The hordes of tourists who flock to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in the summertime serve as a good reminder to me to appreciate the place where I live. I see folks riding the ferries across Puget Sound, and they’re wearing Boston Red Sox or Cleveland Indians t-shirts. They stand out on the decks of the boats with cameras out, and they snap-snap-snap pictures of the Seattle skyline to the east, or the Olympic Mountains to the west.
There is just something about these people that screams TOURIST, and everything they’re seeing appears to be New and Exciting to them.
I get my jaded, Cool-Local-Guy self out on the ferry decks with the tourists, and I too take pictures. Even though I’m observing a scene that I’ve seen hundreds or thousands of times before, I challenge myself to photograph it with new eyes. It’s a fun little visual exercise, and I wind up with a couple of pictures that I kind of like.
I just hope that, as I snap-snap-snapped there among the visitors, I didn’t look like I was one of them.
