Howe Street Stairs
The Howe Street Stairs is a long public staircase cutting through the Capitol Hill neighborhood, dropping 160 feet over 388 steps and opening up into one of Seattle's more unexpected urban panoramas. From the top landing you get a wide view that layers the Space Needle, Seattle Center, the Fremont Bridge, and the steady flow of I-5 traffic below, giving you strong foreground-to-background depth. A wide angle lens works well here to pull in the full cityscape, while a longer focal length lets you compress the freeway traffic into light trails during blue hour. Shoot at dusk when the city lights begin to mix with the fading sky, or try early morning for mist and soft light with fewer people on the stairs. The staircase itself makes a natural leading line pointing toward the skyline, so consider shooting downward from the top for a dramatic diagonal composition. Street parking is available nearby and the stairs are open year-round. (Seattle, Washington, United States)
