Last Monday afternoon, as I was driving down to Magnuson Park in Seattle to meet a client, I noticed that Mt. Rainier was clearly visible on the southern horizon. In fact, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and I thought that it would be a great chance to get some photos of the skyline with its signature peak looming in the distance, unlike the previous photos. When my client still hadn’t shown up 25 minutes or so after our scheduled time (she contacted me later to explain that she’d been a bit late), I decided to swing by Kerry Park again to see how the view was panning out.
The sky was blue.
Even with the mountain visible, though, the monochrome sky made for a somewhat dull backdrop. Since I was earlier than I needed to be, I decided to just sit on one of the benches and enjoy the afternoon. The light had not yet begun to warm with the late afternoon, and I didn’t see much point in setting up a tripod, but I did snap a few photos here and there.
Before long, a short tour bus pulled up and a group of tourists piled out to take in the view. Apparently, they had just returned from an Alaskan Cruise. I met (and photographed) a woman from Pismo Beach, but unfortunately, as soon as she mentioned where she was from, my mind instantly jumped back to a Bugs Bunny Cartoon that I had seen as a child, and I didn’t really catch her name. Diane? Maybe. Perhaps she’ll read this and correct me.
In any case, as the evening wore on, it became clear that most of Seattle had had the same idea. A photographer came by with her wedding couple (?) and a couple of nice Canon DSLRs, and several other photographers started setting up tripods. One gentleman (who looked familiar, but I can’t place the face…) set up a beauty of a digital medium format (Mamiya… I think with a Phase One back) on a carbon fiber tripod. Pretty slick.
I knew that the photos that I was going for were cliche. I’m willing to accept that. Sometimes, it’s just fun to get some nice looking but very typical shots. Still, as the crowd of cameras grew, it started to be a bit much for me. I stuck around and took a few shots, but as it turned out, without much in the way of clouds, the light was much less interesting than it was in the previous shoot, so I was content to head on home a bit before the others packed up.
