Seattle Info

Check out Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk this weekend. Look for an event in your area.

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

Shot with iphone

Chocolopolis By Valentina Vitols Bello

That time of the year is finally here.  Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon is happening this upcoming Sunday!

I am most grateful to Yelp Seattle for the complimentary tickets I received to attend the sweet gathering.  The give away required people to tell them what make them chocoholics.

Of course, I jumped in right away.

Phrases like “When I was a kiddo, I wanted to become a chocolate bon bon.  Seriously, for some time, I said to people I wanted to become chocolate when I grew up” and “I have a dream: whenever I hit the jackpot, I will have a jacuzzi built in wherever I live: it’ll be filled with dense, warm and creamy chocolate and I will be inside it, eating and beautifying”, got me those two “I-feel-like-I-won-the-lotto-like-tickets!

On a more serious note, I’m originally from Venezuela, where one of the finest cocoas in the world is grown.  Whenever I’m questioned about what I love the most about my country, I always (and cheerfully) say “chocolate!”.  Imagine my happiness when I moved to Seattle to find out that the Emerald City is not only all about coffee and seafood…it’s also one of the best choco-destinations in the United States!

Our photographic walking tours frequently remind me of my own chocolate tours around the city, in the quest for the best cocoa creations.  My favorite place is Chocolopolis  in Queen Anne.  Lauren Adler, owner of this beautiful store and chocolatier extraordinaire, can take anyone into a worldwide, imaginary chocolate tour by talking about the wonderful products she sells at Chocolopolis. If someone knows chocolate in Seattle, it’s Lauren.  They will be at the Salon as well.

There are so many fantastic options for chocolate in Seattle a map of it could be done.  Just to mention other cocoa wonders you can get in our city, there are the famous, luscious Salted Caramels (one of President Obama’s favorite sweet treats) and the Coconut Gold Bar from Fran’s Chocolate .  Or the creamy, sophisticated Burnt Sugar Truffle from Theo Chocolate .

Speaking of Theo Chocolate,  they are partners in sugary crime with Caffe Vitta to develop a lush, heavenly blend that pairs perfectly with chocolate but also has the charm of a daily cup of coffee. They also make a specialty bar for the local roaster.

I could talk endlessly about chocolate and take over the blog here at Shutter Tours.  I am going to give a last suggestion: Oh! Chocolate . Find and try their confections with peppercorn.  Sweet and spicy nirvana!

And remember: chocolate is a sweet way to recover energy while or after you take our tour!  Join Terry this Sunday, and then head to the Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon.  These two together: a great Seattle experience!

Valentina Vitols Bello

Fremont Fair Photo by pdgibson licensed under Creative Commons

Get out your bike, slap on some body paint and join the celebration in Fremont. Starting at Noon this Saturday, the parade begins.We all know the naked bike riders get most of the publicity, but it is much more than that. It’s a fun event to celebrate the Summer Solstice with lots of unique costumes, art cars, art and music.

For more info see http://www.fremontfair.org/

Update: Looks like we are getting a ton of searches from Google for the Fremont Fair photos. Here are some images on Flickr from those who were attending.

Earlier this week, Kristi had a fun, private tour, with Jennifer on a perfect Seattle day. She has just posted a number of great images on her blog from the tour.

Jen, we’re glad you had a great time and thanks for sharing your wonderful photos from Seattle.

See her blog entry at Jennifer’s Journeys.

Seattle has so many great places to take photographs, so creating a list that everyone can agree on is almost impossible. Being a lifelong Seattleite, I have been shooting around the city since I was 15 and with the running of a photography tour company, I am always on the lookout for all things photographic.

Some of these locations are outside the city limits, but if you have a rental car, they are worth the effort to get to the locations listed below.

10. Pu Pu Point in Issaquah

This is one of the locations that many Seattle natives may not even know about. Located about 10 minutes east of Issaquah, Pu Pu Point is the jumping off location for paragliders. With it’s breathtaking view of Lake Sammamish and surrounding areas, makes for a great backdrop with the colorful paragliders as your subject matter. This is one of those locations you’ll have to work for, however. It’s is about a 45 minute hike up to the point from the parking lot and has a pretty good elevation gain, so bring water to keep yourself hydrated. Once you arrive, you will want to spend some time sitting and watching the almost delicate ballet of the paragliders as they float on the updrafts. It is not unusual to see 20 or more floating above the point on a beautiful day.

Location to shoot from:

First and foremost, you want to stay out of the way of the para gliders. This is a dangerous sport and the less distractions, the better for those that are trying to get airborne. You can get a great shot, standing directly behind the launching point. This gives you a terrific background, especially in the mid morning hours. I also like to stand on either side of the launch pad and use both a wide angle and telephoto lens to capture the action. You’ll need a telephoto lens once they are airborne to get some good closeups.

How to get there:

View Google Map
Approximate address is 11206 Issaquah Hobart Rd Issaquah, WA 98027. Head East out of downtown Seattle on I-90. Take exit no. 17, Front Street Exit, take a right off the exit. Continue south on Front Street for exactly three miles. (Front Street turns into the Issaquah Hobart road.) You will see on open field on your left with cars parked in the lot and along the shoulder of the road if it’s a busy day. You will start your hike on the opposite side of the field, (Landing zone for paragliders so be careful).

Miscellaneous Notes:

Seattle Paragliding offers both lessons and tandem jumps if you are feeling adventurous.

9. Snoqualmie Falls

Snoqualmie Falls by KM Photography via Creative Commons

Snoqualmie Falls is one of the most popular attractions in Washington State next to Mt. Ranier and Seattle’s Pike Place market.  About 45 minutes from Seattle, this is the farthest location from Seattle on our list. Rising 268′ from the bottom of the basin, the falls can be captured from the observation deck with a perfect view as the above image by KM Photography illustrates. This was not listed further up the list as it is quite a drive from Seattle, but is worth the effort to get there.

Location to shoot from:

The observation deck, about 100 yards from the parking lot is the most popular place to shoot. Setting up a tripod can be a bit of a problem when there are weekend crowds, so go later in the day or on a weekday. As you look at the falls, you are looking East, so the sun will be behind the falls in the morning and illuminating the falls in afternoon and evening. You can also take a trail to the bottom of the falls. There is a wooden boardwalk that will give you a good vantage point from below. At the bottom of the trail is also the 1910 powerhouse, closed off behind fences, and the river itself. Visitors can leave the boardwalk and  walk on the river rocks to get a better view from the bottom. Be advised that this area floods during heavy rains.

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Pike Place Market © Bradford Bohonus

Everyone at Shutter Tours are certified photo junkies and I would bet that all of our employees are either thinking about photography or working on images as I write this. Part of the purpose of the blog is to share the wonderful city of Seattle, especially the market area.

As I was searching for some historical information on the market, I was reacquainted with Bradford Bohonus’ website, VR Seattle.  One photo that really caught my eye was a shot of an empty Pike Place Market at night. His image is perfect in every detail and I almost feel as if I am standing at the market as I view this, with Rachael the pig as the lone sentry to the entrance. It’s hard to imagine 10 million people coming through the market every year, when it is so desolate and quiet in this photo. The scene is very similar to the one I remember seeing as I was standing across the street on First and Pike, right where the white truck is, hearing the chants of “The Whole World is Watching” during the WTO riots. I’ll have to dig those images out of my archives and share them. It was truly a surreal moment as a photographer here in the city.

Mercedes Yaeger runs the Seattle Ghost Tour and you can imagine what it would be like to take her tour at night and hear ghost stories while you are standing at this location.  My wife Rosanne and I took her 9 PM tour and enjoyed a wonderful experience.  She’s fun and a great story teller. We have no problems suggesting other tours by the way. Each is unique and we feel ours stands on it own merits as do the others.

One note, in the photo linked above, the area where the two bicycles are locked to the fence, is the meeting place for the beginning of our tours.

There is no doubt that the Pike Place Market is the centerpiece of the city, some say it is the “Soul of the City”. Every day we are at the market is a new experience. As a photographer, I am in total heaven from the time I arrive for the tours and the time afterward just feeling the pulse of the market and taking in the experience.

I started reading the book, “Soul of the City”, to help give a historical perspective during our tour. The book is full of great images and many of the building and common landmarks in these old images can still be seen. I love the richness of B&W images and it might be fun to shoot some photos at the same locations these were taken years ago.

Below are photos from the University of Washington Collection. I encourage you to check out the database of images, especially those by Asahel Curtis.

1. Pike Place Public Market, Seattle.	2. Alaska Deer Market, Pike Place Market, n.d.	3. Asian American vegetable vendor at the Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington, May 13, 1936.
4. Dairy products vendor, Pike Place Market, 1917	5. Filipino Coffee Co., Seattle, ca. 1909	6. Back of Pike Place market extending north along Pike Place as seen from Western Ave., ca. 1911
7. Food vendors at the Pike Place Market, n.d.	8. Fruit and vegetable vendors at the Pike Place Market, Seattle.	9. Fruit and vegetable vendors, Pike Place Market, 1917
10. Grocery store, Pike Place Market, 1917	11. Herman A. Eba’s grocery interior, Pike Place Market, ca. 1914	12. Liberty Flower Shop at the Pike Place Market, ca. 1931
13. Louis Kaminoff at a produce stand, possibly at the Pike Place Public Market, Seattle, ca. 1920s	14. Pike Place Market looking north, ca.1908	15. Pike Place Market, n.d.
16. Pike Place Market, n.d.	17. Pike Place Market, Seattle, 1969	18. Pike Place Market, Seattle, ca. 1912
19. Pike Place Market, Seattle, ca. 1919	20. Pure Food Shop in Pike Place Market, Seattle, 1945	21. Vegetable and fruit vendor, Pike Place Market, 1917
22. Vegetable vendors, Pike Place Market, 1917	23. Woman shopping at Dominik Yellam’s vegetable stand in Pike Place Market, Seattle, 1939	24. Vendors and horse-drawn carts at the Pike Place Market, ca. 1908
25. Vendors at the Pike Place Market, n.d.

Shutter Tours guide, Valentina, has been telling us about a great place to get a lunch in Seattle. So today I was able to free up some time to check out Skillet for some street food. Housed in an old Airstream trailer, Skillet has created an interesting concept in the Seattle area. Each day they go to a different location and provide lunch in their mobile restaurant. Reminds me of the days when I lived in England as a child and the fish and chips truck would come around the neighborhood.

With the menu written on the side of the trailer for the days options, this is not your normal fast food restaurant. The food is fantastic and I ordered the gourmet burger with fries and it was worth every step it took to get to the location from downtown. My friend Wade ordered the tortilla soup.

Unfortunately this is not on the Shutter Tours route, but if you are in Seattle, it’s worth finding the location while you are here.

Here’s a good video from Seattle’s King 5 TV