February 20, 2011 - Seattle from Kerry Park

I've been wanting to get back up to Kerry Park to capture the stereotypical Seattle sunset shot. The day started out promising with cold but clear weather. Unfortunately as the day wore on the clouds started creeping in. As we neared Seattle we could see that the distant clouds had already obscured Mount Rainier. While we couldn't get the perfect shot with the mountain in the background, it was still clear enough for a good cityscape.

As expected, the park was moderately crowded with obvious tourists, a few hardcore photographers, and not unexpectedly a wedding party. I had to hand it to the bride and the other women present for braving the bone-chilling cold. A bridal gown or semi-formal dress is certainly not the best choice for the conditions.

With an hour until sunset it was apparent that we weren't going to get the golden sunset light we had hoped for. Clouds were already masking the western horizon which would eventually block the sun as it set.

As long as we were there we had to make the best of it. Without the dramatic lighting or clear views of the mountains, I wasn't going to get the shots I had originally envisioned. This one was ok but nothing special.



One thing I had been wanting to experiment with was a technique known as High Dynamic Range (HDR). This technique has been used extensively and in some cases over-used and abused. I think this image was an improvement and didn't go over-the-top as some HDR images can.



Pushing things a bit more with this image.



Here's one with that definitive grungy, over-saturated HDR look.



Here's the obligatory night-time Space Needle image.



As if I couldn't already waste enough hours tweaking images to get them just right; now I have HDR as yet another time-sink to explore. Despite my initial wariness of HDR I am seeing the possibilities it opens up.