areas and focus in on the smaller things in life?

The shadows are too dense, you complain. Again, get into the shadows, adjust your exposure for the darkness and photograph close-ups or portraits. Or look specifically for graphic designs created by the harsh shadows.

Oh the highlights, you fret. Have you ever heard of a polarizing filter? The above image was photographed with a polarizing filter to bring down the highlights and the sun at my back. Or point your lens into the sun for interesting backlight on your subject.

Most people enjoy a beautiful sunny day, except photographers who end up pouting because the light isn't "right". I say, make it right - play with it. See what the light does and the shadows and the colors. You may not end up with anything frame-worthy . . . yet. But anytime to play with your camera should be a lesson and a pleasure.

So get out there and use that camera!