Mamas at Gas Works Park

Last Monday, the Mamas with Cameras met at Gas Works Park to learn how to shoot cityscapes, particularly during sunset at and night.

First of all, I cannot thank the group's leaders (Mary and Wenmei) for all that they've taught me about photography. They are very knowledgeable and have a great teaching method... not to mention, are incredibly talented photographers!

Now, on to the pictures...

We traipsed all over Gas Works Park, and in all honesty, there aren't many more wonderful places in Seattle for getting a variety of settings and backdrops. Up on the sundial offers amazing views of the Aurora Bridge and downtown Seattle. Down by the water offers a closer view of downtown and the watercraft that travel along Lake Union. I'd hoped we see a sea plane land, but had no such luck.

We learned how to catch the setting sun on the buildings and in the lake

Mary and Wenmei goofing around under the cement arches; we worked
on creating depth/tunneling by shooting under the repeating arches

Downtown Seattle & Lake Union
(shot from up on the sundial hill)

One tip was to switch our white balance setting over to Tungsten to better capture
the lights in the buildings ... if you switch too early, your pictures wind up too blue ... just like this!

The skyline shot with the white balance back on the cloudy setting... MUCH BETTER!

Downtown Seattle after the sun set a bit more
(the tungsten setting was a better fit this time)

Note to self: Don't try balancing the tripod on 2 legs!

My favorite shot of the night