Capturing the Moment

Pike Place Market Fresh Seafood at Pike Place Market   A rare afternoon off sparked a quick sightseeing trip through the quirky downtown waterfront district of Seattle. I figured Pike Place Market would be a good place to start. A Starbucks sat across the road but I was told that it wasn't the first, but if I wanted to see the first it was only two blocks away. I stepped inside the market to see stalls ranging from African masks and trinkets to all kinds of flowers and of course the famous fish tossing stalls as well. What I assume were salty fishermen lined the stalls in the grundens (at least they looked like salty fishermen.) Gum Wall, Post Alley Seattle Aquarium   There were a couple of good overlooks from the market down to the waterfront so my next mission was to find a way there through all the construction. Going down through the Post Alley I came across a bizarre site which turned out to be the famous Gum Wall. People have color coated the walls with...

  Today the winds were up and the surf was down so I decided to get some underwater shots while staying completely dry...at the Waikiki Aquarium! This little aquarium is one of the oldest in the United States, built in 1904.   I had never really tried to take pictures in an aquarium before and it proved to be very difficult. The low light and moving subjects are a photographers worst nightmare, although the fish themselves can get quite close to you. Once I strapped on the wide angle lens I was able to snap a few low light shots. My favorite tank to photograph turned out to be the shark tank which also housed some truly gigantic groupers.   Outside the main hall the Hawaiian monk seals steal the show. One has very bad cataracts so it has been here in captivity for nearly all of its life. The two monk seals are usually in separate pools but were brought together to see if they can coexist peacefully. They were trained to kiss every time they first see each oth...