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

This is my plum tree.  All of those flowers have me pretty excited about the idea of having actual plums too.  We’ll see what happens as I’ve only had it about a year, and it’s in a pot.  Fingers crossed!  One more.

Spring Has Sprung is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

So here I am, back at the Sculpture Park and instead of shooting the sculptures, I’m shooting the wall again.  I really like the lines – what can I say?  I do think the merits of this one are the sky above and the organic shadows of the trees showing you what you can’t see.  Here it is.

Wall, Sky, Trees is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

This year I wanted to do something different.  Well… either different or I was asleep at the switch while things were so colorful.  No – it was on purpose.  I swear.  After the colors comes the crunch:

There is something to be said for these leaves too.  What they lose in beauty they more than make up in character.  You can just hear the crunch, yeah?  One more shot, same style, different background:

Favorites?  #1 or #2?  I go between.  I like the framing of the second but I like the vibrancy of the first.

Winter Leaves are Brown and Crunchy is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

That is all.

Palm Trunks of the Rich and Famous is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Taken in a Safeway parking lot.  Taken at night, without any real attempt to stabilize the camera, hand holding my S90, at only ISO400.  I could have set the camera on the wall.  I could have cranked up the ISO (although I didn’t want it any noisier than this).  That isn’t the point.  It took it, I bought some groceries, and looking at it later, I liked it.  Shooting up into the trees means that the cars and other distractions are gone.  The floodlights from the lot wash out all the detail (and me playing with the contrast burns some more) leaving just shapes and sky.  I didn’t intend it to be exactly this shot – I didn’t really intend it to be anything.  I’m just happy with what it is.

My Favorite Mistakes is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

It’s quite cliche, but it’s hard not to appreciate when you see it in person.  There are plenty of great sites of tree-covered hillsides or trees lining streets, but I think it’s easy to overlook just how amazing each leaf can be up close.

They’re all cool, different, etc.  I think all of these are maples, but there’s birch and aspen and all kinds of picturesque-sounding things up here.  I’ve got more – really!  Be sure to hit the jump to see them all.

Here’s another:

I’ve got two more – hit the gallery below.

2010.12.15: Update – For this year, see how they look all brown and crunchy.

Autumn Leaves In Seattle is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

No Better Place To Stop, Rest is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

Yep.  Goats get hungry.  So it goes.

By the way, I know I haven’t been posting much.  I got this great new camera, which required me to also rebuild my computer to handle the massive files it spews, but other than that, I’ve got no real excuse.  It just hasn’t been happening.  Let’s pretend that it’s been my insistence that only the highest quality, primo shit makes it to the website.  Yeah.  That’s totally why.

Goats Need Guidance is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures

An improvement?  I’m not sure.  If you like this one I have another one of the fence in the background.  Maybe I’ll post that next.

Composite Tree is a post from: Ari Takes Pictures