Posts Tagged ‘stadium’

Space Needle Is Old News

Everyone who comes to Seattle goes up the Space Needle.  Yeah, there’s Pike Place Market, the Fremont Troll, the first Starbucks, and various and sundry salmon-related doo-dads, but the Space Needle is the only thing that *everyone* has done.  Well I’m here today to tell you it’s a waste of time.

Panorama of Qwest Field and Highway 99 Viaduct taken from Smith Tower

Camera & Lens   Canon EOS REBEL T1i (Canon) & EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM     Shutter:   1/400 s
Creation Date:   2009:09:05 14:00:47     Aperture:   f/14.0
Artist:   Ari Brown     ISO:   400
Exposure Mode:   Normal program     Focal Length:   28 mm

This here is just one side of the view from the 35th story of Smith Tower.  Even if the Space Needle wasn’t 300% more expensive, Smith Tower gets you some history (pre-1960), almost no crowds, and is actually *in* the Pioneer Square / Downtown core, where the Space Needle is actually off to the side.  On a day with anything but pristine clear views, from the Space Needle, you see the side of a few buildings and some water.  From Smith Tower, you get it all.

Only took me 7 years to figure that out.

The Artificial Forest, Via The Orange Trees

Sometimes I see a scene that has promise, but the background isn’t right.  I’ve been walking past this sea of cones, you see, for a few months now.

Orange Cones at Qwest Field

Camera & Lens   Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT (Canon) & 12.0-24.0 mm     Shutter:   1/640 s
Creation Date:   2009:06:01 11:46:42     Aperture:   f/18.0
Artist:   Ari Brown     ISO:   1600
Exposure Mode:   Normal program     Focal Length:   24 mm

Lots of cones.  There are a bunch of signs next to it as well, which also have something cool going on, if I can figure it out.  Anyway, as you can tell from the signs picture above, this area is a bit surrounded by fence, cars, trees – lots of things that, as some friends of mine used to say are all great tastes that taste funny together.  So I’ve been thinking about these cones and eventually I think I figured it out.  Get low, get close.  This picture was taken with my wide angle, which means I was REALLY close to the cones to not show what is around.  But the cones are thick enough that it just doesn’t matter.  Sea of cones.  That’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got.