Dave Baack Photo

03/30/2026

Here's another fun one - SeaTac air Traffic from Queen Anne in Seattle. 3 second interval.

03/29/2026

3/16/24 Looking south from Gasworks Park, 20 Sec Interval time lapse. Avail in 4k & 8k.

12/31/2025

My 2025 in Pictures - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I went out 93 times this year, produced some 2.7 Terrabytes of data. In other words, I took it easy.

This year, I took a lot of photos in a lot of the same places and of the same things again and again, as a way of digging deeper into what I see in my day to day life. I've been returning again and again with a different point of view, different time of day. I watch as some selections stand the test of time, and others get replaced with new versions.

Only occasionally did I travel outside of my routines, save for a few trips across Washington State. I ventured from the Columbia River all the way to Orcas Island in an antique Subaru from the turn of the century.

This year brought a few new lenses, and new versions on old favorites. And flowers. So many flowers. I'm letting myself take pictures more freely than in the past, often simply prioritizing light, composition, color & texture over anything else. It's resulted in a lot of throwaways, but the keepers are assembling nicely into a style more emergent than planned. Seeing work progress during a relatively slow year is encouraging.

Editing season in fully underway, but it's sunny today so once I finish this I'm heading outside.

-DB

Below are a handful of favorites. Be sure to check the link for the full gallery & print sales.

Link in Comments

08/04/2025

07/16/2025

Time Lapse Sunset at Capitol Reef National Park, 2020. (0:50)

The sun breaks through dark clouds on the rock formation at sunset.

I set up and was not expecting this lightshow! I had just enough room on my cards for this sequence of 1,200 raw photos shot 5 seconds apart.

Quickly after this was over, back at the campsite, I transferred all of the files to an external drive on my laptop powered by a portable strobe battery used in wedding photography.

This lighting admittedly gave me trouble in the editing phase with how massive the swing in luminance is, as well as how long it can take to re-edit 1200 files that weigh 80MB each. The time-consuming nature of eding long sequences is why I haven't taken the time to get it just right

It took a few mis-cataloged previews, a couple re-imports, numerous exposure edits, re-edits, lots of waiting and progress bars, two walks around the neighborhood to get it right.

Now I am finally happy with the shadows & highlight drama that you see playing out here. No more overexposed highlights, no oversaturation.

After I was done editing the color & contrast, Lightroom exported 1200 Tiff files, and LRTimelapse Pro took those and made this video sequence.

Only the 1080p version is available online, since the 4k version is too large to upload to my website or any socials at 6.5GB

Editor's Note: As far as I'm concerned time lapses are my only use case for any Adobe product. If there were other exposure ramping raw processors available that worked with other raw processors, e.g.: Capture One, I'd jump ship immediately. This is a market vacuum I think exists, and I think someone should build such an application.

06/15/2025

Doing some data backup, and remembering the days I had this gig shooting storage units.
Those were *not* the days.

I DO remember being turned away for wanting too much money, then they came back a month later and told me their hire was no good, and they agreed to my rate.

I didn't even have a car, and I managed all these shots from Puyallup to Everett. Looking back, I learned more about myself and how to handle a challenge than any lighting or editing skill, and it was a huge step in getting better.

This was *after* I was an aerial photographer, so it would have been easy to feel bitter. But the ability to see this project through on my own still holds value today. Since then, I haven't shied away from any task that involves high volume. In photography or other areas of life. It just doesn't phase me. I've done an incredible amount of hideously repetitive tasks without losing morale or getting fed up.

It's fascinating to learn how things we learn serve us years later.

Anyway, back up your data.

01/12/2025

01/12/2025

I took a short walk this afternoon before sunset with my little Yashica 135mm 2.8 that I found for about $20. It's a compact little lens, and decently sharp at f4-f/8.

It was nice not having autofocus once again, and this time I only brought the camera, no bag or accessories. I really ought to use this lens more - I really like the focal length of it.

I was only out for about 45 minutes, but I managed to grab some interesting shots of the Phinney/Greenwood neighborhood I love so much.

I think the first shot is my favorite.

All from today, Jan. 11th, 2025.

01/10/2025

Last night around sunset, I went to the Seattle Waterfront and met my friend, Clark Labelson who introduced me to this interesting lens. It is a 50mm 1.4 Tilt Shift lens by TT Artisans, a new Chinese lensmaker.

T/S lenses have been around for quite some time, and were built for practical applications that were previously only achieved by using a large, heavy, slow, expensive and complex monorail camera.

The lenses in question, in addition to their practical applications, can effectively replicate the focusing capabilities of macro lenses, which are specifically designed to capture very small objects, such as figurines and model cars. This replication produces a visual effect similar to that observed in the real world.

It can indeed be somewhat disorienting; however, once I became accustomed to it, I rediscovered the familiar joy reminiscent of my early days as a photography student. The experience was immensely enjoyable.

I recommend positioning yourself above the subject and potentially incorporating one or two narrative elements while maintaining an aperture setting between f/2.0 and f/2.4. This range effectively minimizes chromatic aberrations often observed at f/1.4, while also enhancing the believability of the miniaturization effect.

Additionally, I appreciate the bokeh produced at this aperture, as it possesses a dreamy, cinematic quality characterized by aesthetically pleasing, rounded ovals of light.

I aspire to add this lens to my extensive Think Tank camera bag in the near future, allowing me to explore the world from a new perspective, which is arguably the most invaluable asset a photographer can possess.

Gear and conveyance:
Sony a7R3
TT Artisans 50mm 1:1.4 T/S
Really Right Stuff L-plate
Black Rapid Backpack camera sling
Think Tank Streetwalker v2.0
Converse Waterproof Boots

01/09/2025

Went in search of a little local color around my neighborhood the other night. Just a twilight stroll, one camera, one lens, no bag, no extras. All manual focus, nice and slow.

01/07/2025

Some of my favorites form my recent visit to Orcas Island, the Crown Jewel of the San Juan Islands here in Washington state.

Fine Art prints and Wall Art now available on my website - www.davidbaack.com/Destinations