photo of my new neighborhood

[scharky]

so as some of you know, I recently moved, and finally I had time today to go explore my new neighborhood. This is what I found.

http://www.stefweb.net/SunseetWS-flat.jpg


Most people are familiar with the seattle coast line, but I don't think many people have seen what else there is around here. I live not far from alki beach, and am loving every moment of it. There hasn't been one bad sunsett since we moved here.

Just thought I would share with you all. Take care

Stefan

[Spartacus]

me jealous...

[thartley]

That's a beautiful sunset!

[marlenedegrood]

I think you created that in Maya :) That's just too perfect. Ok.....I can move.....how much for a 2 bedroom 1 bath?

[Lake Films]

Wow, can I move in too, lol.

[ZFarms Productions]

that's a nice sunset... looks like a great neighborhood too...

[mdslammer]

Stefan,

Congrats! I'm jealous. What a gorgeous setting. I grew and live here in Las Vegas, NV. I can't wait until I retire and get out of here. I would like to move to
the Pacific Northwest. Either Oregon or Washington.

Would you mind telling me what the homes in your neighborhood go for?

Enjoy.

Mark

[HorseFilms]

Absolutely gorgeous.:)

[surf]

I think you created that in Maya :) That's just too perfect. Ok.....I can move.....how much for a 2 bedroom 1 bath?

hehe not maya. it is just a simple photoshop compositing :nads:

[jaredsilvia]

Concur. It is Tres Magnifique. Yeah, what's real estate doing in that area? We survive in a shack here in hurricane land so it can't be that bad, right?

Good freelance? People shooting films? Hot damn, I'm ready to call uhaul. Heh, just for sunsets and hilly streets.

[scharky]

Surf is on the right track, it is infact a photo composite, but just for the exposures. There is no way a single exposure could capture the way the sunsett was, so this photo is actually 6 different exposures, in a landscape stitched compososition, but beyond exposure composition, there is no other photoshopping that went on, this is pretty much how it looked to me when I was standing there taking the photo.

As far as for how much homes go for, well, they varry quite significantly. I have to be truthfully honest and tell you that from my apartment, we don't have a view anything like this, but this is about a block and a half from where I live. Apartments range from 600-1700 depending on the view, at least the ones we looked at, but you can find apartments with a view to alki beach for about 800-850, so it really isn't that bad at all. Houses and condos are the same story, with many houses entering the 1.5-3 million dollar range, again depending on the view, but there are many affordable houses as well. Best part, downtown seattle is about a 10 min drive. God I sound like an estate salesman, "COME ON OVER TO WEST SEATLLE it's where the Rockstars and cantalope roam!" :)

[scharky]

Yes there is actually great freelance here is well, I am pretty lucky and got a good contract going with a few production companies that are based out of west seattle/ Seattle. The film industry is really growing rapidly here, and with film festivals like SIFF, it attracts more and more attention to this area each year.

[EyeBite]

Yeesh, that is unbelievably beautiful.

[David Jimerson]

That's probably not far off Admiral Way, right?

[scharky]

Yep not too far. Admiral way cuts right through West Seattle. You familiar with Seattle David?

[David Jimerson]

I lived there for a few years -- mostly in north Queen Anne (right by SPU) and near Green Lake.

(Trivia -- Mary Kay Letourneau got it on with her student in a car in the SPU parking lot right outside my front window. According to news reports, anyway; I didn't actually see it.)

Do yourself a favor -- get to the U district and find Pete's, which is near Scarecrow Video, and get a calzone. They are the most insanely incredible calzones on the planet. Heaven on a plate.

[scharky]

I may head out there today, sounds great

[mcgeedigital]

Great shot!

What are you using for your photo stitching?

[insanityfw]

Amazing. Almost makes me miss home. I grew up in Washington and the most I enjoyed it was when I lived on Queen Anne. I also miss having a strong, indie film community.

Great pic. Thanks for sharing.

[TC]

Do you have a nice comfy couch I can come crash on for my vacation?

[J.R. Hudson]

Jesus ....................

[scharky]

Yeah, it's great moving from a small town in the middle of nowhere to a place that actually has a strong and progressive art community.
The all the exposures were composited and stitched within photoshop. I haven't found a stitch software yet that lets me do what really want to, but if you have any suggestions, I wouldn't mind saving a step.
You all have to remember, that my house isn't really near this nice, I'm right out of college and have a huge student loan to pay off, but living really close to nice houses makes me feel good atleast. :)

[Norm Sanders]

Wow, gorgeous shot/location, Stefan.

For those of you now wanting to move to the PNW (Oregon/Washington), I'd suggest Vancouver, WA as a prime local. Only an hour and a half from nearly EVERY geographical terrain you could hope for - ocean, desert, year round snow from the glacier on Mt. Hood, forests, etc.). Vancouver, WA is basically a connected metropolis to Portland, OR with just the Columbia River dividing the two cities.

BUT, in Vancouver, WA there's no state income tax. AND in Portland, OR there's no sales tax ... so you can actually save 15-20% in taxes alone by living here.

Homes can range from $150K+ for a starter ranch style to well into the millions (got a local $6MM home selling right now).

[David Jimerson]

I like Vancouver very much, and if I were to move back to the PNW (which is part of the eventual plan), that's where I'll go.

[CineMark]

Seattle is my FAVORITE place in the entire USA. I've been there 3 times in the last couple years and I love it. Last time we were able to take a couple days and drive out to Olympic National Park. I never wanted to come back to flat boring Florida ever again. But here I am, still. Good job security is just too hard to walk away from when you're raising a family.

Anyway, BEAUTIFUL photo. You really made me miss Seattle. I'll be back.

[David Jimerson]

One thing I'll have to point out, though --

Everyone thinks they can suffer the winters . . . until they live through a few of them.

That's not in the brochures . . .

[Mark Harris]

I love Seattle too. Used to live on Queen Anne, and some on Cap Hill. Great town and easily one of the most beautiful in the country.

[blckhawk542]

Looks really niiice.

Can u post the other 6 photos so we can see how much of a difference there was between them? :)

[scharky]

Wow, alot of people from or familiar with Seattle. David, yeah the winters aren't the best, but they are better than where I was before. I think the key is to embrace the rain :)

[scharky]

Sure Blckhawk, why not

the following link has jpg's converted directly from the raw file. Feel free to play around with them as you like. Each file has been downsampled to about 1.6 MP, but you should still be able to work with them.

The photos range in exposure from F5 @ 1/200, 1/50, 1/5

http://www.stefweb.net/SSWSSP

[JimtheJib]

can you explain the process of combining different exposure shots? id like to try it myself one day.

awesome photo!

[Norm Sanders]

I'm assuming (though I've not tried it & now am dying to) that it's a matter of locking your camera on a tripod, then adjusting the apeture and/or shutter speed over the course of several different shots ... then in Photoshop just cutting & layering with feathers to get the desired look you want.

Am I close, Stefan?

[scharky]

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. I used to do the same thing with film, but after scanning the film, you then had to line up the to exposures, which was really hard to do, with digital, everything is exact, and is actually really easy to do.

[JimtheJib]

thanks. i;m gonna try that soon

[Kirk Gillock]

Beautiful. I miss Seattle so much. Will be back there in July. Now that I know where you live, do you have a sofa I can sleep on for a few days? :)

[scharky]

Hey, glad to hear your heading back. We have better than that, we've got a hideabed :) It's real comfy too. How long are you coming back for?

[Kirk Gillock]

About a week. Will be there for the 4th. :) Alki has great views of the fireworks. Take some photos.

[david jerome]

God I'm so depressed.

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

One thing I'll have to point out, though --

Everyone thinks they can suffer the winters . . . until they live through a few of them.

That's not in the brochures . . .

Haha it can't be worse than Alamosa, -20 degrees or worse in the winter. Beautiful photograph and neighborhood by the way Scharky, reminds me of where my grandparents live.

[Slimothy]

Wow. That is really nice. Talk about a great view.

[imgentertainment@mac]

That is Just to beautiful. I really think you photoshoped that. Good luck on the new hood