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YOUR TAKE
Seattle

Your Take Today: USA TODAY's top reader photo

Melissa Gotleib
USAToday
A fiery sky at Discovery Park in Seattle, Wash.

A splash of color creates an unbelievable sunset for Your Take contributor Gopal Seshadrinathan.

Seshadrinathan heads to Discovery Park in Seattle as often as possible. He says it is truly a photographer's dream. "Divine sunsets, views of the Olympic mountains, a really cool lighthouse, views of Mount Rainier — it has everything," he says.

"A camera helps me look at the world differently, maybe in more dimensions," he says. "It seems to put my senses into overdrive, as I'm trying to respond with everything around me — the people, changing light, winds, clouds, even sounds."

In August, Gopal captured this image using a Nikon D700, a wide-angle lens at 16mm at ISO 100, a slightly long exposure of 8 seconds and all manual settings. In terms of processing, he says he applied a software neutral density filter in Adobe Lightroom to enhance the colors of the sky.

"If you look closely at the photo, you can see a shadow of sorts on the lighthouse. This is because the long exposure caught the 'ghosts' of a couple who were doing an engagement photo shoot there," he says.

For Seshadrinathan, photography is a hobby bordering on obsession. He took several courses at the Photographic Center NorthWest in Seattle, with emphasis on black and white photography, development, printing and long exposures. "My latest toy is a Carl Zeiss lens that I can't wait to try out this weekend," he says.

Seshadrinathan recommends Discovery Park, especially the West Point Lighthouse for anyone considering a trip to the Northwest.

For more of Seshadrinathan's photography check out his Twitter, Instagram, Facebookandwebsite.

Want to see more fantastic photos from folks just like you? Go to yourtake.usatoday.com . Have great original photos you'd like to share with the nation? Sign up for Your Take using your Facebook or Google+ account, and then follow us on Twitter, Instagram , Facebook and the Yo app at justyo.co/YOTAKE.

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