hydrangea

Wow. It's been a while since I've posted regularly. Last summer, I focused primarily on doing so. This summer, my focus has been on getting our kitchen functional again. That includes carefully snaking the extension cords around her lovely hydrangeas. The joys of home ownership!
(ISO 100, f/4.0, 1/80s)

rosebud

We went to Longwood Gardens in search of orchids. None of my shots were too great. The light on this rose in the greenhouse turned out pretty fantastic though.
(ISO 100, f/4.0, 1/800s)

shambles

As the prison expanded, each new cell block held more prisoners that the original ones. Over the years, Eastern has fallen into disrepair. Tourists support restoration efforts with the admission fee. Despite the negative effect it had on prisoners, it is an important piece of American history and a landmark to what detention facilities should not be.
(ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/50s)

penitent

The original cells at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia were designed for prisoners to be penitent and come out of their prison sentence better men. (It didn't work.) Here's one stark, restored cell. The only source of light for them was one slit of a skylight that directed their gazes towards God.
(ISO 100, f/6.3, 30s)

thinker

Texture is important. Without it here, this photo would be otherwise flat and dark. The light worked out nicely.

(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/20s)

skyward skyscraper

Early in my photography hobbyhood, I admired the work of professionals who had great skill in capturing architecture. I thought that a lot of it was gear, but as it turns out, mine was good enough. I just needed some practice and a better hand on post-processing.
(ISO 400, f/3.5, 1/640s)

structured

Columns were first used by the ancient Greeks as an architectural element. In case you haven't noticed, they're all over D.C.
(ISO 800, f/5.6, 4/5s)

buona pascua

"He has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." Matthew 28:6
(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/50s)

new river gorge bridge

According to the sign on the bridge, this is the longest arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere. According to Wikipedia, it was once the longest in the world. I'd really like to visit Fayetteville on Bridge Day. It sounds like a rollicking good time.
(ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/100s)

borrowed glass

Last weekend, a friend of mine handed me his Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and said, "I thought you might like to play round with this. It's a little soft, but you should have some fun with it as long as it's not wide open." Fighting my allergies, I took it out for a walk around the neighborhood.
(ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/100s)

driftwood

This one's getting blown up and put on the wall. It's my favorite photo in quite a while.
(ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/80s)

mad men

Killing time at the bar before taking the trolley over to the wedding. I wanted blown highlights and more of a silhouette, but there was a wall in my way. The bartender would've let me behind the bar to take the shot, but then the subjects might've started acting unnatural or posing.
(ISO 800, f/4.0, 1/250s)

digitally enhanced

Sometimes it's hard to strike the balance between post-processing and making a photo look fake. I'm okay with the latter on this shot.

(ISO 100, f/10.0, 1/160s, 10x close-up filter @ 55mm)

tiny joy

"Know that a flower is a weed seen through joyful eyes."--Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When I was little, we used to play with these tiny flowers. I don't recall seeing them in anyone's lawns growing up because they were called weeds and prevented with herbicides and lawnmowers. I guess my eyes are still joyful.

(ISO 100, f/11.0, 1/125s, 10x close-up filter @ 55mm)

fenced framing

I took a walk while she was getting her hair done in the bridal suite. Shooting in RAW on manual exposure makes me far more thoughtful with my shots, even though I have quite a bit more frames than I would with a roll of 35mm. I liked this one slightly better than its deleted neighbor that focused on the foreground instead of the background.
(ISO 200, f/13.0, 1/30s)

park bench

Most of the time when my wife is a bridesmaid, I have to fend for myself for the whole weekend. Luckily, it wasn't the case at our most recent wedding trip, and we got to enjoy my home state together.
(ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/200s)

springtime

Crocuses are supposed to be the first flowers to bloom, often poking their heads up through a late-season snowfall. Since we didn't get any snow this winter worth shoveling, these guys were early to the dance and seem to be staying past closing. I'm okay with that this year.
(ISO 200, f/11.0, 1/30s)

march madness

If psychics truly had extra-sensory perception, don't you think more people would employ them to fill out their tournament brackets? Mine's a mess; how about yours?

(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/400s)

dupont circle

Prepared with my tripod, I was able to get some pretty cool long exposure shots. One guy stopped to ask us in Thomas Circle, "What are you shooting video of?"

"Nothing. These aren't video cameras."
(ISO 200, f/22.0, 5.0s)

perfect combination?

We walked over to Kramer Books in Dupont Circle to check out the neon sign and get some cool pictures of it. There happened to be a guy standing in the window wearing a red down jacket. Perfectly complementary to the neon, right? I couldn't get a focused shot to look the way I wanted. Bokeh won this round!
(ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/15s)

thomas circle

This is closer to the goal of the evening. Our last batch of shots from the berm of the National City Christian Church were uninspiring in camera. One small setting change in Lightroom made all the difference in the world.
(ISO 200, f/22.0, 2.5s)

panning

Long exposures were the goal of the night. Tripods are nice, but sometimes an old-school panning shot turns out awesome.
(ISO 800, f/10.0, 1/2s)

q street northwest

Half-hearted plans turned into another photosafari adventure with a friend of mine. It's always interesting to see how two different perspectives can make the same subject look entirely different.
(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/20s)

vanishing point

When I was in elementary school, we learned about vanishing points in art class. They came up again in high school when we learned how to do three-dimensional elevations of our designs in drafting class. I enjoy trying to capture them with my camera, but the lines often curve. With Lightroom, it's a one-click fix to correct barrel  distortion on my cheap kit lens and make shots like this look more polished. If only I'd been able to get on the other side of the glass here!
(ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/5s)

tilted politics

I'll refrain from making any disparaging remarks about our nation's lawmakers as a caption. I will go on the record and say that it's really hard to do so.
(ISO 200, f/10.0, 1/100s)

trumped

Donald Trump recently purchased the Old Post Office Pavilion with the intent of turning it into a hotel. At first, I was aghast at the possibility of him ruining such a beautiful building. As I read more about it, there's not much he can do to the exterior of the building since it's a National Historic Landmark, and he has to keep access to the clock tower open to the public. Looking at this picture, I think the interior would make a striking hotel. I hope I can afford to stay there someday!
(ISO 800, f/5.0, 1/60s)

lightroom lessons

All my photographer friends have been telling me since I first bought my D60 that I should be shooting in RAW. It took the Lightroom 4 Beta for me to finally make that leap. Now all I need is some memory because I foresee my hard drive filling up much faster!
(ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/320s)

year-round farmers

I love that my farmers' market is open year-round. Sure, there's a few less vendors, but the ones that come every week still see a loyal customer base. I'm quite addicted to Asian pears from one orchard and the cider from Toigo. How many months until I can get a fresh tomato again?
(ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/2000s)

sitting, waiting, wishing

On Christmas Eve, we took my parents to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in the District. While we wandered around, this pacing stranger nervously kept checking his cell phone for messages. It wasn't very warm out, and he was decked out for something important. After we'd walked to our car, we drove past him and his possible new fiancee walking past the Tidal Basin, both with impossibly large smiles. Mazel tov!

(ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/500s)

deuteronomy 30:19

I call Heaven and Earth to witness this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing, and curse. Choose life--that you and your offspring shall live.
(ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/320s)