"One Picture Promise"
"One picture promise " is what my friend Rick Sammon, Canon Explorer of Light, said in a recent video. He offered a quick tip to getting better photos by asking "If I could only take one photo, what would that be?" Rick is an excellent travel photographer and teacher and most of his examples were of landscape photos, but I thought his question was relevant to my urban photography walks. It made me stop and think about the end result that I wanted from an image. So I headed out to two of my favorite places to walk: the Seattle Center and South Lake Union.
I love taking photos of the Typewriter Eraser sculpture at the Seattle Center. The image above is often the perspective that I capture, but when thinking about Rick's tip, I walked around the eraser and found a shot that really called to me. The light reflecting on MoPop and the eraser top was spectacular.
I also take many images of the Space Needle from below and from the top of Queen Anne hill. It is an iconic structure in our city, and I always find it an interesting subject. I came across this view and loved the Seattle Seahawk colors with the Needle popping up from behind.
I do love taking photos of boats, so I was in heaven when I made my way to South Lake Union Park and The Center for Wooden Boats. As I entered the park, the clouds and the flock of birds that flew past me caught my eye. I was lucky to catch this image while they were in flight.
The Center for Wooden Boats is a special place for boaters, but also for capturing images of historic boats. You never quite know what will be there, as they move the docks and boats around.
One of the things I appreciate about Lake Union is that it not only is host to boaters, but to houseboats (the houseboat from the movie Sleepless in Seattle lives on this lake), and float planes. I was pleased to get this image as it characterizes the diversity of the lake.
As I walked around, I focused on reflections since the lake was calm. This image is of MOHAI, our Museum of History and Industry. Again, the colors called to me.
The reflection of the boat in the lake, as well as the new education building being constructed by The Center for Wooden Boats, was striking.
And this colorful boat drew me in.
Rick's question helped focus my Camera Walking this weekend. Although the subjects were ones that I often photograph, I found that I was consciously looking for the best angle, perspective, and composition. And as I was leaving the park, I came across the resident heron! Fortunately I had my Tamron 28-300mm lens, so I could get as close as possible without scaring it away.
Think about Rick's "one picture promise" when you are out Camera Walking. I hope it will help you get more good photos as well. We love to hear from you, so comment below, post on our Facebook page, or send us an email.
