Monday, November 27, 2006
My Camera is Back!
My camera is back from Nikon service. The blinking green light of death has been fixed. Thankfully it was a free fix and only took two weeks. I have already taken some new pictures and will post them once I finish a post I have started about my trip to Seattle.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Seattle
These photos were taken on a trip that I took with my dad in August of 2003. We took the Amtrak Empire Builder from St Paul through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington into Seattle. We took the trip more for the experience of the train ride then for the destination.
The Empire Builder starts the trip West every morning from Chicago and takes about two days to get out to Seattle. On the Westbound trip it arrives in St Paul at about 10:30pm. After getting settled into our seats (much more comfortable and roomy then a plane) we went to sleep for the night ride through Minnesota.
We woke up going through the North Dakota plains in the morning.
Along the way the train stops in several cities. Some of the stops are long enough for everyone to get off and walk around. This gave me a chance to get a couple pictures of the outside of the train. These were taken while stopped in Minot, North Dakota.
The highlight of the train portion of the trip is going through Glacier National Park in Montana. We got to Glacier National Park a couple hours before sunset on the second day of our trip. The winding tracks follow the contour of the park so the train goes very slowly allowing for some time to get some decent shots. The only problem shooting while on the train is that the glass is very dirty and thick, which makes focusing difficult.
Once arriving in Seattle we stayed at The Warwick Seattle Hotel. It was a very nice hotel right in the heart of Seattle. We were only blocks away from the water and not far from the space needle either. We had a small balcony that had some nice views of downtown Seattle buildings too.
We spent two and half days doing the typical tourist things before heading back home on the train.
We of course had to take the elevator up to the observation deck of the Space Needle. From the top of the Space Needle you could see quite far and got a good look out over the water and the city. Businesses have obviously found a different way to advertise to people at the top also.
I had to get some pictures from ground level too.
Another must visit area is Pike Place Market. It is a public farmers market that seemed to attract both tourists and locals.
It is home to Pike Place Fish Co, they are famous for throwing the seafood over the counter to be wrapped after you select it from the case.
One of the most popular items to sell at the market seemed to be peppers in various states of drying. The peppers went from very vivid colors when fresh to some dull but still amazing colors as they dried.
We also went to the first Starbucks which is located at the market.
Along with the stores in the market there were several street vendors selling everything from pictures of Seattle to head massagers that looked like coat hangers. There were also several musicians and a guy with a trained bird wowing little kids.
Seattle seems to have a lot of parks and open spaces. Two of my favorite photos form the entire trip were taken in parks. The first photo was taken not far from Pike Place Market.
The second photo was taken at the base of the Space Needle. If I remember right the trees in the park were a gift from the Japanese government to the city of Seattle.
We also spent some time at a mall, they were having a festival out in the street including a sand sculpture contest.
After two busy days in Seattle it was kind of a relief to get back on the train to come home. On the trip back I decided that I had already taken pictures of what I wanted to on the way out. I sat back and enjoyed the view without a camera in hand which is rare for me on vacation.
The Empire Builder starts the trip West every morning from Chicago and takes about two days to get out to Seattle. On the Westbound trip it arrives in St Paul at about 10:30pm. After getting settled into our seats (much more comfortable and roomy then a plane) we went to sleep for the night ride through Minnesota.
We woke up going through the North Dakota plains in the morning.
Along the way the train stops in several cities. Some of the stops are long enough for everyone to get off and walk around. This gave me a chance to get a couple pictures of the outside of the train. These were taken while stopped in Minot, North Dakota.
The highlight of the train portion of the trip is going through Glacier National Park in Montana. We got to Glacier National Park a couple hours before sunset on the second day of our trip. The winding tracks follow the contour of the park so the train goes very slowly allowing for some time to get some decent shots. The only problem shooting while on the train is that the glass is very dirty and thick, which makes focusing difficult.
Once arriving in Seattle we stayed at The Warwick Seattle Hotel. It was a very nice hotel right in the heart of Seattle. We were only blocks away from the water and not far from the space needle either. We had a small balcony that had some nice views of downtown Seattle buildings too.
We spent two and half days doing the typical tourist things before heading back home on the train.
We of course had to take the elevator up to the observation deck of the Space Needle. From the top of the Space Needle you could see quite far and got a good look out over the water and the city. Businesses have obviously found a different way to advertise to people at the top also.
I had to get some pictures from ground level too.
Another must visit area is Pike Place Market. It is a public farmers market that seemed to attract both tourists and locals.
It is home to Pike Place Fish Co, they are famous for throwing the seafood over the counter to be wrapped after you select it from the case.
One of the most popular items to sell at the market seemed to be peppers in various states of drying. The peppers went from very vivid colors when fresh to some dull but still amazing colors as they dried.
We also went to the first Starbucks which is located at the market.
Along with the stores in the market there were several street vendors selling everything from pictures of Seattle to head massagers that looked like coat hangers. There were also several musicians and a guy with a trained bird wowing little kids.
Seattle seems to have a lot of parks and open spaces. Two of my favorite photos form the entire trip were taken in parks. The first photo was taken not far from Pike Place Market.
The second photo was taken at the base of the Space Needle. If I remember right the trees in the park were a gift from the Japanese government to the city of Seattle.
We also spent some time at a mall, they were having a festival out in the street including a sand sculpture contest.
After two busy days in Seattle it was kind of a relief to get back on the train to come home. On the trip back I decided that I had already taken pictures of what I wanted to on the way out. I sat back and enjoyed the view without a camera in hand which is rare for me on vacation.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Minneapolis at Night
I was hoping to have some new photos to post here but, I my camera actually died on me this weekend. While it is off being fixed I will post some older photos and the reason they are some of my favorites.
Last Fall I realized that I had lived in my townhouse for over a year and still did not have anything hanging on the walls. I didn't really want to pay for somebody else's artwork or photos so I decided to print some of my own photos. I found a frame at Michaels Crafts that had room for three 5x7 photos that I liked. Now the hard part was finding three photos that I liked. I have somewhere around 7,000 photos saved on my computer that I have taken since April 2003 when I got my first digital camera. Needless to say finding three photos that worked well together and that I wanted to look at everyday was not easy. After looking for pictures for about a week I decided on doing a set of photos with a common theme. The photos I finally decided on were of Minneapolis at Night.
The first picture is of the Minneapolis skyline taken from Lake Calhoun.
The second photo is of the Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi river.
The third photo is of the Hennepin Ave Bridge also over the Mississippi.
After ordering the photos online and getting them into the frame I was very excited it had turned out better than I expected! I figured if I like them other people might too. Christmas was not far away and I thought the set would make a nice gift for my Mom & Dad. They both really liked them and both have had them hanging on walls since Christmas.
It turned out to be a good thing I made the set for my Mom. She had my Aunt Vicky over to her house in Florida for dinner one night and Vicky saw the set of photos. Vicky was looking for a birthday present for her son Jason (who recently moved to Minneapolis). I got an e-mail form Vicky within a couple days wanting to buy the photos from me to give to Jason. Only problem was she needed them faster than I could order them online and get them in a frame and to her in Wisconsin. I was excited that I might actually make some money from my hobby for the first time. I wanted to get the photos to Vicky in time for Jason's birthday so I actually gave her the frame that I had hanging on my wall (yeah, it is kind of a used gift I guess). I have heard the Jason liked the photos a lot and now they are the only thing hanging on the walls at his townhouse.
I have not yet replaced the photos on my wall, but have printed some other photos including two additional sets of photos.
Last Fall I realized that I had lived in my townhouse for over a year and still did not have anything hanging on the walls. I didn't really want to pay for somebody else's artwork or photos so I decided to print some of my own photos. I found a frame at Michaels Crafts that had room for three 5x7 photos that I liked. Now the hard part was finding three photos that I liked. I have somewhere around 7,000 photos saved on my computer that I have taken since April 2003 when I got my first digital camera. Needless to say finding three photos that worked well together and that I wanted to look at everyday was not easy. After looking for pictures for about a week I decided on doing a set of photos with a common theme. The photos I finally decided on were of Minneapolis at Night.
The first picture is of the Minneapolis skyline taken from Lake Calhoun.
The second photo is of the Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi river.
The third photo is of the Hennepin Ave Bridge also over the Mississippi.
After ordering the photos online and getting them into the frame I was very excited it had turned out better than I expected! I figured if I like them other people might too. Christmas was not far away and I thought the set would make a nice gift for my Mom & Dad. They both really liked them and both have had them hanging on walls since Christmas.
It turned out to be a good thing I made the set for my Mom. She had my Aunt Vicky over to her house in Florida for dinner one night and Vicky saw the set of photos. Vicky was looking for a birthday present for her son Jason (who recently moved to Minneapolis). I got an e-mail form Vicky within a couple days wanting to buy the photos from me to give to Jason. Only problem was she needed them faster than I could order them online and get them in a frame and to her in Wisconsin. I was excited that I might actually make some money from my hobby for the first time. I wanted to get the photos to Vicky in time for Jason's birthday so I actually gave her the frame that I had hanging on my wall (yeah, it is kind of a used gift I guess). I have heard the Jason liked the photos a lot and now they are the only thing hanging on the walls at his townhouse.
I have not yet replaced the photos on my wall, but have printed some other photos including two additional sets of photos.
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