More of South Park and the Duwamish Waterway, Seattle, Washington (Sea 10)

Each time I drive to Seattle, I find more interesting industrial and commercial topics to photograph south of the city and along the Duwamish Waterway. Let's start with another look at South Park and proceed north along the waterway.

South Park

14th Ave. South near South Cloverdale Street, South Park

14th Avenue is the main road running north-south through South Park. Many of the restaurants feature Hispanic foods.

 

Not much cooking any more in this taqueria

 

Industrial Zone 

 

Drive northwest, staying on the west side of the Duwamish, and you enter an industrial area. Many companies here serve marine activities and construction.
 

Duwamish Waterway from Overlook Park at South Portland Street

Debris, South Portland Street

(28mm ƒ/2.8 Vivitar lens)

Wire spools, South Fontanelle Street

(35mm ƒ/2.8 Pentax-A lens)

South Fontanelle Street

Rail cars, 4260 West Marginal Way

(Sears 50mm ƒ/1.7 lens, yellow filter)

General recycling of Washington, 4260 West Marginal Way

(Sears 50mm ƒ/1.7 lens, yellow filter) 

This ends out quick look at the west side of the Duwamish Waterway. Standby for more Seattle in the future.

I took these pictures on Fuji Acros II film with a Pentax MX 35mm camera and 28, 35, and 50mm lenses. Glazers Camera developed the film, but some part of the process resulted in tiny white spots on the film. I suspect it was from gas bubbles in the developer, or possibly the film was not agitated properly, leaving tiny spots undeveloped. They are barely visible on this scale. I will return to developing black and white film myself again. 

South Park Neighborhood, Seattle, Washington (Sea 09)

Seattle's South Park district is a compact neighborhood tucked between the west side of the Duwamish Waterway and the bluffs that rise steeply to Highland Park. The main thoroughfare running north-south is 14th Avenue South. Several Boeing factories are next to the Duwamish, and Boeing Field is across the River. 

South Park (from Google Maps)

The earliest Europeans settled the bottomlands along the Duwamish river in the 1850s. In the late 1800s, South Park was an agricultural community of Italian and Japanese immigrants. Industry developed along the banks of the waterway in the 1920s, with Boeing's first factory just to the north. World War II brought rapid growth of aircraft at Boeing Field and shipyards along the river. In the 1960s, the area began to attract Hispanic immigrants. 

During my short time looking around in October 2025, I could see the strong Hispanic influence in the stores and restaurants. Here are some examples.

Unicorn Ranch, 9021 14th Avenue S

The owner here had some interesting sculpture on the Unicorn theme.

Multiservisios, 9011 14th Avenue S (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

Multoservisios, 9011 14th Avenue S (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens)

Werner's Auto Repair, 9001 14th Avenue S (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens)

Werner's Auto Repair (25mm ƒ/4 Snapshot Skopar lens)

Time for lunch, 8709 14th Avenue S (25mm ƒ/4 Snapshot Skopar lens)

Closed shop (25mm ƒ/4 Snapshot Skopar lens)

Pros Tires, 8620 14th Avenue S (25mm ƒ/4 Snapshot Skopar lens)

This ends out too-rapid cruise through South Park. 

I took these photos on Kodak Portra 160 film exposed at EI=100. I used my Leica M2 camera with 21, 25, 35 and 50mm lenses (yes, I take too much equipment with me on an outing). 

The 50mm lens is the ƒ/2 Dual-Range (DR) Summicron from 1968. This is version 2 of the Leitz Summicron series. It was made as either a single range focus body or a more complicated dual-range version. I rarely use the close-up function but take the goggles with me in the camera bag. 

Many photographers love the way that these Version 2 lenses render their subjects, especially portraits. Mine has pristine coating and is totally clean inside. The contrast is a bit softer than modern lenses. 

50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens with close-up goggles to allow close focussing

This Summicron-DR lens will mount on all of the original film M bodies, the M3, M2, M4, M4-2, M4-P, and M6. I have read that it will not mount on the digital Ms, but do not have details. It will not mount properly on the Zeiss Ikon ZM camera, and the goggles would not line up with the viewfinder windows. 

The 25mm is the surprisingly competent little ƒ/4 "SnapShot" thread-mount lens from Voigtlander (made by Cosina). It is contrasty and, yes, of course it is "sharp."

Checking out South Seattle, Washington (Sea 08)

South of Seattle's business district and south of T Mobile Park is a broad flat area that is heavily industrialized. Rail lines criss-cross the area feeding King Street station and numerous companies and warehouses. Boeing Field is to the west, a short distance from the Duwamish waterway.  Here are a few frames from March of 2025, an overcast day with soft light. 

Downtown Seattle from South Horton Street (135mm ƒ/3.5 Pentax-M lens)

The Amtrak train and the Sounder run on some of these tracks as they approach the King Street Station.

Sounder commuter train, King Street Station (Canonet GIII QL17 camera)

King Street Station clock tower

King Street Station view south

The bell tower on the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy inspired this graceful clock tower. When new in 1906, it was the tallest structure in Seattle.

View south from South Horton Street

The neighborhoods south of the city offer interesting subject matter. I want to explore some more.

Fixer-upper house, 3rd Avenue South

Guard Lion, South Bennett Street

Teriyaki, 4th Avenue South

Most of these pictures are from Kodak Portra 160 film. I used my Pentax Spotmatic-F camera with various Pentax lenses. The photos in the King Street Station are from my Canon Canonet GIII QL17 compact camera. It has a superb 6-element 40mm ƒ/1.7 lens. I scanned the negatives with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED film scanner.

On the Waterfront: the Duwamish Waterway and Port of Seattle, Washington (Sea 07)

The Duwamish Waterway (river) flows into Elliot Bay along the base of the glacial drumlin that forms West Seattle. The mouth of the Waterway has been extensively modified to create the Port of Seattle. The city created Harbor Island and the other terminals by dredging and filling over the last century. This is a busy commercial harbor with container and bulk terminals. But I was surprised to find that the city has been preserving small parks and wetlands in the industrial zone. And bicycle paths let you bike along large sections of the shore, passing through or around the commercial terminals.  

March 2, 2025, was not raining, a good day to drive to the city and explore the waterfront. It was a cloudy Pacific Northwest winter day, the sky was overcast, and the light was blue.  Click any photograph to see it at 2400 pixels wide.

Port of Seattle and Harbor Island shore, view east

Seattle from Jack Block Park viewing tower

Port of Seattle view north (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens)

Terminal 5 from Jack Block Park, view south (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens)

Terminal 5, view south

Don't eat the oysters; Duwamish Waterway view northeast towards Seattle

Duwamish Waterway and Ash Grove Cement Seattle Plant (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Duwamish Waterway from Harbor Island Marina with West Seattle Bridge in distance

Rail car, West Marginal Way (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Work barges, Kellogg Island, from həʔapus Village Park & Shoreline Habitat (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens) 

Bicycle club members

I met these gents in the viewing tower at Jack Block Park. They had biked all the way from Lake Union along the Seattle waterfront. They belonged to a club and were in their 70s and 80s. Two of them had ridden through the new Rte 99 tunnel (under the waterfront) on the official opening day when it was open for bicycles.

I took these pictures with my Pentax Spotmatic F camera on Kodak Ektar 100 film, exposed at EI=64. This is a high contrast color negative film, which I find it hard to use. The scans from my Nikon Coolscan 500 ED scanner had too much blue. I used skylight filters on the lenses, but an even warmer filter, like an 81B or 81C would have helped. I corrected the colors as well as I could with the neutral grey dropper tool in Photoshop 6. 

This is Seattle article no. 07.

Seattle with my $13.50 Canonet (Sea 06)

Reflx Lab light meter

Some appointments took me to Seattle in early April. My intent was to take the Amtrak to King Street Station and then use one of the Lime rental bicycles. But rain was predicted, so I left my helmet at home. Well, as per typical Puget Sound weather, rain was falling in Olympia, but Seattle was sunny. 

OK, time to walk and try one of the Seattle Stairway Walks, the one from City Hall to Pike Place. Plus, it was another opportunity to test my $13.50 Canonet GIII QL17 camera. It is equipped with a 40mm ƒ/1.7 lens, a remarkably capable 6-element double-Gauss design, single coated. 

Because the camera's built-in light meter no longer works, I used a small meter that fits into the flash shoe. Mine is a model from Reflx Lab. At least ten electronics companies in China make compact light meters to attach to vintage cameras. They appear to be very accurate when used the right way (i.e., point them at the appropriate subject). This Reflx model has one of the larger fonts in its display, perfect for my vision.

King Street Station Area

Amtrak at the King Street Station

The Amtrak is only $14.50 from Olympia to Seattle (as of spring 2025). It saves you from the constant Interstate 5 traffic congestion at Joint Base Lewis–McChord. But the train is often delayed, so accommodate your schedule.

South Jackson Street at 4th Avenue

Parking garage, 400 4th Avenue

Business District

Seattle City Hall steps

Seattle's "green" City Hall is located between 4th and 5th Avenues. These impressive steps are part of the Stairway Walk. A stream gurgles down the left side of the steps. An employee inside told me that the fountain had just been restarted the day before. 

The 1914 Arctic Club Building with terra cotta walrus sculptures 

3rd Avenue view south (with a grumpy bus)

Federal Building steps leading to 1st Avenue

1224 1st Avenue

Pike Place

Public Market entrance from Pike Place

Vendor, main floor, Pike Place Market

Mmmm, nothing better than good ice cream

Lunch means Cioppino (Samsung digital file)

Maybe a hearty Cioppino in the market is better than ice cream. Maybe? 

Belltown

Waiting for riders on Pine Street

4th Avenue view south

By about 1 pm, the rain really started coming down. I took the trolley to Lake Union, completed my appointment, and returned to King Street station for the ride home. 

I took these pictures on April 7, 2025, using Kodak Portra 160 film, exposed at EI=100. I scanned the negatives with a Nikon Coolscan 5000 film scanner run by NikonScan software on a Windows 7 computer. 

Update:  Zacks Camera Repair in Providence, RI, overhauled and cleaned the Canonet. He repaired the light meter, and I used the Canonet on the Cycle the Hudson Valley bike tour in August of 2025.