Public Markets: Seattle and Portland Market Representatives

I recently posted a series one the site on one of my favorite themes, Public Markets. In particular the people who work at public markets. I’ve recently shot two very large, city-wide markets: Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Saturday Market in Portland. Pike Market pictures are a dime a dozen (for good reason) but this series focuses on the people of the market, the employees that make the market what it is and the people that visit them.

The characters that work in the public markets vary depending on location and the point of the market. The people who work at these larger markets are almost extensions of the local tourism boards. While most markets in the Seattle area are truly local (and typically organic) vendors from farms and shops around the area, Pike and Portland’s Saturday market are slightly different: they represent an entire city -- an example of community that spans the entire city. When people come visit Seattle they say they want to go to “The Market” but we know they mean Pike. 

When I go to Portland I always head straight for Pearl Bakery, and if it’s a Saturday I head to the market to see them there along with Pinestate Biscuits. On those market Saturdays I always see the same people, and they’re what I’ve come to associate with Portland, even more than the beer.

 

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My Favorite Picture? Easy: Maui

A friend asked me the other day: “What’s your favorite picture you’ve taken?” My immediate response, without even thinking about it, was “Maui.” I hadn’t really thought about it in those terms before and my immediate response was even a surprise to me.

I’m sure every pro photographer has their favorites, but this question got me thinking. I was honestly surprised that my answer wasn’t a family picture, maybe one of the dog or his Mom. I have quite a few of those that I think of routinely or are displayed around the house and those are definitely way up there. And my response wasn’t a picture that’s technically one of my best and took a lot of planning and work to achieve, and turned out exactly or better than expected.

There are so many pictures I’ve taken over the years that are great pictures, and so many I’ve taken that have personal significance, but only a few of those overlap. My trip to Maui at the end of 2007 did overlap for many reasons, and the pictures that I shot on that trip are still my favorites of anything I’ve ever shot. The two favorites – a remote beach looking towards Lanai and sunset over Molokini – are the ones that immediately stand out. That evening after the conversation about favorites, while going to sleep, I realized that these two pictures are also the two pictures that I see every night before going to sleep; they’re mounted in my bedroom.

Maybe I chose these two pictures for my bedroom because of their significance, of how they calm me as pictures and as memories; and maybe these are the first two that I responded with simply because they’re the last thing I see every night and the first thing I see in the morning. Either way, these two pictures will remain my favorites for as long as I can imagine because they mean so much more to me than just great pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hiking with Gear: Backcountry Packing Field Test

This past weekend I went out for a 2-night backpacking trip along Ingalls Creek near Leavenworth, WA. The goal of this trip was to find out what photo gear I could comfortably pack in and out for ~15 miles (round trip) of hiking and how to safely get it in and out. I spent the first part of summer testing packs for both my camping gear as well as the camera, and my first tests didn’t go as well as planned; you can read about that on my posts at Dgrin.

Ultimately I took the following setup out to Ingalls:

• Gregory Palisade 80 pack: Used for the standard camping requirements (tent, sleeping bag, pad, stove, food, water, etc). It weighed about 30lbs when full.
• Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home camera bag: It was packed with my D90, 16-85mm zoom, 50mm, extra battery, filters, GP-1 GPS, and rain bag. I was originally planning on taking my battery pack for stability of shooting slow shutter speeds without a tripod, but that turned out to be too much for the Crumpler $5M (thankfully). The Crumpler was 7lbs when packed.

I packed my Gregory and Crumpler packs separately and then strapped the Crumpler on the outside of the Gregory through the lid straps before heading out on the trail (the Crumpler has perfectly placed side cloth loops to mount it to another bag, props to them).

This system worked extremely well with a few gotchas:

• The Crumpler $5M isn’t quite large enough for everything I was bringing in. I had to take extra steps to make sure the GP-1 didn’t fall into the water when I was getting into the bag because everything was so tight. I lost a lens hood to the river gods while shooting in the river for that same reason; thankfully it wasn’t anything more. With this much gear I should have had the $7M Home bag or something larger, however…
• I only used the 50mm for a few shots and most of those were borderline macro shots. I brought it thinking I would shoot fast in low light, or to get those great candid “sitting around the fire” shots at night, neither of which actually happened. I would prefer to bring in the wide zoom and maybe a fisheye next time, but the zoom would be enough if necessary for weight and size in the $5M.
• The Crumpler was great for day hikes once I was able to drop the pack at the campsite. While hiking in and out and it was strapped to my pack it wasn’t accessible for quick shots, though.
• On the way out we went through some major rain so I had to cover the Crumpler with my parka to keep it dry, but that worked like a champ.

I wouldn’t use the Crumpler for non-backpacking day hike because it doesn’t have a good carrying system, just a shoulder strap. For day hikes I’ll stick to my Lowepro Slingshot 200. But for an overnight shooting trip, the above setup worked like a champ.

The pictures from this trip are currently third in line for processing (behind the Seattle Solstice Parade and July 4th Fireworks), but I came back with some excellent shots. I hope to have them up on the site within a week or two. But until then:

Milk Thistle: Nikon D90, 50mm f/1.4, 1/60 at f/1.8 ISO 160, lit from left with red light (portable headlamp)

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Dog Candids: Canine Portrait Shots

Although it’s not my primary focus in photography I do spend a good bit of time photographing dogs. The obvious reason is that I have one – one that literally falls into the Man’s Best Friend category – and he’s my go-to test subject. Get a new lens, trying a new technique, setting up a small studio shoot in the house, he’s always around. In fact he’s gotten so used to the camera that he now poses, I kid you not.

But over the past year while doing non-profit photo work for Brigadoon, a dog assistance training school, I’ve realized that my dog isn’t the only one that likes to pose. Once you have a personal connection with a dog, they all like to pose. And more specifically, they all like to pose for personality portraits: shots where the look into the camera and show emotion. If you’ve got a dog you know there’s a lot going on behind those eyes and they’re not afraid to show it. At first I thought it was just my dog responding to his owner’s obsession with the camera, but I soon learned that once you connect with a dog, they all want to pose. Who knew they had it in them? :) And now I get requests to shoot dog portraits from all my friends, and almost all BBQ’s with dogs now include a series of impromptu portraits of people and their dogs.

I’m a dog person at heart, so connecting with them is second nature to me. Giving them respect and understanding how to relate to them is paramount. Once that’s done and they know where they stand and where you stand (figuratively and literally) they’ll open right up.

I’ve compiled a gallery of my favorite dog candids at Sealed Glass Photo, both portraits as well as the more traditional dog shots. While you’re enjoying them, remember that all proceeds from the Brigadoon galleries go to support that excellent organization.