The Space Needle is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest and symbol of the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington. Located on the grounds of Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators -- 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is a tower 184 m (605 feet) high and 42 m (138 feet) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.^ It is built to withstand winds of up to 240 km/h (150 mph) and earthquakes up to 9.5 magnitude (which, by coincidence, was just enough to resist Seattle's later discovered Cascadia earthquake) and has 25 lightning rods on the roof to prevent lightning damage.

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Space Needle - IMG_7577
Made by Nicola since 1972
The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington, and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet (184 m) high at its highest point and 138 feet (42 m) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h) and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. The tower also has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage. The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (160 m), and a gift shop with the rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet (152 m). From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle in a prominent position, even appearing to tower above the rest of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Mount Rainier in the background. This occurs because the tower, which is equivalent in height to a 60-story building, stands roughly four-fifths of a mile (1.3 km) northwest of most downtown skyscrapers. Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle via elevators that travel at 10 mph (16 km/h). The trip takes 43 seconds, and some tourists wait in hour-long lines in order to ascend to the top of the tower. On windy days, the elevators are slowed down to a speed of 5 mph. The Space Needle was designated a historic landmark on April 19, 1999 by the City's Landmarks Preservation Board. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Needle


Space Needle View HDR
Made by Fresnatic
Well instead of a Bird's Eye View of Seattle, here is a Space Needle View of downtown Seattle and Mt Rainier! I decide with the awesome weather we were having today, I would get a different view of Seattle...one that I have never posted before! I was happy to be able to tote my tripod up to the observation deck, which is at about 60 stories high. It was extremely cold with the wind blowing, as we had some snow yesterday. I shot this with my Canon 10-22mm EFS lens propped up on my tripod. The tripod did not help much except to stabilize the camera as you really need to lean your tripod against the rail. I wanted to capture the energy of the city with some long exposures and also decided to not crop out the Saucer's Edge of the Space Needle for a different feel. You almost could believe that you are hovering above the city in a flying saucer! I shot three exposures (-2,0,+2) merged and tonemapped in Photomatix 4.0. I then cropped and did a little ghosting cleanup in Photoshop CS5. Final tweaks in Lightroom 3.0. I want to wish all of my Flickr friends a safe and prosperous New Year! I appreciate your friendship and all of the comments, views and faves over the past year! I hope to continue to grow as a photographer and improve my HDR processing skills...I still have a long ways to go! I also look forward to what 2011 brings in your photo streams! Happy New Year!


Seattle Downtown - Streets Of Gold
Made by Gladwin Johnson
Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared to other city centers on the West Coast because of its geographical situation: hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by the Elliott Bay, and on the south by reclaimed land that was once tidal flats. It is bounded on the north by Denny Way, beyond which are Lower Queen Anne (sometimes known as Uptown), Seattle Center, and South Lake Union; on the east by Interstate 5, beyond which are Capitol Hill and First Hill; on the south by Yesler Way, beyond which is the International District and part of Pioneer Square; and on the west by Central Waterfront and Elliott Bay. Belltown, the Denny Regrade, and the rest of Pioneer Square are sub-neighborhoods of Downtown. Near the center of Downtown is the Metropolitan Tract, owned by the University of Washington, the location of the university's pre-1895 campus. Downtown is Seattle's main financial district, waterfront, and shopping area (surrounding Westlake Center and connected to Seattle Center by way of a monorail), which make up the bulk of Downtown. It is also home to the landmark Pike Place Market.


Blue Angels and Space Needle
Made by cookinghamus
This year, unlike most years, I was unable to make it to the Blue Angels performance which occurs annually in Seattle as part of the Seafair festival. The performance takes place largely over Lake Washington, but the very last thing that the Blue Angles do is fly in formation in a big lazy loop around Seattle. I knew this, and so even though I was home, I made my camera ready for the moment where they'd fly behind the space needle. I sat down and was working when I caught them out of the corner of my eye. I jumped up, grabbed my camera, ran outside onto my deck, and shot a series of approximately 10 shots total. Of all of them, this is the one that nailed the composition that I wanted. I'm very fortunate to have gotten this shot. (and thanks to all the fine people who have commented so far!) Like much of photography, you can occasionally get a lucky shot, but you can't get the lucky shot if you're not trying to be in the right place at the right time.


Seattle and Mt. Rainier
Made by ❖ Arianwen ❖
Picture was taken from the Space Needle Tower, in background the beautiful Mount Rainier. The mountain was originally named Tahoma or Great Snowy Peak by the Yakima Indians. Captain George Vancouver renamed it after Admiral Peter Rainier of the British Navy during a scouting expedition on May 7, 1792. This name was hotly contested for over 100 years, because Americans felt it shouldn't be named after a British officer who had never even been to the U.S. The mountain is an active volcano encased in over 35 square miles of snow and ice, surrounded by old growth forest and stunning wildflower meadows. This picture is not really a favorite of mine but I really wanted to share Mt. Rainier's beauty with all of you. Captured with my old Canon Power Shot (3.2 mpx) you can clearly notice the lack of clarity and many other things...oh and that crane really bugs me... ;o) Thank you for your views and comments.


Flying Super Moon
Made by TheMunkyHouse
UPDATE: I posted a video sequence here: I was at Seattle Center trying to get a Super Moon shot with the Space Needle, but noticed the planes flying into SeaTac were flying near the moon around 10 p.m. last night. I waited a while for the moon to rise into the planes' pattern, and ripped off as many shots as I could before my batteries died. :) Frankly, it was dumb luck to capture the plane RIGHT in the center. Slight variations in the altitude, and the moon's changing position meant many shots had the plane just above or below. I'm also lucky that it was (I think) a 737. A larger plane wouldn't have been a full silhouette in the moon. A memorable Super Moon for me. (I wrote a bit more about the capture here: pugetsoundblogs.com/photovideo/2011/03/19/frames-the-supe... )


Seattle Center - "mini"
Made by CORDAN
Another from the mini archives. Seattle Center, Space Needle / 1964 Worlds Fair area. Taken from a Kenmore Air with my old handy Canon S3IS. One of the best cameras I've had.. Hit L to view on Black. A couple people have asked about how to do this. Here is the site I use for help. There is a Flickr group that uses an online web app to make these as well. I can't remember what it's called though. If someone knows let me know and I'll post it. Hope everyone has a LARGE weekend and week! Thanks to Beautiful Examples of Tilt Shift Photography for including this on your website! I'm honored.


Dreamy Space Clouds
Made by Surrealize
Highest position in Explore = 3 (Front Page) on February 24th, 2009, THANK YOU! As I was driving home from work one night last week, I noticed how the clouds began to separate and form some interesting patterns. Since I had my camera in the trunk “just in case” I decided to swing by Space Needle and take some shots. As soon as I got out of the car, I could see that I needed to move quick as the clouds kept changing and the sun was going down fast. I literally had just enough time to set up my tripod and fire off 1 set of 9 bracketed exposures before the clouds were gone and there was only blue sky left. Not like I should be complaining about cloudless skies in Seattle :-) Anyway, talk about being in the right place at the right time and it paid to have my gear on me!


HARD SUN
Made by Photocoyote
Seattle, WA - Seattle Center When I walk beside her I am the better man when i look to leave her I always stagger back again Once I built an ivory tower so I could worship from above when I climb down to be set free she took me in again There’s a big a big hard sun beating on the big people in the big hard world When she comes to greet me she is mercy at my feet I see her inner charm she just throws it back at me Once I dug an early grave to find a better land she just smiled and laughed at me and took her rules back again Once I stood to lose her and I saw what i had done bowed down and threw away the hours of her garden and her sun So I tried to want her I turned to see her weep 40 days and 40 nights and its still coming down on me Eddie Vedder (2007)


EMP - Seattle
Made by Muratodentro [ Luca Renoldi ]
In 1969 a screaming, reverberating rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix seemed to herald an end to innocence. His resonant lyric Are you experienced? is now recalled in the name of software billionaire Paul G. Allen's Experience Music Project. Hendrix would have appreciated the design approach to Seattle's new museum of pop music. Architect Frank O. Gehry has made a career out of bending vertical and horizontal lines of building construction into something defiant and sometimes poetic. With Seattle's EMP, opened just over a week before the Fourth of July, he has met his perfect client in Allen and his metaphorical match in rock-'n'-roll. The resulting architecture is a unique performance and a new landmark on the edge of the Seattle Center.


Mount Rainier
Made by WorldofArun
EXPLORE - December 24, 2008 (#464) 1. Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano (composite volcano) located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle, Washington.It is the highest peak in the Cascade Range and Cascade Volcanic Arc at 14,411 feet (4,392 m). 2. Captain George Vancouver reached Puget Sound in 1792 and became the first European to see the mountain. He named it in honor of his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. 3. Mountain climbing on Mount Rainier is very difficult; it involves climbing on the largest glaciers in the U.S. south of Alaska. Most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit. Climbing teams require experience in glacier travel, self-rescue, and wilderness travel. Source: Wikipedia November 22, 2008. Seattle, Washington.


Day 1: Downtown Seattle
Made by Dr. RawheaD
So we haven't started the road trip yet, but we've kicked off our trip in good ol' Seattle. I lived here in '80-'83; a lot of things have changed, some things haven't changed a bit. We met my wonderful Flickr friend {machel spence} and her family (beautiful India, too!), which was a blast. Did a lot of geek talk; talked about our kids' education; Machel gave us a couple of her *spectacular* mushroom pictures, and Shingo got a butterfly on a mount!! We were sorry we couldn't spend more time together, but Machel promised to take me to Mt. Rainier the next time we visit. Cool. We just need to make that like next month :-D Climbed the Space Needle for the first time in like 30 years. And what do you do when you climb high places? TILT SHIFT, BABY.


Cascade volcanic arc around Seattle
Made by WorldofArun
The Cascade Volcanoes are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the known historic eruptions in the contiguous United States have been from the Cascade Volcanoes. Two most recent were Lassen Peak in 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. The Cascade Arc includes nearly 20 major volcanoes, among a total of over 4,000 separate volcanic vents including numerous strato volcanoes, shield volcanoes, lava domes, and cinder cones, along with a few isolated examples of rarer volcanic forms such as tuyas. Source: wikipedia November 22, 2008. Seattle, Washington.


Merry Christmas from The Fishbone
Made by The Fishbone
Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings to everyone! I've really enjoyed my first 4 months on flickr. I've made more new friends in the past 4 months than in my past 40 years! This view is the top of the Space Needle in Seattle Washington. Every year just after Thanksgiving the top of the Space Needle is decorated with Christmas tree lights. This moon crescent is called a waxing crescent which means that the shape of the crescent is gradually growing into the first quarter phase. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! View Large size


Nocturnal Seattlescape
Made by David M Hogan
I bought a Gorillapod recently and used it here at the Space Needle. Above the observation deck railing there are all these horizontal suicide prevention cables that you have to shoot through. I bent one of the Gorillapod legs into a hook which I hooked on a cable then leveraged the other two on the plexiglass below. This held my camera up with the lens between the cables and allowed me to take unobstructed long exposures. The wind blew my camera around a little but my images came out reasonably sharp. Definitely better than if I had been shooting through the plexiglass.


View From The Top
Made by Reid Wolcott
Melissa, Amanda, Anthony, and I went up the Space Needle this evening! It's been several years since I've been up there and it was a wonderful day for it. All the other times I've been there it's been rather chilly. This was the scene when we first arrived at the top. A cirrus deck was streaming in from the NNW and my Sigma 12-24 was the perfect tool to capture it! Space Needle (looking NNW), Seattle, WA Canon 5D Mark II Canon 12-24 @ 12mm 1/60th sec., f/11, ISO 125 Visit my website.


stark
Made by Rachel-B
On black is better This was the overwhelming favorite for my Take a Class with Dave & Dave B&W Architecture Assignment. :) Yay! I wasn't sure if I really should use this one of the needle - I think because I see it practically everyday, it has become a regular object in my eyes. It's nice to step back for once and really look at it! B&W Conversion: Channel Mixer: R: +56, G: +52, B: 0 Levels: Input: 33, 0.68, 178


Breaking News: Aliens have landed
Made by WorldofArun
BREAKING NEWS: An Unidentified Flying Object (UFO), possibly a flying saucer just landed in the Seattle area. Local residents saw alien-like creatures getting down the UFO. Such UFOs were regularly spotted in the 50s and 60s. The intentions of the aliens are not known especially when looking at the timing of their landing. May be they like to party. Further reports awaited. I will keep you updated. Keep watching Flickr. Till then I wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2009.


Pacific Science Center
Made by katehailey
a few of us took advantage of having a Space Needle Annual pass this evening. Were hoping for a nice sunset, while the sun looked cool (bright reds and oranges), the sky was kinda hazy, and the colours that could have happened, didn't really end up working (yet), Quick edit on this shot, after the sun set, or close to it. P.S this is a RAW file. And it does look like it's time to clean the sensor again, but I rather like the results here...


A Cloud Over the City
Made by Craig Damlo
Project 68/365 I'm not really happy with this shot, but it's what I got for today. It's has just a bit of shake in it, from the longer exposure being hand held in 35 degree weather at the top of the space needle. I like the plane in the upper left and the cloud hanging over the city. Perhaps when it's warmer I'll have to retry this, still not sure how to completely eliminate the shake, I don't think I can use a tripod at the top.