USA Fremont Troll, Seattle

If you find yourself in Seattle, Washington, and you like quirky, you will love the Fremont Troll. The Troll “lives” under a bridge—which is where all self-respecting trolls live—and is crushing an early model Volkswagen Beetle with (apparently) California plates. The Troll is a large concrete sculpture—18 ft/5.5 m tall and weighing 13,000 lb/5,900 kg—and was “born” in 1990.

For most visitors, this spot is all about photographing something quirky to show friends and not about making a photographic masterpiece. Because the Fremont Troll lives under a bridge, the lighting can be tricky. On a sunny day, the contrast between well-lit and shadowed areas can be quite large. In this situation, I suggest metering for The Troll and not worrying about any blown-out areas around the edge of the frame or shadowed areas behind The Troll. Alternatively, you could make an HDR image, which many current cameras can do automatically. On a cloudy day, the lighting will be more even and easier to handle.

I suggest using something like a 24-mm or 28-mm (35-mm format) lens. This will allow you to stand out of the street and north of the barricades that keep traffic out without generating too much perspective distortion. However, if you want that distortion, an ultra-wide-angle lens or even a fisheye lens could make a fun image.

Finally, feel free to put your travel companions in the photograph in front of The Troll. Lots of visitors do.

The Fremont Troll is located in the Fremont Neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, underneath the Aurora Bridge, at the north end of Troll Avenue where it intersects N 36th Street. The Fremont Neighborhood is located north of downtown Seattle and north of Lake Union. Because the Fremont Troll is in the middle of a large urban area, it’s probably best to let a GPS guide you here. Street parking (free, IIRC) is available along both Troll Avenue and N 36th Street. The area around The Troll is partially residential and partially commercial, so please be considerate when parking.

For more information:
https://fremont.com/explore/sights/troll/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Troll
https://seattle.curbed.com/2019/6/4/18650083/fremont-bridge-troll-history-location