Brian Xavier Photography

Sunny Tops and Icy Skirts

It was a gorgeous sunny day, but it was crispy and cold too. The trees on the flanks of these Cascade Mountains are covered in frost and light snow, but the late afternoon sun shone gloriously on the mountain tops! This end of the lake is free of ice because the sun reaches it enough hours of the day to mellt it, but the south end of Gold Creek Pond is covered in thick ice already. This is a tripod shot, 0.6 second exposure a f/20, 11.5mm using the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 wonder. I took two shots and merged them in Photomatix Pro 5 so I could pull the frosted trees out of the shaded areas on the flank of the mountian.

The Inn at the Market

While freezing our butts off, a friend and I were drawn to the lights in this little courtyard at the Inn. If only the lights would give off some warmth. There were enough of them to catch a tree on fire. This is a wide angle shot and with the camera pointed up from one corner of the courtyard a few verticals appear to be falling over. Oh, well, c'est la vie. Joyeux Noël.

Pike Place Chowder After Closing

While wandering around Pike Place in bone chilling weather, a friend and I came across Pike Place Chowder. It sounded delicious and warm, but it was closed... So in the meantime I grabbed this outside-looking-in shot of this colorful and Santa-ready diner. I hear they have quite the chowder--even claiming 2nd place in the country’s largest and longest-running chowder championships, the Great Chowder Cook-Off.

Garden Bench With Lights

This was one of my favorite D'Light setups at the Bellevue Botanical Garden light show (Garden D'Lights). Very simple, colorful, and depicting an adult activity (in comparison with the Winne the Pooh character...). Notice the cacti in the bottom shelf, the bucket of picked flowers, and the gloves. I wanted to capture the nice warm tone of the wood on the left side of the garden work table. How do you like it?

Garden D'Lights

More Garden D'Light! There seems to be fewer lights than before along the trails and many more right on the main lawn. That bluish-purpley mass through the middle is supposed to be a bubbling brook. The blinking lights help create a sense of moving water that doesn't come through on the still shot. This is an HDR of three shots. I wanted the light from the foreground plants to show up on the grass.

Westlake Park with Christmas Lights

The outdoor balcony of the Westlake Center provides a nice vantage point for a wide angle shot of Westlake Park with its Christmas lights. The Macy's star is on the right, a popular, hot chocolate and mini-donuts stand on the far left, the merri-go-round to the right of the donut stand, the Christmas tree in the foreground. The dark of the night seems to be held back by the festive lights below. The time exposure with ND filter helped to ghost out most of the people in the street below.

Colorful Wheel

I went with a few photog friends to Seattle the last night of November. The wheel was doing a great light show so while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive, I took a few shots. Rain was predicted for this evening, but thankfully it didn't come on time.

Stars Reflected in Tipsoo Lake

This is a stitch of 6 photos, then enhanced in Lightroom to emphasize the stars and the reflection in the lake.

Misty Morning on Reflection Lake

I had hoped for a colorful sunrise reflected in this peaceful lake with a view of Mount Rainier in the background, but the fog had other plans for me this particular morning. So instead I found beauty in the shapes of the trees, the intersection of the shorelines, and the glassy stillness of the water. To accentuate those elements of the scene, I have made this a black and white image; just for this one time, color will not be a distraction.

Frosted Leaves

A black and white does a better job of highlighting the delicate, furry frost on these leaves. The shape of the leaves and the pattern of the veins along the leaves caught my attention.