Creative Work

“Creative” is my catch-all for photography that either is a concerted artistic endeavor on my part, OR it might just be work that doesn’t fit anywhere else.

Photographing Chambers Bay Golf Course

Okay, it’s probably pretty obvious that I like golf. I like golf a lot. And one of the things I love about it is the variety of courses one can play on, and we have a unique gem in our own backyard: It’s Chambers Bay in University Place, WA, a public (yes, public!) links-style course carved out of an old gravel mine, which just so happens to have been chosen to host the 2015 US Open.

I’ve played it a few times now. It’s like no other course I’ve played, but I won’t bore you with the details. I think it’s beautiful, and I’ve wanted to photograph it since my very first visit. This weekend I got the opportunity, as the US Amateur has rolled into town, showcasing our top young golfing talent, while also allowing the world a sneak peak at a future US Open site.

Let me just say that I’m happy to break 100 on this course (in the words of Meat Loaf, “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad”), but the USGA has made the course insane. It looked bone dry, super fast, and at least one par three (#15, “Lone Fir”) which I play from about 130 yards they had backed up to about 220 to a green that barely would hold a ball. And did I mention the 607-yard uphill par 5 (which I did see one player reach in two shots)? The lads practicing on the course were a little bit in awe, and sounded hopeful that we might get a little rain before the tournament started. Good luck with that!

An Underwater Exhibition

No, you won’t need scuba gear to view these photos. I have one image in an exhibit starting August 11th showcasing underwater photographs from recent students of my school’s Form & Figure class. They will be on display for a month in the upstairs gallery at PCNW in Capitol Hill, so check it out.

The first photo below is the one on display at PCNW. I like it because it you’re sort of forced to take a second glance at it; the figures have some mystery to them. But while I was revisiting that photograph, I thought it would be educational to take my own second look at some other photos from last summer’s underwater shoot. Not only bodies, we tried to use different fabrics, sources of light, and the refractive properties of water to create interesting images.

If you’re interested in underwater photography with a digital SLR, I’ve found the DiCAPac WP-S10 to be very useful. It takes some getting used to from a camera controls standpoint, but with careful use, it seems to do the trick in terms of keeping your camera safe and dry.

Fourth of July Fireworks

Seattle puts on a pretty good July Fourth fireworks show over Lake Union. Nailing down a choice location for viewing the show comes down to a few options: 1) Trundle on down midday to Gasworks Park or similar locales, claim a grassy spot, and wait 10 hours with copious amounts of beer and picnic items; 2) Happen to have a Capitol Hill or Queen Anne apartment or condo with a viewing deck pointed in the right direction; or 3) Find friends with #2 and at the appropriate hour, fight all the other people for a precious parking spot in those glutted neighborhoods. I suppose there is 4) Watch on local television, but that’s no fun.

For me this year, I bypassed my own slightly-too-distant roof deck for #3, a party on Capitol Hill, which came with a contest for the most creative and patriotic mixed drink, and a vibration-prone deck for viewing the fireworks and taking some photos. Here’s what I got.

LONG SHOT: The Daytime Shots

After the busy weekend and my scurrying to meet the deadline to submit shots to PCNW for consideration for the LONG SHOT exhibition on June 4, I can finally post the remainder of my shots. I’m glad people are still interested in seeing what else I’ve got. Hopefully not because they were underwhelmed by what’s been posted so far….

As mentioned before, a little bit of fatigue had set in after we’d made it through the nighttime hours. Our team of five dwindled to just two of us who decided to stick it out (I had sponsors COUNTING on me!). Creativity lagged, and other than a few brief spurts of activity, I was content to sit for stretches and let the world come to me. At one point, that included a homeless Vietnam veteran who nearly epitomized the “aggressive panhandling” controversy that wracked Seattle a few weeks ago. But we shook him off (without really documenting him fully, unfortunate in retrospect), and the day dragged on.

The homestretch included an afterparty in Ballard where I snapped a pic of a “lucha libre fotografo” before extracting myself a shade before 6pm and heading home. Too tired to make it to any of the other events I’d tentatively scheduled for that evening, my day was over.

P.S. I should perhaps say something about the group shots…. Before our team broke for the day, we wanted to do some group shots, and there were a couple walls we had in mind to shoot in front of. We all lined up our cameras, set the timers, and then on “GO!” we ran to the wall for our pose! The idea was to see what we all would get shooting at close to the same moment from different angles. The one where I’m looking to the left was my playful admonition to our fifth photographer for not getting into the frame on time, which turned out pretty funny in my camera later.

LONG SHOT: The Nighttime Shots

I’ve heard from a number of people that it perhaps didn’t make a lot of sense to start the 24-hour photo-thon at 6pm Friday, shoot through the night, and then have all of Saturday stretched out before us like a desert of sleep-deprivation. I did try to take a small nap Friday afternoon, and at least we weren’t rained on, but I will admit that my creativity during the daylight hours on Saturday probably suffered some. On the other hand, since I was hyper-awake and energized for the event when it did start, I think I was forced to come up with some solutions to night shooting while my mind could still handle it, so I’m thankful for that!

So these are the nighttime shots. Areas of Seattle we hit included Georgetown, Capitol Hill, and Queen Anne, the latter of which included the Seattle Center shots I posted earlier. Let me just say that I can’t remember using my tripod so much in my whole life! However, it is a necessity for long exposures, no matter what sort of beefcake lens you’ve got, unless you’re aiming for some other look. The other trick was (duh!) using flash, but typically I was running around and popping it manually while my camera sat with its shutter open on the tripod. Some people call this “light painting”, using your flash to bring more light to areas of a scene you want to highlight. I wasn’t nearly so methodical, but it’s a technique I’ll try to use with more confidence in the future.

P.S. The photos with the colored wall are taken at Counterbalance Park at the corner of Queen Anne Ave. and Roy St. I don’t really show it, but it’s two long stretches of wall lit with colored lights that can shift hues. Lots of fun for posing people against it and getting weird effects.