Foto Phriday - 7/27/12

This is my seventy-eighth Foto Phriday post. Welcome to the new title. Nothing much will change with these posts other than that and the use of my new Canon 5D MII! A 365 project will start soon in a separate area. The pictures today are from Columbia Center, a family reunion, and a ferry ride. Full set with all 127 photos can be viewed here.

Coral continues to exceed our expectations when it comes to sleep and being cranky. She is such a good baby that at this point, thinking about having more is not such a bad idea. Of course, we could have bad luck and have a terrible time with a third one.

People ask us who we think she looks more like and we give the same answer that we gave for Julie. Coral looks like both Bethany and I evenly. It's really quite amazing how that works. Coral has a slight bit more chub than Julie did at the same age, which is fine with us since Juliana was probably skinny anyway.

I can't even express how much I love my new camera and lens. My dad commented on how he thought my LX3's pictures already looked great, but the 5D's quality is way higher. Such a great investment that I will take lots of advantage of.

We took the kids to Seattle the weekend before last. It was Coral's first time to the big city, as well as my 5D's. Boy, I'll tell you what... I knew the 5D was going to be heavy to carry around, but it's really no joke. The thing weighs my neck down like crazy. Definitely need to get used to that.

This was really like the first time I took my new camera outside to shoot at all. My 50mm 1.4 does really good outside. Especially when I get lazy and use auto-focus or when Bethany takes pictures.

I'm thinking about going back to shooting at 16:9 though. These shots are great and all, but I just love the wide format so much. Perhaps I'll change it up for the next Foto Phriday.

The main purpose for going downtown was to use a Groupon I got for the Columbia Center observation deck. Columbia Center is the tallest building in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest as a region. Thus, it offers some pretty breathtaking views.

I had never been to the top of Columbia Center before, so I loved it. I think out of the three tourist viewpoint attractions, this would be my favorite, followed by the Space Needle and Smith Tower.

My only complaint about the observation floor is that it's tricky to find, especially on the weekend. For one, the building looked completely closed with only one swinging door that was unlocked. Saw a couple of tourists who were really close to leaving before I found the right entrance. They should have signs there. Then, when we got on the elevator, I pushed the button to the 40th floor lobby and nothing happened. We exited and asked the security guard why the elevator wasn't working and he said that he had to unlock the elevator to make it go up to that point. Really!? What kind of deal is that? I understand the security measures, but this is a freakin' public thing. From there, it's easy and you just follow the signs to the 73rd floor.

See how much we dwarfed Smith Tower? We were there not too long ago, just before Coral was born.

This is my favorite tilt-shift that I have done yet. Love the clarity of the canisters and cranes.

Looking south toward the stadiums. UEFA Champions League winner Chelsea was just here last week to play a friendly match against our Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field.

Juliana was quite impressed by the height we were at. This girl has no fear, I tell ya.

Coral didn't seem to appreciate the view as much. She just wanted to eat.

Looking southeast. That's Chinatown in the bottom right corner. I-5 above that with the curvy interchange to I-90.

After Columbia Center, we went up to Westlake where they have, get this... blue trees. Not really sure why they decided to paint these trees blue, but it made for some fun pictures.

Bethany ran with Julie through the fountain at Westlake really quick. Always a fun thing to do on a hot day.

Love this picture of Juliana and I in front of the fountain.

Coral is already doing a great job at holding her head up by herself, so we've been trying the Bumbo out here and there. Not sure how she feels about it judging by her face. She rolled over for the first time a few nights ago. Tummy to back.

Last Saturday was Bethany's family reunion at Steel Lake Park in Federal Way, WA. Family from all around came to visit and I think there was close to 80 people.

There was a ridiculous amount of food at the reunion.

I've met most of the family, but many reintroduced themselves to me, which is fine. Bethany has so many cousins and second cousins and first cousins once removed and cousins' cousins' cousins that I've kind of learned to just shake their hand and nod my head.

Here's the spot we nabbed at the park. On nice days, this park can be downright packed. Had to stich this photo together because I don't have a wide angle lens like my LX3. One of the downsides of the upgrade until I buy a wide-angle lens.

With Bethany's cousin Crystal and her kids in town, we decided to take them to Bainbridge Island on Sunday. Riding the ferry to B.I. has become one of our favorite day trips to do here in Seattle. Here's a pic from the boat which shows Seattle's new big ferris wheel on Pier 57 along the waterfront.Will go there one day, but not anytime soon as the line is huge.

Crystal with her kids, Chloe and Noah, on the ferry.

I was pretty bummed that my favorite BBQ place was closed on this day, but we did go to Mora Iced Creamery and I made up for it with three scoops of yummy deliciousness. After that, we went to the beach where we kicked up rocks to watch little crabs scurry. This little guy here was pretty mad at me for picking him up.

The kiddos obviously had a good time on the beach.

Even though Crystal was disgusted by the crabs under the rocks, she still loved exposing them and watching them hide.

Love this shot of pillars up from an old track that used to lead down to the water.

Julie had to take her My Little Pony toys everywhere.

Decided to fool around a bit and get some jumping shots. This was the best one.

Kids can throw rocks for hours.

Alright, last picture of this huge set. One of my co-workers, Bill, recently bought a 1969 Ford Mustang. It's pretty nice, but needs some work. To see more pictures of Bill's car, Bainbridge Island, the family reunion, or Columbia Tower, view the full set.