May Day protests Seattle | Seattle editorial photographer
Tonight was just about the craziest night I have ever documented. Police were well-prepared for protestors connected to May Day events here in Seattle, and the expected violence got underway pretty early in the evening. It was incredibly intense to be in the middle of this developing news story, as smoke grenades were going off and police were shouting at everyone to “Get back,” as they pushed at the crowd with their bikes. Just as I was walking all over the city with the crowd and protestors and media, it was all I could do to just keep moving, and trying to keep my head on a swivel. My big fear going in was that an anarchist might try and grab my camera or assault me, as happened last year to other media shooters, and so atleast I was fortunate in that regard. All in all, a damn crazy night. Even if it was nice to see the 20 photojournalists from around Seattle doing great work all afternoon. And an enormous thank you to Matt Mills McKnight, Erika Schultz and Ted S. Warren for loaning me some cards tonight when I realized I left my card wallet in the car with the laptop!
Thanks for looking,
Daniel
Seattle editorial photographer | Emerald City Comicon Photos
EMERALD CITY COMICON PHOTOS
===All images model-released and available for licensing and prints===
I have always wanted to photograph Emerald City Comicon here in Seattle. The annual event is attended by tens of thousands daily for three long days — and I knew it would be a great opportunity to make some portraits. So this year, I finally went!
All told, I photographed more than 40 attendees. Sometimes it was their costume that caught my eye; others, it was their makeup and character.
I was really satisfied too that this self-assignment was immediately licensed by SeattlePI.com. It really is great to work with clients that value personal work.
The images were lit with two Alien Bee strobe powered by a Vagabond II battery pack.
More of my Emerald City Comicon Photos are available online at SeattlePI.com
Thanks for looking.
Daniel
Seattle editorial photographer | Photos of Seattle skyline, downtown Seattle, WA
I was shooting The Big Climb at the Columbia Tower today and took some time to shoot the view from the 40th and 73rd floor — wow.
A few favorites, and click here for more photographs of downtown Seattle skyline, Seattle waterfront, Space Needle.
Aerial panoramic photos of downtown Seattle skyline, Space Needle, Elliott Bay, Olympic Mountains, Seahawks Stadium, Qwest Field, Pioneer Square, South Seattle, downtown Seattle waterfront. Photo by Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com
Aerial panoramic photos of downtown Seattle skyline, Space Needle, Elliott Bay, Olympic Mountains, Seahawks Stadium, Qwest Field, Pioneer Square, South Seattle, downtown Seattle waterfront. Photo by Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com
Aerial panoramic photos of downtown Seattle skyline, Space Needle, Elliott Bay, Olympic Mountains, Seahawks Stadium, Qwest Field, Pioneer Square, South Seattle, downtown Seattle waterfront. Photo by Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com
Click here for more photographs of downtown Seattle skyline, Seattle waterfront, and Space Needle.
Thanks for looking!
Daniel
Even More Snow
Seattle has been experiencing record snowfall this season and I have been trying my best to document it. I have gotten enough of the scene in my little neighborhood, so I headed to downtown Seattle to hopefully photograph the people, the crowds, the congestion, and the season. I was not disappointed. But since the weather is so foul, I didn’t want to drive. This left me to take the metro into Seattle — a trip that normally takes 45 minutes — but after the normal bus did not arrive, I had to take 2 buses with a Seattle transfer to get there.
Oh well, it allowed me to make some pictures that I would not have been able to otherwise.
You always tend to attract attention taking pictures of every day objects and occurrences, but it is precisely there, in the ordinary, that sometimes interesting pictures can be made. One of the biggest story lines of this snow event in Seattle is that Metro has really dropped the ball on bus service. The buses that are running are almost all full to capacity, and many people are stranded in their homes thanks to a lack of service to their areas.
I made this picture of a bus that had a driver with a sense of humor: it reads, “No, I don’t know where your bus is.”
I finally caught a bus that would let me transfer to another one and get to downtown. While waiting at the transit center near Seattle, I found an unlikely scene. Since the city is so wildly unprepared for this much continuous snow (we have gotten an inch or two every other day), we have not had garbage collection for about a week. I saw this ridiculous, nearly overflowing pile of garbage sitting next to one of the bus stops. I can’t believe someone would sit next to that pile — or worse, ignore it. Too bad I didn’t see anyone pulling their face back in disgust, that would have been interesting.
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Almost immediately after stepping off the bus in Seattle I heard sirens approaching nearby. Like any enterprising journalist, I wandered in the direction of those sirens. When I turned the corner a few blocks East, I found dozens of construction workers exiting a site quickly. I asked one of them what was going on, and they surmised a propane explosion on one of the upper floors. I like this scene a lot, all the repetition and the colors against the bright snow.
They looked happy to be okay, or at least happy to be on a break from the job.
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Another big story line in Seattle is that many Greyhound busses have been stranded, and those that are running still in and out of town are hopelessly delayed. I headed to the downtown station where I found some pretty frustrated people.
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Continuing on, I found some people in downtown Seattle that caught my eye.
I liked the juxtaposition here between the woman with her back turned on her cellphone, and this poor guy on the bench at left. Christmas spirit, perhaps?
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It was getting dark and I decided to head home. But the hardest part would be just trying to catch a bus home at all. All the busses that were heading north were hopelessly overcapacity, and they did not even stop at my bus stop. When I say full, I mean standing room only, can’t fit a single extra person on board. Terrible. After 2 hours of standing in the cold waiting, I decided to just try and make the best of it, and make some pictures.
Here, some passengers return to the sidewalk after trying to get on a packed bus. There was no room, and all were turned away.
I couldn’t overlook the irony of all these people waiting for the bus, many outside of this 3rd Avenue REI store, where the changing video displays sometimes pictured icicles hanging.
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Eventually I was able to get home, but not before close to 4 hours of waiting for the bus. Way to drop the ball Seattle Metro.
Hopefully this snow will melt soon, as the weather for this coming week is expected to be warmer — if you can call it that — about 35 degrees.
Thanks for looking at the images, any comments are welcome.
Daniel
Always have your camera #2
I am a big proponent of always having your camera, and I was reminded today of another time I was glad to. Last February, I was in downtown drinking some coffee at Westlake Plaza when I spotted a woman dressed as the Queen of Hearts, standing around and smoking a cigarette. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab a quick portrait of her and started chatting with her. Turns out she worked in the mall and it was all part of a promotion. I guess it worked.
I like the girl at camera-left eyeing her.
Daniel
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