Columbia Tower Photo Shoot

I don't usually get up at 4:30 in the morning (okay, I hit the snooze button a few times - it was really 4:50 am) to meet a client for a photo shoot.

View from a lower deck

Not knowing what the traffic to Seattle would be like on Friday, my goal was to get on the road by 6:15 and I made it. The trip was uneventful, except for my GPS telling me to stay in a right lane when I needed to exit on Seneca. My trusty Smart Car darted across the lanes and I made it, both onto Seneca and then around the block and back toward the Columbia Tower.

View from a lower deck

According to my Google search: "Built in 1985, the Columbia Center is the 7th tallest building in the USA, and at 932 feet, it is the tallest building in the entire Pacific Northwest. The building has 76 floors, 46 elevators, and the antennas on the roof bring the total height to 967′. While the Space Needle is Seattle's Statute of Liberty, the Columbia Center is our Sears Tower. Our Empire State Building. It’s the centerpiece of the best skyline in the solar system. It’s the first thing you see when you approach Seattle, and the last thing you see when you leave."

I had also read a review about the parking situation at Columbia Tower. It wasn't pretty, which swayed my decision not to take my grown up car, but to take the Smart Car instead. The Columbia Tower has a very odd floor plan. This makes the 5-level underground parking lot very tricky. There's all these weird little nooks and oddly shaped corners into which the most awkward and tiny parking spaces are fashioned. Voila! The Smart Car fit nicely into one of these oddly shaped spaces which had room for two small cars. Little did I know at the time that when I left two hours later, the driver of the car who parked next to me decided he/she needed lots of room to exit the car, leaving me with about 18 inches to squeeze into my driver's side. (Thank goodness for Body Back, I'd lost enough inches to fit!)

My purpose in going to the Tower was to meet a client who is a professional speaker. I'd taken individual photos of her the previous Tuesday at a South Sound location and also took photos of her during her workshop. I laughed when I got the email from the event organizers letting me know that only the audience's "backsides" could be photographed. Since they were sitting on them, I didn't quite accomplish that task.

On Friday, my client was attending a board meeting on the 76th floor of the Tower. A number of the other board members had agreed to arrive early, serve as models, and allow their images to be used on a business website.

Bellevue east

Space Needle north

Getting to the 76th floor is an adventure in itself, riding two different elevators, the first to the 40th floor and the second to the 75th floor. The Columbia Tower Club is on the 75th floor with incredible 360 degree views of Seattle.

Quest/ Century Link Fields
south

A "Members Only" establishment, I waited there for my client to arrive  - and took a few photos. She did, and we took a third elevator to the 76th floor where meeting rooms are located. The shoot was quick and fun. Since they were all roll playing, I was privy to discussions on the ins and outs of coaching executives, where the organization's picnic should be held, and the favorite books these individuals had recently read.

View from the Powder Rooms

As I left, my client asked if I'd used the women's restroom on that floor. An odd request, but once she escorted me in, I understood why. Every individual powder room (really couldn't call these "stalls") was very nicely appointed and each had it's own spectacular view of the city. Although I had to leave, I can well imagine that many have lingered while resting on their "laurels" just for the view.

Am I having fun or what! I never know what the next photo shoot will bring.