Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear... not absence of fear - Mark Twain

So there I am trying to rest and recover from my quick road trip out to the Olympic National Park, when up pops an e-mail from Marianna. She and Leesa were planning on going down to Pike Place Market for a photo safari. Was I interested? Of course! Besides it was only going to be a short trip because they wanted to avoid traffic from the football game. Riiight… short trip. Hah!

I decided to drive up to Redmond to meet the camera chicks and Marianna volunteered to drive us into the city. After experiencing Leesa and I hanging out car windows and shooting over and around her in the car she may think twice next time. It might have been a little stressful with us barking out conflicting directions and encouraging her to ignore the voice from the GPS. Still, we arrived at Pike Place in good time.

We walked through the market snapping away. We were in good company as plenty of other photogs were enjoying the beautiful weather to get out with their cameras. I stopped to listen to a band playing in the market and tipped them for a few photos. Taking photos inside the market was a little challenging due to the lighting but I managed a few nice shots. One vendor chided me for snapping a shot of her booth, so I won’t be posting that photo. Clearly not understanding the concept of “marketing.”

After wandering around the market a while, Marianna remembered that Stacie suggested a visit to ‘Ye Olde Curiosity Shop’ which is not far away, down on the waterfront. So off we trooped to see it for ourselves. After a leisurely stroll along the water, taking more photos of course, we finally found it right near a Starbucks. Leesa declared a stop for refreshment was in order. I’m not normally a Starbucks kind of guy, but a Green Tea Lemonade sounded good so I availed myself of the opportunity. The curiosities in the shop were mostly tourist trinkets these days, I remember the shop being much more interesting in past years. Leesa suggested that Marianna might like to see the fire station on the waterfront as a consolation. More walking ensued.

The girls finally decided it was time to head back to the market and then to the car. About this time everyone realized we had been walking downhill all this time and that we’d have to retrace our route to return. Ah well, photography is proving to be a healthy hobby at least. We trudged up the steps most of the way and then Marianna spotted an elevator that ran from the lowest level of the market back to the top. We gratefully used it.

Our photography expedition was scheduled to end here, but I believe I mentioned that we weren’t that far from the Ballard Locks. Why I did this, I can’t explain. Glutton for punishment? Maybe. The GPS was consulted and coordinates eventually locked in. Off we went on our merry way, Leesa and I scanning for photographic targets of opportunity between bouts of coaching Marianna on more aggressive driving techniques.

We arrived safely and found parking, which can often be a challenge on a nice day. You wouldn’t think the locks would be that interesting but there is plenty to see and do here. Besides watching (and photographing) water traffic on the ship canal, there is wildlife in abundance and many acres of garden to wander through. After getting our fill, you’d think it was now time to head for home. But no, Leesa mentioned that she really wanted to see the Fremont Troll.

Unfortunately, the GPS failed us here, not having the location for the troll in it’s memory banks. A frantic search of the Internet ensued via smart phone and Leesa managed to dig up a little information on it’s location. We set the GPS to take us to Fremont and then navigated by street grid until we found it. It’s a popular location and is considered “interactive” art in that visitors are encouraged to climb on it. We had to wait patiently (well, *I* was patient) until others had their fill and then we were able to get good photos from a variety of perspectives.

Now it was time to go home. Well, it would have been except I spoke up yet again. You’d think I’d learn but I never do. You see we’d been talking about photographing the Seattle skyline at night. I’ve done this from Alki but there was a park north of the city with a great view of the Space Needle and downtown I thought would be a perfect spot. Even though we weren’t ready to do this right away, I thought it might be a good idea to at least scope out the park for future reference. So off we went… again. Poor Marianna… she’ll never drive us again, I’m sure of it.

We actually found the park fairly easily and even got parking right in front of it. Lots of other photographers were there setting up for sunset. The weather was beautiful and the view spectacular. We’ll definately be visiting Kerry Park again.

Now, finally… it was time to go home. A very long, very tiring, very fun… “short trip” into Seattle on a sunny Sunday afternoon. So there you have it, if you’re ever in Seattle in a photographic frame of mind get in touch. We’d be happy to have company. Just be sure to bring your walking shoes!

More photos on Flickr!