Privacy of the Mind

I went to out to dinner with my friend Mike this evening. His wife was out of town and with time on his hands, we decided to visit a favorite little cafe, The Lockspot, for halibut and chips. As we’re both avid photographers, we decided to walk just next door and visit the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, better known locally as the Ballard Locks.

The locks here allow boats to move from the Puget Sound up the ship canal to Lake Washington by raising and lowering them between the two bodies of water. The difference in height varies depending on what stage the tide is at. The locks have been in operation since 1917. Water-borne traffic through here is normally fairly busy, so even a short visit will probably grant you views of the locks in operation.

The areas just around the locks provide plenty of other things to see and photograph. On one side is the Carl S. English, Jr., Botanical Gardens, with 7 acres of beautiful greenery, on the other is Commodore Park running alongside the ship canal. The locks also include a fish ladder that allows salmon to swim upstream. A public viewing area allows visitors to see the fish swimming underwater.

Our visit to the locks gave us a chance to walk off our excellent dinner. Quite a few salmon were availing themselves of the fish ladder and we spent some time trying to photograph them, which proved to be a challenge! The viewing area is dimly lit to improve visibility of the fish and the conditions make focusing difficult. I managed to get a shot I was happy with though.

Walking back across the locks we spent quite a bit of time watching birds and then noticed that the salmon were becoming extremely active as the sun began to set. The sounds of energetic splashing could be heard all around the locks and we applied ourselves to trying to capture photos of leaping fish. Mike used what I dubbed the “spray and pray” technique, holding down the shutter button and letting the camera cycle over and over with hopes of a fish being in view. I tried using more patience and just focusing on a specific area with the camera focused and ready to shoot. In the end, I think luck mattered more than technique and we both managed to get at least one shot.

It proved to be a nice relaxing evening. I definately want to head back to the locks sometime as there were a lot of other things I’d like to see. We only walked through a small portion of the gardens and another visitor told us of a spot where we could see heron nests. There are also several other parks within just a few blocks that look like excellent spots for photography.

As always, more photos on Flickr!

Note: I’m heading out of town for a few days for a short two-wheeled adventure. I’ll be back late Saturday, so no posts between now and then!