aka Steve » Colors

Thursday flora

steve — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:47:00 +0000

I love that these flower boxes are in front of Ballard Sheet Metal; I didn’t expect to find colorful plants growing in front of a business that works with cold, hard metal.

The rest of these were in different gardens and therefore completely expected.

Dragonfly

steve — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:27:35 +0000

I recently encountered this dragonfly in The Boyfriend’s back yard. Based on my extensive research (two Wikipedia articles and a Google image search), I think it might be a male Azure Hawker. I say “might” because I’m not clear if Azure Hawkers are found only in Scotland, or if Scotland is the only place in the UK that they’re found.

Either way, let’s call this dragonfly A-Hawk.

A-Hawk circled the same small area in the yard for quite a while, and got rather close to me. Flying directly overhead, silhouetted against a bright blue sky, his wings appeared to be made of the finest copper filament as the sun filtered through them.

A-Hawk perched on a branch, basked in the sun, and allowed me to take a bunch of pictures.

I’ve never gotten so close to a dragonfly before. It was so cool!

Fireworks

steve — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:56:02 +0000

I took these photos during the fabulous Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza in Steilacoom, using the “Fireworks” setting on my camera. All photos were taken from The Boyfriend’s deck, which I estimate to be 2 to 3 miles away from where the fireworks barge sat in Puget Sound.

Unaltered (click on a photo to enlarge it):

Altered (increased fill light):

“And after it rains, there’s a rainbow”

steve — Fri, 21 May 2010 04:18:25 +0000

Fortunately, unlike Simon & Garfunkel’s song “My Little Town,” not all of the colors are black. Nor do they lack imagination.

Blue

steve — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:51:05 +0000

(Photo taken looking south and west from 9th Ave. and Stewart St. And yes, I know the photo quality is grainy … I’m still figuring out the new camera.)

Ballard Avenue Architecture (1)

steve — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:26:05 +0000

Kolstrand Building, 4743 Ballard Ave. NW:

4760 Ballard Ave. NW:

Scandinavian-American Bank, built in 1902 (now the Starlight Hotel); Ballard Ave. NW & NW Vernon Pl.:

Kutzner Block, built in 1904; Ballard Ave. NW & NW Vernon Pl.:

This charred door is about all that’s left of the Ernst Brothers Hardware building, which used to sit between the Scandinavian-American Bank and the Kutzner Block:

Built in 1904, the Ernst Bros. building was destroyed by arson in the 1950s.

The Ballard Historical Society has provided plaques for the Scandinavian-American Bank, Ernst Bros., and Kutzner Block buildings, among others in the area.

The Ballard Avenue Landmark District Board also has more information about our beautiful neighborhood.

Fall (3)

steve — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:29:30 +0000

Blown

steve — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:24:22 +0000