[Leica] Mark does Seattle, WAS: photography at altitude

["Peter A. Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net>]

> I shot 5 rolls of Neopan 1600 Friday and Saturday in Seattle and the train ride
> up there and back.
> And as my M6 does not go to 1600 of a second i could not do the sunny bright 11
> or Sunny 16 rule!
> The snow was on the ground about an hour south of Seattle and was only an couple
> of inches.
> "The worst snow storm in 4 years" in Seattle. Would go completely unnoticed by
> someone from Chicago!

We're in the so-called convergence zone, which is the area from north
Seattle to Everett where all the weather that gets diverted by the
mountains ends up.  We got 9 inches at my house just north of the city
limits.  Only about 6 inches where I work, just east of the University
district.  We also had power outages and non-functioning street lights. 
I got to work OK, with a bit of gschlippen und geschliden, and spent
most of the day on the phone telling stranded colleagues how to set up
Dial-Up Networking. 

Believe me, as a transpanted Bahstonian, the reaction to snow around
here is pretty funny.  Half the evening newscasts are spent going "live"
to reporters marvelling at the white stuff coming from the sky.  Of
course, in Massachusetts, the snow plows worked fine and most streets
were plowed by the morning after a snowfall.  Not here--I think the
attitude is "why bother, it will melt soon anyway."  Only the main
streets get plowed, and often not before you have to leave home.

The main issue is the many drivers who don't know how to drive on snow,
or the idiots who think, "Me have four wheel drive.  Me can go *fast*!" 
They don't realize that they can't *stop* fast!  And the ones who spin
their wheels and fishtail in the lane next to me.

> ...FAR better pealing
> paint and birds on snowy sculpures than portland ever had. The grass is always
> greener but i found Seattle to be a real city (Portland is a town with some tall
> buildings) and i found Seattle to be a far more interesting place to be than
> Portland. We should do a LHSA thing there for sure! I'd love to mover there
> Portland is feeling too small.

Portland is about where Seattle was 10 years ago.  That has its
points--driving and prices here have gotten pretty ugly.  Still, it is a
gorgeous city.  I do like Portland's downtown, though, especially those
cute sculptures of seals and otters in the streets.  And Portland's
downtown wasn't built on the side of a steep hill, so ,you don't have to
walk up a 40 degree pitch to see the sights.

> Glazer's camera store had been closed for 5 minute and opened it's doors just
> for us!
> and they didn't know how many blocks we walked to get there either!
> What a camera store!!

Yes, Glazer's is definately a classy store.  They've got everything a
pro or advanced amateur needs, and the staff is knowledgeabe and
helpful.

Let us know when you're going to come up again and we will try to have a
SLUG ingathering in your honor.

- --Peter Klein
Seattle, WA