Seattle - Days 1 & 2...

The last time I was in Seattle was n April of last year. I'd driven out to Washington state to pick up my daughter for an epic drive back to the east coast along US-20 which, at 3,365 miles, is the longest road in America. That trip remains my favorite vacation ever.

My daughter and her fiance came out to visit for my birthday in July, and one of the gifts they gave me was an Alaska Airlines gift certificate so I could visit them. So, late October seemed like a great time to visit. I booked my ticket out of Orlando and started planning what to do while there.

As an aside, people ask me why I flew out of Orlando instead of Jacksonville, which is much, much closer. Well, I was able to get a non-stop flight out of Orlando. In retrospect, though, Orlando is just such a freaking madhouse (it's the 7th busiest airport in the United States), next time I'll happily fly out of JAX and deal with any layover.

The flight was okay; I slept for a little while, and we actually landed in Seattle a bit early. It was around 9pm when we got to their apartment, and I had been up for a while, so it didn't take long before I was laid out on the couch, ready for sleep.

The next day, we walked around their neighborhood a bit. While I'd brought my Canon 5D MKIV, I also had my trusty Fuji X100F. It really is a handy little camera to have around when you don't want to lug the big rig around, but when you want something more than your cellphone.

The apple of my eye...

We had lunch at the De Lux Bar & Grill. Really good food!

Some garage doors in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle...

Tasty cocktails are always a good call...

Needless to say, I was still dealing with the effects of jet lag, so we didn't make it a late night. We spent the evening watching horror flicks. In the morning, my daughter and I would be heading over to her photo studio, which is right across the street from Lumen Filed, which is where the Seahawks play. I've been looking at photos of the studio for months, and I was excited to finally get into it and check it out.

The studio is about 1,200 square feet, with high ceilings and running water (which is nice, as my daughter processes her own film there). It's set up with some excellent lighting rigs, as well as a backdrop wall for those seamless shots you always see models in:

My daughter, being the frugal shopper she is, bought that 6' umbrella reflector for $1...

If you didn't know, my daughter has done a bit of modeling, but I think she'd be the first one to tell you that, first and foremost, she's a photographer. I guess that's a genetic thing, as both my brother and I are photographers. The apple, as they say, doesn't fall far from the tree.

As such, she simply insisted on taking advantage of the chance to photograph dear old dad with her Hasselblad. And, considering how good she is, I was more than happy to oblige.

 

One of the things I wanted to photograph was a guitar I built back in 2001. I was working for a small travel guitar company back then, and built the guitar for a special event that was being held in Louisville, Kentucky that year. The front of it is simple Sitka spruce and, to be honest, is kinda' boring. The back and sides are flamed Maple, though, and look pretty striking. 

I thought it turned out rather nice:

 

I love working in the studio and, hopefully, I'll get to see the photos my daughter took of me soon. It's been a while since I had my portrait taken, so I'm getting pretty anxious to see what my daughter comes up with.

The third day in Seattle would actually be spent being pretty "low voltage". My daughter wasn't feeling 100%, so we decided to lay low and recharge for what would end up being a highlight for me the next day...