Lake Union – Advinspiration

As a reward for accompanying Jason to the 2014 Lake Union Boats Afloat show, I was promised that we could walk from the ferry terminal and that we could wander as slowly as I wanted so that I could take some pictures. Sounds like a deal to me. I’ve been reading some new technical photography books lately and had a bunch of ideas I wanted to try out.

Locks on the fence on the bridge to the ferry terminal. Didn't get to play with these as much as i'd have liked. They're interesting and colorful, but we had a ferry to catch. — Locks on the fence on the bridge to the ferry terminal. Didn’t get to play with these as much as i’d have liked. They’re interesting and colorful, but we had a ferry to catch.

Playing with motion blur walking back onto the ferry. Taking purposely blurry photos is kind of fun!

Ad for "books in drag". Sounds like that would be an interesting time. — Ad for “books in drag”. Sounds like that would be an interesting time.

Playing with reflections. One of the things I wanted to try out.

Ferry dock through the glass. Neat concept I suppose.

Flower detail on one of the buildings. The architecture in Seattle is very decorative. Just look closer.

Abstract. Just layers of paint worn down on the street.

Light reflections on a building. One of my goals this time was to look for light doing unexpected things. Nailed it!

Processed infrared black and white. I liked the contrast of the harsh buildings with the delicate looking leaves.

Liked the colors and texture of this drain grating.

Line of action and the color red. One of my more "street" photos. — Line of action and the color red. One of my more “street” photos.

Lines in the street. I tried to go more abstract this trip. Needed to bring my zoom lens.

I didn't know there was a Tesla dealership! — I didn’t know there was a Tesla dealership!

Token car photo. They're neat cars, but I wouldn't buy one. — Token car photo. They’re neat cars, but I wouldn’t buy one.

Masts. Repeating pattern. I'm a big fan of those. — Masts. Repeating pattern. I’m a big fan of those.

Only actual boat photo I got at the show. We were too busy shopping I guess.

Abstract. Water reflections on a boat hull.

Construction. This would have been better if there was a point of interest. Someone crossing the street etc. I could have waited a bit and gotten a better photo. Next time.

Another unexpected lighting photo. It looks like Chinese calligraphy.

So many layers of vandalism. I love graffiti. You just never know what you're going to find. — So many layers of vandalism. I love graffiti. You just never know what you’re going to find.

I liked the red shirt of the skateboarder against the red columns. Also lines of action! I need to pay more attention to my composition before shooting most of the time.

Liked the arrangement of the squares, the filtered lighting and the little red paint lines.

Fun with graffiti. Might also be considered a self-portrait. You can barely see me in my hot pink shirt in the reflection.

Looking up the light pole. I need to work on really using my wide angle lens. Getting up close to things and making that lens distortion work for me, not just using it to fit more crap into a frame.

I love finding easter eggs like this. People make me laugh sometimes.

More fun with lighting. I'm not sure if the lens flare adds somethign to the photo or if it's distracting. — More fun with lighting. I’m not sure if the lens flare adds somethign to the photo or if it’s distracting.

Another example of me trying to be different with my photography. This was a random hip-shot while crossing a street. The closeness is almost uncomfortable, but I like the action of it. Does it convey the busyness of Seattle? or is it complete shit?

Read in a book about using different layers to make a scene more interesting. Found this colorful wall and decided to give it a go.

It's different at least! — It’s different at least!

I wanted to experiment and try out some new techniques. I definitely learned a lot this trip!

Things I’d like to work on:

Intentional motion blur. I think I try too hard to make everything perfectly focused and sharp and a lot of my photos look too harsh. I’d like to loosen it up a bit and take some photos that convey motion and energy. There’s a place for that as well.

Layering. I really like the effect of different layers. Taking photos through a window with raindrops on it, or through a hole in a chainlink fence etc… That adds a whole new look that I really like. This goes along with my theme of loosening up a little bit.

Reflections. Almost a variation of the layering technique above. So much can be done with the reflections of things in puddles, mirrors, windows, etc… and this winter we’ll have a ton of puddles to play in. I like the unexpected, so I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long to make use of these.

Light. I prefer dark, low key photos and will probably always have more of those, but I would like to work on super bright high key photos. either in black and white. (white and black? lets change the focus!) or just light colored, airy photos. I realized in the “shoes” post that light photos are hard for me for some reason… hence the need to work on it. Not everything should be dark and moody… That’d make for some awkward summer-vacation-on-the-beach photos.

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