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Cool sights in Seattle...

post #1 of 21
1/29/09 at 4:19am
Thread Starter 
And by sights, I mean stuff that's just begging to be photographed, not necessarily "touristy" locations.

I'm heading out there for a couple of weeks in February, and would like some opinions. I've been there a few times before, but I've never really had the opportunity to explore the area. I'll be without wheels(I don't feel like dealing with/paying for a rental car), so I guess any place downtown, or easily accessible by bus would be ideal.

I'm all about photos of buildings and interesting structures, and about half of the reason I'm going on the trip is to help build up a photography portfolio. So basically anything cool looking(nature and landscape included).

Also, is there anything I basically have to do while I'm there, in a purely tourist sense? Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 21
1/29/09 at 11:59am
The Fremont Troll
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post #3 of 21
1/29/09 at 12:10pm
Thread Starter 
Oh yeah, I've seen that before on Google image search. Totally planning on hitting that up.
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post #4 of 21
1/29/09 at 12:33pm
Frank Gehry designed the Experience Music Project there, and his buildings are always good for some photography.

I'm sure you could find stuff around Pike Place as well.
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post #5 of 21
1/29/09 at 12:37pm
Pike Place and EMP would be good places to start to some neat photos. And go to the EMP if you have never been.
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post #6 of 21
1/29/09 at 1:10pm
I have no idea what the public transport out there is like, so this may not be accessible by bus: The Musuem of Glass in Tacoma. Sounds kinda lame, right? It's not. The gallery itself is fine -- not solely worth taking the trip, but not something you should skip.

But the cool part (and photo-friendly part) is this wide open workspace where they have glass artists working on their project. I know nothing about glass artists, but they apparently attract a lot of good ones -- in exchange for letting the public view their work-in-progress, they get the workspace for free.

Anyways, it's rad -- huge glass ovens, lots of flames and torches, etc. etc. I highly recommend it if you find a way out there.
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post #7 of 21
1/29/09 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 
From what I hear, the bus system is pretty top notch. Thanks, that place does sound pretty interesting.

The EMP was on my list. Could potentially be a tourist trap, but it looks cool as hell. Of course being in Seattle, I'm pretty much obligated to photograph the space needle, but are there and really interesting buildings around(other than the EMP)?
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post #8 of 21
1/29/09 at 1:36pm
The EMP kicks ass if you're a fan of music. I go there everytime I go to Seattle.
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post #9 of 21
1/29/09 at 2:17pm
Tacoma is 45 minutes South of Seattle, but there are commuter buses and trains. It's a landmark, if for no other reason than I grew up there.
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post #10 of 21
1/29/09 at 2:31pm
Gas Works Park, and I'd suggest shooting any of the ship canal bridges as they're going up to allow passage beneath, it can be pretty neat to see the machinery that drives them.
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post #11 of 21
1/29/09 at 2:48pm
The EMP is pure class and it's pretty cheap to go to as well, if you're going, I suggest the sci-fi museum there too, it's pretty touristy and geeky but for a few bucks it's totally worth it, indeed no chewer passing that way should miss out on it.

Personally I like the lame monorail from downtown to Seattle Center, it's short and largely pointless but it glances through the EMP and you get a good view of a few things.

The troll is cool as fuck but there is loads of great public art, if i was looking for cool photos i would find a list of these and hunt them down.

Also there's the underground city tours near pioneer square, I've not done one yet but they are amazing I believe, a whole area of olde seattle was paved over- often the locals don't even know what's down there.

The last thing i suggest is the ferries, they cost almost nothing and you'll get some amazing seascapes.

Hope the weather improves for you.
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post #12 of 21
1/29/09 at 4:02pm
There's also a statue of Lenin in Freemont, if you're into hating America.
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post #13 of 21
1/29/09 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_adam View Post
The EMP is pure class and it's pretty cheap to go to as well, if you're going, I suggest the sci-fi museum there too, it's pretty touristy and geeky but for a few bucks it's totally worth it, indeed no chewer passing that way should miss out on it.
I second this. They're right next to each other and both are pretty cool to check out for a few hours.
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post #14 of 21
1/29/09 at 11:26pm
The cemetery where Bruce Lee resides next to his son? I've gone there with some friends to pay respects to the legend.

If you get to West Seattle, you can certainly get a great view of downtown Seattle in full. It depends on the weather, of course.

There's Woodland Park Zoo, if you're into nature at all.

EDIT: Some photos from Gasworks I took over a year ago. I've posted these on the 2D thread, but it's Seattle!



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post #15 of 21
1/30/09 at 12:54am
Downtown has some interesting architecture. The new central library is a bizarre glass monstrosity. There's a big odd black glass building down around 4th that some locals refer to as "The Darth Vader Building". There's also a building at 5th and University with a narrow base that frightens me. And if you're standing there, and you hear children shrieking on 6th, you're near where I work. Turn around and wave.

And as McNooj says, Gasworks Park is a good photography location. And if you get tired of interesting buildings, and want to capture some interesting humanity, hit Capitol Hill. I don't know why it's called that, since we're not the capitol, but there you go.
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post #16 of 21
1/30/09 at 1:08am
When I asked someone why it was named Capitol Hill they told me that it was named so while Seattle was courting the state government to move the capitol from Olympia.

That may just be the story they tell fresh transplants, like the old pool on the roof trick. Anyways, it's a fun place to live and worth checking out if you're looking for places to eat/drink.

As far as the buses go, the transit system here is pretty good, but it gets kind of dodgy at night. There are tons of buses running through the day, but by around 9 or 10, a lot of the routes shut down. So, it can be hard to get from one neighborhood to another later at night.
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post #17 of 21
1/30/09 at 3:05am
This ain't really the season, but the Olympic mountains are stunning places for photography. Old Growth rainforests and the like.

Gasworks is a must for photography. For the water view of the city, but also for the dormant machinery, and even the graffiti.

The Pike Place Market and the waterfront are lovely.

There is a suburb twenty minutes north called Edmunds, which is my favorite coastal town on the Sound. You can catch Ferry boats from there, and those are all sorts of gorgeous.
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post #18 of 21
1/30/09 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd View Post
This ain't really the season, but the Olympic mountains are stunning places for photography. Old Growth rainforests and the like.

Gasworks is a must for photography. For the water view of the city, but also for the dormant machinery, and even the graffiti.

The Pike Place Market and the waterfront are lovely.

There is a suburb twenty minutes north called Edmunds, which is my favorite coastal town on the Sound. You can catch Ferry boats from there, and those are all sorts of gorgeous.
I third take the ferries. see the killer whales and the islands. also make a stop off in Victoria. now that a city you can sind a fun couple of days in with lot of things to see, like the Butchart gardens.
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post #19 of 21
1/31/09 at 12:20am
Victoria isn't exactly a cool sight in Seattle.
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post #20 of 21
2/1/09 at 3:41pm
What's that building dowtown, I can't remember if it's a hotel or the Louis Vuitton store, that almost looks like the top floors rest on the bottom floor/store on what looks like a giant stone ball bearing?

I wish I would've taken a damn picture of it.
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post #21 of 21
2/2/09 at 2:34am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I'm not heading out for another week, but I've written them down and will try to get to as many of the places as possible.
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