Willy and I just got back from a full day’s photo safari. We started out at 8:00 this morning and, with the slight exception of letting the landlord into my apartment, didn’t get back home until about 4:45 this afternoon. I only went through about forty exposures of film, which I’m attributing to an increased thoughtfulness in picture taking making.
The original plan was to just stay close to home. I drove over to Magnolia and took a picture of the water tower, and then started looking for all of those little parks I always see but never visit. A happy mix-up got me down to the waterfront near the new biotech center, so I took a few pictures of boats, docks and the Seattle skyline. (Weird view from there. You really see the city in an industrial sense. I’ll have to go back when the mountain is out.)
On the way back towards home I came across a little park, so I decided to investigate. At the bottom of about a million stairs are some extremely expensive houses and an old, blocked off road that is slowly, but surely, falling into Puget Sound. I was trying see if there were any good shots, and then a bald eagle flew overhead, rather low. Wow. Some nearby landscape workers had told me about the road, and I was about to pass them on my way back to the stairs when an SUV pulled up. I decided to ask the woman in the SUV if she knew about the eagles.
Five minutes later, and I’m standing on the private beachfront property that I can only guess is owned by some millionaire, taking pictures of his humble home. The woman had told me that there were several eagles in the area, and then she offered to check with the owner of the house (her friend) to see if it would be OK for me to enter the property. When she found out he wasn’t home, she gave me quick directions to the beach, and,. PRESTO! What can I say? It’s amazing what you can do with a little honesty, a few humble questions, and a camera. (Again, I wish the mountain was out. I didn’t get any eagles, but that view was incredible!)
Now, I’ve got a Thomas Brothers (a map) in my car, and I’d been looking at it for local parks. I kept being drawn back to the landmark icon for Discovery Park’s lighthouse (which you have to hike to). Even though I’ve lived only a few miles away from this lighthouse for about ten years now, I’d still never been to this landmark. I know it’s camp, but I’m having fun shooting these kinds of cliche scenes.
In the end, Willy and I spent about five hours hiking and packing my old tripod around Discovery Park. We took plenty of pictures before getting caught on the leading edge of a rain and thunderstorm, which got us wet, but not soaked. (There’s nothing quite like the smell of seawater and electricity.)
It was a full day and it was a lot of fun. Having my cell phone kept me available to important calls, so I’m not feeling like I was shirking all responsibility. (Yes, there’s another job possibility on the radar, but nothing concrete.) I think both Willy and I are going to sleep well tonight.
