It starts with a lot of breathless weather reports, of course.  A lot of doubt, and at least one false alarm.  Eventually though, it does happen.  It can snow in Seattle.  At the same time, you usually have to go looking for it, at first.

And then it comes down.  The city goes to sleep.  Everyone looks around and enjoys themselves as their employers try and figure out how to wrest some productivity from the cold disaster.  About this time the local news starts driving around the city in the van they’ve dubbed “Snow King” and crashing into parked cars.

I always forget how quickly a neighborhood of asphalt and dirt and grass and cars can be turned into breathless white.  After it all stops, when everything is calm and before the melting starts, there is one moment before the snow turns brown or yellow or other colors you’d rather not think about, when everything is perfectly clean and white.

Snowpocalypse Seattle, 2012 edition.  A good time to give thanks for the ability to work from home.

Anatomy of a Snowpocalypse is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

I looked it up though.  Discovery is the name of the HMCS unit (aka the canadian “military” unit) that is based on Deadman Island off the side of Stanley Park.  They sure have a nice building that you’re not allowed to come visit.

Disovery… For Other People is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Happy Holidays, People is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

A while back I meant to switch when it came out he was a big fan of elephant hunting.  Needless to say, that’s not my thing, but I sort of let myself forget about it because I knew it was going to be  hassle.

What finally pushed me over the edge is his self-defeating and frankly confusing support for SOPA – the bill that would kill the internet.  I’m not sure how much business they’re going to lose over this, but it’s more than none – at very least, it’s mine.  If Reddit is to be believed, it’s probably much more.  So in any case, I’m now using the services of the lovely people at name.com and if you have a domain that Godaddy still hosts, you can do the right thing and find another provider too.  Name.com is even running a promotion and has info on what it takes to make the switch.

Sorry ’bout that is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Silent Sentinals of Long Beach is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

I wanted to highlight the part of the shot I liked best since I couldn’t frame around the bits I didn’t like.  I used the same technique from here to remove the color from the rest of the shot.  Simple, geometric.  Railroad lines – I’m always trying to frame those.

End of the Line is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Fort Casey isn’t like that.

These guns are massive.  The logistics of just building a place like this is hard to imagine when you figure it would probably never get used.  They still have guns in the ready-to-fire and retracted positions.  A nice place to climb around in the driving rain and freezing wind.

The supporting buildings are all there too.  Rusty metal, dark concrete chambers, not-up-to-code pathways – the works.  I love places like this, and the view, as you’d expect, is amazing.  Nice piece of history, not far from home.  A few more pictures at the bottom.

Bringing out the Big Guns is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Everyone knows it has to go.  In the ’96 earthquake, the damage was significant and the state has been monitoring it closely ever since.  A similar freeway in Oakland pancaked cars and people in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  Something needed doing.  But still – the view.

This is the poor man’s penthouse.  The only caveat is you can only see it at 50 miles per hour out of the corner of your eye.  Oh… and also it might kill you.  This morning, demolition on the southern mile was started.  The public got a chance to take a look from the top before it all comes down.  What you see is a freeway that probably outlived it’s useful life many years ago.

Through the expansion joints, you can see the lanes below.  Concrete worn smooth and metal chipped and rusting is the name of the game.

Construction crews are wasting no time here.  Even as people are strolling the deck, demolition is on.  I’m not sure what these guys were up to, but it was taking them a whole crew to do it.  Farther down, the bulldozers are rolling:

They’ve got 9 days to tear down the southern mile and reconnect a bypass route that traffic will be using until the end of 2015 as scheduled.  Since our wonderful political establishment has decided that the viaduct replacement will be the largest diameter deep bore tunnel ever built (like… in the world), the chances of things going as scheduled aren’t great.  Cross your fingers and hope for no earthquakes before 2017 or so.

Behind the temporary parking lot, they hung a huge banner from the viaduct.  Right in front of it, the jaws of death loom.  I thought that was fitting, but a little macabre.  So it goes.

Demolishing the Highway 99 Viaduct is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Most recently, this place was actually called the Fremont Inn, but I’ll defer to the huge neon thunderbird.  This was actually one of the first of the motels to be forcibly shut down under the nuisance laws.  I can’t say I’m sad that it isn’t up and running but I hope they turn it into something worthwhile instead of just another vacant lot or hole in the ground.

I think it’s safe to say, this place has seen better days.

Welcome to the Thunderbird Motel is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

It really helps to be above and a distance from the subject to make the illusion work.  Medium-tall buildings are good, as are stadiums.  Too high and the subjects are too far away.  This is a bit borderline, but it’s a good downward angle.

Faking the Tilt Shift is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures