Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Wild Flowers & Cityscapes

Usually wild flowers around here bloom in May & June...since we've had such a wet spring, they held off blooming until July this year.  The best field I've seen around Auburn just happens to be on the side of a freeway entrance.  My loving husband was kind enough to stop and let me climb out and get a few shots, even though I'm sure we both looked incredibly silly trekking around Auburn Way with camera in hand near the entrance to Hwy 18.

"Red roadside wild flower if I'd only picked you, took you home set you on the counter..." 
Blake Shelton "She Wouldn't Be Gone"


This song gets stuck in my head every time I drive by this patch!




Tonight, while Rico was off playing Disc Golf  (think golf, with weighted frisbees and free courses!), I drove up to Beacon Hill to practice some night photography.  I found Dr. Jose Rizel Park on North Beacon Hill.  It wasn't crowded at all, though it was kind of in a shady neighborhood (I accidentally stumbled onto a homeless camp while looking for a good spot to set up my camera - no one was home, luckily).



 My prime location :)

 Qwest Field with the green arches
The above photo is my official entry in the Landscape photo challenge over at:



If you look closely, you can see the light trails of 2 airplanes in the sky.   I also really like the starburst on the lights (no editing to create those!).
 ISO 100, 25sec, f/16
ISO 100, 25sec, f/16

10 comments:

  1. Are you freaking kidding me. Those shots of the city and the sunset...gasp...simply incredible. I'm in love.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Ashley! I had a lot of fun shooting these! It definitely shows me how valuable a good tripod is!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love it!!! Now make some puzzles out of those and bring in the $$$$!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow I am jealous those pictures a perfection. They are great. I just found you in a Yellow House. I love your pictures. Question? How did you design your background. I love it. I am new to this blogging world. I will be following your more often.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Larissa! The background for the blog is part of Blogger's preset backgrounds...the header was made in Picasa (free Google program).

    ReplyDelete
  6. These are gorgeous, love them!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. These are amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And... I ABSOLUTELY love that you took them from Rizal Park. My dog loves it there and the views are amazing. Where do you live in Seattle?? How fun to see my beloved city in my challenge!

    PS - Please teach me how you made those lines on the road. I've only ever seen that on postcards!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful photos!! I love the Seattle skyline... just breathtaking! The mountain you saw in my picture is Mt. Shasta. It is is northern California, just about 45 minutes from the Oregon border. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What amazing pictures, they are absolutely beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. We live about 30 mins south in the Auburn area...The city is just so exciting to photograph.

    I actually just googled how to do light trails and found a ton of information. Basically, make the aperture smaller and do a timed exposure. The ones above were mostly 25 sec exposures at an F/16. I took about 60 shots of the sun setting and kept adjusting the length of exposure because a lot them were washed out. It started working correctly once the sun had gone below the horizon for about 20 mins. With very little light in the sky, having the shutter opened for an extended period made the sky look brighter :)

    ReplyDelete