Trip Date: September, 2022
I first visited Chihuly Garden and Glass as one of the attractions included with the CityPass. It made an ideal starter to a visit to the Space Needle as it is located in the Seattle Center and is about a 30-second walk away. The gallery includes indoor exhibits as well as a garden where works are posed to blend with the natural environment while the Space Needle stands towering above you.
On my first visit, I did not take any pictures, as I was saving myself for the Space Needle itself, but the glasswork on display was beautiful, and I knew that I had to go back on a trip devoted solely to trying to capture that beauty.
For my second visit, I toured the gallery twice near the end of the day and was fortunate enough that on the second pass I was able to photograph most of the works without other people in the frame. I have mentioned before that the dual-fisheye lens I am using captures 180 degrees, or basically, everything in front of the camera, meaning that it can be hard to take photographs without including people or unwanted objects.
I hear that it is unusual for summer to be extending as long as it is this year, but that meant that although I visited at the end of September, towards the end of my time staying downtown, it was a warm, sunny day and the walk back provided a lovely view of Seattle’s streets, the setting sun, and the Space Needle in the background.
Particular highlights for me in this VR gallery are the images from the conservatory looking up to the flowers on the ceiling and out through the glass roof, and the fact that I was able to hold the camera close to the pieces, meaning that it really gives you an experience of inhabiting this alien world, more so than I felt in person! For a helpful guide on navigating the images in the VR gallery, please see the tips pinned to the left-hand side, or follow the link to the How To page. The gallery can also be viewed on non-VR devices such as a mobile phone or laptop which will allow you to pan around the images. This gallery contains 39 images and will loop when you get to the end. Please click the image below to enjoy the VR experience:
