seattle in the rain

[Terry Hayden]

So, it looks like I may be in the Seattle are between Christmas and New Years.

Given the general propensity for rain in those climes,and my lack of enthusiasm for being cold, wet, and in charge of a view camera, I was thinking of alternate
places to shoot.

One of my interests is in older industrial/institutional building interiors.

Any suggestions that would accessible and not too terribly illegal to trespass
in and won't have issues with big cameras and tripods?

I have made a couple of look-see stops at a one of the old forts that were built to protect the waterways - so that's one concept that I'm familiar with.

Thanks,
Terry
www.terryhayden.com

[Vaughn]

If it snows, stay in your hotel room -- those drivers know rain, but on snow they are a hazard!

[Jerry Bodine]

If it snows, stay in your hotel room -- those drivers know rain, but on snow they are a hazard!

Vaughn, maybe that's 'cuz so many of 'em migrated here from CA. :D

[Darin Boville]

Vaughn, maybe that's 'cuz so many of 'em migrated here from CA. :D

If we are talking SF Bay area drivers then that is simply impossible. Here, with the slightest bit of rain, drivers go wild. Standing water on the highway? No problem, go 15 mph over the speed limit! No visibility? No problem, just swerve more to warn other drivers away!

--Darin

[Brian C. Miller]

Well, if you don't like being outside in the upper-30s, low-40s, then I really don't know of where to go. The thing is that if there is an older building, then there probably isn't anything interesting on the inside that hasn't been removed for scrap. The weather has been typical blech, and a few rays of actual sunshine. (If there is any snow on the ground, everything quickly turns to ice, and the snow removal has been a failure as long as I've been here. These people can't drive on the snow.)

If the weather is rain, etc., then honestly I would take my Benbo tripod and set it up inside a vehicle. The Benbo is highly flexible for crazy applications, and I use it where I can't use my Manfrotto.

Another idea is, gasp, make friends before you get here, and have someone local accompany you with a gargantuan umbrella, and share a tripod. I have extra quick release mounts if you want to do that.

[EdWorkman]

Hmmm- Forty years ago or so, I traveled to Seattle quite a bit. The first few trips I carried an umbrella-back then it wasn't a lot of pain to carry an umbrella on a plane- I guess that was before DB Cooper.
But anyways, i stopped carrying because I [was lucky enough] never encountered much but showers- from gloomy skies usually, but hardly ever continuous . I even encountered sun and enough clearing to reveal Mt Rainier in December. I did experience one snowstorm in the afternoon rush on the way to Sea-Tac.
If you are prepared to duck for shelter, outdoor photography is possible and under changing skies etc, it can be rewarding.

[Drew Wiley]

It totally untrue that drivers here are worse in wet weather than dry. Just this week
I've seen two city buses run full red lights, one in a school zone with kids on the crosswalk. The rules here are simple: red means go, green means stop, if traffic is
going 70mph on the freeway, enter the freeway at 30mph, stop, and move directly
to the far left lane as slowly as possible, preferably while simultaneously texting on
a cell phone and reading a laptop; on residential streets speed up to 60. Simple.

[Vaughn]

Vaughn, maybe that's 'cuz so many of 'em migrated here from CA. :D

I grew up and learned to drive in SoCal. LA drivers actually are (or were, anyway) very good drivers -- but one has to know the rules of the road (and these are not the ones in the DMV handbooks). Of course, all bets were off if it actually rains. And SoCal drivers once they get out of SoCal need to be watched out for!

But one has to be careful about generalizing about CA drivers -- we have areas (and these areas are bigger than some states) of desert, mountains, rain forests, tule fog (visibility of 10 to 600 feet) and of course, tons of frighten tourists from across the USA and the world on the freeways.

Seattle drivers are not necessarily to blame for their driving in the snow. The city was not designed for it -- stop signs at the bottom of a steep hill are a disaster waiting to happen!

[Doug Herta]

Terry,

Seattle doesn't have much in the way of abandoned or old industrial stuff (from the view of someone who grew up in Detroit). We are surrounded by water and mountains so there is not a lot of real estate to leave unused. The economy here is more high tech than industrial and places like Boeing would probably not let you wander through their various compounds.

Don't mean to put a 'wet blanket' on your plans, but most of us live here for the outdoor opportunities. Opportunities that are pretty soggy this time of year. If you are in the city and the rain lets up, one possibility is the abandoned coal gasification plant at (drum roll please) Gas Works Park on the north end of Lake Union in the heart of the city.

I'll think about some other ideas - PM me when you are here.

[Vaughn]

How about over at Bremerton? There are (or were) several decommed aircraft carriers there that would be great to get on, but that probably is not possible.

[Brian C. Miller]

Bremerton is OK if you are using a telephoto lens. You will not be allowed to set up a camera on the Navy property, let alone be allowed on the ships. I was over there when the Missouri was opened to the public a few times, and they were strict about when (yes, when!) you could start photographing. Otherwise, stay off their property with a camera, and photograph from some other vantage point.

[John Kasaian]

Yakima is where Seattlites go when they need to remember what the sun looks like ;)

[jloen]

There's ample chances for photos here, and there are a few sunny parts of days this time of year. But generally it is pretty low light whereever you go, and the days are short.
The bad drivers are just as likely from Bejing, Delhi, Nairobi, or Mexico City, or other hot climates where you probably don't get to learn to drive on snow. Nobody has snow tires, and they don't understand that a SUV is not the solution because they can't stop very well on ice, and since they often have a short wheelbase they can spin and roll easily. Fortunately our snow days are limited to single digits per year and chances are that you won't experience any.
There are a lot of good photographers here. When I go out with film rigs I always get into conversations with other film people from way back.

[Frank Petronio]

When I lived in Oregon, it was a harsh transition from driving with blissed-out stoners cruising along under the speed limit and stopping at yellows to... those money-grubbing Washingtoners hurtling themselves down the highway to, ugh, "work"!

Rather like Vermont and New Hampshire....

I'd go native and get a good raincoat, umbrellas, and plastic bags. Take simple gear, one or two lenses, and shoot. Rain looks lovely in B&W, it makes boring stuff more photogenic.

[MumbleyJoe]

I feel so bad that I live here in Seattle, and yet I can't think of anything to really point you too. The last time I was out shooting was (sadly) October, before the snows began to make things really difficult in the mountains. It's wet and unpleasant most of the winter... sorry to say. Gasworks Park, as mentioned, is an interesting place to visit and photograph. Kerry Park in Queen Anne is the spot you want to go for your postcard shot of the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle (just diving directions here, not necessarily advocating). My best suggestion would be to return in summer. :)

As for drivers... I've lived in the snowy frigid prairies as well as the San Francisco Bay Area ... I'd say Seattle drivers are just generally a little blissfully ignorant of what's going on around them, and that's generally in stark contrast to California drivers which may drive aggressively, but mostly play by the same rules. As for snow, it's just a bad city for it. It doesn't get that cold, so it tends to hover around that thaw/freeze point and that means ice. Ice + Hills = scary, no matter what your background is.

[Terry Hayden]

As it happens I tend to bring the bad weather with me. I've been up there on two thanksgivings ( this year was the latest ) and there was snow on both. This latest one was a bad situation - took my son 4 or 5 hours to get home on the bus ( 1.4 miles in straight line distance ). Youtube had some scary/entertaining videos of the locals dealing ( improperly ) with icy streets.
I will probably take Frank's suggestions and just dress for success in the climate. I do prefer to shoot on overcast days - just not in active rain ...

[domaz]

There is one sector of burnt-out Industry in the Seattle area- it happens to be in a forgotten second-city 30 miles south. Yes Tacoma. The Port of Tacoma has some real Industrial photo potential that I am embarrassed to say I haven't explored enough. There is also the historic 11th street bridge, that has lots of potiential, and is now closed to car traffic, but open to foot traffic. The bridge closed due to lack of funds and the state generally not caring about anything outside King County.

There are also plently of unique abadoned buildings that you won't be able to enter, like the Elks Building. If you do manage to enter an abadoned building around here I shutter at what you might find..

[Vaughn]

...As for snow, it's just a bad city for it. It doesn't get that cold, so it tends to hover around that thaw/freeze point and that means ice. Ice + Hills = scary, no matter what your background is.

My impression of Seattle drivers and snow comes from watching the news when visiting my sister in Spokane, WA at this time of year (often driving from Portland to Spokane on snow-covered highways). The Spokane TV stations love to show footage of Seattle drivers dealing with snow (including fish-tailing buses wiping out cars right and left as it tries to go make its way up a hill.) I think it makes Spokanians feel smug -- they so often feel like the poor relations to the folks on the other side of the Cascades. We in northern CA (north of Santa Rosa) often feel the same way about the southern half of the state.

[Eric James]

Seattlelites like to blame the municipality for street maintenance during and after our infrequent snow and ice storms but we think little of personal responsibility. If you lived in snow country you'd have proper "all season plus" or studded tires on your vehicle, but here few are willing to make the investment. Even people who properly equip their vehicle get stuck in six-hour cl.-fu. commutes because they're surrounded by spinning rubber, jack-knifed buses and SDOT plows busily scraping lane reflectors from Seattle streets. It's a three-season city...most of the time.

[MumbleyJoe]

My impression of Seattle drivers and snow comes from watching the news when visiting my sister in Spokane, WA at this time of year (often driving from Portland to Spokane on snow-covered highways). The Spokane TV stations love to show footage of Seattle drivers dealing with snow (including fish-tailing buses wiping out cars right and left as it tries to go make its way up a hill.) I think it makes Spokanians feel smug -- they so often feel like the poor relations to the folks on the other side of the Cascades. We in northern CA (north of Santa Rosa) often feel the same way about the southern half of the state.

Growing up in a wintry Canadian climate we were similarly smug about the west coast (Vancouver and Victoria) struggling with 'a little snow'. I'm reformed now. :) When you only need winter tires 1 day every two years, it's more forgivable to me now that people get caught off guard. As it was at Thanksgiving, conditions weren't bad when people commuted in to work, but it was a whole different story by late afternoon. So it's true that people here aren't well-equipped for wintry conditions (in terms of proper tires, or experience) and it's kind of laughable, but I find it more forgivable now too. Despite a personal history of winter driving, even I decided to leave my car safely in the driveway and just stay out of it this year.

[Brian Ellis]

I wouldn't give up on Seattle, it's a great town and I think the downtown architecture is fascinating in its variety. But if you insist on being indoors, spend a day or so photographing inside the spectacular public library, that's a great place to photograph and stay warm and dry. There's also some good stuff in the lobby and other places inside the art museum. I photographed with a digital camera while taking the underground Seattle tour, couldn't do it very well with a LF camera though. Then there's the vastly overrated (IMHO) Space Needle if you like semi-aerial photographs but I'm not sure about visibility or comfort this time of year. We stayed at a great old historic hotel downtown, I forget the name but I photographed some areas of the hotel interior and also from our window. I'm sure people who live in Seattle could suggest better areas than these fairly typical tourist places, I was there for only a few days, but I'd go back to these places again (except the Space Needle) if I was there.

[ndavid813]

I've been away from Seattle for 25 years, but the first thought that came to me is Gasworks park on Lake Union. Forts built during the Spanish American war would be Fort Casey on Whidbey Island which is very accessible, but not incredibly interesting. There's another fort in Port Townsend that has more interesting ruins, but a lot of access is prohibited due to structural integrity problems.

If you want urban decay, Southpark would be good. I have to think there's got to be industrial blight along the Duwamish river. West Seattle next to White Center (what we called "Rat City") has some pretty gritty areas.

If you want to expand your definition of industry to include fishing boats, then Ballard and along Lake Union would be a good place to see the fleet put away for winter.