Author Archive

By Terry Divyak

I used to blog a lot about photography techniques before starting Shutter Tours and thought I’d pull this one out from a post I made earlier this year. This is one of my favorite techniques to create an art like image from a landscape photograph.

When you take our tour, we look for some great textures to add to your arsenal of images to create some fantastic art.

This fine art image can also be purchased via Zenfolio.

I have been driving around my Macbook Pro with my new version of Photoshop CS4, trying to learn all the little nuances hidden under the hood. Somehow I got sidetracked and ended up at istockphoto.com looking at textures. Don’t ask me how, it just happens when one has a period of boredom, followed by flashes of inspiration and then some temporary forms of ADHD. Anyway, so I did a search on textures as I wanted to work with some layers in Photoshop and play around with some images I shot over the weekend in Seattle. Not having any textures at the ready, I found this one of a tuscan wall that I figured would work perfect. Yeah I had to pay for it, but I wanted it now and did not have my Europe images close by and the time to spend hours hunting for a texture. Besides I I started looking at my old Europe CD’s, I’d end up on some other tangent and never accomplish my goal , so I bought it.

Originally I was going to use and image of Post Alley by the Pike Place Market, but felt that the Seattle image would work a lot  better. In the upper left corner, you can see the original texture file as well as the Seattle photo I used.

So, let’s see step by step how I created this.

continue

I ran across this poor little dog today. Just had no fashion sense, a beach hat, goggles and a Tuxedo?

Shot with iphone

Tour Participants Jennifer and Amanda - Photo by Shutter Tours Guide, Valentina Vitols Bello

My wife just got back from her trip to New Orleans with friends and was going through her photos from the trip. Busy with her career, she doesn’t pick up the camera as much as she would like. She made good comment that I though useful to pass along, “Tell your tour participants to pick up their cameras before they leave on a trip”. “They really need to get to know their cameras again and not relearn how to shoot with it while on vacation.

So, before you make the trek to Seattle and take our tour (You are taking our tour aren’t you?), pull the camera out and start shooting in your city. Practice playing with macros settings, landscapes, low light conditions, bright sunny scenes, etc. This will help reacquaint you with your camera and the function settings. Even if you aren’t going on a trip, it’s a great way to explore your city and get back to the creativity you put on the back burner.

Looking for a unique gift for Father’s Day? Why not give Dad some Shutter Tours tickets? Purchase the tickets now and they can be used throughout the tour season when you have the time available to take the tour. We’ll send out the tickets the same day you order them, then all you have to do is give us 24 hours advanced notice to your tour date and you’ll be all set. Ticket price is $40.95 and children under 10 are free.

Tickets can be purchased by calling Terry at 425-516-8838

We love the gum wall, but for your germaphobes, this is not the place to be. In a survey completed on Trip Advisor, the gum wall came in second for “Germiest Attractions”. First in the survey was the Blarney Stone. (According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). Hopefully customers don’t start kissing the gumwall, because we’d really have to up our liability insurance. We just hope that you’ll become a better travel photographer.

Good article and video via KOMO 4 News

Maximus (alternative spelling Maximos) is a name formed from the Latin term for “greatest” or “largest.”, Minimus is of course something small. So along comes a large steel pig to whet your appetite with a large taste on a small budget. In the Twitter world, one discovers so many great things going on in the city and neighborhood. I kept hearing about Minimus Maximus, so I needed to see what all the fuss was about. So, last week I went down to 2nd and Pike, and sure enough, there was the large metallic colored pig with the smell of pulled pork coming wafting in the air.

Almost like something you’d see out of Mad Max or at Burning Man, only more tastefully done. The menu is very simple, a pulled pork sandwich with lots of sauce (Maximus) or not (minimus), a Vegan Sandwich, Cole Slaw or homemade chips. When I arrived, there were about 15 people in line, within ten minutes more than 40 people were lined up and the line was growing still.

I ordered the Minimus and chips and when I got back to to the office, I was thinking “Wow, this is fantastic”. If you are hungry between our 10 am and 2 PM tours, this is a perfect low cost meal, just one block east of our tour starting point.  Currently their hours are 11 am – 3 PM on Weekdays.

Check out their website for updated info www.maximus-minimus.com

Also read what the Yelpers have to say about it.

If you need more food, how about a meal with 10 eggs, 10 bacon, 10 sausage, 10 toast, 5 black puddings, tomatoes, beans and mushrooms?

2nd Ave & Pike St
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 601-5510

Images via iPhone

Tim of Vital T-Leaf

Yesterday I was able to give Lorrie a private tour of the city. These are the tours that are fun, because it gives a great opportunity for one on one interaction and allows us tour guides to “Focus” our attention on what is most interesting to the customer. Though our tour is a very leisurely walk with almost virtually no hills to walk up, it’s always nice to be able to take some time out to give ourselves a break.

As we walked by Vital T-Leaf, I pointed out the store and let Lorrie know she can taste teas, but I had not taken the time to do so. Usually with a group, you have to stay on schedule as most people don’t have much time in the city and want to get in all the travel opportunities that they can. Lorrie suggested we take a break and I was happy we did.

For the next half hour, Tim let us try many different types of tea from Monkey Pick, Blue People, Hibiscus (My favorite) to various Oolong teas. It is an interesting process, first he showed us that you must wash your tea. Wash your tea? “Well you wash lettuce?”, he asked. We nodded. He said that all Chinese wash the tea first. I assumed that it would remove some of the flavor , but this is not the case. In fact we learned you can use your tea leaves over again for multiple cups. I think he said 5-7 times.

We also learned one does not boil the water, but should use a temperature of approximately 170-190 degrees to make an ideal cup. Steep it for 15-20 seconds and you are good. No 2-3 minutes in boiling water? Too hot of water and steeping too long can give it a bitter taste. I learned more in that half hour about tea with Tim, than I had ever known.

I was glad we took the time to stop by. Lorrie and I both walked out with bags of tea and I was surprised to get dried Stevia for only $2.00 a bag. Tim was also kind to let us take photos of the interior of the store.

You’ll never know what surprises you’ll come across on our tours.

Visit Vital T-Leaf

Vital Tea Leaf
1401 1st Ave.
Seattle, WA 98121
Tel: 206.262.1628

Yes, this is real and you too can have a Lego camera this fall.

Say what?

Yep, it will have 128MB of memory,  3MP sensor and 1.5″ LCD screen.

An earlier post we made in our “So Waddya Shoot With” post, asked the question does camera type really matter? We don’t think so, as long as the composition is interesting.

I cannot wait to pick one of these up and pull it out during our tours. People will think we are crazy, (well maybe we are a little), but we all like to have fun on our tours.

Via Dvice.com

Last week, Valentina and myself had a chance to sit down and share the Shutter Tours story with Culturemob.com writer Maria  Christensen. I think anytime we get to share what we do, whether with customers who participate in tours or those who are interested in what we do, it makes us feel good that we created something others can enjoy.

Thanks Maria and you can read the article at Culturemob.com

The vehicle the Aguilar family use on their journey

Antonio Aguilar of Guatemala had a dream to see the world. With a family of 4 children to provide for, was it just too big of a dream to realize? To undertake a journey of this size would be a lasting experience his family would never forget. Out of the frustration he was seeing in his children’s education, he decided the time was right to let his wife know of his novel idea. Something to not take lightly, she needed to be on board 100% and the two of them agreed it would be a full learning experience for the children.

I had the chance to meet the Aquilar family when they visited the Pike Place Market earlier this year. They were all beaming on that beautiful Seattle spring day, standing next to their odd looking Kia SUV. They had a large map showing their route, having just returned from Alaska, with Guatemala as their starting point. Intrigued, I needed to know more and spent the next five to ten minutes listening to the story of their travels.

Selling many of their possessions and furniture, they made the decision to fulfill their dream of seeing the world. Friends and family said they were crazy and would not make it long. But with the help of people along the way, they have been able to continue with donations provided along their journey.

January 19th, they left Guatemala with their northern most destination, Alaska. Following a route through California along the coast of the Pacific to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle ,Vancouver and finally to Anchorage, Alaska. They have been able to navigate the journey relying on an Atlas and maps to take the shortest routes. In addition, people have helped along the way acting as guides.

Their vehicle is packed with everything they need for the trip, including items they may need for a medical emergency. They consulted with a Doctor who showed them how to administer their own care in case of an emergency. They each have enough clothes for a week using local laundromats. Sleeping areas amounts to state parks, in the car and hotels where they explain the project, usually utilizing a single room.

Currently back in Guatemala, they be leaving on June 10 for the next leg of their journey, South America. Antonio sent the accompanying images and shared that he will continue to update me on their progress as time allows. I look forward to seeing more photos from their dream family vacation.