I went out with the camera today to see what I could capture but it was a bit miserable again.  Rain with grey skies.  Anyway I went over to west Seattle to Alki Beach and found this pier with some boats propped up on the railings.  Sitting on the top of one of the boats was this seagull.

I walked up to it and the bird blazingly sat there looking at me, I could see the bird thinking “what the hell do you want?”

Anyway I decided to set up the camera and take this shot as behind the bird was the Seattle skyline and the sun was just going down, so building lights were coming on.

I took several shots and the bird kept moving and the light was low so I needed a long shutter.  When I got home I checked out the pictures and found one with the bird staying reasonably still.  But when I examined the image I saw the boat was covered in bird crap!  I suggested to Lisa that I should throw the image away but she liked it and thought it was funny, so here it is.

These Halo guys have no fear, they just throw a rope to the top of one of Lisa’s glass ornaments and started to climb!

This afternoon I went out with the camera to Seattle hoping to get some great shots in the city. Unfortunately it was raining when I got there and Pike Place Market was ridiculously busy 🙁

As a result I decided to find somewhere inside and found the city’s public library. Inside they have these amazing escalators that are lit with yellow lights. I must have looked a complete idiot lying on the floor waiting for people to get off the thing but nobody complained.

I did ask a passing employee if it was OK if I shot in there and he just smiled and said no problem as long as I don’t bother anybody.

The funny thing was I had to wait a while for an empty escalator shot and while waiting some guy came up to me and asked if I wanted a model for $10! Obviously (as you can see) I politely declined.

Always trying to keep amused tonight the guys played hide and seek.

When I visited the Museum of Flight I was getting some great shots of the planes inside the museum but was getting some really nasty looks from the other people there with cameras who had neglected to bring a tripod. After an hour or so inside I decided to take a break and check out what was outside.

Right outside the museum was this Stratojet. While the plane looked pretty cool the sky above it was amazing. When I took the image I was thinking it would look pretty good in black and white, and as I haven’t posted a B&W picture yet, here you go.

The Halo guys were feeling a little romantic this evening and decided to light some candles…

This Red Barn is in the Redmond to Fall City road and I’ve driven past it hundreds of times. As there was a little snow left on the ground I thought I’d catch this shot as with the white field, red barn, evergreen trees and bit of blue sky poking through it looked good. I also liked the road leading you to the barn. Some will say that the telegraph poles and lines are a distraction (they usually are) but for some reason I like them here in this shot too.

Tragically we had an accident at home and a Halo guy lost his head.  The CSI division were immediately called in to investigate

I found these flowers in QFC and had to buy them (my god I’m getting old). Anyway they looked fantastic and had this amazing blue color. Lisa thinks they have been dyed blue – which is possible, but I still think they look fab.

Working hard to entertain the family the Halo guys demonstrated what they learned in the army.