Jingle Bell Run 2007

C and I ran in the jingle bell run again this year. It was cold enough that it snowed a little bit when the race started. Yeah I wore shorts. I ran a lot faster than I thought I would. All because it was an intense sport of weaving through a crowd of slow pokes. The costumes are always great. Thanks to my ability to run with a digicam, everyone can see what running snowflakes look like (trust me, you don't want to see the videos, they'll just make you dizzy). But everyone seemed to love the gingerbread man the most. He turned out to be one of C's bosses!

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Seattle Waterfront

I took a walk around the Seattle waterfront on Black Friday with Rich. It was a good day for infrared. It was also a good day to watch this random guy play his guitar near the Pike's Place Market. He had a guitar in his hands, a harmonica around his neck, and some percussion bells around his ankle. And he managed to work a hula hoop the whole time. It got better (but I didn't get a picture), he turned his guitar upside down and balanced it on his chin (still working the hoop). Then he played it like that!! (while still working the hula hoop). Dang.

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Tiger Mountain View

Remember the paragliding story from September? Nevermind. These pictures are from the launching zone where I took off.
C and I hiked up here one Sunday morning when we needed some exercise and the weather was cooperating. Lovely views of Mt. Rainier (the active volcano, and next in line to explode) looking closer than it really is.

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Gas Works Park, Seattle

Only some of these pictures are from Gas Works Park in Seattle. The others are from the Japanese Garden around the corner. I discovered that water absorbs so much infrared light that it is usually completely black to an IR camera. But at the right angle it makes an excellent mirror. When I turn a reflection-on-the-water picture upside down it has a wild effect.





Gas Works is colorful even in the rain. And it's fun to watch the float planes take off from Lake Union.

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The Wind

A couple weeks ago the wind picked up around here. It made for some dramatic weather shots. I drove across the I-90 bridge after work and then took a picture of what I'd just driven through. I had driven as close as I could to the side where the waves were and got hit twice by water washing over the side. It was sweet. While I stood there the sun broke through and I had about 5 minutes to shoot those beams of light over Beacon Hill. Exposing correctly was a challenge. And it took some heavy processing to get them to look like what I saw.

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Salmon in Issaquah

I went to the fish hatchery this afternoon and fired off a few rounds. The fish are supposed to head to the right of this man-made waterfall thing to find the hatchery. But a lot of them can't resist flopping against this wall that they'll never get over.



It was really hard to shoot this because you never know where the fish will jump. I found some compositions I liked and held steady until something happened in that small frame. Most of the time I just watched them jump everywhere else with my other eye open. Eventually I caught a few.

I put more of my salmon pictures here

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Salmon & Salmon Days

Living in Issaquah is funny. Every year they close down the streets for the Salmon Days festival. It's really just another street fair, but since it's just around the corner we feel obligated to check it out. The weather was pretty bad this year. But I found a few minutes of near dryness to walk the camera.

Here's picture of a salmon a few days before the festivities when the sun was cooperating. The river running through this festival reeks of dead fish. Yay!


Here's a section of the street with some cool person wearing a coat 10x too big. I love the weather here.


Some dressed up dog that amused me. Not so much for his costume, but because he's perched on this guy.


Here's a band with 3 guitars (not including the bass)! They also had a lead singer and someone working a harmonica. Here's what I think is a little odd besides all that...

This guy was the lead, but he's playing the wrong end of the fret board for that in my opinion.

This guy was the rhythm, but also playing the wrong end of the fret board for that.

Best of all, this guy has capoed the first fret. I hope he's got the volume way down.


Then I walked by some bird presentation. I liked the special bird helmet and the T-shirts in the background.

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