The Comic Den in Renton

06/25/09

I’ve been collecting comics since I bought Wolverine #39 and 40 back in 1991. Before I wanted to be a photographer, I wanted to be a comic book artist. My friends would spend hours drawing comics every Friday night after the weekly trip to the comic store. Back in the early 90s everyone was into comics and the industry was growing. There used to be many comic shops in my hometown of Kent! As the 90s went by, I saw them close one by one. I found a shop in the Renton Highlands while I was going to BCC on the way to school, but they eventually closed. At UW, it wasn’t too hard to stop at one of the various shops in the U-District, but when I graduated, I was back down south and needed to find a more convenient place to buy my comics. I found the Comic Den in Renton and the guys there we very cool. I’ve been going there ever since.

Two weeks ago, the there was a huge fire that damaged the 97 year old building that the Comic Den was in. My wife called me and I turned on the TV to see water being dumped into the apartments just above the comic shop. The next day I drove by to check it out, and saw there were still fire crews and on-lookers. I looked in the shop to see a charred wet mess. Later that night I watched King 5 to see Howard talking about how it was hard to see but they would recover.

I stopped by the next week to see that there was a new location they would be moving into just around the corner. Finally today I got back down and they were open for business!! They were building displays and going through salvaging comics that had been protected by bags. I filled out a new card of the comic titles and artists that I collected and wanted in my box. The wolverine phone seemed to be ringing off the hook while I was there. I also looked through a small photo book of the old location.

I was very happy to see the recovery of the Comic Den. I hope their business will continue to improve and I look forward to many more trips to Renton for my comics.

Steve Rydgren

06-19-09

06-19-09

It’s busy wedding season! Ryan and I recently shot Ilean and Brian’s wedding in Seattle at the Blessed Sacrament Church. That venue was so amazing with the huge ceilings and old design!

I also loved getting photos of them showing off their dance moves at Hotel Deca.

I did some engagement photos for Fawn and Darren down at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. This may be my favorite park to shoot at. The roses were in full bloom.

I finished Jamie and Kwadwo’s album in in record time just in time for their second reception in Michigan. It is one of my favorite albums I have created so far.

I finally got my new Color Efex Pro 3 software from Nik up and running on my work computer. There are some amazings filters and so many combinations to choose from!! I did some tests with my photos of Erica from my Vegas trip and really like the results.

I also did some maternity shots with Karen and Brian at their place.

I’m back to work editing photos, designing albums, and working on the new website!

Steve Rydgren

05-16-09

I just got back from a week long vacation with my wife! We flew out to Las Vegas and stayed at the Flamingo. It was nice to get away from the cold and rain of Seattle. While in Vegas, we got to meet up with my friend Erica who lives with other artists. One of the rules when you visit is that you must create some art while you are there, so we had a quick photo shoot!

Stacy and I then rented a car and drove to Zion National Park in Utah. On the way we stopped at Fire Canyon and started to see the beautiful red rock. We were very impressed with Zion when finally got there. The park was very well organized and maintained. There are buses that run up and down the canyon that stop at trailheads and vistas. We hiked up and saw some of the pools and waterfalls.

I also got a new blackberry phone and switched my service to Verizon. I get much better reception with my phone now. I also have a data plan that keeps me connected with people through email, facebook, myspace, and model mayhem.

I’ve ordered some new gear recently from Nikon that will help with lighting and I also have the new Nik Color Efex Pro 3 software on the way. This software has 52 different creative filters that I can use to further stylize and enhance my work.

Wedding season is coming up soon! I’ve shot several engagement session in the last several weeks and I’m getting ready for Kwadwo and Jamie’s wedding. There are a couple other photo projects I’m also preparing for in the next few weeks.

Steve Rydgren
Photographer
Imaginessence, LLC

04-14-09

I’ve had a pretty busy last week and a half with photo shoots!

I had an engagement shoot with Rebecca and Nick at the quad at UW with the beautiful cherry blossoms. It’s kind of hard to get a shot without getting another photographer in it! There must have been 5 other wedding photographers there too.

I also had a shoot with our videographer Ryan in downtown Kent to get some headshots for our new website and business cards. We’re gearing up to have a great new look to our website!

Last Monday I was braving the crowds at Gene Coulon Park to shoot some headshots for Lisa who has an important audition coming up soon.

Last Wednesday I had part 4 of my 12 part series of baby Katie to document the first year of her life. We got some very cute shots with our St Patrick’s Day theme.

This past Sunday I had a photo shoot with Tia and Nyema in downtown Seattle who are working on their modeling portfolios. It was very wet and rainy, but we found some dry spots in Post Alley to get some cool shots.

I have also been finishing up wedding pictures for Ryan and Brittany, and working on revisions for Reagan and Lon’s wedding album!

My friend John Moore from Innovative Images Photography told me about a new book by Joe McNally called The Hot Shoe Diaries. This is by far one of the best photography books I have ever purchased! I’m half-way through it now and I’m getting all kinds of ideas for doing some amazing things with the Nikon Creative Lighting System. I can’t wait to test more of these lighting techniques out soon!

Steve Rydgren
Photographer
Imaginessence, LLC