Hunting

This squirrel was hunting for some food when I found it. There was some cloud cover, so my shutter speed wasn't as high as I would have liked it to be. This meant that my pictures were blurry and not in focus. I normally like my pictures in focus, but I like this picture when it isn't in focus. It helps show that the squirrel is moving and hunting for some acorns. 

Macro Photography

Close-up pictures like this one, are macro photography pictures. Pictures that have a small object fill the frame. The problem with macro photography of animals, is they get scared of you. As you move closer, they feel threatened, so they move away. For this picture, I wanted to have the butterflies in a very sharp focus with the background blurred. 

Fall

As fall hurries in after summer, the plants and animals become harder to find. The leaves fall off and some animals try to stay warm. One of the good things about winter is it makes bird spotting easier. One of my favorite birds, one that I don't take many pictures of, is the bluebird. They don't migrate for the winter and since the trees have no leaves on them, it makes them easier to find and take pictures of. 

Monarch Butterfly 

On the same flower as the other butterflies, there was this monarch butterfly. I like the colors on it. It has a dark background with lighter circles. The circles on the butterfly are supposed to look like eyes to scare away birds from eating it. 

Butterfly

On a theme of capturing animals that need flowers, I found this butterfly. Like the fly, it took several attempts before I could get a perfect focus on the butterfly. I like how the head is off of the flower. It helps define the head and give detail to it. 

Bubbles

Not long into my bike trip, I found this water fountain in front of a house. It was incredibly sunny that day, so it was easy for me to increase the shutter speed. I  set the shutter speed on the highest it could go, and I started taking pictures. I chose this picture because of the bubbles in the water and the big bubble on the middle left side of the picture. 

Pumpkin Season

As October begins, so do the Halloween decorations. I want to try to get a night picture of a pumpkin. One with a carved face and a candle inside. Have the candle lit and have a long exposure on it. Hopefully, the picture will catch the movement of the candle and make a very interesting picture. 

Little Fly

Near the bees that were on the flowers, was this small fly. I wanted to get level with the fly so I could get the best shot. The problem with being flat with the fly, was the focus points become a lot smaller. From this picture, we can see a very focused line, then everything else is out of focus. It took many tries to try to get the perfect focus, but I was able to. 

Summer Shower

After a brief but powerful summer storm, this leaf was covered in rain drops. I chose this leaf because the drops have different colors on them. Some have a blue tint and others are more yellow. I believe that this is from the sun and how it is shining on the drops. The more sun that shines on the drops, the more yellow it is. The less sun, the bluer the drops are. 

Banana Flower

On a bike ride in Texas, I saw this bright yellow flower. If a banana was a flower, I think this would be what it might look like. It is a tall and skinny bright yellow flower that comes from a green stem. I wonder how it tastes, probably not as good as a banana.

Bush Man

In the shrub part of the flower, there was this green lizard. I like how in focus it is. You can see the individual scales on the lizard. I wish I had the head in a little more focus, but it still is interesting to see a lizard this close up.

Buzzing Around

Near the first pink tree, I found this grove of flowers. In the beginning, there were no bees. After waiting for a minute, many bees came to the flowers. I took 300 pictures trying to capture the perfect picture.

Hidden Flowers

As the Seattle series ends, we return back to Texas. In Texas, there are many flowers and trees still blooming. One of the trees was this bright pink color. I couldn't get a clean shot of the flowers, so I just found the densest part of the front tree and shot through it.

Seattle

The last picture from Seattle is this one. It was a sunny day which made it one of the best. The cloudy picture of downtown Seattle was good but with it sunny, it makes it much better. I made the picture as wide as I could to capture all of Seattle.

Second Wave

I also think this is one of my best pictures. Most everything close to the camera is in focus. The rocks on the beach, the wave, and the droplets from the wave. I took so many of these pictures because this is one of the only places I can take them. Dallas doesn't have a beach or anything like this that I can take a picture from.

Wave

This is my second best picture from Seattle. It is a picture that I can almost never get in Dallas but it is also a great picture. You can easily make out the individual water droplets that make up the wave. As the water gets closer the droplets get less and less out of focus. I like this effect because it seems like the wave is splashing into the lens (which it did do a little of).

Splash

After I took the first picture of the waves crashing, I tried to take some more just to make sure I had the perfect picture. This picture isn't as great, but I still like it. The waves still divide into small droplets and fold onto the beach.

Beach View

This beach wasn't like the beaches I had seen before. This beach was rocky and the water was cold. While the rocks weren't the best for walking barefoot, they add another element to this picture. The rocks are in lines that are like the waves. I also enjoy the boat in the water. It shows just how far the water stretches.

Seagulls, Sea Gone

Once the seagulls felt they were in danger because I was too close, they flew away. I chose this picture because the seagull is in focus and the shoreline of the opposite side is visible. The clouds are in interesting shapes and the water isn't just a flat surface. It all came together to see the seagulls, sea gone.

Seagulls

On one of the beaches were these seagulls. There was a group of about 15 of them all looking for food and resting. I crept up slowly trying to get the closest shot I could get. This was my closest shot before they flew away. But I also to pictures of that, which is coming tomorrow.

A Path to the Sea

From the main trail were smaller trails that led to the ocean. This trail led me on the side of the ocean.  The unkept brush grew wildly over and on the sides of the trail. I like the contrast between the dark brush and the bright sky. The trail goes out of view as it curves to the left. The bright white clouds give something else to look at besides the dark brush.

Crashing Waves

This I think is my best picture from Seattle. I used my wide angle lens to capture the sea, but also to have a crisp focus on the crashing waves. I got my camera so close to the waves, that the waves splashed a little on the camera. I tried and tried again until I took the perfect picture. A boat went by and created some bigger waves and then I took this picture.

Sea Far 

Next, we went to Discovery Park. We hiked from the parking lot through several trails and to the shoreline. One of the trails led to this rocky little beach. While I was there, I could see far out into the Puget Sound. I like the dark colored rocks and how they contrast the picture. The sky is bright blue which also made the water bright blue. The rocks helped to make the picture not so bright and to also contrast all of the blues.

Crossing of the Seas

On our way out, several boats pulled into the big lock to be moved from the Puget Sound to Lake Union. The first boat was this pirate boat. The people on the boat were dressed like pirates, they had pirate music, and even a miniature blimp. I believe they were headed to the annual Sea-Fair. I didn't go to it, but I saw the traffic to the Sae-Fair and heard the Blue Angles flying above.

Algae

The locks also help control the amount of water in Lake Union. There was one lock that was open and six others that were closed. On the concrete slab that leads the Lake Union water to the Puget Sound water, was algae. I like the look of the algae. It is green and yellow and is all laying toward the camera.

Sea Lions

Another animal they I saw at the locks was this one sea lion. It managed to swim upstream into the salmon locks before going back out. It floated on the top of the water surface, probably resting, before swimming away.

Chinook Salmon

In a viewing point of the salmon locks, there was this chinook salmon resting in front of a window. I had to readjust from the outside sun to the inside darkness. It was very interesting to see the salmon flow upstream. They only travel in groups and most they have to use a lot of energy just to get upstream.

Salmon

The next day, we went to the Ballard Locks. We saw two waves of small boats and one big boat move through the locks. A few hundred feet away from the locks was a lock for salmon. It was like several flights of stairs that helped the salmon move into freshwater. Next to the entrance was this large group of salmon. This is where you could see them best. The other parts were shady and the fish weren't on top of the water. 

Overcast and Rainy

On an average, 152 days of the year are sunny. The other 213 are overcast like this and slightly misty. During the morning of the picture there was mist, but as the day moved on, the mist moved out. While I wish the sky was light blue, I like the grey. It blends in with the color of the buildings and water. It makes the buildings stand out.

Forest Paths

When I was walking between viewpoints in the garden, there was this path surrounded by very tall trees. The trees were covered in moss and there were small plants on the sides of the path. It was very calm and very relaxing. No wonder they put a Zen garden in it.

Reflecting Pool

In another area of the garden, was this reflecting pool. I stood at the edge of the pool trying to capture that most of the reflection. While I was able to capture the reflection, I forgot to make sure that the picture was centered. It doesn't make the picture look too bad, but I can still notice that it isn't straight.

Leading River

A small manmade stream flew throughout the property. I put my camera as close to the water as I could. I wanted to capture the stream, the plants surrounding the stream, the trees in the background, and the reflection. I think the best part about this picture is all of the green. It's a color that I normally don't see but it's a color I want to see more of.

Zen Garden

In the middle of the lot, there is a traditional Zen garden next to a house. I was really impressed with the garden. The only marks in the sand were the lines surrounding the stones. I also like how there was moss on the stones. It gives the stones a different color that we don't normally see in Texas.

Dew

The river and humidity created dew that covered all of the plants. I chose this plant because I like the contrast of colors on the plant. It is mostly green with shades of brown. The dew creates an interesting color that only water droplets make.

Hidden River

The next place we visited was Bainbridge Island. The ferry ride there was rainy, windy, and cold. Once we got to the island, the rain dissappeared and it became a perfect day. After lunch, we went to the Bloedel Reserve. It is 150-acres of forests, gardens, and trails that run throughout the property. 

Sunset on the Lake

For dinner that night, we went to a restaurant on the lake. This hill, the neighborhood of Queen Anne, was to our west. As the sun went down, I wanted to capture the whole scene. The water, boat, neighborhood, and sunset. I tried to time it so most of the sun was behind the hill and it made a silhouette of everything else.

Downtown

The next side I went to had a perfect view of downtown. You can see all of the skyscrapers, the Puget Sound, and some of the mountains outside of the city. I like this view point of the city. Since I was 600 feet above ground level, I was looking down on the city instead of looking up at the skyscrapers. Something I don't do very often.

Lake Washington

Atop the Space Needle, you could see the entire city of Seattle. From this angle, we see Lake Washington and the neighborhood of Queen Anne (the oldest part of Seattle). On the lake, there were boats and seaplanes. The seaplanes used the lake as a runway when they started or finished taking visitors on a tour around Seattle.

Glass in Nature

When Chahuli was placing the glass pieces around the museum he did it with a vision. It isn't just scattered randomly around the museum. He purposely put tall plants near tall sculptures and plants that spread out near sculptures that spread out. His vision helps that sculptures look more natural and more like they were anticipated to be there.

Grass Orb

The design on this ball of glass almost mimics the grass. The colors on the black glass spiral out from the center like the grass does around the orb. The grass seems to be making an even bigger spiral as it surrounds the orb.

Towers

The tall glass sculpture looks like a perfect match against the Space Needle. Both are tall and straight, almost matching each other. I also was glad that when I took this picture the sun wasn't out. The sun would have been right in between the glass and the Space Needle, overexposing the picture.

Row Boat

The first thing I notice when I look at all of the sculptures is the different shapes of glass. There is never the same glass piece in a single sculpture. The second thing I notice is the crisp reflection off of the glass bottom. It provides an interesting new view of the glass.

Glass Garden 

The next room was a long row of different glass sculptures. They came in all different colors, shapes, and sizes. The hardest part about that pictures of glass is it reflects light very well. The front blue pieces of glass were easy to photograph but the back yellow piece of glass made my photo look overexposed. To fix that I increased the shutter speed and focussed on the yellow glass to make sure that it didn't ruin the picture.

Light

The next room in, the lights were covered by colored glass. The glass made the light turn the color casting different colored light across the room. I chose to take pictures of this glass piece because of the ripples in it and the different colors. It was one of the few that were blue and red and I thought two colors would be more interesting to photograph than one.

Reflection

This sculpture was designed with the sea in mind. It has a wave-like appearance, the colors are blue and yellow, and the small yellow glass objects are animals from the sea. Some of the yellow objects are octopus and squid, and others are different types of fish.

Glass Rods

The next day, we went to the Chihuly Museum next to the Space Needle. Inside the museum, it is very dark. Most of the lights are from the glass or lights only lighting the glass. On the bottom of the glass work, there is a reflective surface. The surface creates a complete mirror of the glass. There isn't much of a mirror in this picture, but you will definitely see it soon.

Gum Wall

In an alley near Pike Place Market, there is this gum wall. Supposably, it was cleaned just a few months ago, but so many people have put their gum on the wall that it 'regrew.' Also, on the top of the picture, there are longer pieces of gum. I think this was from a heat wave that went through Seattle. I think it melted the gum and since it was hanging, it started to fall downward.

Glasswork

The last stall I am posting is this glass stall. Seattle is the second largest producing glass city in the world, behind Maruno, Italy. All of this glass was blown in the city. I was lucky enough to see a glass ornament being blown. It is a very delicate process that takes time and patience.

Fresh Produce

Like the crab and fish, the market also has rows and rows of fresh produce. While they had many different types of produce, the most common was cherries. This is because most of the cherries are grown in the northwest. There were three main groups but I heard several other names of cherries.

Crab

Along with fish, the crab was also very popular in the market. Like the fish, they are all fresh and were just delivered from the fishing boats. The expression they make is creeping me out. They have beady eyes and look like they are about the attack you with their claws.