The conditions were such that I simply had to take some photographs. February Seattle was being treated to unseasonably spectacular weather, it was the weekend and I just adopted a new member into the Explosion family… a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. After enjoying a literal boat-load of sushi on Friday night, I got a phone call from UPS around 9:30 PM saying that my new hunk of glass was at their Seattle hub. Sharat and I bombed down to Georgetown in the Explorer and picked it up just before Josh, the UPS customer service rep, called it quits at 10 PM. Since I knew Saturday was going to be as clear as Friday, I made up my mind to be at a particular spot in West Seattle as the sun came up. Sharat quickly translated my proclomation into reality by iPhoning an almanac: surise at about 7 AM. The best light of a sunrise occurs in the hour before the sun becomes visible. This meant getting to my spot around 6 AM, which called for a 5:30 AM wake-up time. On a Saturday. I know.

I noticed a lookout point on Admiral Way when I drove over to West Seattle earlier in the week to meet a couple of friends. The photographer bell went off in my head and I began thinking about how I could shoot it. Immediately I settled on shooting a sunrise because the silhouetted buildings with their lights might look great against the mountains and morning sky. With the convergence of the weather, the weekend and new gear—Saturday was going to be my moment of truth.

When the alarm went off, I rolled out of the rack, loaded the rig and took off down the viaduct. After monkeying around with camera dials and tripods for a good hour, the sun was up and the magenta sky was gone. I jumped back in the truck and cruised over to Ballard. By the time I arrived, the sun was just starting to cast its first rays on the other mountain range that borders Seattle, The Olympics. The shot at the beginning of this post is of a tree at Golden Gardens with Shilshole Bay and the Olympic Range in the background.

My hour in West Seattle was relatively private. A cabbie pulled off to watch the sunrise for a minute, and two older women power walked by; but they were too busy chatting to look over the rail. In contrast, pre 8 AM Golden Gardens buzzed with all breeds of early birds: dog walkers, exercisers and book readers. As I exchanged friendly hellos with these folks, each one of them gave me a kind of nod that said, “isn’t this morning fucking great?” I shared the sentiment, and responded with a corresponding nod that said, “hell yeah it’s fucking wonderful—I love this city.”

After nearly four years in the Pacific Northwest, Tom Bartlett is bolting clear across the country for the other Washington. The one with Michelle and Barack. From the very beginning of my time out here in Seattle, Tom has been a great friend. From the jama-jam, to Oktoberfest, to checking out bands like Kay Kay and Fleet Foxes—Tommy B has been there.

As Tom is leaving for DC after Christmas, we all gathered last night to send him off in style. The evening kicked off with a potluck hosted by Ryan and Katie at their new West Seattle pad. I concocted a double batch of the now famous white chicken chili, however I left the “final assembly” stage of the process to Katie. I prepared the chicken and vegetables on Thursday night and had the remainder of the ingredients and Crock Pots delivered to the Connors. On Friday afternoon Katie integrated the pieces and let it cook on low for 5 hours—perfection.

Before we left to meet up with more folks in Ballard, I insisted that the group sit for a portrait. And of course—I was planning on lighting the thing. I opted for my lightweight “strobist” setup: a Nikon SB-800, LumoPro LP120, two stands and umbrellas. Since my PocketWizards were being fussy, I triggered both strobes optically using the pop-up flash on my D300 (set to manual at 1/32 power). I positioned one light and shoot through umbrella on camera right, facing the group on the left of the frame. I put the other light behind the group on the left and pointed it at the love seat gang. I took a few test exposures, chimped to get the histogram lined up in the middle, set the timer and ran to my position. Boom—instant group photo.

Although he’s trading coasts, we all know we haven’t seen the last of our good buddy. Tom: If you happen to go international, I’m sure there’s a pretty good chance the Explosion 5000 will have to issue a report live from the scene. It’s going to be exciting to see what you get yourself into—best of luck!

(A few more Tom B shots on Flickr.)

BONUS: Here’s one more group shot to send to your grandparents.

Since we have officially closed the books on Summer 2009, here’s a little snapshot from the season that was. In July, Sharat graciously hosted Alex, Josh and me at his favorite country club municipal course, West Seattle Golf Club. Sharat, a course regular, guided us through 18 holes and more than a few dozen cold ones. This picture is from the tee on the 15th hole. The tee box is perched on a hill that features a grand view of downtown Seattle, the Puget Sound and Mount Baker.

The view here is basically north, which puts the setting sun behind Sharat. To offset the light coming from the west, Alex suggested that I add some fill from the east. I tossed him a SB-600 with a LumiQuest Softbox II and told him to stand facing Sharat, pointing the light at him. Alex “Hollywood” Chu dutifully obliged—not only a lighting genius, he also makes a great lighting stand (or VAL). I dialed in f/11 to get a generous depth of field and let Nikon’s TTL and Aperture Priority mode figure out the exposure. Later in Photoshop, I cranked the saturation a bit. I also juiced up the skyline and background with the incomparable Shadow/Highlights tool. Observant Explosionites will notice Mount Baker next to two cranes in the left center of the image. Click here for a larger view.

To give you an idea of what we were dealing with all day, pictured above is a silhouette of Sharat’s swing. Notice the nice, balanced finish. Now look at the image below. Mr. Chu’s technique, informed by a Tecate or two, is obviously a departure from Mr. Reddy’s.

I like this picture of Josh because it represents several things that are illegal to do in cars, yet still perfectly fine to do in golf carts. What a game.

Whether we were hitting the ball well or not (I happened to be putting like Ty Webb), nobody could complain about the gorgeous view of the Emerald City during twilight.

Check out a few more pictures on Flickr, or just watch the slideshow below.