One of my favorite things is an evening of good food with friends. I took this shot of Gabo’s table before a lovely meal. I like the light, & the artwork. ‘The art of dining well is no slight art, the pleasure not a slight pleasure.” Michel de Montaigne... Something Gabo knows well.

I’m a big fan of “found” portraits. People on the street, doing their thing, just leading everyday lives. This gal was standing just inside an alley a few blocks from where I catch the bus. Taking a break I presume. I like the starkness of the wall, her uniform, & the simplicity of this little moment of satisfaction (some quiet, a cigarette, & a book).

This is another shot from the switching yard. I like the picture because of the colors, as well as the sun faded, rust belt patina. I find that it makes me oddly introspective about the bipolar patriotism I’ve been battling with of late. America is branding itself as a unilateral cowboy with little respect for the accuracy of our intelligence data, the opinions of the rest of the world, or the complexity of local socio-theo-political realities on the ground. I expect the bridges we’re merrily burning will be sorely missed in managing the revolution in technology, ecology, emerging economies, not to mention public health catastrophes, over the next 20 years. Hell, we can’t even hang onto our credibility as a thug. It’s hard to maintain your image as the world’s biggest badass when you can’t even handle one post-dictatorial democratic transition intelligently. Ok…I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

More than a few weeks past, I went with a lovely crew of folks out to one of my friend Bruce’s favorite river spots (I think it’s the Skykomish...out by Index). We spent the day swimming in the (rather chilly) water, leaping from improbable heights, braving baby rapids, snacking on good cheese & drinking wine. It was a popular day for swimming, & there were several (rather humpy) young men from around the area at the river. I caught this shot across one of the girls while she was reading (& he wasn't paying attention). Cute No?

I've been too damn busy of late & haven't had the opportunity to post something new. This is one of those "I hate autofocus" kinds of shots. My little camera does OK most of the time, but there are shots where it's little electronic brain seems confused. Even with the sadly soft focus on this picture...I like it quite a bit.

There's a train switching yard in Magnolia that I wander past every time I go to visit my sister. I've always been amazed at the beautiful "traveling art" that graffiti artists have splashed on the boxcanvas. I decided to head in for some pictures a few weeks ago. I had about 30 minutes to stroll around & take shots before the security folks came by & booted me out (they were pleasant... but firm).

One of the cool things about Seattle in the summer is the wealth of street performers out there to photograph. Shooting pictures on the street isn't always for the faint of heart. Some people DON'T want their picture taken (I'll post one of those in a few days). But street performers are already used to the tourist types snapping pictures. Besides, being hostile to folks showing an interest in them is unlikely to improve their bottom line. I won't pay someone to take their picture, but I will drop a couple of bucks in a street performer's bucket (I'm always in favor of supporting art, & more importantly...artists). The diversity of instruments & artists means that you'll have a lot of opportunities to take pictures of different kinds of folks. Here are a couple of violin students down on Pine.

It’s always interesting to see what’s going to happen with low light/extended exposures. Sometimes they’re just blurry nothings, & sometimes you get cool effects that seems to make the picture more interesting than it would be if it were sharp & rock steady. I took this one in the bus tunnel downtown.

I’ve tried to nurture a habit of walking home from the bus stop downtown, & taking several pictures of the other pedestrians as I make my way home. You get lots of shots that aren’t especially noteworthy, but sometimes you catch pictures that are just fun. I took this picture because I liked the colors, the balloon, the sleeping baby... but it was just luck that Mom was yawning at the moment when I snapped the shot. I guess they both needed a nap.

I suppose it would be fair to say that I have less interest in landscapes, or perhaps skyscapes, than in portraits (found portraits in particular). But there is so much fantastic color kicking around a Seattle skyline at sunset that its sort of compulsive to try & capture the image (or two or twenty). This is a shot that I’m moderately pleased with from the waterfront.

Taking a smoke break at the Market.

I'm trying to catch up with my postings after being a lazy ass over the weekend. This is the Washington State Convention Center in the rain.

I love getting flowers.

Here's a shot that speaks to my frustration with delayed start up on my digital. By the time the camera was turned on & ready to shoot, the car was past me. I still like the pan/speed effect. I decided to call it Gangster Getaway & pretend like it had worked just as I'd planned.