Downtown Bellevue Park

Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle) has a nice downtown park. Here are some photos, focusing on the water features.

You can see lots of other parts of our planet by visiting the excellent Our World Tuesday meme.

Washington Flowers

From our Washington trip last month, here are some of the flowers we saw. First, two photos from the downtown Bellevue park:

And finally some flowers from Seattle itself.

Tina's PicStory theme this week is April flowers; we don't have any where I live yet but these from our March vacation will have to do. And of course, they're an entry for Our World Tuesday.

Downtown Bellevue Park Trees

For Skywatch Friday, here are some tree photos from the downtown park in Bellevue, near Seattle, on a typically mostly-cloudy day last week.

Mercer-Slough Rainforest

Going back to one of my favorite places from Bellevue, here is some rainforest growth in the Mercer-Slough park.

And that's the last of my Bellevue photos from last year's trip, and my Scenic Sunday entry for the week.

Bellevue Bridge

Tina's PicStory theme this week is "B", so I thought this railroad Bridge in Bellevue (Washington) would be appropriate. And I'm also linking it with Sunday Bridges.

Downtown Bellevue Evening

This week's part of Our World is in the early evening in Bellevue, from our visit last summer. I also chose these for Tina's PicStory theme of "evening mood." First is a pleasant path I found just outside downtown.

Next is a fountain inside the Microsoft building, with water running down a tall sculpture. This was next to the amazing glass sculpture I posted a few weeks ago.

And finally, a street at dusk. It wasn't too lively, despite being near a major shopping area. But it was still an attractive city.

Bellevue's Ferns

For my last Scenic Sunday entry of the year, here are some photos of ferns taken in Bellevue's Mercer-Slough Park back in May.

I loved the vibrant green of the ferns (not something we see in the dry climate where I live), and the sunlight in the second shot (not something we saw much of when we visited the Seattle and Vancouver area).

Mercer Slough Plants

With all the plants where I live dormant for the next several months, I'm revisiting our late-spring visit to Bellevue to post some lovely green plants and wildflowers found in the Mercer Slough park. I've posted several shots from here before, all taken on a mostly cloudy visit.

Visit Scenic Sunday for more beautiful vistas from around the world.

Glass Sculpture

As I was trying to find a photo to use for this week's theme of "glass" on Tina's PicStory, I realized that this one was perfect, and it's also a very cool part of Our World!

This astounding glass sculpture is suspended above a shopping area, in a building which also houses Microsoft, in Bellevue, Washington. The photo doesn't show the amazing scale of the glass. I wish I could find more information about this sculpture but I'm not having any luck.

Mercer Slough Bridge & Canal

This week's Scenic Sunday post also includes a bridge specially for Sunday Bridges. It's at the Mercer Slough Park in Bellevue, Washington, where a footbridge crosses the canal.

 Despite the generally flat skies, the view of the canal was still very pretty.

I still have some more shots of this great park, so if you're enjoying these stay tuned! These shots (including the previous post's) were all taken back in May, so that's why everything's so green. I'm so far behind on posting my summer photos it could still take me months to catch up! But I have to save some for the winter, when I don't get as many good shots.

Mercer Slough Skies

For this week's Skywatch Friday entry, here are some more shots from Bellevue's Mercer Slough Park that I introduced on Monday. The foliage here was so lush and beautiful, but the skies were rather dull when I was there.

I've still got lots more photos to come from this park.

Mercer Slough Trail

For Scenic Sunday, here are some shots of a trail in Bellevue's beautiful Mercer Slough Park. I hope you're not getting tired of my photos from this area yet!

 This one makes me think of a trail you might find in the Lord of the Rings.

 They even have boardwalks over the swampiest areas!

If you've got some extra time in Bellevue, I recommend spending a morning or afternoon exploring this park.

Mercer Sough Reflections

This week's theme at Tina's PicStory is reflections, which matches the Watery Wednesday meme, so this photo is for both. I thought it a good time to introduce Bellevue's Mercer Slough Park, which I visited when we were in the Seattle area this summer. This large park includes a waterway, swampy areas, and lots of great trails. But first up is a simple reflection taken in the park.

I've got lots more photos to post from this beautiful park which I'll post over the next few weeks.

Newcastle Beach Trail (Bellevue)

Last week for Scenic Sunday I left you at Bellevue's Newcastle Beach Park. This week I'm showing you a nature trail next to that beach. It was typical Western Washington, with lots of green vegetation. It ran near the lake for a while.

After a short distance it turned inland among the trees.

It was typical Western Washington, with lots of green vegetation.

If you end up at the beach, this short trail is well worth exploring.

Newcastle Beach Park (Bellevue)

Newcastle Beach park sits on Lake Washington in Bellevue. Since I don't see many beaches in my part of the world, while my family was shopping I took a short visit there and came back with some photos! I liked the trees that lined the path to the beach.

Although the weather wasn't perfect, I loved the large expanse of water. And the solitude, as the place was empty.

And there was real sand!

Next week I'll show you some photos from a short nature trail next to the beach. But until then, visit Scenic Sunday, where I'm sure you can find more beach photos.

Bellevue Botanic Garden Trees

For Scenic Sunday, here's my last post from the Bellevue Botanic Garden, of some trees. Since I was limiting myself to my 50-mm lens for this whole garden (approximately 75mm equivalent in 35mm film terms) I found it quite a challenge to get some worthwhile upwards-looking tree photos. Nevertheless, I liked the deciduous and evergreen combination in this first shot, despite the dull grey (soon to rain) sky.

And I liked the shape of the primary tree in this second shot.

And that's all from the Bellevue Botanic Garden. But there will be more scenic photos next week! Maybe something closer to where I live. And thanks to Clytie for pointing out the giant heart in the first shot, and linking it to Guest Heart Thursday!

Bellevue Botanic Garden Trail

Here are a couple more photos from the lovely (and free) Bellevue Botanic Garden, this time some very green shots from the trail. It's very rainy here!

For more scenery, wet and dry, visit the Scenic Sunday meme.

Watery Bellevue Botanic Gardens

Continuing my tour of the Bellevue Botanic Gardens, here are some of the lovely water features, in the grey light from the cloudy and rainy day when I was there.

The next one was taken through some leaves, with a very wide aperture to blur those leaves and create a frame for the water. I'm not sure it's completely successful.

But I did like this green reflection.

I think this is appropriate to link to both Water Wednesday and Scenic Sunday. Visit both memes for lots of great photos!

Bellevue Botanic Gardens Flowers

While staying in Bellevue earlier this year, I took the opportunity to visit the Bellevue Botanical Garden, which was close to our hotel. I was impressed, and I've decided to start posting some of the photos from my visit. Here are some of the flowers which I enjoyed. It was a cloudy day, raining by the time that I left, but I was still happy with some of the photographic results.

Every photo I took in this garden was taken with my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens - there wasn't much light, and I really wanted to experiment with using a single non-zoom lens in the field as well as trying a narrow depth of field, forcing me to actively compose the photos. There are several more posts to come from this area. But until then, visit Scenic Sunday for more scenic shots around the world.

Scenic Sunday - Seattle Columbia Center Skyview

The first thing we did in Seattle was to go to the Columbia Center and visit their Skyview deck. This is Seattle's tallest building, taller than the famous Space Needle, and although the view isn't 360 degrees, it's still impressive. The first picture is of the building taken from its base; you can notice a spot of vapor near the top.

These next two photos are looking towards the Space Needle.

Next up is Qwest Field.

Here's a view towards the waterfront, with the cranes that unload the large container ships.

Here's Mount Rainier, a little hazy in the distance.

This is looking towards downtown Bellevue.

This is the Smith Tower far below us. For many years, Smith Tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

And finally, a view of a ferry ready to leave; this is probably the one going to Bainbridge Island, which we took the next day.