Friend, Longshot aficionado, and photographer Lisa Ahlberg and I prowled the streets of Capitol Hill on the Solstice playing the lights and shadows of the night. (photo by Ann-Marie Stillion, 2013)

Every year in June Photo Center NW holds its crowdsourced fundraiser and photo fest, Longshot. This year photographer Dan Hawkins took a small crowd of night shooters out for a spin and showed us everything from how to use a laser pointer to utilize autofocus at low light to having fun with your camera’s self timer. He pointed out how to use the bulb setting to reproduce the effect of double images just like they used to BEFORE Photoshop, only in the digital world. Out of his bag of tricks came tumbling all kinds of light sources and I was bemoaning leaving behind my new Larry Lights and an old speedlight, which will have to wait for another day to come out to play. We walked and shot for three hours straight.

We dawdled at the Egyptian Theater which is rumored to close soon after its 98 year run on Capitol Hill. I thought of all the magical moments in those sagging seats like watching Richard Harris (known to millions as Albus Dumbledore in early Harry Potter films) sprawled across the stage at SIFF as he discussed the 1999 film “To Walk with Lions,” where he played the legendary lion preservationist George Adamson. I have watched so many great movies there I can hardly remember them all. Standing in movie lines always seemed like an honor more than a chore. I will miss it. Like a once lovely aging beauty, the Egyptian seems to be disappearing into history, and I wish Capitol Hill weren’t becoming just another anywhere USA. It’s a little hard to take. –ams