This month, I started out feeling a bit uninspired with some of my weekly photography challenges. Some of them came at times when I was more interested in focusing on other themes. And others came just before or after I had a really good run of photographs using similar techniques, when I would have liked to pivot to something else.

But despite my frustrations, I had the impetus to try and create some things that I enjoyed. I remain content to stick with it.

9. Reflections

Naturally, this challenge had to come the week before my visit to Ancient Lakes. Fortunately, however, it coincided with a visit to Bremerton.

This photograph overlooks the marina in the morning, with a cloudy sky reflected in the water below, moody fog, and a single rowboat headed somewhere.

Unfortunately, it’s a bit shite compositionally. The lines are all over the place and I was not able to tame them in post-production. Besides that, I feel like the photograph has a lot of elements jostling for attention in an unharmonious way – the propellor in the foreground, for example.

But hey, I chose this photograph because I thought the subject matter fit the theme better than many of my other marina pics.

It was a beautiful morning, after all.

10. Low Key

“Low Key” was the challenge I got for the week when I actually did visit Ancient Lakes. Naturally, needing to shoot a shadowy image while hiking somewhere with loads and loads of direct sunlight is difficult. (I ran into similar issues with the same challenge last year.)

(I mean, I also could have taken the photo earlier in the week, but I was either busy and/or uninspired.)

So, here we are. The middle ground’s light-crested shadows probably fit the brief better than my submission from last time, but I really loathe the way the main rock walls are clipped to basically pure black, while the sky remains bright.

I probably should have hit this with a graduated filter in post, but hey, it does fit the brief.

11. An Activity

This prompt is a fun one! I used it as an excuse to go out and try shooting some people on the street (and around Pike Place Market) on a busy Saturday. To no one’s surprise, busy Pike Place was a lousy place to capture much with its swarming, huge, maskless crowds, but Capital Hill’s own Broadway was a perfect sitch.

I enjoy trying to shoot people on the street, but I’m lousy at it. On this particular day, I was using one of my favorite camera and lens combinations, with a long focal length and excellent subject separation. I saw these two on the other side of an intersection that I was ready to cross, and quickly hit the shutter button, though my frame was not level.

Seconds later, a flurry of cars darted between us, rendering retakes impossible.

And just before the light turned to a walk sign, the two embraced one another. 😍

I’m not actually a fan of the 5:4 crop I went with. It should be higher on the Y-axis. The subjects may be perfectly centered in the frame, but the presence of more large, in focus curb compared to less, more distant awning makes the photo look a bit… skewed low in a way that I do not find enjoyable.

12. Long Shutter

Just after finishing a fantastic creative workshop focused on time, for which I workshopped a set of photos, many of which featured slow shutter speeds… I get this challenge. I have so many excellent, earlier candidates.

How can I want to revisit this right now? Flowers are out! I want to look for birdies!

But alas, I went on a little late night excursion to Gas Works Park with some friends. Here they are in a long, 15-second exposure.

I forgot my mini tripod and the release cable, so there’s quite a lot of camera shake in the resulting photo, but since the camera got to stay still after an initial jostle, things ain’t too bad.

Can you spot the Space Needle?