Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Rizal park


Rizal_Panorama1-Edit-2
Equipment: Canon 20D, Canon 24-70mm
Image details: 100mm, f/16, 1/15sec, ISO 10
Rizal Park is a 9.6 acre park located on the west slope of Beacon Hill in Seattle. It has beautiful sweeping views of Downtown Seattle and is a must visit for every photography enthusiast in Seattle.

The park has a clear view of Quest field and downtown Seattle with the Olympic mountains in the background. This can be either a sunset or a sunrise spot. I prefer sunrise as in sunset your entire foreground will be in the dark. Make sure to walk along the entire length of the park to find the composition you want. My preferred day to shoot is a day after a storm when there is fresh snow on the mountains - the Olympic mountains glisten and stand out like bright jewels. If you have not tried out panorama stitching before now would be a great time to try. I shot three shots and stitched them together using Photoshop CS3.

Remember to carry your circular polarizer here as it will be very useful. If your shooting a panorama try to use your tripod and keep overlaps of 40-50% - I have had the best luck with this level of overlap. Try compositions with both a medium range lens and a telephoto lens. If you have interesting clouds in the sky a wider angle might also look interesting.

Nighttime also provides some interesting opportunities to shoot the Seattle skyline with the S curves of I5 in the foreground. I would recommend you go there in a group is I have heard that a couple of photographers got mugged here.

Directions to the park

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Might want to carry a weapon along with the polarizer! LOL I just moved to the area, and the people that hang out around that park scare me!