July means the start of outdoor movie season in the Seattle area. I’ve collected a list of locations, many of them at public parks. Prices are reasonable, ranging from free to $10 for some of the Fremont special charity events. To see the movie schedules and details about each venue click on the links below.
If you know of any others I missed, let us know about them in the comments. Thanks!
The new Space Needle webcam is now operational and it’s awesome!
The old webcam was pretty neat and it was a good way to check on what the weather was doing. But the camera only pointed in southerly directions, and since it was a live view you had to wait around 15 minutes to see a change of position.
The new camera is on a time delay, but the advantage is you get a complete 360 degree view. You can watch it slowly rotate, or drag your finger on the screen (on a mobile device) to speed things up or go back. No more long waits. You can also spin a wheel at the bottom of the image to go back in time to see what was going on earlier.
The Space Needle cam is a fantastic tool for planning park outings. You can see what the weather is doing in your direction, and make a good guess as to whether it will be staying the same, getting better, or getting worse.
It’s also valuable for photography enthusiasts. Check to see what the sky is doing when deciding if you want to venture out for sunrise or sunset. Or look to see if the mountain is out before driving across the city to a viewpoint.
Here’s the link:
All day the weather looked promising. Even though there were high hazy clouds into early afternoon, all indications pointed to them clearing up, leaving behind perfect conditions. I really wanted to take some twilight photos on the solstice this year.
Since getting a digital bridge camera with a long zoom lens six months ago I’ve discovered I really enjoy photographing birds. But it’s a new hobby that is not without its pitfalls.
We all get used to seeing the “normal” birds, like crows, robins, chickadees, Canada geese, and mallards. They are the species most adapted to urban and suburban living and the least shy around humans. They are also easy to identify. It can leave one with the impression we have boring birds, and that all the really interesting birds live in other parts of the country.
But once you start pointing a long lens at more distant birds you realize, holy heck, we have tons of neat birds in the Puget Sound region!
Park Preview 