Capitol Hill cont...

My friend Amy and her boyfriend Andrew are in town from San Francisco this week. Excited to see them, I texted her to see if she was available tonight and we decided to meet a little later at a bar up the street from my house.


I thought they might run a little late so I decided to slowly head over with camera in hand. Right away I came across this awesome flower. It was all alone mixed in with some vines growing over a fence. There were no other flowers around it and it didn't even look as though the yard was watered regularly. It was a pretty amazing sight.



I spent a lot of time shooting different angles of this flower. So much so, in fact, that people that were walking by stopped and talked with me about it. They too thought it was an interesting find in the middle of the city. It reminds me of one of those spaceship rides in the kid area at Disneyland.


I got a text from Amy letting me know they were running a little late, so I headed over to Cal Anderson Park to practice my new found fogging on the fountain. All along the pathway leading to the fountain were beds of these beautiful flowers. I like the angle of this flower, like it's raising it's head to the sky with arms back. I practiced my photoshop skills and sharpened up the bulb in the center.

 
I realized right away that I needed a tripod for the fountain. I thought I could use the cement leading up to it on either side, but I just couldn't get the right angle. I was going to actually sit in the middle of the water flow to capture it, but there were two little girls riding their razor scooters up and down the waterfall, so that was out. I figured their summer fun was more important than my artistic attempt that proved to be in vain anyway. I decided I would check it out on the way home and I headed over to the bar. 
 
 
Man, were these two a sight for sore eyes. I've been in a bit of a funk lately, constantly struggling with the happiness that I should be feeling by being home and getting the opportunity to hike and enjoy the mountains while still living in a city that I've wanted to live in for as long as I can remember; but also the melancholy of nothing up here being the way I thought it was going to be. I'm feeling like I don't know right now if I should change some things in my life or just continue to let them flow to see where they lead. It's a strange place to be in and I was in need of seeing people who accepted me and were no nonsense.


Amy encapsulated it when in a moment when I was telling her how I've been feeling lately she said "You're not gonna cry, are you?". I freakin' love this girl. 

Another one of my friends, Casey, dropped by the bar for a moment. I had wanted him to meet Amy and Andrew because I figured they would get along really well. He hung out for a bit and then all the sudden he yelled "FUCK!". Then said "I gotta go, nice meeting you" and he took off running up the street. Andrew looked over at me and asked "How do you know that guy?". I said that I've known Casey for years and one of the reasons I liked him was because we would be sitting at a club somewhere with people and one moment Casey would be there and then the next you would look around and ask "Where's Casey?". He would just take off. Andrew said "I like him".


Around 11:00 I decided to say goodbye and head home. I walked through the park to see if the fountain was lit, but it wasn't save for the park lights around it. I decided to focus on the pool in front of the fountain instead and really like the end result. Obviously I will have to come back out here with a tripod to really capture the water without the shakiness of me holding the camera, but even with the shaky I still like it. I didn't even change this photo to black and white, the stone with the reflection from the street lights gave it that effect.


As I was walking home I looked up in the sky and saw Cassiopeia bright and shinny. I thought it amazing that I was able to see it so brightly and even more so capture it with my camera. I sat down on the ground and tried to hold my camera steady enough to leave the shutter open for 10 seconds. It looked great in the view finder, but when I got home and put my SD card in to see how it looked I realized I needed to tripod it. It was midnight, but I went down to the corner of my block anyway in my pj's and blue slippers and set up the camera to get the above shot. The whole time I was thinking that Del would be laughing at me right now saying "see, I told you!"

It was important to me to get that constellation because on the weekends when I'm in Bellevue, looking off the balcony with a kitty precariously clinging to the railing next to me I can see Cassiopeia bright and strong in the sky. I thought perhaps someone else might be looking at that moment too and I really wanted to capture the idea that I can exist in both places. That my life and this city are filled with so many different places, feelings, emotions, people, and situations; but in the end if you look up, it's all the same.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great photos. I like the yellow flower alot it looks all plastic like! Don't worry about being all funky. It happens to the best of us. Things happen for a reason and your reason might not have happened yet.