Uploads from Gabriel Tompkins

Amgen Footbridge

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:42:31 -0700

To usher in the new Flickr, the time has finally come to start uploading biggr images! My pictures have started looking like dinky thumbnails lately. :)

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
EXIF: 20sec | ƒ/8 | ISO 100 | 22mm
GPS: Amgen Helix pedestrian bridge in Belltown, Seattle, Washington

Hi Flickr! You look familiar. Have we met?

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:06:27 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

I've had the feeling an overhaul was in the works for a while now. Most of these changes aren't too surprising considering we've already seen most of them added to other parts of the site over the past year, but today's rollout is still quite likely to ruffle a lot of feathers. Expect lots of unhappy people in the help and group forums. I don't want to draw too many conclusions until the dust finally settles and the interface further ironed out, but I do feel more hopeful for the future. It was refreshing to see Yahoo publicly discuss Flickr, its future and a renewed focus on its longevity. Whether we like it or not, significant changes were absolutely necessary to prevent Flickr from becoming an early 2000s era dinosaur. Good times ahead, I think.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
EXIF: 1/2000 | ƒ/8 | ISO 200 | 18mm
Location: Queen Anne, Seattle, Washington

Urban Bloodstream

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:12:00 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

I decided to revisit an old image and start from scratch with a totally different approach. I'm fond of this long exposure shot of Interstate-5 snaking its way through Seattle, but the imbalanced composition always bothered me as did the ugly colorcast (I had a lousy computer monitor back then). I decided to go for a totally square crop this time and restore the lost color. The result is much closer to how I originally saw the scene while peeking over the edge of the Lakeview Blvd overpass.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
EXIF: 20sec | ƒ/8 | ISO 100 | 34mm
Location: South Lake Union in Seattle, Washington

Olympic Fire

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:43:39 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

Though a stunning sunset, I later learned that the intensely smoky sky was the result of a forest fire in the Olympic National Forest due to negligent campers not properly extinguishing their campfire.

Because it's there

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:50:11 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

When looking at something this enormous in front of you, I find it really difficult to encapsulate that feeling in a photograph. Of all the shots from this trip, this is the only one that seemed to get close to capturing the sense of scale. At the bottom of the frame you can see my good friend, Jesse, taking a moment away from his own viewfinder to pose for me. :)

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
EXIF: 1/320 | ƒ/8 | ISO 200 | 50mm
Location: Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Rainier River Valley

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:58:55 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

Along the way to Paradise we took a slight detour onto Ricksecker Point loop drive to get a better view of this Nisqually river valley running down around the base of Mount Rainier. In retrospect it was one of the best and most photogenic views of the mountain we saw on the the whole trip. A truly epic experience. I'd love to visit again this year before winter kicks in.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
EXIF: 1/320 | ƒ/8 | ISO 200 | 38mm
Location: Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Wanapum Vista

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:04:31 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

Took a spontaneous trip west to chase the sun last month. After driving through rain and hail, the sky finally opened up before sunset near Vantage along the Columbia river. It was a reminder to me that I need to get out more often and really explore the eastern half of Washington and the greater Inland Northwest. Much to see this year as spring and summer settle in.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
EXIF: 1/350 | ƒ/5.6 | ISO 200 | 32mm
Location: Wanapum Vista viewpoint in Grant County, Washington

Spokanorama

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 17:53:05 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

After roaming around the south hill one night in search of a good vantage point high enough to get an unobstructed view of the city, I finally stumbled upon this spot, which is probably about as good as it gets for full viewpoints of downtown. And well… it is not Seattle. :) There isn't much in the way of progressive architecture here, but it'll be my home for a bit longer yet, so I intend to seek out whatever interesting things I can find while I'm here. The wide angle made it seem even smaller and more diminutive, so I opted for a 9-shot panorama instead and this was the result. I know panos always display pretty poorly no matter how you do it, but if you're curious you can click HERE for the full size (scrollable) version.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
EXIF: 4sec | ƒ/11 | ISO 200 | 66mm
Location: Cliff Drive viewpoint in Spokane, Washington

Mallcat

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:34:34 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

There are few things that put my brain to sleep more quickly than roaming around an American shopping mall. :) But, you might as well make the best of it while you're there. These interesting windows did tickle my eyes… especially upside down.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
EXIF: 1/750 | ƒ/5.6 | ISO 200 | 38mm
Location: Bellevue Square in Bellevue, Washington

Steam Plant Stairwell

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:10:47 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

While touring the First Friday festival in downtown Spokane we came through here to check out a new steam punk art exhibition. Incredibly dark in here, but talk about a cool historic building. This old steam plant has been renovated into a restaurant, but they've preserved all the enormous iron steam tanks, pipes and winding stairwells.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
EXIF: 1/30 | ƒ/4.5 | ISO 1600 | 18mm
Location: Steam Plant in Spokane, Washington

Equestrian Skyline

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:26:15 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

A spontaneous road trip west ended up near Vantage, Washington where looking east rests your eyes upon a herd of sculpted steel horses silhouetted along the ridge. The light was quite dark and gloomy by this time, but it was surreal to see them up there. Most of the sculptures are upwards of 6 feet tall.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm
EXIF: 1/180 | ƒ/5.6 | ISO 200 | 105mm
Location: Wild Horses Monument in Grant, Washington

I Wish...

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:59:11 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

;)

Twilight Pasqueflower

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:07:31 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

These papageno pasque flowers were some of the earliest to bloom at the Manito gardens. The beds are all still pretty barren, but I happened to catch these just as the sun was setting with a little bit of light still tickling the tops of their sepals. They're rather strange looking flowers with unkempt ragged petals, but intensely vibrant. I had to deeply underexpose to preserve their color. The name tag classified them as Pulsatilla Vulgaris which struck me as odd until I looked it up. Apparently they're highly toxic. Looks like I made the right decision to not start munching on them.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G Macro
EXIF: 1/500 | ƒ/3 | ISO 200 | 60mm
Location: Manito park gardens in Spokane, Washington

Echeveria Flower

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:46:12 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

I stumbled upon this charming little flower while perusing the large succulent collection at the Manito park greenhouse. I've never seen anything quite like it before and was amazed by the wide variety of exotic species and vibrant colors. I was so impressed by their beauty that I'm thinking of taking up echeveria botany as a hobby in the future and begin my own collection. :) Sadly, these striking little flowers were gone when I returned the following week, so their spring blooming season must be very short.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G Macro
EXIF: 1/350 | ƒ/4.8 | ISO 200 | 60mm
Location: Gaiser Conservatory in Spokane, Washington

Manito Succulent

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:38:55 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

I finally made some time to visit Spokane's Manito park greenhouse and Gaiser conservatory. I'd grown so accustomed to the gray skies, skeletal trees and brown foliage of winter that being surrounded by so many vibrant, colorful tropical flowers and plants kind of blew my mind. This strange plant is unlike any I've seen before with its velvety blue lavender leaves mottled with red. At first I thought it was some form of cactus, but later learned that it's actually a variegated echeveria succulent called Perle Von Nurnberg.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G Macro
EXIF: 1/250 | ƒ/4.8 | ISO 250 | 60mm

Between Up & Down

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:44:53 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

While roaming about River Park Square mall in downtown Spokane and making my way down to the bottom floor this escalator tunnel immediately caught my eye and got even more interesting when I tilted my head. I must have looked so ridiculous to passersby leaning over the railing like this.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC
EXIF: 1/30 | ƒ/5.6 | ISO 1600 | 10mm

Blue Hour Water Power

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:20:30 -0700

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

As the weather slowly mellows I've been finding more willpower to get out and find interesting Spokane locations to photograph. I've always liked this view of the Spokane river and Washington Water Power building.

Cold

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:54:18 -0800

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

Finding the motivation to go out and face the winter weather has been harder than ever for this California kid after my move to the inland northwest. Maybe I'll learn to appreciate it one day, but the thing I remember most from this trek through the rural valley area is a frozen nose and numb fingers.

Davenport Cliffs

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:25:17 -0800

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

Davenport is a small California coastal town just north of Santa Cruz and a brief little stroll to the other side of Cabrillo highway brought me to this remarkable viewpoint trail. I'm glad I brought the camera! I wish it hadn't been quite so foggy and windy, but the view was still amazing from up here and the diffused light saturated the colors of the rocks and ocean in really interesting ways. I got as close as I could to this precarious edge with the wind nearly knocking me over. One of these days I'd love to explore the California coast in earnest… with a tripod made of lead, some 50 pound sand bags and a cybernetic prosthetic arm to help keep it steady. :)

Press L or click here to view on a much nicer black background

Upper Twin Falls

nobody@flickr.com (Gabriel Tompkins) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:58:57 -0800

Gabriel Tompkins posted a photo:

After a long walk on an old logging road and healthy hike through the forest along Iron Horse trail we reached our final destination at last. Both the upper and lower falls are easily seen from a well travelled passenger bridge over the Snoqualmie river further down the trail, but climbing down into this gorge and waterfall pool is less well known. The nearly vertical "path" is a rather precarious climb, forcing you to cling to roots and branches along the way, but it's well worth the effort. The wide angle of view belies the scale here. Those "twigs" to the mid left are more akin to small trees. :)

Press L or click here to view on a much nicer black background